As I type this into my blackberry, I am sitting on a rock at Barufu camp, at some 4600 meters (15,000+ feet). The temperature is right around freezing and my fingers are going numb. For those wondering, I am not sitting in an Internet cafe making up all of this. Sam and I turned on our blackberries today and found we had service so I have been emailing my mom to post these blogs.
We made the call last night to take 6 days, instead of 7, meaning that we leave for the summit at midnight tonight. We figured that even with an extra day of acclimatization, we were bound to have pounding headaches anyway, and camping at 14,000 feet at temperatures well below freezing is taking a toll on our bodies.
Last night, it was imperative to get a good night's sleep. I took an Ambion, and started Diamox (for altitude sickness) more as a prevention since my headache wasn't bad at all. The combination of those drugs plus the Larium I am on for malaria made for a sound sleep with dreams that took me to a world that can best be described as a cross between Salvador Dali and Dr. Seuss. The Diamox also has a weird tingling side effect that was present throughout.
Despite the drugged up dreams, it was a good sleep, thank God, since today (day 4) was our first strenuous day. For the first 3 hours, we literally circled the mountain scaling a rock face (sometimes on all fours) up to 4500 meters before descending back to 3500 in a valley only to ascend again. Given that we knew the summit was coming tonight, it seemed a little tedious but was a necessary evil.
We took a break for lunch and refueled (massive bowl of rice with chicken stew) and then began the monotonous and exhausting 3-hour trek up to the Barafu camp. We have passed the point of vegetation, and the rocky terrain is unlike anything I have ever seen (although Sam and Jared claim it is comparable to places out west). My book describes it as ideal for the next Star Wars movie.
At long last we made it. It is now about 4:00 and the porters are pitching the tents. The plan is to have an early dinner and get about 5 hours of sleep before waking up around 11:30 to tackle the summit. I am optimistic (thousands of people do this every year) but a little nervous. It will undoubtedly be a test of both physical fitness and, probably to a greater extent, mental fortitude. Although we have hiked 6 to 7 hours a day for the last 4 days, this time it will be all in the dark, consistently uphill, at temperatures well below freezing, and in altitudes none of us have ever experienced. However, we are excited and hope that the adrenaline will help since we probably won't get much sleep. I'll let you know how it goes... Have officially lost the feeling in my fingers now and I think it's starting to snow a little. We are back in a cloud but hoping for a clear summit night since it will be (almost) a full moon.
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