Thursday, January 8, 2009

From Horombo Hut, 3720m


By 8:30AM we were yawning and after brief ablutions we hit the sack, having planned with the guides, to get up at 6:00AM - long before other climbers.  Back at camp we were treated to a fabulous meal of soup, roasted chicken, potatoes, kale, salad, and bananas for dessert.  We chatted about the day and discussed important issues such as 'acclimatization gas' and the very weird fizzing sensation in your fingers.  We were greeted at 6:00AM with bowls of hot water ad cups of tea.  Breakfast was pretty huge, toast, porridge, eggs, sausages, tomatoes and more tea.  We left the camp at 7:30AM and within 20 minutes we were out of the rain forest and in to the moor lands.  The sky is clear blue.  Ellen is still excited and a little nervous 'thus far'.  She hasn't been sleeping too well, however she is managing to rest, the 'tinglies' are really bothering her!  Susan unfortunately has a cold, however is hydrating lots and keeping her mind off her congestion by delving into the lives of the guides.  Sarah is doing well with only slightly sore palms.  The SideStix are performing fabulously.  Sarah's using the hiking tips with steell studs and she's as sure as a mountain goat (although she smells better!).  I'm (Kerith) doing great.  Feeling a little sore in the hips but other than that  - no problems.  Just so I can keep you up to date, I have my cell phone connected to a solar panel on the outside of my pack!  It was a long day today.  Seven hours and about 4,000 feet elevation gain.  Long slow slog, very hot in the sun, but cooling rapidly as the fog rolled in.  Horombo camp is very busy with people returning from the summit attempts and people like us on the way up.  It's very sobering talking to people who have attempted and failed, our anxiety levels have gone way up.   Today we passed someone being brought down on a wheeled stretcher and a young boy collapsed on the trail in front of us.  We've all be hydrating lots and we've all got minor headaches however we will be in Horombo for two nights so we will hopefully acclimatize somewhat.  We've all been popping headache pills and Sarah threw up after tea, hopefully this will be an isolated incident.  Sarah's SideStix have performed well again, however I had to put in some new studs because she lost a few on the rocks.  TTFN

4 comments:

  1. How terrific to receive your news! I am glad to hear things are going well. Will you sleep 2 nights at Horombo? Sounds sensible. If anyone is feeling bad you could try walking back down to lose some height for a few hours. Sarah should stick to carbohydrates to avoid throwing up and leave the sausages and roast chicken to Kerith, who might then end up throwing up too! All the best from all of us
    Love
    Torielle

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  2. Hello Sarah and Kerith
    We're thrilled to hear that things are going well and wish you strength for the remaining days of your climb. We send all our love.

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  3. Wow, keep going strong as we all know you would. So proud of you and checking in daily to see how things are going. Who knows maybe one day Mac will be able to join you on an excursion such as this. We all have dreams, way to go for making another of yours come true.

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  4. Tell Ellen all of her nurses back home are rooting for her, parasthesias and all! :) You can do it!! We're very proud of your progress so far!

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