Day 6: Summit day. 

We woke around 11:00 P.M. to prepare to start our trek at midnight.  It’s cold but thankfully there is little wind so it’s not too bad.  The temp is probably around 20 F if I’d have to guess.  After some hot soup. a fill of our water bottles, and a quick check of our headlamps we start out on our final trek to the summit.

There are already groups on the trail and we can see their headlamps twisting and winding their way up the trail.  We join the parade with perhaps 50 other climbers and their guides as we make our way over rocks and sometimes dirt trails.  For the most part we have to rely on our guides as the trail is not always readily apparent especially in the dead of night.  There is no moonlight as it’s a new moon, so our only light comes from our headlamps.  The travel is rough and the higher we get, the tougher it becomes both from a strength perspective as well as from a breathing perspective. 

Some of the members of other groups are suffering from altitude sickness and we begin to pass some of them.  Dan and Brian seem to have more energy than the rest of us and begin to pull away with one of our guides from us while Erika, Bill, and I stay with Austin and Ignas.   After about 3.5 hours of hiking I begin to hit the proverbial “wall” with almost no energy left.  Austin makes sure that it’s just lack of energy vs. altitude sickness and urges me to press on.  Bill is beginning to slow down also so we’re taking frequent breaks.  My breathing seems OK however it’s beginning to get a little harder for Bill to breathe and Erika seem OK for now.  Austin and Ignas help me work through the fatigue and I finally get my “second wind” about 5 hours into the hike. 

We still take frequent breaks and Erika is now beginning to slow down.  Austin has some Red Bull (which surprises us) and shares some with us as well as some hot tea.  We hit our snacks pretty hard to give us some extra energy and it seems like it’s helping me from an energy perspective.  We keep pressing on and around 5:30 we begin to see daylight to our right with a faint pink sky.  We finally begin to hit snow and ice around 17K ft but it’s to our right and not on the path we’re taking.  The temps haven’t been as cold as I expected so I’ve been a little warm with the number of layers I have on.  I’ve had to open my jacket and bib snow pants to let some heat out so as not to sweat and become chilled.

Around 6:30 we hit Stella Point (second highest point on our trek) and take some pictures of Bill, Erika, myself and our guides.  Bill has been a little foggy in his mind for the last hour or so and Austin makes the decision to send him down as he’s suffering from the affects of the altitude.  We meet Dan and Brian as the return from the summit and begin to make their way back down.   Erika has hit her “wall” but is not suffering from altitude sickness.  She wants to press on as she is planning to distribute around the summit some of the ashes of her father who passed away several years ago.  She’s emotional but Austin understands the importance of this for Erika, so the three of us press on for the summit.  The morning is clear and the winds are calm which are unusual.  The temp is probably around 0 to -5  but feels much warmer.  We press on and marvel at the glaciers and snow fields all around us.  After about 45 min. we make the summit and our goal.  The air is so clear and we can see for miles in any direction.  We marvel at the beauty of the glaciers and the depth of the volcano floor below us.  Erika distributes some of her father’s ashes, we take some pictures, and begin to make our way back down.

 

Once we hit Stella Point we take a different route back to base camp.  The route is basically the path a glacier carved out hundreds of year ago.  It’s a scree field and we find ourselves sliding about 2 feet for every step we take.  Austin is holding Erika’s arm the full way down and I’m following close behind.  After about 2 hrs., some of our porters come out to help Erika down the last mile or so and take the back packs that Austin was carrying for her and himself.  An hour later we were finally back at base camp. 

We packed up the rest of our gear, had a quick breakfast, and began our trek to our last camp, High Camp where we’ll rest for the balance of the day before heading to the gate tomorrow morning.