Day 520 - Tilicho Base camp - Tilicho Lake (4920m) - New Lodge (4100m)

We all got up nice and early at about 6am, and as we had all worn our warm clothes to bed, all we had to do was roll out of bed and put our shoes on and we were ready to go! The walk from Base Camp at 4150m up to the lake view point at 5000m was steep and tiring as the air was pretty thin, but we made it in 2 and a half hours. When we got to the top we had to walk for half an hour or so on snow to make it to the lake view point, but all the effort was totally rewarded with this most stunning lake - without a doubt one of the most amazing sights we've seen on this 18 month Adlibing Asia tour.
We spent about an hour at the lake (where despite the snow and 5000m altitude it is probably warmer than back home in NZ!), most of us just taking in the views, while the crazier ones (well, one named Adam) decided he couldn't pass up the opportunity of swimming in a lake with icebergs. We all watched from above as the crazy man descend nearly 100m through knee-deep snow to make it to the lake shore, break the ice, and dive right in! An exciting aspect of the day was watching from the distance the explosive destruction caused by avalanches racing down the vertical slopes of the 6000-7000m peaks towering around us. We made it back down to Base Camp for lunch, and then made the return journey over the landslide to the New Lodge. Luckily for Liv Adam carried her pack to give her more balance over the landslide, and she was happy to find going slightly up made it much easier and much less scary!
At new lodge we lingered in the dining room for as long as we could before going to bed as the warm fire in there made it feel like summer it was so hot, also it was our last night with our current trekking crew as we (Peter included of course) are heading back to Manang tomorrow for some relaxation while the others go on to Yak Kharka.

Adlibing an icy Tilicho Lake.