April 17, 2003 Thorong Pedi, Nepal, 4420 m (14,144ft)
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A short two hour walk to the Thorong Pedi base camp. But it was 300 m up, and was very tiring. The only thing here is a single hotel, at the bottom of the steep climb to Thorong La. The place features a wandering dog, who we dubbed Mountain Dog.
After lunch, we headed up the trail to acclimatize. It took us an hour of huffing to climb the 400 m straight up to the High Camp Hotel, a grim and isolated little building. While we struggled to catch our breath, who should we see but Mountain Dog trotting up the trail.
There was a big hill/little peak about 100 m up from High Camp, and we decided to climb that too. The top was crowned by cairns and prayer flags, and offered spectacular views of the mountains all around. Mountain Dog joined us at the top.
The walk down was hard too, since going down puts strain on the knees. I was exhausted when we got back, so dinner, then bed at 7. Tomorrow's the big day.