Jerome Ryan said goodbye to the Gyan, Phuri, Dhanzing, Dhan, and Ram, my crew to Annapurna North Base Camp, at Tatopani. I continued alone on my way towards Ghorepani, crossing the Kali Gandaki and then the Ghara Khola. At 12:45 the steep climbing began again. It started off a hot 25C and I sweated steeply up the first 300m. From there on, the ascent was made on rocky steps. I rested, physically beat. I passed Ghara (1780m) at 14:15, and arrived in Sikha (1950m) at 15:30. Luckily it started to cool down a little. I reached the New Dhaulagiri Hotel in Chitre (2420m) at 17:25, just as it getting dark and starting to rain. That was 1230m of ascent in 4:40.