Jockeying for position on Poon Hill

Trekking Day 7: Ghorepani to Poon Hill to Jili

My wake-up knock from Renuka came at 4 a.m., just four hours after my restless mind and body had finally succumbed to a fragile sleep. After days of retiring in silent, near-vacant teahouses, we had collided with civilization full-force in Ghorepani, and our close proximity to the community toilet drove that reality home all night.
At first, Renuka was hesitant. "The weather is not good," she told me, as I slipped on my long underwear and strapped my headlamp to my head, saying goodbye to a slumbering Kim. Renuka took me outside and pointed to the starless horizon. "I'm not sure we'll be able to see anything," she said. But I could see stars overhead, and after coming all the way to Nepal, I wasn't going to bag out on a trip to the summit of Poon Hill. "Remember: I'm lucky. It'll clear," I told her.
At 10,531 feet, about an hour's climb from Ghorepani, the famous hilltop offers panoramic views of 26,794-foot Dhaulagiri I, as well as Himalayan monsters Tukuche, Nilgiri, Annapurna South, Annapurna I, and Glacier Dome - on a clear day. It's billed as a "defining moment" in Lonely Planet. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who read that line. Ten minutes into our pre-dawn ascent, we found ourselves in a single-file line of agonizingly slow, out-of-shape Germans, gasping for breath as their headlamps bobbed in the darkness like fireflies. Upon arrival at Poon Hill, I was shocked to spot another 200 or so tourists jockeying for position to take the perfect sunrise photo. At first, I was deflated, visions of sublime solitude crumbling. But my disappointment was fleeting. I bought a cup of hot tea for myself and Renuka, put my camera away, closed my eyes, and soaked in the sounds of a half-dozen different languages marveling at the scene unfolding. The clouds were lifting, exposing icy hilltops tinted with crimson.
I may not have been alone, but I got my defining moment afterall.