Warning: this one deals with some of the less pleasant aspects of camping without proper toilet facilities.

Start point: Camp 1 (5,000m)
High point: Camp 2 (5,500m) and return to Camp 1

Today was a carry day, so we loaded our bags with fuel, food and our heavier summit equipment (ice axes and crampons) and moved up to Camp 2, 500m higher up the mountain – higher than I reached on Elbrus in July but still 1,500m below the summit. One of the the team has bribed me handsomely not to mention the fact that after carrying the crampons up to Camp 2, they grew so attached to having the heavy contraptions on their back, they carried them all the way back down to Camp 1 again, to carry them up again tomorrow. Thanks for the bribe, teammate!

Our plans have changed slightly again. In order to be closer to the action if the weather improves, it looks like we’ll be moving to Camp 2 tomorrow without a rest day at Camp 1. We’ll take any rest days at Camp 2 as resting at Camp 3 (6,000m altitude and very cold and windy) is counterproductive.

We started our climb today by zigzagging up the valley through on well worn but exposed and loose paths through the scree. I mentioned to Packie that on Ireland’s highest mountain we also have zigzags paths to help with the steep ascent. He asked how high Ireland’s mountain was. I told him 1,044 metres. As were at 5,250 metres when I told him,  I don’t think he was particularly impressed.

For the past couple of nights the team gave asked me to read out my blog post after dinner once I have it written. I assume they want the opportunity to get their revenge in early before we come off the mountain. Packie wanted to set me straight that the animals we saw a few days ago were actually guanacos rather than llamas. A guanaco is a wild cousin of the llama. The guanaco is a protected species while you can pretty much do whatever you like to a llama, including eating it or shaving it as suits your fancy. I admit that when I wrote the previous blog post I knew llama was the wrong word but I was a) doubtful that anyone reading this blog would know what a guanaco was, and b) I was far too lazy to find out the right word.

It was a very windy walk up to Camp 2. We had to put on extra layers to protect us from the freezing wind. It was both disappointing and terrifying when Packie told us today’s winds were only 40 or 50 kph, while at Camp 3 and above we could expect winds from 75 to 100kph.

We returned to Camp 1 just in time to see another team from the same company setting up camp right beside us. They’ve pushed up their schedule by a day to catch the same weather window we’re hoping to use. We’ll be sharing some of the camp facilities. While I’ve come to terms with my teammates potentially disturbing me in the morning on the far side of poop hill, I really don’t like the thought of a complete stranger climbing that ill-named hill to see my bare white arse rising along with the morning sun.

I got a great piece of advice from our spare doctor this afternoon. She had a very simple to-do list for the afternoon: fill up water bottles and visit the peeing facilities. Unfortunately she chose to fill the water bottles first which was a mistake as crouching by a babbling brook while your bladder is fit to burst is not pleasant at all. The poor spare doctor has had a tough day al around as only after using the facilities she discovered that someone had taken the big black bag, leaving her wandering around camp with a used poop bag in hand looking for someone to take it off her hands. Anyone who can do that with a smile on her face deserves to get to the top!