THE CLIMB- Filling in the Gaps (5th October) Base Camp

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Day 5-  October 5

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We woke to the beautiful sight of snow-capped peaks all around. Sheena was so excited, as she’d never seen snow before. After a quick breakfast, we headed off to Base Camp (BC)!

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We were so excited and hopeful as we arrived at Base Camp (BC) (5,050m). We arrived at a good hour when the sun was still strong, so we wasted no time in setting up our tents. At different times, some would have more difficulty than others adjusting to the altitude. Julia chilled out around BC while the rest of us went for a hike up to about 5,300m (without our packs). We then came back down to BC for some dinner. 

On our way up, we passed a group that had just attempted the summit, the second-last group of the (climbing) season- we were the last. I think one in their group reached the top. Later, we found out that in this season of about fifty people, only three managed to reach the summit, due to either bad weather or that it was too late in the day to summit and descend safely. They were our odds.

Going up I felt strong, but coming back, I felt progressively weaker and more tired, as the sun went down. Sheena said her symptoms of altitude sickness were becoming more severe, feeling like an endless hangover (Jiji’s paraphrasing).

That night was the worst for some of us, physically. I felt the coldest and weakest of all the nights on the mountain, oddly enough. Philip later quoted the Qinghai Mountaineering Association (QMA), saying that more people died at this base camp than at Everest Base Camp- something to do with the fact that it was in a valley and the low pressure of this location. Great, it’s comforting to know we survived Base Camp! 

The dog in one of the photos belonged to one of the other climbers, we were told, and started howling like a wolf, right next to our tent at some hour of the night, to what seemed like morning! This added to Sheena’s “misery” that night, she said!

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 If you prefer to see all the thumbnails here (smaller version, not as good as the slideshow above!) …

Woke up to this at Xidatan “Truckstop”

Carl cooking in our tent

Jiji’s yummy compressed army biscuit

Frank chowing down to a bowl of soup

Sheena drinks soup at Xidatan

What’s in the bottle Jiji?

Kunlun Mountain Ranges- famous origin of a northern kungfu style

The road to Base Camp

Wild donkeys

Busy Base Camp (5,050m)

The howling dog that kept us up all night!

Base Camp of Yuzhu Peak (5,050m)

“Espresso” our mascot wants some action

“Go Girl” making it easier for girls to pee…

Snow Cones anyone?

Jiji & her Snow Cone

Jiji & Julia keeping Sheena in line at Base Camp

Sheena & Jiji at Base Camp

Jiji & Julia, home girls at Base Camp

Julia glad to be @ Base Camp!

Sheena cartwheels across Yuzhu Peak!

Sheena cartwheels across Yuzhu Peak!

Sheena cartwheels across Yuzhu Peak!

Jiji, glad to be @ Base Camp!

Our Mountain- Yuzhu Peak (6,178m)

Sheena the way we’d need to be up on the mountain (Yuzhu Peak in the background)

We passed a group of climbers on their way down- we were the last for the season

Sheena & Frank

Breathtaking… (Philip, Frank, Lao Qiao can be seen)

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