Deurali (10,500ft) to ABC (13,549ft), 10km / 6.2 miles
10/26/25
Day 6. A restless night’s sleep leaves me groggy but ready to start the day. Being so tightly bundled in my sleeping bag was not conducive to sleep, as it turns out. The air was absolutely freezing as we prepared, and we understood why they put us in a room with 3 others despite the empty room next door – to share in body heat.
We were late to breakfast and later to leave, finally setting off at 7:30. We watched the rising sun light up the mountains as we slowly slowly made our way. At over 10,000 ft, the air is thin and we are easily winded. We are in no rush though and take many breaks to catch our breath and enjoy the views.
At one point we stopped to rest on a rock, and between the moment we sat and a few minutes later, the dry rocks suddenly became a waterfall. A pretty clear signal to keep going, so on we went.
We were joined with many other people making the same journey, slowly winding our way up to Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC).
It’s estimated to take 2 hours from Deurali to MBC, but it took us 4, arriving just in time for lunch. Again with no appetite, I sipped on some garlic soup and ginger honey lemon tea, all things to help keep altitude sickness away.
After lunch we continued on our slow crawl up to ABC, but somehow the thinness of the air wasn’t bothering me anymore. After a bit of leapfrogging with the same pair of Aussie trekkers from the day before, we decided to just join up with them.
Sam and his mother Natalie from Melbourne matched our paces perfectly – Sam with me, his mother with sis. The 2+ hours from lunch to base camp flew by as we shared stories and chatted our way up the mountain. At one point we crested a ridge, and there it was! Base Camp!
I’ve learned not to be deceived by the apparent closeness of things here. These mountains are so massive that something that looks close can still be miles away. Which sort of proved true with ABC too – it just didn’t seem to be getting any closer the longer we walked. I’ve caught on to one of Raj’s phrases “We’re almost close”. Almost close. Aka – not close. How many times he said that before I caught on that we aren’t in fact close, I can’t say. But it’s now my new favorite phrase.
I’d separated from my group, as ever ruled by my bladder, and reached the ABC welcome sign at 3:15pm. I took a few pictures then climbed up a large boulder at the edge of a ridge to see what lied beyond – a boulder field. Massive. The sad last remnants of a glacier fast disappearing.
15 minutes later the rest of my group arrived and we posed for numerous embarrassing photos in front of the sign.
It was so nice to arrive so early in the day. We got situated in our room, then ventured back out to explore and warm up in the dining room.
The mountain air was thin, windy, and FREEZING. But still, when the sun started to set and lit up Fish Tail mountain in front of us, we joined the throngs of people outside to take it all in before hunkering down in our room for the night.
I slept wearing every single layer that I brought with me – something like a thermal base layer, 3 or 4 coats, leggings and hiking pants, a hat and gloves, a sleeping bag, liner, and two blankets supplied by the tea house. I’d been taking Diamox since Kathmandu to help with the altitude sickness and while it definitely worked – I never even felt a tinge of the sickness during my trek – it made me have to pee a LOT. Which meant EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT having to get up and venture outside in the cold to the toilet. This night at ABC was no exception but I was looking forward to it being the last time – tomorrow we would descend, so I could stop taking the meds. Hurrah!
ADK Trail Tales 