The Pass! (17,770ft) and motor noise already!

We left from Letdar the next morning around 5:30am. Had a quick cup of tea and we were off! Arrived in Thorong Phedi for breakfast at 7:00am. After breakfast we headed out around 8 just behind an Austrian couple with mountain bikes. They had been riding the whole circuit! I didn't envy them this morning, but I figured that afternoon I might be thinking of their bicycles quite differently. We stopped for tea at a tea house just before the top of the pass, played a round of a card game similar to Rummi with the guy running the shop. Then continued on... about 10 min out of the tea house we caught up with the main rush of people heading over the pass! Passed probably 20 people before the top of the pass. We made it from Letdar to the top of pass in just over four hours traveling time!

It was a beautiful view from the summit of the pass. Everything with a fresh covering of snow! The trail had probably 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow, and the mountains around had lovely clean capes! Gorgeous and sunny and only a slight breeze! Island Peak was great acclimatization for Thorong La! lol Felt the altitude only slightly in increased rate of breathing near the top, but that could have been fixed if I'd slowed down. We made a really good pace and whenever we'd stop my breathing rate would return to normal within a half a minute or less. Never once felt so much as a hint of a headache!

At the summit we at my last two snickers from home in celebration.

Arrived down the other side in Ranipauwa next to Muktinath around 2pm. Showered and then just chilled that afternoon. Visited briefly with an older couple from Idaho who were just returning from a circuit trek up into the Upper Mustang, sounded pretty cool. Much less tourists and they compared it to a small grand canyon as far as terrain. Many ancient villages still lived in. Maybe next time I'll have to save up for that trek! It costs more because of being a limited access area.

I was very disappointed when we arrived in Muktinath to first hear and then see motorbikes and jeeps up there! I knew the road came up to Jomson, but I didn't realize it came all the way up to Muktinath... rather distracting after several days of wilderness to have the roar of engines again...