April 2nd – Up to High Camp

Last night was freezing. I didn’t even want to stick my head out of my sleeping bag to get some water when I was thirsty. Major thanks to Mike for letting me borrow such a nice sleeping bag for the trip.

In the morning, Mike and I killed time by playing cards while the rest of the group got everything together for our hike up to High Camp. Most of today would be spent killing time while awaiting our hike over the pass in the morning, but we did want to hike up the 1,000 feet up to High Camp above to further help with our acclimatization for tackling the summit.

On the way to the camp, Mike and Andrea had a spirited debate about spending the night at High Camp so they wouldn’t have to hike it in the morning. The problem was that Andrea didn’t let Mike know about her wishes until we were halfway up the mountain side. Her heels have been really bad lately and Mike is frustrated because of her ambiguousness about being able to make it over the pass in the morning. He would continue to push her buttons for the rest of the day by repeatedly telling her that he was going to get a Yak to carry her over the pass.

The other major event on the way up involved yours truly. On the way up, I started feeling ill and got that old familiar feeling that I had better find a secluded spot as soon as possible for some squatting. On this trip, travelers sickness comes and goes and its hard to pin it exactly on one thing or another be it food, altitude or other germs you’re picking up. In any case, I was able to scramble around some rocks on the side of mountain and take care of business. Let me tell you, one has not lived until they have taken a crap on the side of a mountain at 16,000 feet and wiped their ass with snow.

Afterwards I felt much better and joined the rest of the group as we hiked up a smaller hill just past High Camp to enjoy some better views. The mountain views were incredible and I was kicking myself for not dragging my camera along on the hike. Fortunately, Andrea took a video with their digital camera which you can view by clicking here.

We spent an hour or so up there together chatting and snapping pictures (except for me because I was dumb enough not to want to drag my camera along). I was starting to get cold and still not feeling 100 percent so I decided to head back down while the rest of the group stayed up for another half hour or so. On the way down, I got my first glimpse of Yaks as some came running down the mountain side and I actually had to dodge about a basketball sized rock that one of them knocked loose.

Once back in camp at Thorong Phedi, I had some soup and Twix. It didn’t seem to work as I was still feeling below par with some terrible diarrhea. Several liters of water later along with some extra soup and garlic bread I was feeling better with no headache. The rest of the evening was spent visiting with fellow travelers and playing cards before heading to our rooms to get packed and prepped for the hike to the summit in the morning.