0445 hrs and Ive been up for 2 hrs unable to sleep. I told and ice cold shower this morning that really woke me up.
Day 2 of hiking turned into a physical nightmare.
The day started with an ice cold shower in the camp and then a light breakfast. We've been advised not to eat meat after this point as all meet has to be packed in with no refrigeration.
We left camp about 0730 for what was to be about 6 hrs of hiking. We hiked down to the river and had to cross suspension bridges a few times. These thing are scary to me as they bounce and sway and the wind blows and I'm always wondering if the slats are gonna fail. In the movies they say don't look down and turns out that is sound advice.
We hiked up and down over some of the roughest and rockiest and steepest trail you could imagine. It was tough hiking but I was enjoying it. We'd occasionally have to stop for a passing caravan of mules or oxen.
At one point Nick befriended a dog on the trail. He gave the do some water out of his hand and that was it, Nick had a new friend. At the next little village we came to Nick bought a can of sardines and gave it to the dog and he really enjoyed those.
We stopped for lunch after 3 hrs of hiking at little camp in the last village before Namche, our destination for the day. I had Sherpa stew and a potato salad. The stew was nothing more than boiled potatoes. We saw potatoes being grown everywhere by the locals.
After lunch the trail started climbing in elevation. We were down in the basin between the mountains and could look up and see 2 suspension bridges about 1000 feet above the canyon and Ross said we'd be crossing the bridge. OMG. We climbed for about an hour in one of the most exhausting hours of my life. At times you stepped from rock to rock and other times you climbed rock stairs until you quads were just on fire. The scenery was of course magnificent and I'd pause often to take some photos.
When we got to the top of the climb at the highest suspension bridge I've ever seen in my life I was exhausted beyond belief. I've finished 5 marathons and never been this tired. I was happy to have made the climb to the top.
But we were not at the top. We still had at least 2 hrs of very steep climbing before Namche. But first we had to cross that bridge. It looked scary as all hell and it was. The wind was really howling at that hight and the bridge bounced with every step. What made the bouncing bad was the bouncing caused by other people on the bridge. It was like when 3 people are on a trampoline and jumping at different rates. You never new if the 'bottom' of your step was gonna rise up to meet your foot or drop a few inches. I tried not to look down but you can't help but see and know you are 1000 feet up in the air on this little foot wide bridge. Well crossing the bridge was not optional so I sucked up my fear and headed across. My heart was racing by the time I got across and I wanted to just sit for a while but we still had 2 of the hardest hours of the steepest climbing I could ever imagine ahead of us. I was spent.
I would would walk about 25 feet and have to stop. Not only was I getting winded but I'd hit the wall....I bonked. The first time I ever seriously bonked was when I was training for my first ironman. I was 103 miles into an 109 mile bike ride and my body literally just shut down. I had to call Casey to come pick me and my bike up in Belle Mina. One would think after biking 103 miles, going another 6 miles would be nothing but not when your body shuts down. So here I was on the trail with no Casey to call to came rescue me. There was no SAG support or medical people coming to help. It was then that I realized I'd been hiking a very strenuous hike for over 4 hrs with almost no nutrition. My endurance training had taught to take in about 500 calories per hour when running of biking but I'd had nothing but a few potatoes.
The Nepalese people are very short and small people and at least half of the Napalese people I passed on the trail would stare at me like I was Yetti. I guess they don't see many 6'3" 300 lbs me up here. And of course with Nick at 240 and taller than me we were quite the novelty.
The next 3 hrs were the hardest 3 hrs of my life. The trail was so steep it was like constantly climbing stairs. The air was getting thinner and that was taking its toll. I would walk 30 feet and have to stop. I was dehydrated and my quads began to cramp. It was very painful. But there was nothing to do but keep moving upwards. I knew eventually I'd have to make it but there were a few times I thought I might pass out. It was slow going and I felt bad for Nick and Ross who stopped and waited for me every time I'd stop.
We saw an 11 yo boy carrying a pack that we found was about 75 lbs. The boy probably weighed less than his pack. He was really struggling but he pressed on. I tried to find inspiration in this but at this point it was energy my body needed. Nick had some gummy bears and I ate the and that seemed to help a little. He also had an orange and I ate a piece of that and nearly hurled so threw the rest away.
We finally made it to Namche and I struggled walking thru town. Namche is considered the gateway to Everest and the other local peaks. It is a large village and a huge market place. Of course everything here had to be carried in from Lukla either on the backs of mules or donkeys or oxen or on the backs of the Nepalee.
I was filthy with black dirt and dust from the trail so we paid five bucks for a shower. I took about a 2 hr nap and then went down to eat. I was not hungry. Go figure. Must be the altitude. I forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes.
My confidence is shaken and I seriously dont know if I will make it as high as EBC. I think we at at 12200 feet here and EBC is 17600. Given how hard today was and how I was gasping for air like fish out of water, I don't know how much higher I can go. I will try to find some Cliff bars or power bars before today's 5 hr hike. It is 1:45 am but I can't sleep....
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