- Return to Base Camp -

Journal:

"January 25, 2000 - Day 14 - Descent to Base Camp (cont.) - We had brought our gear up in stages - a carry then a move each time, now we would be carrying it all down at once - ad all the way to Base Camp - and the weight of the pack showed it - it was heavy!
    The packing had been slow so we did not start the descent until after noon.  Bruce and Pat left earlier so that Bruce could radio for the mules to start coming up to Base Camp.  Dave switched to another guided party so that he could make another summit attempt, and the rest of us started down about 45 minutes after Bruce and Pat.
    Like the summit descent we took straight line scree paths instead of switchbacks, which was faster, but  a lot more dangerous with a heavy pack and tired legs - I slowed myself down a lot to keep myself in control.
    In about 2 hours we were down to Camp 1 where we visited our stash, pulled out Dave's things to re-stash and distributed the rest among our packs - making them even heavier, probably 60-70 pounds now - and we started again.
    The hill was rough, but afterward, as we traversed toward the hill above Base Camp, a new wave of energy spilled over me - perhaps due to the thicker air - and I was suddenly able to travel a lot faster.  Pumps, who had been traveling faster than me to this point, did not seem to get a second wind and I could see his legs shaking under the strain of his load.
    We reached the end of the traverse and climbed down for the stream crossing.  Pumps fell down once and almost fell several more times, but now we could clearly see Base Camp below us and nothing was going to keep us from it.  We worked the switchbacks quickly and hiked into camp where Bruce, Pat, and Simon were drinking beer and wine with the Brits - who had summited the day before us.
    We sat, talked, and drank for a while, Bruce got called away a number of times to the radio tent, and then we decided to all get together for a pizza night that night at one of the larger kitchen tents - apparently Gisela, one of the cooks, makes pizzas of some sort (for a hefty price).
    Dinner is set for 8:30pm and we decide to play cards until then (at Daniel's tent, which is still empty since he has not returned).  Bruce joins and tells us that, by some miracle, the mules are able to get here the next day and we will not require a rest day to give them time to arrive.
    8:30 comes and we move to Fernando Grijales kitchen tent for the pizzas.  Gisela makes the pizzas with egg and sardines on them, which I scrape off, but they are otherwise fantastic - especially to those sick of mountain food (all of us).  For hours we ate and drank and told jokes - many of both our crew and the Brits getting so drunk they could barely talk.
    A little after midnight we called it quits and attempted the walk back to the tents - perhaps the most hysterical part of the night.  The sky was clouded over so it was completely black, no one had a light, and you could not see the paths.  Everyone was stumbling over rocks, bumps, tent guy lines, everything - hilarious.  Eventually we did find the tents and crawled inside and went to sleep."

[Previous] [Next]