Click here to go to the photo album for this day

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, with the exception of our packs being filled with our tents & bags, in addition to some group gear. Weather was also a repeat of yesterday – blue skies and little wind.

Everyone did better on the steep section today, in part due to better acclimatization, knowing what to expect, and also Luke’s tips on traversing scree efficiently.

For those who don’t know, scree is basically loose rock that slips when you step on it, taking more effort for each step and also losing some ground due to slippage. Think of a really uneven, rocky treadmill and you get some idea of what it is like. Luke’s tip was to take small steps and post-hole similar to climbing in snow, which definitely made things easier!

In case anyone’s wondering about the bathroom situation – we had outhouses at Base Camp. Though exposed to the elements, they were far superior to what we have now – wag bags with kitty litter for #2. And we only get one per camp so we’re supposed to re-use them, not to mention the designated sites are exposed to cold weather and high winds. It could be worse though, as IMG has paid for a porter to take our bags down from each camp. Otherwise we’d have to lug them up the mountain in our packs…

Continue to Day 9 – Carry to Camp Two