After a brief nap of only about 25 minutes, we were back up for bunch at Barafu Camp. Everyone was clearly exhausted from the prior evening and morning adventure. We didn’t have the energy to celebrate or even engage in much chatter.
Ken and Diane seem to be feeling much better now that they are at a lower altitude. Their nausea subsided for the most part, but they both have lingering headaches. Similarly Polly and Sophie are back to normal. Neither of them remembers how badly they were effected by the high altitude.
After a quick lunch, we only had a half hour to pack our bags to descend down to Mweka Camp. None of us feels like walking right now due to our fatigue. But we know the sooner we get going, the sooner we’ll be at camp and can finally rest.
Everything hurts
The trail down to Mweka Camp dropped us down another 5,000 feet in elevation to around 10,000 feet. This would let our bodies breathe easier and rest more tonight.
Unfortunately, the terrain was rocky with huge steps we had to go down. My quads and knees were killing me the entire way. Once again, I was grateful for my ability to track our progress on my GPS watch because the trek seem never-ending in our overwhelming fatigue.
Each step hurt more and more, and I could feel hot spots developing on my big toes and the tips of my toes as they bumped up against the ends of my boots. Being on my feet for so much the past 36 hours has caused them to swell about half a size.
On the positive side, the temperatures are getting noticeably warmer the more we descend. After the bitter cold at the summit, sleeping at a comfortable temperature will be a pleasant reward.
We finally made it to Mweka Camp around 5 pm and were ecstatic to stop. Dinner was another quiet affair as we were just too tired to do much more than eat.
Like a drunkard doing math
At the end of dinner, Jack Bauer came into the tent to do our final health check and discuss tomorrow’s tipping ceremony. We’d all read the guidance online about this event and brought US dollars for tipping our various guides, porters, and cooks.
Although we generally knew how this was supposed to occur, we still needed decide how much to tip each guide and staff member should get, and then calculate what each member of our group owed to the kitty.
It was quite hilarious to watch us all attempt basic addition in our fugue states. One person would say something, then we’d all look at him or her with blank stares as if he/she was explaining quantum physics. It was like a bunch of drunkards trying to doing math.
Finally, Tracy took the lead and decided she’d do it all herself. It was probably for the best. As I discussed before, our group included five lawyers. And you know the saying about attorneys. If we wanted to do math, we wouldn’t have gone to law school.
Once we all chipped in what we owed, Tracy counted everything out and put it in separate envelopes for each category of the team – the guides, the porters (with a little extra for the two summit porters), and the cooks.
She’d keep hold of it until the tipping ceremony, and we were all grateful to get it done with so we could finally head off to bed. I’ve never been so happy to collapse into my sleeping bag and I’m sure I’ll be out like a light tonight.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t take any photos this afternoon during our descent. I had a difficult enough time keeping upright and watching my footing, and I needed both hands on my trekking poles. The fact that I made it down some of the rocky steps down without twisting my ankle or falling on my face seems like a minor miracle. But, unfortunately, that means this post is noticeably devoid of pictures.