Camp 1 to Camp 2

October 29

At camp 1, there is not much choice but to go to bed before 7:00 and stay there until the sun hits the tent around 7:00 the next day.  That is a lot of time in a tent.  Around 1:00AM I woke up and started to think of all the things I am thankful for like  so many, people willing to help me get ready for this project, not just once but three or four times. The people who would teach me Spanish while we hiked in Ecuador, or Emma’s mother following us into the mountains of India, by GPS and praying that we didn’t get hypothermia in the hailstorm. The  long conversations while hiking up mountains, the EPA, for the porters, and for so many things, especially Catherine. It was a long list.  It also snowed a few inches,  and so I stalled as long as possible before taking a load up to camp 2 so the rock would dry, which took a while because it was very cold. I wore approach shoes and climbed all the way, with a pack.  But this was apparently not at the way to climb, to my surprise everyone else on the mountain was using a jumar or ascender to get up the rock using the fixed lines. 

A typical rat nest of rope and tat and twine that makes up a Himalayan anchor, like a boy scout learning to tie a knot, if you are not sure, just add more turns. The camp situation at camp 2, 19, 614. We returned to camp 1 to sleep.