Dec 23rd, 2008: We awoke today at the Shira Camp, ate breakfast, and began our 6.5 hour trek for the day. We began to feel the effects of the altitude on this steady upward climb; shortness of breath and, in Ryann’s case a light headedness, as though living in a dream. The climb continued to 4600 metres at the Lava Towers, where we snapped a few photos through the mist, and progressed back down, through beautiful cactii-like forests, to 3900 metres for sleeping.
This climbing and descending to sleep is part of the process to help us acclimatize to the altitude; every several hundred metres higher that we climb will help us cope with the final summit day.We were caught in the rain again today, for about the last hour of our hike, and were shivering upon arrival to our next camp.
Kerri and I invited (or rather pleaded with) Carmen to join us in our tent for the evening; the hope being that a third person’s body heat would enable us all to remain warmer throughout the night. Nonetheless, the bundling of clothes in our sleeping bags was necessary, and what a sight we were the next morning: Carmen in a fleece tuque, Kerri in her lopsided wool hat, and Ryann in a Santa Claus hat, given to her and Kerri as a parting gift from Canada, to help celebrate Christmas away from our loved ones. Who knew it would be so useful?!
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