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The Annapurna Circuit is completely amazing and a dream come true for anybody that enjoys hiking.  We covered around 215 miles in 16 days including 1 day of rest, veering off the main path to go to Tilicho Lake, and a 15 mile day hike.  Some of the days were pretty brutal but always incredibly beautiful at the same time.  We would wake up around 5:30, breakfast at 6, leave after 7, hike all day with a lunch break, then pass out around 7 or 8 but sometimes as early as 6 pm.

I can’t recommend the Annapurna Circuit higher.  The route takes you around and up into some of the highest mountains in the world, peaking at around 17,800 feet for Thorong Pass, certainly one of the highest places I’ll ever be in my life.  The scenery is as diverse as a 200 mile trek can get.  We started in deep forested valleys which turned into a barron wide open rock landscape for a while.  Then we went up to Tilicho Lake.  Despite the fact that signs say its the highest lake in the world all over the place, it isn’t, but it is pretty damn high at 15,000 feet.  It had snowed the previous night and still had some of it on the ground.  The lake was sandwiched at the base of snowy mountain peaks which were surprisingly loud with the sound of the snow and ice cracking and creating mini avalanches.

We crossed over Thorong La a couple days later wearing every piece of clothing we had in the chilly 20 degree weather (Fahrenheit).  Above the tree line there were rocks and mountain peaks everywhere we looked.  The altitude made the climb even harder than it would have normally been so the roughly 5000 feet downhill that followed was a welcome relief on my legs but not so much my knees.  The scenery change that followed was intense as the trail weaved through a landscape I would more except to find near the Grand Canyon.  There were no trees, despite the fact that we had gone below the tree line again, instead only small bushes and dust that stretched on into the canyon the trail followed and eventually went into.

Now we were in the Kali Ghandaki valley.  The valley is deep and wide and similarly barron and dry, with snowy mountain peaks lining the way and a river cutting through it all.  It’s also one of the windiest places I’ve ever been with unrelenting wind that seems impossibly strong.  Eventually the trees start to come back again and for the last days you are in forested mountains again that look closer to the Appalachain mountains but in a more dramatic Himalayan way.

Some details of the trip:

We were not carrying a tent, sleeping bag, or food so our packs aren’t as heavy as they could be.  There are generally villages or at least a guesthouse every couple of hours.  This means you can get a freshly prepared, reasonably priced breakfast, lunch, and dinner everywhere you go without having to carry it or make it.

There were almost no other tourists on the trail!  I was constantly amazed at the low number of tourists.  We were often times the only tourists in a guest house and we ended up meeting and knowing the majority of other tourists heading in our same direction.  This is the off season as the monsoon is about to start but even then most of the trail is protected from the rain by the Himalayas.  We didn’t get a single day of rain on our entire trip, the weather was beautiful.  Often times the mountain peaks are obscured by clouds which wouldn’t happen during the peak season (October or April) but the majority of the mornings provided us with excellent views.

Pictures (more highlights next post or check slideshow here):

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for a 2 day rafting trip, a couple days in Chitwan National Park afterwards, lastly followed with a few days in Kathmandu before we head back to India.  Can’t wait