The snow storm

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Overnight, a storm came in, and we listened from our warm, dry beds as thunder boomed and rain poured down. No big deal, we were used to nighttime thunderstorms.

But when we awoke and looked outside, it wasn't rain that we saw -- it was snow.

All I could think was: "Geez, weren't we just in the tropics like, two days ago?????" I couldn't believe we had gained so much elevation that we had managed to go from tropical heat to a snowstorm in just a few days.

Over breakfast, we discussed our options. Though the big group (French, I think?) staying in the lodge with us were planning to wait until later in the morning to see if it cleared up, we wanted to forge on. I was lacking a warm top layer to hike in -- my down jacket is no good when it gets wet -- but I knew that once we got moving, I'd warm up well enough to get us to the next stop.

"I'm from New England," I told the Brits. "I'm not afraid to hike in the snow." Famous last words.

So we bundled up and off we went into the whiteout.Within minutes, my North Face knock-off gloves were soaked. And I was cold. But the only thing I could do was keep moving and hope the hike would be over soon. The pine forest was beautiful, all coated in fresh snow, so all was not lost.

A couple hours into the hike, I came across a village, Humbe. I decided I would find a lodge with a woodstove and stop for lunch to dry out a little and sip some tea.

At the first lodge, I discovered Claire and Sim, who as usual had gone on ahead of me, had the same idea. There they were, gathered around the wood stove in the center of a tiny kitchen, trying to warm up after the wet, chilly walk. We quickly decided to stop for the day right there, even though it was only noontime. We figured we made some progress, and though it wasn't as much as we had hoped for, given the weather, it was good enough.

So we spent the afternoon gathered around the stove, sipping hot chocolate and watching the lodge's cook make his delicious veggy lasagna (from scratch!). Every so often we'd shift around all the wet things laid out in the room: socks, shirts, pants, boots, hats and gloves. A few things fell victim to the fire, but we managed to rescue everything before it set the lodge on fire...

It ended up being a good day, a cozy day gathered around a warm fire in homey kitchen. Way better than hiking in the snow.

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Photos

Heading into the storm
Don't we look fearless as we get ready to take on the snow storm?

Winter wonderland
It was a beautiful walk, despite the misery.

The cozy kitchen
Me, Sim and Claire gathered around the wood stove which saved our lives, and dried our gear, after our venture in the snow.

The storm clears
As the storm blew on late in the afternoon, an amazing view of Annapurna III appeared behind our lodge.