With no further mule support, our job now was to move as much gear to Camp 1 as physically possible. For some who hired a porter, that meant a lighter load. For others who didn’t, it meant carrying a pack weighing anywhere between 15-17 kilos (33-37 lbs) for 2.5 miles and 2,500 feet of elevation.
Taking this selfie with Nico, one of our guides, I opted to carry my own gear instead of using a porter.
We followed this moraine, which is carved out by glacial movement as it melts.
It’s really amazing to see the power of nature so up close and personal, let alone walk through it.
We moved ever so slowly to conserve energy.
I kept getting in trouble for lagging behind, but I couldn’t help wanting to snap pictures for this post.
Camp 1 is close as we near the top of this snow field.
The first high camp comes into view at 16,400 feet.
One-way stats were 2.5 miles and 2,559′ of elevation. I think the moving time is wrong because my watch said 3h 32m for Moving Time, but the Total Time was consistent at just under 5 hours for this distance. I dunno. I’ll trust my phone since I’ve used this mobile app much longer than this new watch.
We took a short break before heading down with empty bags. We will repeat this process again, after another day of rest.
What took 5 hours to go UP was done in an hour and a half DOWN…
Here are the stats from our descent back to base. Again, I’m going to stay consistent by using my phone’s stats over the watch. So today’s total mileage is 4.95 miles with 2,559 feet of elevation, gained only from the ascent.
With the 2nd hardest day behind us, it was definitely an effort to be followed by another day of rest.
