Yak Attack 2014 Stage 6

Manang to Thorong Phedi (alt. 4,450m/14,420ft)
16.1km, 1238m ascent

Last night Gerry and experimented with the local rum. 

This shot is suppose to show the hardest worker in Manang. The guy with the No.1 jacket works sunup to sundown, no socks just flip flops even when it's freezing. Nepalese are tough, used to little. 

Short day. But felt great. Not much to say other than Kate is a high altitude machine, the weather was beautiful, the scenery was amazing, and Keevy had a boulder roll down the mountain and total his wheel. Better that than his head. 

I'm actually surprised how well Kate and I went. Cory ate a lot of mashed potatoes and won, crushed it!  All I can say is it's not easy to hold a pace over 4,000m, but we actually rode a lot.  My bag was already there!  Tipped the porter well. If I knew he'd be here first I'd have shed 5lbs of gear and gone xc light.  If it didn't work out though it wouldn't be worth it. 

I chatted a little with Aayman on porters. He does some guiding outside racing. We talked about other routes. He talks about porters and Sherpas like they're two different species, which I suppose in some respects is true. "You need a Sherpa for that, not a porter. Sherpas are much much stronger."  They're legendary. 

Ominous weather blowing in night before Thorong La.  Nice lodge, but it was cold. I don't get cold easy, we've been cold for days.  Generally wearing t shirt, thermal shirt, flannel shirt, sweater, down jacket, long underwear, jeans, down pants, double wool socks and toque/wool cap all the time, and often eating with fleece gloves.  Wearing all that inside my -7 sleeping bag too. Plus threw a heat pack down by my feet. 

It's official, this is the highest elevation I've been at - prior was Mt. Evans, Colorado peak at 4,348m/14,265ft.  That was breathtaking in its own right, and we only go up from here.