A small icefall just over the saddle livens up the scenery... as if it needed to be any more dramatic!

The descent starts easily enough on a sloping snowfield...

...then becomes very steep on loose rocks and boulders.

We’ve just descended the diagonal cut on the rock face in the center. It took all my remaining energy to concentrate on balance and footing - sometimes a difficult task given the lightheaded and queasy feelings I had as a result of being dehydrated.

The slope becomes a little shallower, much to everyone’s relief. The dehydration and exertion has affected some others worse than it has me, and everyone’s eager to get onto easier terrain.

We’ve still got a long way to go - camp is still out of sight around the bend in the far end of this valley.

Finally, the couple of buildings marking our destination come into view...

...but we find them deserted and locked, so we’re left to face the cold outside until our gear arrives. With the terrain as difficult as it was, we’ve arrived in camp ahead of most of the porters. We also learn that two of the porters had dropped their loads on the other side of the pass rather than face the climb up the snow! As luck would have it, my bag was one of the loads that was abandoned!

Despite the news that my sleeping bag and warm clothes are somewhere back on the pass, I manage to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Two sherpas have gone back for the missing loads, so there’s nothing for me to do but enjoy the sunset colors while pacing around trying to stay warm as the temperature drops below zero (Fahrenheit)...

The last light of the day retreats along a band of colored clouds. Several hours later the sherpas return through the darkness with the missing loads and I can finally collapse, exhausted and relieved, into my sleeping bag. I was asleep in a blink!