The walk today would have been great if it hadn't been quite so muddy. We started off by descending about 300 meters, going slowly because we were stuck behind a yak train. Climbing up, we passed several icy waterfalls, one of which was just ridiculously beautiful. Three levels of spray led down to a stream that crossed the path, and the mountains framed the whole thing. Walking by another falls, I think I may have narrowly missed injury. About ten meters after passing one, I heard a very loud, very low pitched "whoompf" and turned around to see a mini-avalanche spilling across the trail I had just crossed. Arriving in Dole, we talked to the lodge owner for a bit - he's only 18 and has already been to the South Col twice.
Robin and Andreas decided it would be a good idea to try to climb the mountain behind the town, so we all put on all our waterproofs and started to ascend. I got a few hundred meters up before I realised that I was on a fairly steep mountain and could be seriously screwed with one misstep. After getting stuck for a while in hip-deep snow, I headed back down, while the other two kept on up. They eventually made it to the top, and slid most of the way down on their butts. I have no doubt that I would have done something bad to myself had I kept going up. Guess I'm getting old.
