Distance Travelled: 6km (25km so far + 10km acclimatisation)
Altitude Gained: 779m (2215m so far + 660m acclimatisation)
currently at 4720m
It is a testament to my recovery, that I can even
contemplate writing this. I am sitting in our tent at Kibo Base Camp. And on
arrival, I felt awful. Horrible. Disgusting. I was totally washed out and felt
very nauseous. The last few hundred meters of our trek were a real trial for me. I had to
stop every 20-50m and felt like I was going to vomit. But we made it (a couple
of close calls) and I even managed to sign us both in. Chidler1 faired so much
better than I. She felt fine on our approach to camp and even demolished her
lunch. I made a trip to the long drops to see if I could offload that way, but
to no avail. Walking back to the tents, I started retching and an urgent
diversion was required. I finally managed what my body had been promising. I
felt better but a little shaky.
Getting into the tent was both pleasure and pain. I knew I
needed to recover. I just felt so awful. I shut my eyes and hoped it would all
just go away. My daughter however tucked into her packed lunch in the tent (even the
subtle smells made me feel worse) and read Harry Potter on my phone. Oh how I longed to
feel better. Was this it? Was I beaten? I felt nauseous, had a bit of a
headache and felt very shaky. I knew I needed to rehydrate and get some
calories in. They brought me some limes and I managed to make up hot water with
lime and sugar. I managed to sip it and lay back down. I awoke 20min later,
feeling a little better, now it was a matter of will. They brought popcorn
which Chidler1 ate. I could not face anything such. More hot water and sugar.
An hour later I forced myself to eat a jam sandwich. It was
agonisingly slow, but I made it. More hot water and sugar. And now I have
turned to the biscuits I found in our packed lunch. I am managing to nibble away at these small hard
shortbreads, and they are just what I need. Also sipping away at some juice. I
am starting to feel human again. I confess that I have kept my little vomit to
myself and have also taken some paracetamol, ibuprofen (once I could eat), a
bucastem and a couple of puffs on a salbutamol inhaler (I reasoned it might
help to get more oxygen in?) An attempt to the summit tonight? 2 hours ago it
was definitely a non-starter. Perhaps in the 7 further hours I have to recover
it might be possible. But I don’t think I can carry my day sack.
It is a stark contrast to this morning, when we made it to
our turn around point yesterday in half the time. Just an hour and a half. Chidler1 was
so much better on the walk today. She had had a good night. I on the other hand had a rough night
– the mirror of hers from the previous night. From about 2am I had felt very
nauseous. A bucastem did enough to get me back to sleep but when I woke up, I felt
decidedly mediocre. I managed just a small bowl of porridge and it took a
concerted effort to get everything packed up. Nevertheless, we left on time at
08.00 and for most of the first 2/3 of the trek I was feeling very optimistic
about our chances of getting to the top.
Now it hangs in the balance. It will be super tough. If it
is a case of mind over matter then I think we’ll succeed. Although when you
feel as horrible as I did on arrival, it is much easier to say such things. The altitude is brutal, and that's when you're feeling 100%.
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| Moon-like landscape of this tier of the Mountain. |
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