India Walk About - Day 3

After a bitterly cold night, I can't remember the last time I slept in my down jacket inside my sleeping bag, we woke to a beautiful blue sky.  We were camped at 3390 metres, with some of the group starting to feel the impact of the altitude.  Today had been planned as part of the acclimatization process, walk up a nearby peak, which was just over 3700 metres before dropping back to the camp site.  For some relaxtion before moving higher the following day.

As we were pretty much above the tree line, the walk had a totally different feel to the previous couple of days.  Open mountain sides and distant views, it was almost like walking in the British mountains apart from the occasional glimpse of glaciers.

The climb up the peak took much less time than we anticipated so the afternoon was spent catching up on sleep, reading and just generally relaxing.  Tomorrow we head higher.

It took quite a while for the frost to melt, particularly in the shady areas.

The toilet tents had a superb view.  Our route for the day was along the ridge to the right of the tents.

It was always good to start the day with some group stretching or, as on this day, with some laughing yoga.

This could almost be the Welsh mountains, if it wasn't for the altitude.

This was our high point for the day at 3740 metres.  It had been quite warm as we climbed the ridge and lunch on the summit started off as a very pleasant affair with great views and some reasonably warm sunshine.

Within minutes though the temperature plummeted as the clouds swept in, obscuring distant views and forcing a speedy search for warmer clothing.  This wasn't a day for hanging around for too long.

Clothing for the descent was somewhat different to what we had been wearing about an hour earlier as we came up the ridge.  People were generally looking forward to a couple of hours relaxing in the tent or reading during the afternoon.

Back at the camp site at 3390 metres.  There were some pretty large clouds building on the surrounding peaks, fortunately where we were camped remained clear but the weather indications for the next few days were not looking good.

 
The views across the mountain ranges were always quite special.  What surprised me at night though was just how many lights appeared on the hillsides.  During the day you could pretend that you were the only people in the area but at night the lights indicated just how many people called this area home.