Saturday 01/09/2012
15,000 ft - 15,978 ft
1 hr 44 mins
I forgot to set my heart rate monitor, so don't have any other stats.
Yesterday it took us 1 hr 55 mins to reach this camp on our acclimatisation hike so we have improved by 10 minutes today which shows the acclimatisation has worked.
A good job considering I briefly thought of pulling out this morning. I had a really bad night with pain in my right hip. It has been acting up for the last three days and causing a lot of discomfort especially at night. A combination of arthritis and fibromyalgia pain that is only mildly responding to my medications. Last night it kept me awake most of the night and I reckon I only got about three hours sleep total. It was so painful when I finally got up at 6.00 that I ended up in tears a couple of times, in the privacy of my tent of course. I am used to this level of pain on a regular basis due to my illnesses however the whole struggle of being in a tent and the cold and sleep deprivation got to me and I lost it a couple of times. Then I remembered what my brother, Brent, always says when someone is hurt "It's only pain" . So I pulled myself together and told myself to get on with it, after all I couldn't bear to hear Brent say to me "what, you pulled out because of pain!" he would never have let me forget it. So take more drugs, apply more Mobicosa gel to take down the inflammation in the joint and get on with it - onwards and upwards!
And now that we are at the next camp, I am so glad I made the effort.
There is no longer a glacier at Arrow Glacier Camp but it is named after the one that was once here many years ago.
We are camped directly under the Western Breach Route that we will tackle tomorrow. This takes us to the crater.... It's so close now that you can feel it.
The Western Breach is hazardous and we have to wear helmets for this section. . Hosea tells us we are to be up at 4.00am for breakfast and we leave at 5.00am sharp. It is important to climb when the scree is still frozen....sounds wonderful :0. Apparently we weave our way in a zig zag pattern up the breach as it is way to steep to go straight up but neither Nick or I can see any path on the face of the breach.
We are eating at 5.00pm tonight and in bed by 6.00pm. We have to have all our gear ready to go as soon as we are up so I've decided to sleep in most of mine - because it is so damn cold! I just have to add the weather proof layers in the morning. Hosea has suggested I climb in the following gear;
LEGS:
2 pairs of Merino long Johns
Fleece pants
Gaiters
And outer weather proof pants
UPPER BODY:
1 long sleeved Merino base layer
2 long sleeved Merino mid-layers
And my Mountain Hardwear Down filled jacket
HEAD:
Fleece balaclava
Knitted hat with windstop liner.
Helmet with head torch attached.
HANDS:
Down filled mittens
FEET:
Merino lightweight liner socks plus heavy weight Merino outer socks.
We spend this afternoon getting our gear selected and all out ready to go. Plus selecting the many energy supplements we will be taking on this climb. Tomorrows climb is the really big challenge and everything has to be just right.
There is also a fair bit of mental preparation going on at this stage and I am just about to chill out and listen to Tracey's Creative Visualisation again.
Wish me luck for tomorrow :)
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