19.87 miDistance
6,431 ftElevation gain
3,596 ftElevation loss
15 h 0 mTime
Probably the most memorial day on trail for me. My original destination for today was going to be Tatopani, but when we got there it was mostly locals, no other hikers, and I would finally be alone since the last member of my group would be catching the bus back to Pokhara. So I decided to follow an Australian couple who were doing the circuit to Ghorepani.
The way down from Ghasa was fast. We were now within the jungle biome once more, and it was getting warm fast. A large river was flowing next to us as we descended down the trail and crossed over suspension bridges. It only took about 2.5-3 hours to get down to Tatopani, the traditional endpoing point of the trek. I debated staying here, and continueing on tomorrow and starting the Annapurna Basecamp trek since I had tons of extra time due to it not taking as long as I had thought to do the circuit. But the Australian couple we had met last night at the place we stayed in Ghasa were continuing on today, and since it was so early in the day I figured why not keep going?
Initially we were all hiking together, but they were much faster at going up and so after a while I told them to go on ahead and that I would meet up with them at the place we had decided upon at lunch in Tatopani.
I was walking alone now, but the trail was well-marked. There were a lot of elevation gains happening today, nearly 4,000 feet of it, all since Tatopani. I had stopped seeing other hikers on the trail for a while now, and it wasn't until the sun started to go down that I started to catch up to some who had started off from other places along this trail.
I hadn't had anything to eat since lunch time, and even then it wasn't much, and I was also out of bars to snack on. I had plenty of water though. As the sun went down the temperatures started to drop, but I didn't notice. I was too tired and too full of andrenaline to care. I was wheezing by this point though, and every step was a struggle. Eventually I came to the archway that marked the entrance to Ghorepani, but the universe was feeling extra cruel that day because even though I was "here" I still had to ascend several flights of stone stairs in order to get to the places to stay.
As I walking on and up, I came to the place that the Australians and I had earlier agreed upon. It was empty. It had been shutdown and shuttered for some time, and by the looks of it was not going to open any time soon. This was not good. I could see other places to stay in the distance, more close the center of the village. I pushed on and entered the first place that I came to. It was busy, in fact this whole village was bustling with activity from other hikers. Makes sense since there is a day-hike here you can do called Poon Hill.
I stumbled into the building and asked for a room at the front desk. I must have been in bad shape, or maybe it was because I had arrived so late in the evening, but I got a lot of stares when I entered. The host of the place showed me to a room with a single bed in a building that had some thin walls. I asked them for some snacks to eat (I was starving) and a blanket since I was cold, and then they left. I sat down on the bed and that was when things really started to go bad.
Nearly instantaneously my arms from my elbows to my hands, and my legs from my knees to my feet, started to tingle and go numb. I didn't know what this could mean (I thought I was just really tired), and I sat there hoping it would wear off and stop on its own. It did not. Nervous, I struggled down the stairs and headed to the front desk asking for a blanket and some snickers bars. They said they would bring one up, so I headed back upstairs with my snickers and sat on the bed and snacked and waited.
About five minutes later they arrived with the blanket. I must have been in shock because I told them I couldn't feel my arms and legs and they said that's because you are cold and need to warm up. I followed them back downstairs and they cleared a spot for me on a bench next to the open fireplace. I wrapped the blanket around me and sat their shivering, waiting for the fires to heat me up. If it wasn't for what happened next I probably would have died.
A group of hikers were sitting at a table next to the windows, and one of them kept glancing over at me. After a few moments they came over and asked what was wrong. I said I was cold and shivering and they asked if I had changed out of my hiking clothes that had been soaked in sweat all day. I said no and they asked if I had a change of outfit, to which I said yes. They immediately picked me up by the arms and brought me to my room where they helped me change into dry clothing. They then grabbed my sleeping bag and brought me back down to the fireplace. He orderd some hot salty soup for me to drink/eat, along with more snickers bars. After eating I laid down on the bench and fell asleep next to the warm fire in my sleeping bad.
A couple of hours later I awoke, in a bit of a daze but doing much better. The hiker checked in on me and asked if I was ok. I thanked them immensly, and headed upstairs to go to sleep. While laying in bed I used my phone and the teahouses wifi and googled my condition. I found out that I had minor hypothermia, and if it wasn't for the intervention of those hikers, I would have died.
Words can't describe how I feel about that situation, and what happened. It was a series of bad decisions, one after the other. I was lucky to be alive.
