Nicholas Rice: Manaslu Dispatch

2009 Solo Manaslu Expedition

Dispatch Twelve: April 4th, 2009

Day Twelve: Trek Day 9: Sama Gaon to Manaslu Base Camp

Today, we woke up at 5:30am, packed up our things and waited around nearly four hours for the Tibetan porters to weigh/sort loads. We lucked out and got more porters than expected, so most of our personal gear went up today. We started walking around 10am seemingly heading away from Manaslu instead of toward it. Just when we started to think that we had gone the wrong way, the trail turned toward Manaslu, which was now in full view. The day began hot, but the higher up the ridge we got, the worse the weather became. As we reached 4500 meters, a whiteout surrounded us. Luckily, we miscalculated the elevation of base camp, thinking it was 5,200 meters when in fact, it was at 5000 meters. We arrived alongside most of the porters and I quickly began forming a tent platform in the snow and getting my tent set up. I unpacked all my things into the tent, sorting them according to where they were to be used (i.e., base camp, camp I, high altitude, etc.) and settled in. We all had dinner together in a big dome Ferrino tent and I was happy to see my appetite was in full force (we climbed from 3500m to 5000m today so some mild symptoms of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) are to be expected). Overall, aside from a very mild headache and a sunburn, I felt great.