By day 5, we were all feeling the effects; of the altitude, of the miles, of the cold. Everybody was having issues - whether it was dodgy ankles or a nasty cough that was going around camp. Perfect timing for our toughest day on the trek. This was the big one, the Kang La pass. We’d be hiking from 4100m to over 5300m and then back down to 3600m in one day. Pretty crazy.

To take on this monster day, we set off at 4am beneath the stars, with the moon providing a blueish light just strong enough to render the head-torches unnecessary. Again, it was about 5 below at this point, and we encountered an issue that we hadn’t foreseen: our water bladders had frozen solid in the cold overnight, leaving them useless. A solid start.

After a steady incline to basecamp at 4500m, the real fun began. The trail became a lot steeper, winding up, up, up the side of the peak. With the air getting thinner and thinner with every step, the pace slowed to that of a snail. Footsteps became a trudge, soundtracked with a heavy breathe with every bit of progress. Headaches intensified. For everyone, it took everything we had in the tank to make the last 200m to the top.

The mood at the top was jubilant, it was the highest point of our trek - the highest that any of us had ever been before. The views, as expected, were surreal. 360 panoramas of the snow capped peaks of the Annapurna, Manaslu and Mustang mountains. Absolutely stunning. Both the feeling and the views have left their mark on me.

The descent down, a full 1700m over a few kilometres no less, was possibly more challenging than the ascent. A steep descent on loose shale was required before the trail became firmer underfoot into Ngarwal, where we hit the beers and retired early following an exhausting day.

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