After my morning admiring the views of the Annapurna Sanctuary I headed back down to MBC, got my backpack and started the return trip, retracing my steps back to Chhomrong then choosing a different route back to Pokhara. The weather made a turn for the worse and created miserable conditions for the hike down. That afternoon it started raining and it didn't stop for the next 4 days. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be the best possible time for trekking in Nepal- monsoon season is (supposedly) over and it's not too cold. The trip down should have been easier since I was losing altitude and was stronger from all the trekking up, but ended up taking longer since the trails and stairs were treacherously slippery and occasionally required diversions around landslides. (I'd also like to give a big shout out to the Nepali guide who gave me his walking stick- which saved my life a few times!) And while the conditions were fairly miserable for my hike down, I was one of the lucky ones because at least I got to see what I went all that way for. People I met up with at the guesthouses had gotten all the way up to ABC only to not get any views because of the rain clouds, others didn't even make it up to ABC- they turned around half way because of the conditions, and a few people did eventually get the views that they went for- but only after waiting at ABC for 2 days until it cleared up.
Storm clouds rolled in-
Really limiting visibility-
I had originally considered taking an extra side trip for additional peak views, but the call of a hot shower and clean clothes was too great and I went directly back to Pokhara. The trek at times was part boot camp, part rehab, part vision quest but it was also exciting and fun, I met some great people along the way and saw some spectacular sights- definitely worth it!
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