Day 10 - Base Camp (4,255 mtrs)

Nice lazy start to the day with the sun shining as we breakfast. The cut on my knee is getting better with only a small amount of light discharge this morning. The insides of my knees are a different matter with both still swollen after yesterday. Not sure what is going on with them as I have not had anything like this before.

Gus is not in that much better shape as he does not appear to have been able to shake whatever is upsetting his stomach. This is both unpleasant in the short term but a bigger problem is that a few days not eating will completely sap your energy reserves leaving you nothing for the summit. He seems better now but I would imagine that some drugs will be required should he relapse during the day. Today we are heading to base camp with a few interesting passes along the way and our first sight of CP itself.

The first pass is still pretty green and there are a fair few trees - this also provides a good view back towards last night's camp on the far side of a pretty lake. The slope up to the pass is pretty steep and we are climbing /scrambling most of the time. Unfortunately, by the time we get to the top it has started to rain and the wind is picking up so we take refuge in a nearby cave whilst we divide up Gus' gear as he is now really struggling with a combination of being unwell and not having been able to eat properly for a couple of days. As a result if this and our rapidly approaching summit day, it becomes necessary to give him some strong, last resort drugs to flush out his system.

After that we rise further, leaving all but the smallest patches of greenery behind and also rise up into the clouds. Although we can't see much we are now walking, scrambling and climbing on the grey, weathered limestone and despite the miserable weather the change or terrain makes it quite an enjoyable day. We have a break for a bit of lunch and a drink and for the first time on the trip the porters are pretty quiet as they are subdued by the clouds and continual rain.

 

We hit our maximum height at 4,500 mtrs on New Zealand pass which is the final one where we get out first glimpse of CP itself through the clouds and then drop down to base camp.

We get to camp in a rare dry spell which is great for putting up the tents but then as with every other day if proceeds to rain virtually all evening.

 

This has been a really dispiriting aspect of the trip as not only does the continually rain limit what you can do it also makes the cold a miserable, wet cold which penetrates your clothes and bones. This is far worse than the cold that you get in dry environments like high mountains that are far from the coast.

My cut is still playing up and for some reason decides to bleed quite a bit (this is the only time it has happened) whilst I am cleaning it.

We have supper in bed and then read / chat before going to sleep.

Food:
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches
Noodle soup then fried spam with boiled
potatoes