Day 3: Barranco Camp

Hike high, Sleep low. Today's goal was to let our bodies experience a little bit of hell in hopes that it is more enjoyable next time we visit. Sounds lovely. 

Everyone in our group started feeling altitude effects- headache and nausea. The air was 60% oxygen compared to sea level. I was surprised how I was struggling to breathe easily at such a snail's pace. This was one long day, totaling 8 hours of hiking. And boy are my feet wolfing!

Our goal was to make it to Lava Tower (15,200 ft) for lunch. No way jose! It ended up taking us much longer than expected. As soon as we left Shira Camp it turned to tundra that was covered with lava rocks that were spewed from the volcano years ago. No more trees or shrubs grew here. There was an occasional spotting of a hidden flower that was protected on the sun side of some boulders. This was a pleasant surprise if you could find one. The wind blew the cold fog right through us, creating an eerie atmosphere. By the time we reached Lava Tower we were pooped, but I was also ecstatic because I reached an elevation PR- over 15,000 feet! We have never been that high before! No one was climbing Lava Tower today. Evans wouldn't have let me anyways (I told him my mother thanked him).

The start of the day- all smiles!

Lava Tower

We ran into a man who looked awful from another group. He was from Vancouver and probably 40 years old. I asked him how he was and he said horrible because he had fluid in his lungs. He took one big breath and I heard the fluid cracking like popcorn inside of him. UMMMMM HELLO?!? Anyone else concerned here?? I asked his guides if they were going to take him down immediately and they said they they were going to camp tonight and see how he felt in the morning. Ok. I have did so much research before this trip to know that his symptoms could be fatal if not treated. Cracking lungs was the main symptom of HAPE- High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. I was shocked. 

Our group began to descend to Barranco Camp back down to 13,000 feet. It's as though I could feel the more oxygen in the air. It was glorious. My headache went away and I started to feel much better. (I also started to take half the dosage of Diamox again since I was experience altitude effects. But don't worry, Arman had steroids in case my throat were to swell up and shut). On our way down I told Evans about the guys with HAPE. He told me that is anyone in our group experienced such a thing we would be forced down the mountain immediately. Evans actually waited for this man's guides and told them how dangerous it was for him to not descend the mountain. This gave me a lot of confidence in Evans and Climb Kili. 

As we hiked lower we entered the world of Dr. Seuss. All of the trees and moss reminded me of his books. I felt for sure that he had to have visited here. The trees grew sideways, some had funny looking tops, green and orange moss blew from the limbs like silly string. This was by far my favorite habitat we traversed. 

Dr. Seuss trees

Evans and me 

Although I started to feel better, some of the group started to drop like flies after feeling the effects of 15,000 feet. Eric won the award for first to vomit. His brother David was so nauseous that he couldn't eat a bit of food all day and crashed halfway down. Cindy ran out of water and began losing her balance. A benefit of having a group of 11 was teamwork. We all came together and helped everyone back down to camp. It's amazing how fast we bonded together. But I guess if you're stuck on a mountain with people for a 7 day adventure it's not surprising. Arman was the only one not to experience any altitude issues. Not shocking because he's been a walking pharmacy, passing out meds left and right. But I think he's secretly bummed he hasn't had to use his scalpel yet. By the time we reached camp my knees had blown up from the 2,000 ft descent. The hiking poles helped by taking away some strain on them, but it made me dread thinking about the final mountain descent after summitting. I'd rather go up than down. 

Shows how high we are getting!

Barranco Camp

Once we arrived and finished our camp routine, dinner was zucchini soup, elbow pasta with meat marinara and scalloped potato and onions. No fun and games tonight. Everyone is sick or exhausted. Heading to bed... scratch that.... tent to pass out.