Monday 27 Nov '06 – VBC 2200mts
We rise at 10.00am & kick into action mode immediately. We have breakfast & start breaking camp for the move to Camp 1 at 2700mts. We’re a bit late setting out for whatever reason & reach the half camp stash in 3.5 hrs. Conditions are good, it’s warm & sunny & we take a lunch break of salami, cheese, crackers, trail mix & flapjacks here, then dig up the stash & load up the sleds again. Now the going gets tougher. Rucksacks are heavily loaded & we’re also pulling fully loaded sleds. It may be only a 500mt ascent along a 8km trail but it’s in soft, heavy going snow & we’re pretty exhausted by the time we reach Camp 1 at 2700mts. The wind also hit us halfway up & the temperatures dropped 10-15 degrees c. in about 15 mins on route.
It is with great relief that we drop our packs at camp but then realise that we have to get camp set up, build the protective walls, cook & eat dinner before we can get to bed. This was a tough camp to set up because we first had to shovel about 30cm of loose snow away from an area 8mts x 5mts for the tents, then cut & build walls. After a hearty meal of soup, boil in the bag chicken curry, desert, the usual mugs of hot liquids & biscuits we finally got to bed at 3.00am.
Another subject that people wonder about but rarely ask about is personal hygiene. It is a very important topic & on the mountain we all have to be vigilant about it & have agreed to keep reminding one another about it rather than complaining if we see someone being in any way neglectful. In & around the kitchen, cleansing fluid & wipes have to be available & used all of the time when preparing group meals. With regard to personal washing etc it is amazing how far you can make a couple of baby wipes go in the morning & evening. In particular one’s feet have to receive daily attention in order to avoid problems. Teeth brushing is a relatively straight forward procedure & you make do with a lack of rinse water. Shaving is not really an option & after 2 weeks I had a lovely soft, warm, pure white growth which helped keep the winds from damaging my beautiful, soft & well maintained skin! You can change into fresh clothes daily if you’re prepared to carry all that weight, which nobody will do.
Considering that you’re not perspiring a lot using the same clothing day after day is not an issue with perhaps just a change of one’s base layer after a week or so. I usually keep a separate set of long johns & long sleeve thermal top for night time use because it is always nice to have something ‘fresh’ to put on at bedtime. I changed socks every 2-3 days & always used a liner sock. Having said all that when I got back home I was close to burning my clothing rather than washing it but with a squirt of this & a dash of that in the washing machine, everything came out smelling almost of roses, even if it did take Dyno-Rod a week to clear the drains.
It is with great relief that we drop our packs at camp but then realise that we have to get camp set up, build the protective walls, cook & eat dinner before we can get to bed. This was a tough camp to set up because we first had to shovel about 30cm of loose snow away from an area 8mts x 5mts for the tents, then cut & build walls. After a hearty meal of soup, boil in the bag chicken curry, desert, the usual mugs of hot liquids & biscuits we finally got to bed at 3.00am.
Another subject that people wonder about but rarely ask about is personal hygiene. It is a very important topic & on the mountain we all have to be vigilant about it & have agreed to keep reminding one another about it rather than complaining if we see someone being in any way neglectful. In & around the kitchen, cleansing fluid & wipes have to be available & used all of the time when preparing group meals. With regard to personal washing etc it is amazing how far you can make a couple of baby wipes go in the morning & evening. In particular one’s feet have to receive daily attention in order to avoid problems. Teeth brushing is a relatively straight forward procedure & you make do with a lack of rinse water. Shaving is not really an option & after 2 weeks I had a lovely soft, warm, pure white growth which helped keep the winds from damaging my beautiful, soft & well maintained skin! You can change into fresh clothes daily if you’re prepared to carry all that weight, which nobody will do.
Considering that you’re not perspiring a lot using the same clothing day after day is not an issue with perhaps just a change of one’s base layer after a week or so. I usually keep a separate set of long johns & long sleeve thermal top for night time use because it is always nice to have something ‘fresh’ to put on at bedtime. I changed socks every 2-3 days & always used a liner sock. Having said all that when I got back home I was close to burning my clothing rather than washing it but with a squirt of this & a dash of that in the washing machine, everything came out smelling almost of roses, even if it did take Dyno-Rod a week to clear the drains.
posted by Kevin Dempsey at
3:22 PM
