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Annapurna Circuit Day 6: Remember in high school when snow was in the forecast overnight? We eagerly woke up, ripped open the curtain, and stare wide-eyed at the fresh snow. In Manang, we woke up to a Himalayan winter playground. We stood by large panel windows in awe at the untouched powder blanketing the mountains. Most hikers wanted a snow day, “Well, won’t you look at that, looks like I’ll stay inside by the fire today”. Maybe this is why @lhanley_ and @nathan_pilkey made great hiking buddies. After we all polished off our french press coffee, Lauren said, “Let’s go play!" Lauren and Nathan emerged from their rooms looking like children dressed by a mom on the first day of winter. They claimed they could still move, and we set off for Ice Lake at 4600m. Ice Lake is an acclimatization hike, but with the conditions, our realistic destination was a closed restaurant at 4200m. I've never seen more magnificent clouds. It’s like a mutation occurred in the cloud making process that morning. We soon undressed to t-shirts, a comical contrast to our surroundings. We passed a monastery, curious yaks of all shapes and sizes, and farmers nodding their heads towards us, "Namaste". We stopped often to catch our breath. An hour from the restaurant, a Catalonian man passed us on his way down. Speaking with a quiver in his voice, he pointed to storm clouds in the distance. We nodded in agreement. We decided to push for the restaurant, but under the condition we would turn back if anyone felt uneasy. The increased altitude and storm changed the conditions over the course of a long second. The snow whipped up into our faces. The cold reached our core. Our hands slid into their shelters. We reached the restaurant and celebrated with granola bars, but playtime was over. We descended down to safety.

A post shared by Kamil (@kamil.skwarek) on Apr 27, 2020 at 6:33am PDT