[Noon] The snow is building up around our tents. There is snow even lodged between the fly and the sides of the tent, but I suppose that will add some warmth to our abode away from home! I had a a splitting headache this morning but drank two hot coffees and a liter of water. It has to be dehydration, so from now on, I will pound four liters a day whether we move or not, plus electrolytes and one aspirin to help the blood circulation. Wes, our tentmate and firefighter medic, taught us the aspirin thing. The drifts outside are a little crazy, especially on the south side of camp. Shovelling is required. To the left, Fede (RMI) serving up some hot food in the mess tent!A guide from Mountain Trips, who was hauling a climber down today, popped his head into the mess tent totally at random while we were devouring our freeze dried eggs and bacon. He had a message from the other RMI guide up higher. They are still at Camp IV at 14,300 ft. due to high winds up higher on the mountain. Camp III, at 11,200 ft., is apparently experiencing better conditions right now than we are at Camp II.
We may do a carry to Camp II today since taking everything while breaking trail would not be the best of ideas per Walter. Some of us would just rather move since the route is reportely very well wanded. We shall see what the day holds.
Oh yeah, and I dreamt very vividly last night that I was back at the office being asked how the climb was. In my dream, I couldn't remember anything above Camp II! Then I woke up! Since I normally don't see the future in my dreams, I'm sure it was only a nightmare!
[1:45 p.m.] Two teams were passing by about an hour ago, and Walter went to chat them up. They were doing carries from the base of Ski Hill to just above our camp. He is resisting the idea of doing anything today but we still might end up doing something.
Walter helped me change the CMC since it was full (ugh!) and then I shovelled out the path to our CMC dug-out. Call it my contribution for the day because after all, regularity is important!
Wes compared these rest days to days in a nursing home: wake up, drink your hots, get served breakfast, drink water, take a nap, eat lunch, pee, get hots, etc. Geez!
[4:00 p.m.] I just finished more of my book, constantly distracted by Wes' heavy breathing in his sleep, the Russian conversation in the tent next door between Yury and Brian, and the mild stench of our multi-day wait and an open bag of beef jerkey in the tent. I can hear another group outside probing a camp site with Walter's help. There are no pre-built/abandoned sites anywhere near here, but they are obviously looking for one. They are probably tired of moving and the blowing cold out. Although inside the tent, it is a sauna, with the sun delivering a good dose of radiant heat.
I am developing a dry air cough but nothing unmanageable. The air pressure is slowly rising. I'm feeling hydrated again and am on liter number three so far today! Oh where is my respite from this respite?
[8:30 p.m.] At around 7:00 p.m., with the pressure still rising, the clouds lifted briefly, like a stage curtain opening for the next act in a play. The omnipresent white blurb around us gave way to an irregular wave of nearly untouched white terrain across the Kahiltna, and the new campsites to the north popped out of the snow like colorful lunar outposts! The blue sky revealed itself and the sun exposed the nearby slopes, but within short order it disappeared again and a light snow started. Walter is confident that we will get to Camp III tomorrow and possibly even do a carry up towards Windy Corner, again all weather-dependent! We will end up leaving our snowshoes at Camp III in a cache and then switch to crampons for the rest of the climb. The real climbing starts after Camp IV at 14,300 ft., and we hope to arrive there on Thursday.
Tomorrow, we will get an earlier start, so I consolidated the messy abyss in my corner of the tent to a few stuff sacks and stashed another 2-day ziplock bag of food in my backpack and mixed up a gatorade in one of my nalgene bottles. We all can't wait to get out of Camp II!
Oh yeah, and dinner tonight was zesty chicken and rice. Yumm! I'm stuffed! In fact, I think that I'll be lucky if my zipper on my sleeping bag shuts all the way tonight!
We may do a carry to Camp II today since taking everything while breaking trail would not be the best of ideas per Walter. Some of us would just rather move since the route is reportely very well wanded. We shall see what the day holds.
Oh yeah, and I dreamt very vividly last night that I was back at the office being asked how the climb was. In my dream, I couldn't remember anything above Camp II! Then I woke up! Since I normally don't see the future in my dreams, I'm sure it was only a nightmare!
[1:45 p.m.] Two teams were passing by about an hour ago, and Walter went to chat them up. They were doing carries from the base of Ski Hill to just above our camp. He is resisting the idea of doing anything today but we still might end up doing something.
Walter helped me change the CMC since it was full (ugh!) and then I shovelled out the path to our CMC dug-out. Call it my contribution for the day because after all, regularity is important!
Wes compared these rest days to days in a nursing home: wake up, drink your hots, get served breakfast, drink water, take a nap, eat lunch, pee, get hots, etc. Geez!
[4:00 p.m.] I just finished more of my book, constantly distracted by Wes' heavy breathing in his sleep, the Russian conversation in the tent next door between Yury and Brian, and the mild stench of our multi-day wait and an open bag of beef jerkey in the tent. I can hear another group outside probing a camp site with Walter's help. There are no pre-built/abandoned sites anywhere near here, but they are obviously looking for one. They are probably tired of moving and the blowing cold out. Although inside the tent, it is a sauna, with the sun delivering a good dose of radiant heat.
I am developing a dry air cough but nothing unmanageable. The air pressure is slowly rising. I'm feeling hydrated again and am on liter number three so far today! Oh where is my respite from this respite?
[8:30 p.m.] At around 7:00 p.m., with the pressure still rising, the clouds lifted briefly, like a stage curtain opening for the next act in a play. The omnipresent white blurb around us gave way to an irregular wave of nearly untouched white terrain across the Kahiltna, and the new campsites to the north popped out of the snow like colorful lunar outposts! The blue sky revealed itself and the sun exposed the nearby slopes, but within short order it disappeared again and a light snow started. Walter is confident that we will get to Camp III tomorrow and possibly even do a carry up towards Windy Corner, again all weather-dependent! We will end up leaving our snowshoes at Camp III in a cache and then switch to crampons for the rest of the climb. The real climbing starts after Camp IV at 14,300 ft., and we hope to arrive there on Thursday.
Tomorrow, we will get an earlier start, so I consolidated the messy abyss in my corner of the tent to a few stuff sacks and stashed another 2-day ziplock bag of food in my backpack and mixed up a gatorade in one of my nalgene bottles. We all can't wait to get out of Camp II!
Oh yeah, and dinner tonight was zesty chicken and rice. Yumm! I'm stuffed! In fact, I think that I'll be lucky if my zipper on my sleeping bag shuts all the way tonight!
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