At breakfast I felt a bit queasy again and had very little appetite. I didn't manage to eat much and felt pretty ill as we set off. We had been told that today would be a cold climb so we would need gloves, balaclavas, fleece and down jacket, but the morning climb was in full sun. This meant carrying all the rest of the kit, which I had tried to avoid doing so far. Again, I quickly fell behind and Juma stayed with me all the while playing his little transistor radio (the Clouds FM breakfast show) and it was starting to grate on me. The others had all agreed to meet where the path forks as we were due to take the path around the lava tower and Juma needed to show us which way to go. This particular leg of the journey was designed to help us deal with the high altitude as we would ascend to 4600 metres before descending about 1000 metres to sleep at the lower altitude. The climb up was pretty tough though... not because of the climb, but because of the headache which pounded through my head like nothing before it had ever done! I sat on a rock with my head in my hands and wondered if I could make another day, let alone the summit! A fellow climber patted me on the shoulder and gave me the strength to carry on a bit further. As we crossed a ridge the wind whipped across making me reach for my balaclava to fend off the cold, and still I kept walking. "How far?" I asked Juma..."Oh, it's quite far...I don't think you see your friends today" he said, not too reassuringly. I could see the fork ahead of us and I have never felt so happy in my life as when I saw Rob coming down the hill to meet me, give me a hug and tell me that everything was ok.
0 评论:
Post a Comment