Day 16: The Longest Glide, Avalance Danger, Chargers, and Bottles

Woke up to stunning views once again...but the rainstorm that hit us last night dumped 18 inches of snow at the Annapurna basecamp we were heading towards today. Avalanche danger is just too bad and we must change our route. Lage, Gura, Vern, and I have a nice relaxing breakfast overlooking our terrific view. A young boy who was washing dishes in the kitchen kept coming outside to "hang out" with our Sherpa and porters. You could just see the envy in his eyes as he watched them from a distance. I know that's what many young boys aspire to. I asked Lage if he was too old for one of my balsa wood airplanes and Lage said "No one is too old for an airplane!" :) Well, he was thrilled and posed with his family for me. That little airplane ended up sailing for a good 90 seconds over the tremendous valley between us and the mountains. It went higher and looped and headed back to us and we all cheered and oooohed and aaaahed...then it disappeared far below. What a memory. (15 minutes later, the boy came BACK with the airplane which he found far below in the valley!) This shot of the boy and the airplane has now been on my screen saver since it happened. I have also included a typical charging station found at all the teahouses (heaven forbid the cell phones would not work!?!) and all the water bottles we went through daily using our Steri-Pen.