Slept great, except for being woken up by something gnawing on the tent and of course Matt's mid night trip to the outhouse. Breakfast exceeded expectations. We had pancakes, bread, and oatmeal and we would need it, because today would be the hardest day of the hike. Our goal was to make it over Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,200 meters or 13,770 feet. While I was comfortable with the thought of going that high, it would be the highest Matt had ever hiked.

It was a long slow journey up. I stopped once to take photos the trail was lined with a small set of waterfalls on its edge. After that, I walked the rest of the way with Matt. While he struggled a bit, to his credit, he never lost his sense of humor. By the time we got to the tea break, everybody was shoving off. We took a short break to recharge and then headed up the steep climb to the peak over 300 meters (app 1000 feet) above us. After making good progress, Matt suffered. So we broke the rest of the climb into small 10 meters in altitude segments. This was the first trip I took a GPS to and it’s altimeter came in really handy. While our progress slowed, we did make it and Matt was one tired, hot, sweaty boy.

Sadly, our view was obscured by incessant clouds. So we relaxed, pigged out on the food we were carrying, and took photos. Oh and a few of us sucked down some bottled oxygen the medical guy carried. No one really needed it, but the photo certainly made a nice souvenir. Our guide asked for a photo of himself, because for as many times as he has lead groups he rarely gets a photo of himself.

After a long rest, we started our descent. By now most of the hoardes of people had passed us and the path was a bit more secluded. The descent was not as bad as I thought, although it did beat the hell out of my knees and back. The stone steps, while giving the appearence of being a tame and well groomed trail, proved quite jarring to the joints. When we finally made it, the campground was littered with tents. To our tired bodies, it looked perfect. Fortunately, we got there in time for a late lunch. Chicken, veggies, and tea refueled us nicely.

The campground chilled quickly as a cold fog rolled in. As we were all tired and there wasn’t much to do, I lead a group stretch and then meditated by myself for a bit until dinner was served. While dinner was as good as always, it was our guide’s special surprise that was the highlight of the meal. He brought rum mixed with a fruit like juice and introduced us to the game “Be on the Happy Bus.” A category was picked and then everyone had to name things in the category without repeating. If you repeated or couldn’t come up with an answer, you had to drink. Problem was that we all wanted to drink to stay warm. It made for great fun. After the booze was gone, we all went to bed.

The story continues...