Wazzu, yes, I got a very warm welcome back from Sasha! She is owed a special hike weekend....
Bulldog, yup, I have to admit that Aconcagua did run through my head a few times the last few weeks. But too technical for me. I do think I am going to give Shasta another shot this Spring ... and playing with Kearsarge Pass-Whitney, or Langley for this summer. Thinking of Bhutan or Everest area trek when I next have the funds, which may be a while.... Any suggestions?
The big surprise was how good I felt at the summit. Indeed, I had an appetite, and we enjoyed a picnic of corned beef, vegetable pastries, cheese, bread, cookies, fruit, etc. Shortly after the summit, my oxygen saturation measured 91, and my resting pulse was 62. Based on the pattern of prior measurements, I give 50 percent of the credit to the relatively gentle ascent profile, and 50 percent of the credit to, yes, Diamox. I had some substantially less-good readings earlierin the trip before I upped my Diamox dosage (initially at 62.5 mg once a day before sleep, which was not sufficient).
Congratulations, Karen! What a wonderful adventure, and great pics, too! Sounds like you managed yourself really well, especially with those readings up high. Amazing!
Don't count yourself out of something like Aconcagua. Never say never! This life road winds and twists in myterious (well, sometimes not so mysterious!
) ways. Kearsarge Pass would actually be a great place to solidify some of those technical snow skills in the spring!
Congrats, again,
L
