April 28, 2008 - 9:47am — MountEverest2008
Sleepless in Sleeping Bag
Camp II
It's 4:48am. Without question, this evening has been the windiest and therefore most challenging to date on our expedition. I, despite considerable physical effort exerted in the prior day's climb to Camp I, have found it nearly impossible to sleep. Rather, I lie in my bag, tolerate the shaking tent, and try to ignore the howling wind. Hour after hour, this is how the evening has went.
Oddly, I'll get excited when I have to use the pee bottle- a little, familiar task that will take my mind away from the stormy night that's holding me prisoner. A drink of water- another welcome distraction.
I grabbed a book at base camp, just to have something to pass the time. Around 2:30 I reach for it. A mistake, the book is about an insane woman. Hardly helpful, as I think a challenge at the moment is maintaining my own sanity.
I reach for the pulse oximeter. This small, electronic device measures pulse and also your oxygen saturation rate, the latter being the more important. You simply insert your index finger and it takes the reading. At sea level, your ox sat should be near 100%- an indication of how well your body is pulling oxygen from the air and into your body's bloodstream. I take a reading- 64%. Low and not shocking given the altitude. As a beneficial distraction, I start pressure breathing, a mountaineering technique maybe a little like you may find in a la mans class. With focus, I quickly drive my ox sat level to 83%. Not bad, but I need to do better. I'm a little sleepy now... perhaps I can get 30 minutes of rest. I hope so...
***
Next day: I ended up getting maybe an hour of sleep total that night. Beat, it made the trip to Camp II a bit more challenging. That said, we made it in good time, shaving 20 min off our prior trip here.
Some illness has kicked in with a few team members. I myself am battling an annoying cough. This is all par for the course.
I'm certain to sleep better tonight- goodnight.