I woke up minutes before my alarm was scheduled to go off and cautiously pulled back the curtain to peek at the sky. Clear, bright blue! Not a cloud in the sky!

“Guys! Wake up! Look outside!” I was literally as excited as a child who thinks she has spotted Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

My excitement was quickly put to rest when I placed my foot on the floor and attempted to use the restroom. Not only did my Achilles feel as though it was simultaneously shriveling up and ripping, this was accompanied by a sharp lower back pain, presumably from limping the day before due to the Achilles pain. Yeowza. This was not good.

I was out for the count. For today, for tomorrow, permanently, I wasn’t sure.

When Cassandra and Trevor headed out to climb up high to acclimatize themselves, I was left to wallow in self pity, photograph the buffalo and enjoy the scenery, which I’m sure cannot be  matched by anything else in the world. I sat in the sun, reading my latest legal thriller, facing, literally facing Annapurna 3. Could be worse, right?

My spirits were low. I researched the possibility of a hail mary flight out of the circuit to the resort town of Pokhara. I felt lucky to have made it this far but wasn’t sure if I would realistically be able to continue. I made a pros and cons list of whether, if I woke up in as much pain the following morning, I should continue, wait it out, or find the quickest way out of the circuit. Mental Fortitude.

When night descended, my future on the Annapurna Circuit was still up in the air. All I could do was hope tomorrow I would wake up in less pain.