Day 457 - S N O W

With a huge day planned of going over a 3860m pass we got up around 6am, made hot porridge and tea, packed up the tent and packs and were just about to head up when the first flakes of snow began to fall. We spent 5 minutes looking up at the deathly dark grey sky completely obscuring the valley we'd be walking up and over, and decided that the sensible / safe thing to so was to turn back to the hot springs (and the guesthouse with open fire)!! The hour it took us to walk back to the guesthouse turned us into walking snowmen, barely able to move our frozen limbs, particularly our feet which were soaking wet from several river crossings! Walking through the forest gave us some shelter from the wind and we were able to look back out over the snow coated hills and trees, and admire them knowing that we would soon be warm and cosy. Over the next 4 hours about 20cm of snow covered the entire valley, and this was at 1000m lower than we would be climbing too, so we knew we had made the right decision - plus looking up at the jagged peaks with the snow being hurled around by the wind didn't exactly inspire the climbers inside us!
Around lunch time the snow stopped and as we headed out with some new friends for a 6 hour day hike up the valley the blue sky burst through the white blanket of snowy clouds and the sun decided to smile and keep us warm-ish for the rest of the day. At the beginning of our walk we met some campers who had been unfortunately camping at 3400m up the pass and gave us horrific reviews of the multiple river crossings, waist high snow patches, and complete lack of visibility that forced them to turn around and abandon their hike up the pass - this also confirmed our early morning decision had been right.
Our day hike took us along the Arashan river where we trudged across the white land and gazed upon the huge mountains that surrounded us. Along the way we passed farming families and their sheep and cattle, and several groups of horses hunting for grass beneath the snow. After a couple of hours the sun was completely shining and the snow began to disappear transforming the valley into the lush green land it had been only yesterday. We passed a large waterfall hurtling down a sheer cliff side and eventually settled at the edge of the forest to enjoy some snacks and the natural sounds of the wilderness. Three hours later after backtracking along the no longer white path we made it back to the guesthouse, where we promptly set about drying clothes by the fire and cooking up our dinner. We spent the night chatting away in front of the fire with fellow travellers, swapping stories, collecting information and planning for tomorrow.

Adlibing it as snowmen.