Post by Ed
This evening while preparing to pack my bags, my wife asked me what the symptoms were for altitude sickness, or more scientifically "Acute mountain sickness".
One of the items I had yet to check off was setting up my Journal, so I figured I kill 2 birds with one stone. I intended to put in my Journal a checklist of items I needed to check myself for daily to monitor such things as fluid intake, food intake, (and yes output as well), and to document my sleep as well. All of these items can assist in diagnosing altitude sickness.
So what do you look for?
First sign is a headache. Usually a throbbing head banger that gets more intense in the evenings and first thing when you wake up. Loss of appetite and feeling sick to your stomach (vomiting is common) are next. Feeling dizzy can be a by product of this or can occur on its own without other symptoms. Another sign is feeling weak and lazy. This is where the help of your travel mates comes into play. Everyone needs to monitor each other, this becomes more important the higher in altitude you go. And finally waking up during the night and not sleeping well is another indication that you may have an issue with the altitude. These symptoms can appear in any order.
So now how do you treat it?
Well consume plenty of water, no alcohol, do not go higher until your symptons go away. This could be a few hours or a few days. For the headache yo can take Tylenol, Advil, Motrin or Aleve, whatever works for you.
Most trekkers/climbers will have their doctor prescibe Diamox (acetazolamide)which speeds up how fast your body gets used to the altitude.
Can you prevent it?
You can reduce the likelihood somewhat by taking your time when you go to the higher altitudes, taking medicine (Diamox) in advance, not flying directly into high altitude areas, and eating certain foods.* Avoid large meals and alcohol, rest and drink plenty of liquids. Abide by the climbers mantra of "Climb High and Sleep Low".
*Eating lots of carbohydrates such as cereals, breads, pasta, and grains. The local diet is mainly comprised of potatoes, lentils, and rice. One example is Daal Bhat
Saturday, February 21, 2009
So Why Are We Going?
Post by Bruce
Of course there is the beauty of the country, the majesty of the mountains, and the humanity of the people we will meet.
I have always maintained that you are young twice – once when you are, and once when you can afford to be. This is a chance to see how young I still may be!
I can’t really say when I first had the specific desire for this trek. Maybe it started with reading Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, the story of death and disaster during the 1996 Everest climbing season. After that book, I read probably a dozen or so books having to do with Everest and the stories of success and failures. At a Bon Voyage party before my wife Ruth and I left for Antarctica in 2005, the host asked what my next grand adventure would be. Before I’d even thought about it, “Base Camp at Everest” slipped out of my mouth.
“Once you’re there in Base Camp, won’t you be tempted to try to go partway up the mountain?” many have asked. My response has been consistent – “Base Camp is my Everest, people who climb mountains are a different breed. I’m just choosing to walk among the mountains.”
A recently read book, Dark Summit contained a number of excellent quotations of famous mountaineers on the “why” of mountain climbing:
• From the author - … I came to think of high-altitude climbing not so much as a sport but as a kind of art, or in its purest form, rugged spirituality – a modern version of secular asceticism that purifies the soul by stripping away worldly comfort and convenience while forcing you to stare across the threshold of mortality. It is our effort to toil through these hazardous and inhospitable landscapes that culminates with such potent effect, what humanistic psychologists have described as the attainment of self-actualization, a pinnacle of personal expression that dissolves the constraints of our ordinary lives and allows us, even if fleetingly, to “become what we are capable of becoming.” This transformative power is, in a way, why summits have taken on so much symbolic importance for those who pursue them. As the reigning mythology suggests, the higher the peak, the more it fires the imagination.
• George Mallory – So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself, upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life.
• Woodrow Wilson Sayre – People grow through overcoming dangers and difficulties. They are not better off for being carefully wrapped in cotton batting. Deep within us I think we know that we need challenge and danger, and the risk and hurt that sometimes follow …Men climb mountains because they are not satisfied to exist, they want to live – climbing the heights is one way.
• David Sharpe – The summit wasn’t the end of the journey, but it was the culmination – the cure for the thing that gnawed inside him for so long. What folly to think that anyone climbs Everest for the views, or the thrills, or the bragging rights, or the vaguest of all, because it’s there. What’s there is this: the chance to be worthy of your own dreams.
Of course there is the beauty of the country, the majesty of the mountains, and the humanity of the people we will meet.
I have always maintained that you are young twice – once when you are, and once when you can afford to be. This is a chance to see how young I still may be!
I can’t really say when I first had the specific desire for this trek. Maybe it started with reading Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, the story of death and disaster during the 1996 Everest climbing season. After that book, I read probably a dozen or so books having to do with Everest and the stories of success and failures. At a Bon Voyage party before my wife Ruth and I left for Antarctica in 2005, the host asked what my next grand adventure would be. Before I’d even thought about it, “Base Camp at Everest” slipped out of my mouth.
“Once you’re there in Base Camp, won’t you be tempted to try to go partway up the mountain?” many have asked. My response has been consistent – “Base Camp is my Everest, people who climb mountains are a different breed. I’m just choosing to walk among the mountains.”
A recently read book, Dark Summit contained a number of excellent quotations of famous mountaineers on the “why” of mountain climbing:
• From the author - … I came to think of high-altitude climbing not so much as a sport but as a kind of art, or in its purest form, rugged spirituality – a modern version of secular asceticism that purifies the soul by stripping away worldly comfort and convenience while forcing you to stare across the threshold of mortality. It is our effort to toil through these hazardous and inhospitable landscapes that culminates with such potent effect, what humanistic psychologists have described as the attainment of self-actualization, a pinnacle of personal expression that dissolves the constraints of our ordinary lives and allows us, even if fleetingly, to “become what we are capable of becoming.” This transformative power is, in a way, why summits have taken on so much symbolic importance for those who pursue them. As the reigning mythology suggests, the higher the peak, the more it fires the imagination.
