Stairway to Annapurna Base Camp - Day 5

The view of Annapurna was getting closer, and with a clear morning the glow of the snow was beckoning us forward. Our legs, mainly our calf muscles were becoming rocks from all of the stairs. Today, seemed like an easier day, perhaps because we were becoming trail hardy.

As we meandered through the river gorge, we came across our first sighting of wildlife (besides birds). I came around the corner, and there 30 yards ahead of me was a monkey! I snapped a few pictures before switching to video and recording the dogs chasing the monkey into the trees. About 50 yards ahead of me was another monkey, but he sensed my presence and never let me close the distance.

We rolled into Deurali in the early afternoon. The sun was still shining and we gathered in the main room and chatted with a group from England. The afternoon practice is to order our evening meal, chat with fellow hikers, set out our sleeping bag, and drink tea.

Following dinner, we played cards, and then off to bed! I placed my boots under the bed and crawled into my sleeping bag with the rest of my electronics and jackets. Sleep on the mountain usually only lasted a few hours and then I was awake for the next few hours until the alarm sounded.

The alarm called me out of my sleeping bag and ready to face the day. I had camp shoes that I slipped on for running around the teahouse before putting my foot back into the boots. The last thing before breakfast was to slip on the boots. I put my right foot in and felt something strange at the toe. I pulled my foot out immediately. I called for help, because I was scared to discover what was hiding in my shoe. Turned out to be nuts! A creature had put nuts in my shoe. I'm just glad the creature wasn't still in the shoe greeting my foot!