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Day 3 - The Climb to Rohtang La

 July 11 2007 - Today was the apex of our trip, both in altitude and in spirit.  The small corner of Himalaya we visited was truly majestic - it presented views and created memories none of us will ever forget!  Also, it was Allison's Birthday, which we will celebrate later...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!

Manali morning mist	Manali rapids	Manali school boys
First glimpse of snow	Steep switchbacks begin	Drive slow, live long These somewhat cheesy signs were posted all along the road up the mountain
Mountain horses	Looking up the valley	Cascading waterfalls These falls fell in tiers from heights hidden in the clouds above us
Long waterfall	Clouds dissipating The morning clouds slowly cleared as the sun rose higher - revealing peaks we couldn't see before	Sinking feeling If there was a sign, you knew it was going to be bad
At least we weren't in a bus	The Valley below us	Non attribution appreciated Some of the signs were just silly
In the mountain's shadow	You are not cleared for takeoff	Cows and truckers at 8,000 ft
The road below us	High mountain meadows across the canyon	Mountainside goods stand
Curvy road below us	Rally car poetry?	Steep stream
Driving in the clouds This was eerie - but they soon cleared out	Looking up at the switchbacks	Looking down the rocky stream
Fording the stream on the road	Colorful water pumphouse	Provision stands at 10,000 feet This was near a small lake that fed the water pipe we saw earlier
Enjoy a KitKat before scaling K2	Town of Marhi This tiny trade post was supposedly named after the soldiers of an ancient Hindu king who were killed by a hail storm - it means "pile of dead bodies." Nice.	Himalayan Pizza Hut
I like homely food	Milemarker or headstone?	Watch for goats crossing road This was way cool for the kids - they went straight up the mountain!
Sure footed critters	They climbed as fast as we did	Looking straight down
Better late than dead	Looking down on glaciers	Tents by the glacier Some Himachalis live up here all summer long
Goats and Glaciers The road was quite crowded here	Road through the glacier We stopped here on the way back	Yak ride anyone?
I can respect that	First glimpse of the Pass	Family on top of the World
Left to Right Panorama - Northwest The road to Kashmir is in that direction	Left to Right Panorama - North	Left to Right Panorama - North by Northeast
Left to Right Panorama - Northeast	Left to Right Panorama - East	A Green Riding Hood
A the Afghani Girl	Dave is dwarfed	B in the Pass
Our Himalayan Kids	Dave on the car	Girls on the hillside This was the mountain behind us (to the Southwest)
Young ones wandering	Yaks in their habitat	Dad tries to get video
Playing in the rocks	High Himalayan Valley This was directly across from us toward the Northeast	Poor guy is freezing Baldev's teeth were chattering!
Horses in the pass	Looking East toward Tibet	Wildflowers in the pass
Dave taking it in	D in the rocks	Dad surveys the peak to our Southeast
Dave, D, and Baldev head out We had a great meadow sloping away from us, so we decided to hike to its edge and see the valley below	Toward the meadow ledge	Mountain Majesty One of my favorite pictures, we are tiny in the foreground
Grand perspective again, look for us in the foreground	Boys survey the edge	Looking across the chasm
Wildflowers up close	Path to the Southeast	River Chandra This flows to the East toward Tibet
Dad gives D a lift	Pink flowers in bloom	Dave and D on the point We are on the cliff in the foreground
Ange and her youngest	Mom and D again	Mom and D looking Northeast
To the Northeast again These last four pics are some of my favorites	Dave in Himalaya	Dave filming from cliff
Dave and Baldev	B and D running	Baldev helps B away from the edge
Dave's parting shot	Horses roaming free	Sheep in the pass
Heading back to Manali	Rahala Falls We didn't get this perspective until the return trip - very pretty!	Touch a Glacier!
Mom and A at the glacier	Ange and the road down	Z leaves his mark
Cliff driving	Mountain Vulture	Are you insane? These guys were truly hard core to climb this pass on a bike!
No, you are not flying This was the view right out our window, at times like that from an airplane!	Twin waterfalls in the afternoon	Ministry of...Chicken? We didn't stop - we were afraid they'd check our papers
Indian Car wash If you drive all the way in, it goes faster	Z and D on the bank of the Beas	Careful Z!
Manali kids They were rubbernecking the tractor which broke down, clogging the road back to town	Woman washing in the river	Baldev gets us past the clog We can't praise Baldev enough - he was an expert driver and guide for this trip