Day 3 - You spin my head right round, right round...! (by Darina)

Wednesday 22nd September 2010

Day three on the mountain was important to me for several reasons. It was the first time I had experienced a headache and the first time I had realised what being in high altitude meant.

The morning is chilly but beautiful with a view of the sun rising over the pink and white fluffy clouds below us. Again I couldn't sleep properly at night but still I feel fairly refreshed and ready for another challenge. Today shouldn’t be a long walk as we are supposed to reach the next camp (4300m) around one in the afternoon and then later we have an acclimatisation walk planned (up to 4600m and back to the camp). Obote and Lazarus are our main guides for today. The walk starts uphill and is uphill all the way. Thankfully we are again walking very slowly so the rocks and stones are not a big obstacle to tackle. The nature is changing around us, it’s mostly bushes which gradually disappear until we reach only stones and rocks with no green vegetation around us at all. We are passing the 4100m mark at which point I realise I have a dull pain at the back of my skull. It’s not huge but it’s there and it’s not going away. This is my first encounter with the altitude sickness.

We are steadily hiking up the hill, Obote is promising that our camp is basically at the top of the hill. I am not tired but a bit lethargic although otherwise still very well compared to some of my co-hikers. Every break is a very welcome opportunity to catch the breath and just sit for a minute and enjoy the fact that we are over 4000m. The sky is clear and it’s sunny and dry although the wind occasionally gets under the skin.

Eventually we get to the top and to the camp which is quietly sitting in the valley under the Mawenzi peak. From here we cannot see Kibo. The ground is fairly even so I am hoping for a nice good night when I actually manage to get some sleep. But now it’s time for lunch. There is more of us now having headaches and some people are not able to eat or just simply lack the will to eat. This is the occasion when the encounter with high altitude is very real. Simple walking or bending or getting down to sit in the tent is leaving us breathless. It’s difficult to get used to the fact that everything needs to be done in slow motion but the sudden rush into the head when I do things in my normal pace teaches me the lesson very fast. We have a lunch after which I am taking a couple of Paracetamols as my headache is still there and pounding. Then we rest before our acclimatisation walk.

The walk takes us up to one of the ridges of Mawenzi. It’s very steep and rocky trek but the views are incredible. Finally we see Kibo again and the path across the saddle from Mawenzi to Kibo Huts where we will be walking tomorrow. Although our group is now affected by various altitude problems - tiredness, lack of sleep, not being able to eat, headaches, nausea - we all are very optimistic when seeing Kibo in front of us. It feels quite surreal to be here above the clouds and looking at the impressive hill ahead.

The acclimatisation walk takes about two hours. After our return to the camp, the usual evening routine expects us, followed by the dinner. The weather changes very fast after the sun set and what was a pleasantly warm day transforms into a cold and windy night. Our faces that were very optimistic just a few hours ago are now showing worries and the fear of uncertainty. My headache is gone but I decide it's the time for Diamox. I don't have time to think about the side effects, I only keep thinking that I really really want to get to the top of the hill and I will do anything I can possibly do. At this point I have no idea what an adventure the night ahead will be.

One of the things that are repeated to us on a regular basis is that we need to drink as much as possible. It's fairly simple during the day (I think I managed to drink around three litres only during the morning trek today) when you have opportunities to go and send an email whenever you need to. It's a different story at night. You have to get out of the very warm and nice sleeping bag into a sharply cold tent, get dressed, get out of the tent, find your way to the toilet tent and then go back, undress, get into the sleeping bag. All this is causing you shortness of breath, not to mention the wind and chill outside is not very friendly either. I am aware that Diamox is making this even worse as one of the side effects is the need to go and send emails more often than normally. The only thing I can do about this is to limit my drinking before we go to sleep. I manage to fall asleep fairly quickly (I did try ear plugs too which helped a lot), unfortunately am woken up soon - yes, I need to send an email. There is not much I can do, so I undergo the whole daunting procedure. Then I realise I feel very very dehydrated (which is very unusual for me) so I dare to have a little sip of water from my Camelbak. Unbelievably I need to go get up again after an hour or so. And one more time later at night even though I didn't dare to even think about having another sip. One night when I don't have issues with falling asleep and I spend it travelling to the toilet and back... However ridiculous or silly this sounds, this was my worst experience from Kili.

But hey, the night is over and ahead lies the day D when we get as close as possible to the foot of Kibo and night N when we start our trek to the summit...

Diamox part 2, Malvern Hills & will all this fit into my rucksack?

This week we have decided to try "the other" Diamox, meaning the tablets I got as opposed to the bright orange capsules Paul did. After that w

e went for a trek in Malvern Hills. The day started fairly bright with an occasional light shower. We didn't encounter any rain on the hills but the wind was very, very strong and on several places I saw myself flying away towards Hereford, it was so difficult to stand on the ground.