• George Mallory – So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself, upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life.
• Woodrow Wilson Sayre – People grow through overcoming dangers and difficulties. They are not better off for being carefully wrapped in cotton batting. Deep within us I think we know that we need challenge and danger, and the risk and hurt that sometimes follow …Men climb mountains because they are not satisfied to exist, they want to live – climbing the heights is one way.
• David Sharpe – The summit wasn’t the end of the journey, but it was the culmination – the cure for the thing that gnawed inside him for so long. What folly to think that anyone climbs Everest for the views, or the thrills, or the bragging rights, or the vaguest of all, because it’s there. What’s there is this: the chance to be worthy of your own dreams.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Our Itinerary
Everest Trek
Itinerary
March 6 & 7 arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal
March 8 acclimatization and orientation in Kathmandu (shopping)
March 9 fly Kathmandu – Lukla (45 minutes)
walk 3 hours to Phakding (2,652 m – 8,701’)
March 10 walk 6 hours to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m – 11,306’)
March 11 acclimatization and exploration day (shopping)
March 12 walk 5 hours – 12km – to Dole (4,200m – 13,400’)
March 13 walk 3 hours – 5km - to Machwemo (4,470m – 14,650’)
March 14 acclimatization and exploration day
March 15 walk 4 hours – 7km – to Gokyo (4,790 m – 15,584’)
March 16 hike up Gokyo Ri (5,340 m – 17,520’) and return to Gokyo
March 17 walk 4 hours – 7km – to Dragnag (4,690 m – 15,387’)
March 18 walk over Chola Pass (5,330 m – 17,782’) – 6 hours – to
Dzonglha (Jong La) (4,830 m – 15,846’)
March 19 walk 6 hours to Gorak Shep (5,184 m – 17,008’)
March 20 walk 6 hours to Everest Base Camp (5,300 m – 17,388’). and
return to Gorak Shep
March 21 early morning hike up Kala Pattar (5,623 m – 18,448’) for dawn,
walk to Lobuche (4,930 m – 16,175’)
March 22 walk 7 hours – 20km – to Pangbouche (3,930 m – 12,687’)
March 23 walk 4 hours – 9km – to Namche Bazaar
March 24 walk 6 hours to Lukla
March 25 fly Lukla to Kathmandu
Itinerary
March 6 & 7 arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal
March 8 acclimatization and orientation in Kathmandu (shopping)
March 9 fly Kathmandu – Lukla (45 minutes)
walk 3 hours to Phakding (2,652 m – 8,701’)
March 10 walk 6 hours to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m – 11,306’)
March 11 acclimatization and exploration day (shopping)
March 12 walk 5 hours – 12km – to Dole (4,200m – 13,400’)
March 13 walk 3 hours – 5km - to Machwemo (4,470m – 14,650’)
March 14 acclimatization and exploration day
March 15 walk 4 hours – 7km – to Gokyo (4,790 m – 15,584’)
March 16 hike up Gokyo Ri (5,340 m – 17,520’) and return to Gokyo
March 17 walk 4 hours – 7km – to Dragnag (4,690 m – 15,387’)
March 18 walk over Chola Pass (5,330 m – 17,782’) – 6 hours – to
Dzonglha (Jong La) (4,830 m – 15,846’)
March 19 walk 6 hours to Gorak Shep (5,184 m – 17,008’)
March 20 walk 6 hours to Everest Base Camp (5,300 m – 17,388’). and
return to Gorak Shep
March 21 early morning hike up Kala Pattar (5,623 m – 18,448’) for dawn,
walk to Lobuche (4,930 m – 16,175’)
March 22 walk 7 hours – 20km – to Pangbouche (3,930 m – 12,687’)
March 23 walk 4 hours – 9km – to Namche Bazaar
March 24 walk 6 hours to Lukla
March 25 fly Lukla to Kathmandu
Thanks to Ray Kopcinski
In a months time, Bruce and I will embark on a month long journey trekking to the Base Camp of Mount Everest in Nepal. As we prepare, we are thankful for the time, experience and expertise that Ray Kopcinski, (Ray Kopcinski center, Bruce Peckover on the left and Ed Skelly on the right) of Chicago, IL, has shared with us. In August he joined us for a training trip to Estes Perk, Colorado, where we attempted to summit Long's Peak.
We had some great experiences in Colorado, although we did not attain our goal of summitting. Many factors contributed to us not making the summit. Weather being the primary factor. On August 15th, we encountered extradinary weather which left 30" on snow in it's wake at the Boulder Field where we were to spend our Saturday night in a tent. We had rain at the lower altitudes, and made a prudent call to not spend our evening on the mountain. On Sunday's hike to 12,000 feet we ran into several groups descending, who confirmed our choice!
Ray shared his many mountaineering experiences with us, as well as many items he's learned over the years. In reviewing my notes from the trip, Ray had many "unique" camping/hiking items. Bruce and I nicknamed him "Inspector Gadget". Although after my many trips to REI since April 2008, I think my family would say I'm giving him a run for the title!
Ironically as we dined here at this restaurant in Este Park, CO, we were served by the owner, a Nepalese native, who knew of all the places we will travel. It was neat to hear Ray and he converse on the many places each which such familiarity.
Thanks again Ray....We greatly appreciate all your input and guidance.
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