We knew that this day was to be the biggest climb of this trek. From the river valley, we needed to climb 1000 meters (3500 feet) to the top of a ridge, which we would follow the next day back down to the river.

We climbed without too much difficulty, but we were concerned that our guide and one of our porters had fallen behind. Normally porters run up the hills twice as fast as we do so that they can deposit their 40-kilogram (90 pound) loads as quickly as possible. We later learned that this porter had come down with a cold and our guide was staying with him to give support and carry his load if necessary.

A few minutes after reaching the top, a couple of Nepali men came up. They spoke enough English to confirm that our camping place was another 30 minutes along the main trail, and they agreed to let us follow them there. We later learned that these men were hunting yartsu-gumba, a small fungus-parasite/plant combination that fetches thousands of dollars on the Chinese medicinal plant market.

Some groups combine this and the next day into a 10-12 hour march over the pass. Being in no hurry and trying to preserve our aging legs, we split it up with an overnight camp at a small spring called Paha, the only water on 30 kilometers (18 miles) of trail. Our staff cooked and slept in a stone porters' rest house, while we had the more comfortable accommodations of our tent. In the evening, shepherds brought through several herds of goats, one of which became part of our dinner. At night, a Tibetan mastiff dog with big red eyes barked for an hour or so, delaying Marcia's trip to the bathroom.