Well that was just the worst night ever. I had a headache all night and I was freezing cold. I must have slept only few hours. I couldn’t lie on any side cos it made the headache worse. I could only lie on my back and I don’t sleep on my back. I don’t want to take anything for the headache as it only treats the symptoms and masks the pain when really I want to find out the cause the treat the cause. I’m worried it’s caused by altitude and in the early morning I’m convinced I’ll have to go down to base camp. I only have to walk to the Lhotse face, we’re not climbing it which I discovered last night and then the plan is to come back and sleep another night camp 2 and return the base camp next day. So I’d only be cutting out one night but how will that bode for going higher on the mountain.
I was thinking through the night at what stage does a cerebral oedema present itself. Will my brain explode. Is the headache caused by my brain swelling on my cranium with the pressure up high. I know I only have a tiny brain but I also have a very small head. A lot of times headaches up high are caused by dehydration so I drink almost all the water I have through the night. I have to pee 3 times in my pee bottle so now its full but it’s also a good clearish colour so it’s not that.
I get through the night and the sun hits the tent by 8am. I start to feel better so maybe a headache can be caused by simply being so cold. I’ll ask Craig when we get down but now I feel like I can certainly make it the couple hours over to the ropes on the Lhotse face.
While I’m waiting for breakfast I can’t wipe my face, my wet wipes are frozen, I can’t clean my teeth, my toothpaste is frozen. I always sleep with the factor 50 sunscreen
In my sleeping bag as I have to use it early morning so it’s a catastrophe if I can’t put sunscreen on in the searing sun during the day. I would end up with more than just a crusty chin lol. It’s not just the climbing that’s difficult and testing, it’s probably more the survival element and enduring the pain of the cold during the evenings and nights and early mornings, the heat of the sun during the day lower down and just how uncomfortable the living conditions are. Getting dressed in big boots, harness and crampons at stupid o’clock in the dark and the freezing cold to climb through the night is probably the worst feeling on the planet.
I start to thaw out and remove all the layers I slept in. My pee bottle will take hours to defrost before I can empty it out. This will be a bit of a conundrum on days we have to pack up and move early. I have to bring the pee bottle with me but I’m not carrying a litre of frozen pee along with it. And I’m certainly not putting it in my sleeping bag overnight.
Breakfast is the usual fried egg and pancake. I can’t eat much of it so I have a trail mix packet. It has over 300 calories so that should do me for the walk. I’ll bring a packet of cashews with me too.
We walk for two hours in blazing sun with gloves on. Imagine on the hottest day in london having to wear gloves but its for safety. When I get back to base camp I’ll have laundry for sure.
We reach the base of Lhotse and it looks so steep. This is definitely going to be tough.
We rest, take some photos, drink some water and return to Camp Two.
Tonight I’m going to sleep in my puffy down jacket with the good up to keep my head warm and see how that goes.
I’m also already into my second and last pack of wet wipes. I brought two packs of 30 wipes. So now I have to reuse them. After I use a wipe I put it back into the packet and only discard it after using it a second time. Parts of the body get priority lol and some some parts of the body are allowed the second time just before being discarded. There a hierarchy in operation of what gets cleaned and when.
Lying in my sleeping bag waiting for dinner I’m just thinking how happy I am to be camped up here on the side of the highest mountain in the world. When only this morning I thought I had cerebral oedema and would be going down to base camp. The highs and the lows are extreme. But right now I’m toastie. However I know the night will be long and freezing. I just hope I don’t have that bloody awful headache