Trek: Day 3 of 11

Ghorepani, Poon Hill, back to Ghorepani and to Tadapani

October 13, 2022 (Last Modified: December 03, 2022)

Nepal 2022

Annapurna I (8,091 m), Annapurna South (7,219 m) and Hiunchuli (6,441 m)

Hike start: Ghorepani (2,750 m)
Via: Poon Hill (3,210 m)
Hike end: Tadapani (2,500 m)
Length: 11.1 km
Ascent: 800 m
Descent: 940 m

This was a long day. Very early wake up at about 4am to lave the lodge at about 4:30am. We hiked up the trail for about 45 minutes to the top of Poon Hill where there was a viewing platform, view tower and actually a small teahouse. We were at the top just before sunrise and the imagery we were awarded with was exceptional.

Even without the view of the Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri we would have some memorable photos to take home. After a couple of hours we descended back to the lodge at Ghorepani where we had breakfast. We continued towards Tadapani which would actually bring us down about 250 metres. It was also the part of the trek where we turned eastward towards the “main” ABC trekking route. Basically towards the large village of Chomrong.

y mood took large hit adfter lunch where we were discussing the route and how much more we will have to descended before adcending again. I mentally knew that I was in for a hike that will have its ups and downs (literally) but when I was tired I was hoping more for an uphill hike. Also my knees weren’t particularly happy with the downhill sections.

And then it started to rain.

Was a bit of a shame as the scenery was gorgeous. Most of the trek we were in the gorge with stunning and never ending waterfalls. Also didn’t help that one of our fellow hikers was not feeling very well either. We arrived in Tadapani at about 17:30. I remember sitting at the table in the Hotel Panorama teahouse and I was physically and mentally drained. At east the little dining room had a stove that was on the go so I brought a few things to dry. One of the issues is that if you washed your clothes they simply wouldn’t really dry during the night when left outside. The only way that would happen if we had some sunshine on them and we didn’t leave very early. We had quite a bit of morning sun in Ulleri but not so much in Ghorepani. I think just resting and having a warm meal for dinner made me feel a bit better.