Ascent Part III

7-30-2005 - Stok Kangri Base Camp, Summit Eve

 

Today we hiked up to Advanced Base camp.  Tundep (whose wifes name is Nundep, and who's last name is Tsetan -- pronounced like you would expect, so yes I am following the path of Satan) told me it would be about 2-3 hours depending on speed but we did it in just over an hour.  Here is where I sing the praises of Diamox.  Normally I shun pharmas of any kind as both a practicing stoic and because they are for wusses.  But seriously, this suff works.  No headache or lightheadedness or coughing.  Obviously physical exertion is still troublesome and your heart stilll races, but honestly the stuff works.  Ed Viesturs would probably consider it cheating, but considering that i don't have fancy (or even adequate) gear or sponsors or any of that stuff, I consider him to be a cheater.  So take that no ox boy.  

 

As a consequence I feel good enough to take a summit crack tomorrow (Base camp, btw is at about 14,500 feet or so, the summit is like 20,300ft (6150m) or something.  In theory tomorrow was supposed to be a rest day.  But since I'm out of ideas as to leisure (all I brought was a New Yorker summer ficition issue due to weight concerns.  I normally shun this issue because it's way too self important.  No magazine should ever have two pieces that use the word "cerulean" in them.  Even worse the only thing left to read is a a critical snoozefest on "The making of Americans", a long boring incoherent rant by Gertrude Stein, which shockingly, happens to make a long and boring article that you don't want to read.  Yes, Stein was avant garde.  So what? That doesn't make her good.  I can be avant garde too.  I could write this narrative on the back of a piece of used TP.  That woldn't make it good). 

 

So what we've established in the preceding paragraph is that I'm climbing a 20k foot mountain in the  Himalayas because I hate the NY'er summer fiction issue, as good a reason as any I guess.