I really appreciate the responses guys. Biggest issue for me has always been altitude. Literally scares me, so much more than a potential fall. I think the biggest fear factor is that I can't seem to find a trend or discern what brings it on in order to get a handle on it. It seems to be very random and sporadic when it comes.
I do think those 02 sats are pretty much are in line with what one would expect at those heights. Those small O2 drops in saturation do not tell the whole story. There is something else going on with a much larger drop in pressure. For example, while the O2 sat might drop 10% at say 12,000 ft, the pressure drop is more like 30%.
Harvey, there's a joke with a few friends now that I'm the canary of the Sierra, instead of toxic gas, I keel over when bad weather is imminent. For case #1 above with Whitney, when we went up Whitney it was clear, but we could see it coming down hard on the East side over the White Mountains in the distance.
For #3, when I was at the Palisade after coming off Thunderbolt and Starlight, this was right before a storm system came in. The following day rain came in the evening and lasted throughout the night. My headache literally got worse with the weather. Coincidence? I'm not a meteorologist, but doesn't storms bring a low pressure system? No climbing was done that day and I was "bed ridden", but was 100% fine the previous day huffing and puffing at 14k ft, and the following day doing the same thing.
Also, good to know that my numbers are not "off" from normal.
Thank you both again for your insights.
