The key objective during the summit rotation is to conserve as much energy as possible for the summit day. We are expecting to burn over 15,000 calories on that day alone. So, I decided to leave an hour before with the slightly slower guys of our team and take it easy to Camp 1. Woke at about 2am, had toast and fried eggs for breakfast and off I left with my Sherpa. We made a quick stop at the place, where our puja ceremony was held, had a very brief prayer, burnt some twigs, and threw a fistful of rice as a sign of respect for the gods. Even though I thought we started quite early, so did a whole lot of others from various teams and a crowd was starting to form on the way to the crampon point, so we ended up keeping a good pace. We reached Camp 1 in approx. 5 hours. It usually becomes extremely hot once the sun hits the Western Cwm. In order to avoid the heat of the day, the plan was to reach Camp 1 and rest till the afternoon clouds came in and then start moving to Camp 2. But, we (Me and Mayk) reached Camp 1 in good time and Greg, who was ahead of us, suggested the weather was looking good, with a slight cool breeze ahead. Mike suggested we could take off to Camp 2 immediately if we wanted instead of waiting. Me and Mayk decided to do so after a half an hour break. It was a big mistake. The breeze had disappeard and it got very hot. I was down to my t-shirt and sweating away. We made good speed although I began to crash the last quarter of the way. Reached Camp 2 in 2.5 hours and we were glad we had made it to Camp 2 while the rest of the team were still resting at Camp 1. More rest time for us
Day 49 – Coming up a different way to the Camp 1 plateau due to changes in the Ice Fall
Day 49 – Got pretty crowded that day
A crazy thing happened that afternoon though at abour 1pm. I was lying down in the tent, I suddenly heard Mike say, “I feel great, I had a gallon of water”. I thought the team arrived at Camp and shouted back, “Welcome to Camp, Mike”. No response. After abour 5mins, I walk out searching for the guys and they aren’t anywhere. I walk to the common tent and couldn’t find them there either. I searched for them inside the other tents and no sign of them. I just concluded that I must have heard Mike on the radio and they are yet to arrive. Mayk was wondering why I shouted, “Welcome to camp”, when no one had arrived. It was so weird. Even more weird was when Mike and the team actually arrived at about 3pm. Mike said he never used the radio that afternoon and he never used those words about feeling great or having a gallon of water. I couldn’t believe it. I swear to god, Mike’s voice had felt so real and I didn’t think I had slept or dreamt. Either Mike was playing an elaborate prank or I completely blame it on Oxygen deprivation.
