Dispatch Twenty-two: April 15th, 2010 |
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Annapurna Expedition 2010 |
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Day Twenty-two: Climb to Camp II; Joao Garcia Goes for Summit Push Today, after waiting what seemed an eternity for the sun to hit the tent, I packed up my things and started up in the cool morning for Camp II. I crossed the crevasse field on the plateau, then as the day started heating up, climbed the remaining 500 vertical meters to Camp II. Just before arriving to the tents, Joao came and met me, asking me if he could use the tent I was carrying for his summit push (he already had one set up in Camp II that I could use). I considered for a moment, as I had been planning on sleeping in Camp III tomorrow, but finally decided that I would allow him to use it in Camp III today, Camp IV tomorrow, then return it in Camp III after his summit attempt for me to use on my next attempt. The bonus was that he would leave the tent in Camp III so I wouldn’t have to carry it there when I finally did sleep in Camp III. The disadvantage was that I wouldn’t have a tent to sleep in in Camp III tomorrow, which was what I was planning on doing. I passed the tent to him, and he headed off. I arrived to Camp II, moved into Joao’s tent, then went to work melting snow as the weather changed as it always did in the afternoons. Two Spanish arrived, followed by Jorge and Martin, who had come down from a carry to Camp III. Finally, around 5pm, Juanito, Tolo, Carlos and Javier pulled into camp, having been baked on the glacier in the hot sunny afternoon. Everyone settled in, made dinner, and got warm in their sleeping bags, as the sun fell behind the skyline, and the temperature dropped a few dozen degrees.
Photos: Left: One of hundreds of crevasses on the plateau enroute to Camp II; Right: Camp II with Annapurna I on the upper right of the frame |
