What can one say, the trip is done. The journey home has begun. But just in case you didn't know -- or were perhaps confused -- WE JUST CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN!!!... Well OK, we just went up to the base camp and back, which was hard enough, so lets be fair and call it a whole mountain!

The trip up to ABC (Annapurna base camp, which is situated at 4,130 m or 13550 ft) was an uphill struggle witch left most of the group sweaty, stinking and out of breath . Every day we would wake up at 7:30, eat a lovely breakfast of pancakes and eggs, or porridge, and then we'd set off either up...or down. -- Mountains are of course very fickle creatures that can't seem to make up their minds about what elevation they want you at and are quite determined to make you do everything twice. The first two days were very long and there was some Querimonious-ness (ask Giovanni) going around. But as the days wore one we all got into the rhythm of the mountains and the task became much easier. That or the days started getting shorter... I'm really not sure which one it was.  It might have something to do with the altitude, which it just so happens was our general excuse for how crazy we all got in the final days leading up to our return home.

As we climbed higher and higher we went from ordinary to surreal. Suddenly the tiny rivulets and small foothills covered in pleasant farms transformed themselves into immense, majestic, towering mountains and thundering waterfalls . Peering out our windows from the little mountain tea houses (which were really more like nice Bed and Breakfasts) we could see huge valleys spilling down from the ice white peaks and small towns clinging to the sides of cliffs. The further we went the more the world around us changed. We passed through warm terraced hills full of large black-eyed cows.  Stony rivers traversed on thin wooden planks or high above on swinging, shaking suspension bridges, and dense jungle and rain forest where ancient trees loomed over the tiny foot path like sentinels. We climbed stairs... Oh so many stairs. And at least once each of us wondered aloud "How the heck did they get all these stones up here?" You see, a huge portion of the trek was PAVED! not with cement or concrete, but with gigantic flagstones. -- Some of the stones were much bigger than a grown man! It was certainly something to scratch your head about, wondering how these huge stones were brought up a mountain to lie together like puzzle pieces.
 
From there it got weird. The forests gave way to shrubs and stunted trees and finally to dry stone-strewn grasslands from which cliffs lifted up like fortresses . From flat stone walls gushed rivers of melt water which fell hundreds of feet until they crashed into the rocks far bellow. As we went higher still the flowing water was replaced with ice flows which clung to the cliffs like icy spiderwebs. Soon after we came to something that resembled a huge hill with a cave, but as we got closer we saw that it was strangely white. It was the remnants of the last winter. A mound of ice made from the melting snow, which for some strange reason, was melting from the inside out! Standing inside we looked up at strange patterns, cups and dips formed by the thawing and freezing of the ice.
 
The air got thinner and it became harder to breath. Our feet started to drag and words began to slur as the team made its way up to Machhapuchhre base camp, the final stop before ABC. From here we could see the peaks of the Annapurna mountain range glowing pink in the setting sun. And looking back down the way we had come we could see the immensity of the canyon we had crossed. Climbing up the ridge (Lateral Moraine -- Thanks Christie!) the team each shouted as they peered down off the plummeting drop, down to where the glacier had torn a rift out of the mountains . The view was spectacular. The rivers that wound down from the peaks found their way hundreds of meters below us until they were nothing but tiny lines.

Early the next morning we set out for base camp climbing the last 1500 feet to our destination. Even without having to carry our packs for this last stretch, it was hard going. Finally, aching and exhausted, despite the short distance, we arrived. We were at the foot of the Annapurnas. 

The sight took our breath away.

We were surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the world. On all sides snow covered mountains arced high above, their icy peaks stark against the clear blue sky.

Have you ever climbed a mountain? If you have you know the joy with which we sat down and ate our packed lunch! There is nothing like yak cheese and bread after a hard climb. Laughing and munching we sat on the edge of Annapurna Base Camp and looked down on the way we had come .

From here on in we were heading home. Just three more days and we would be back in Pokhara and then shipping out to Kathmandu. Our time together was shrinking fast, and we held on to every moment, and even the arguing was filled with love and nostalgia! 

After lunch we climbed up to the lookout and peered down at the glacier that pours down from between Annapurna 1 and 2. Looking down it was terrifying how much the glacier has receded. Just ten years ago it had covered the entire valley, now it was nothing more than a spec on the horizon. Where there had once been a river of ice there was nothing but a huge trail of gravel and dirt. It was just one more reminder of the terrible state that the whole of our beautiful planet Earth is in. 
 
We then set off back down the mountain. This was more of an adventure than one would expect!  With each step we felt more and more alive.  The air was thicker and we were going home. We sped off down the slope, stopping for one more look at the marvelous ice cave . Along the way we noticed something rushing up the valley towards us! It was a cloud. Soon we found ourselves standing in the dense fog at its heart. The warm day grew cold and the mountain became something out of myth. You couldn't see more than five feet above you but the ground was clear and the path was still visible. Gazing off the cliffs into white nothingness it was possible to forget that there were mountains there at all. Then suddenly... sunshine, the cloud was gone. This happened several times as new clouds would float up the valley, blanketing us in mist before drifting off. It occurred to us how lucky we had been to have such beautiful weather on the way up.

On our second day heading down we took a different path and found ourselves at Jinhua and the hot springs. Some of us spent the day lounging in one of the two pools of hot water, talking with other travelers, and dunking ourselves in the icy cold river that ran at their side. The others spent the day reading and reflecting, and recovering from the days hard trek . That night we all gathered round in a circle, the hills and mountains all around us, to have our final "Check in". What spilled out was nothing like the silly little circle we had in the sand in Thailand. Hearts poured out and tears were shed... Paige made half of us weep (Thank you for being you my dear). We were, after three months of traveling together, a small band of brothers and sisters. As dear to each other -- in our own unique way -- as any family back home.

So dear friends I am where I began, what can one say, the trip is done. As I stood in Kathmandu airport holding back tears and waving goodbye I thought about all the fantastic things we had done together, the extraordinary places we had been, and the amazing people we had met. What a trip. What a trip.......

- Patrick Peachey Higdon
 A sometimes storyteller and traveler extraordinaire