Hanging out at High Camp

Heidi just called to say that the team is spending the day at High Camp today. She awoke during the early morning, pre-dawn hours and did a weather check, but found the temperatures disconcertingly warm. She reasoned that with the amount of moisture in the air yesterday, combined with the forecast for snow this afternoon, that they would have a relatively short weather window to make it to the top and back to camp.

Sure enough, the morning dawned warm and clear, yet with a thick cloud cover below them. This layer of clouds rose quickly and enveloped high camp by 11:00 am and it began snowing quite heavily. It sure is nice to have a positive reaffirmation of your weather call!

The team also felt that an additional day would help them acclimatize more fully, and alleviate the minor headaches that are associated with sleeping at almost 20,000'. Everyone is feeling great right now, all headaches are gone, and they just feasted on a lunch of eggs and hash-browned potatoes, followed by a dessert of Toblerone chocolate. I reckon they'll have plenty of energy when they awaken tomorrow morning.

The plan is to hit the trail early, as the temperatures are remaining very warm. Heidi said she slept with her tent door open last night, it was so mild. They will probably be a couple of hours up the trail before the sun crests the eastern horizon, and hopefully, we'll get a phone call from the best vantage point in South America by mid-morning.

Wish them luck, send your best thoughts and check in tomorrow!