Thorung Phedi – Muktinath

(S) Woke up at 2.00 am, had breakfast with garlic soup and set off at 3.00 am. Tackled the hairpin bends heading steadily north-west. Reached the Thorung High Camp lodges at the same altitude as Mont Blanc.

(1). Continuing with headlamps on, we kept up the slow pace set by the cirdar and the Sherpas. We reached 5,000 metres, where the slope became gentler and the ridges followed one after another. We continued along this long but, all in all, very easy route. After numerous detours, we reached the pass.

(2) Begin the very long descent, initially along a snow-covered path, before reaching the lodges at Thorung Tha.

(3) The route then becomes easier as you continue on to Muktinath (E).

And there we were – it was done; the stress that had kept us on tenterhooks had evaporated. The MAM didn’t materialise, and tears of joy at the pass took its place. The descent was endless (a 1,600-metre drop) with about 600 metres on slippery, packed snow.
It’s worth noting that, at the start of the descent from Thorung Phedi, the sherpas took some of the load off our rucksacks by carrying four of our bags on their shoulders. On the final stretch, they took another two bags as the going was getting tough for two of us. But that evening we still celebrated the 60th birthdays of four of us with an excellent yak stew.

Muktinath and its Hindu temple, which, unfortunately, we were unable to visit.