Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Eleven: June 20th, 2007

Day Eleven: Day Three of the Trek: Rest Day at Paiju

Today I woke up at 6:30AM and felt horrible. I was achy, nauseous, had no appetite, and couldn't use the rest day at paiju as I had hoped. I went to breakfast and struggled to eat my omelet and quickly realized that eating was the last thing I should have done. I returned to my hot tent to lay down, and in the end, lost my breakfast. I determined it to be heat exhaustion, being that at one point during the previous day’s hike, it was 45 degrees Celsius. I took a two hour nap, got some liquids down, had a small lunch, and felt well enough to go take a “shower” (a bucket of freezing water and a cup, but it gets the job done). After that, I felt great. I organized my loads again, charged everyone’s phones and talked with the other expedition members. Before dinner, we had our usual porter triage clinic in the mess tent where we attempted to our best ability to at least alleviate the symptoms of everything from UTI’s to cavities and blisters. We had dinner (that I was finally able to enjoy) and went to bed.