The trek was approximately ten to eleven miles, very hilly (as you'd expect :)) but pleasant. We started in the car park under the North Hill and then went through the Worcestershire Beacon to the British Camp and then back. We didn't do the full walk over all the hills purely because of the fact there isn't any direct transport back to Great Malvern.

We tried our Buffs, which are a multipurpose headware - you can use it as a bandana, beanie, scarf, balaclava etc. etc. (more information: http://www.buffwear.co.uk/pages/product-info/ways-to-wear.php) Seems very useful although you can end up looking very silly:

And one more picture from the area:

This week there were also a few more parcels for me. I now have all my batteries, all energy bars & gels, contact lenses and a running headband, specially shaped to cover ears. We are also recommended to have some reading materials as there will be plenty of resting time (during the first few days); for this occasion I have purchased a book called "Competitive runner's handbook" which has almost 700 pages and will help me falling asleep fast during the long evenings :-)

So now I've got most of the stuff, I thought - let's try to fit it all in the rucksack. I laid out all the clothing & toiletries & other bits and bobs on the bed and it looked like this:

Lots of stuff but it's a three week trip covering various climates and any possible weather conditions. Then I tried to pack it all in my red rucksack. It did go quite well although when I was trying to put it on my back and carry around afterwards, I have almost fallen backwards... I am glad my Camelbak Commander (daypack) is quite roomy and I will be able to accommodate some more stuff there. I just need to check what luggage weight allowances we actually have for the flights!!!

Another good news is that I am (after all) getting my (swine) flu jab! I got a call from the nurse earlier this week asking me if I still wanted the jab and if so, could I please come in on Tuesday morning? :-) Wonderful. It will cost me ten quid - I guess they realised they could at least earn a few quid as these will be soon discontinued anyway...

Less than three weeks to go!

Diamox party anyone? How about a nice 10-mile walk?

Time for partying? Not yet. But my GP recommended to try one of the Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets (that are used to prevent the altitude sickness) to see if I have any bad reactions to it. The list of side effects is quite impressive (in a bad way) so we both (Paul and me, not the GP) thought it would be quite a good idea to try one and see how it goes.

Paul got his prescription sooner than me (also his GP prescribed him 28 pcs, mine only 10. Are the GPs in West Bromwich just more generous?) so we tried one capsule (apparently Diamox comes in different shapes and textures too) each on Monday evening. And then we went to play squash... I regret that there wasn't anybody to take a video of us :). Paul claimed his fingers tingled (which is one of the side effects) and my throat had a weird metallic taste (another side effect) but we were not sure if we were just making these up (just a plain common paranoia) or if they were real. In any case our game was a bit of a comic tragedy starring a giggling five-year old (me), dizzy cows running around the field (both of us) and one very crappy performer (you see, Paul is usually very good in squash so he had to blame the bad game on something :-P). What a show though! Still giggling just thinking about it.

In summary we didn't experience any bad reactions which is a good thing as Diamox could be the trick up our sleeve to win the battle with altitude.

As a part of training we went for a nice ten mile walk this Friday. First we drove to Worcester where we left the car and took a train (had to wait for it for three quarters of an hour!!!) to Droitwich Spa. Our goal was then - yes, you got it right - to walk back to Worcester. We were following the canal walk (once we found the canal, you wouldn't believe how difficult it could be :)) which was not very physically demanding and a little bit dull (I do have this feeling that when we face the dullness of the higher stages of Kili, we will be happily recalling the memories of the neverending grass and lines of water plants though) but the weather was foul which was great. I mean, it was raining and normal average person would describe the weather as foul, but we were happy to be able to try our kit! Btw. I now know I am definitely not a rain stopper :-D.

The walk along the canal was a long drag, interesting at times, boring at others, then we left the route and hopped across some fields to join Northwick heritage walk along the river Severn. This eventually led us to Worcester, although the directions were not quite clear and at times not very useful either. I mean, what would you imagine under the term "elegant pump house"? And that's only if you actually know what a pump house is? The ugly building we eventually came across wasn't elegant at all and if there wasn't a big sign saying it was the pump house we wouldn't know anyway.

So after something like four, four and half hours, lost and found on several occasions, confused (both), tired (me a lot, Paul slightly), with a sore hip (me) but otherwise happy and ok, we got back to Shrub Hill train station in Worcester, got into the car and drove back home :)) Great experience and our kits are waterproof - tried and tested, yay! My hip is recovered too and I managed to walk three miles to War Memorial Park this morning, run 3 miles there and then walk another 3 back home without any big pains or problems! 27 days to go!!!