October 23, 2012

 Day 13.  Lobuche East Base Camp (17,356'/5290) to High Camp

Not a big day today.  We didn't leave base camp until 10-ish.  We took just 2 hours to get to high camp, with lots of rest stops along the way.  Apparently I was successful in catching up on my hydration yesterday; I had to get up to pee four times last night.  And I was a bit warmer in my tent - down to just 2 layers inside the sleeping bag.  We all packed a much smaller bag to go up to high camp and left the big bags behind.  

Our climb today was not too bad, but we still have a big climb tomorrow.  Our views today were amazing.  I can only imagine what we'll be able to see tomorrow!  High camp is well situated - it has a little lake for water and some level-ish places to camp.  It's also better for acclimatization to stop here.  We saw two guys from Britain come down yesterday.  One was in good shape but the other one was definitely not!  It's better for us to be careful and go slow.  The plan tomorrow is to go up and then get back down to base camp.  However, Sangye is prepared for us to spend two nights at high camp if necessary.

Tomorrow's objective

Tomorrow's objective - getting closer!

Lunch was OK today, and the good news was that I was able to eat.  I also had some jerky and gorp in the afternoon.  Dan had a bad nosebleed on the way up today.  I had a bit of one when I blew my nose last night.  Altitude and dryness I suppose.  Other than still having some coughing fits and the resulting fatigue from that, I actually don't feel too bad (touch wood).  

About 2pm Sangye, Dandi, Dawa and Geljen headed up the mountain again.  Not sure why.  Maybe just to check out our route for tomorrow.  

I put some moleskin on my heels for tomorrow as a preventive measure as I don't know what hiking/climbing all day in the mountaineering boots will be like.  They are new-to-me, so better to be safe than sorry.  I'm sure I'll have enough challenges without worrying about my feet!