Day 8 - acclimatization move from Camp 1 up to Camp 2 Nido De Cóndores at 5500m.

On Jan we woke up around 9am had breakfast and started our trek from C1 up to C2. It took about 4 hours and it was the most physically and mentally demanding day. Only 500m of elevation covered and 2.5km ground distance but boy was it steep! We got into C2 totally KO! Imagine you have like 5 hangovers and you are dehydrated and someone is punching you in the face. From the photos it looks like we are on vacation having fun and the best time of our lives but the way we feel is like trying to stay alive.

Once at camp 2 we all jumped into our tents but it’s not wise to lie down or sleep - that is the onset of altitude sickness. You have to fight and stay sitting and keep your mind focused. It’s often better to go for a walk and try to talk to your friend or someone. We did a little bit of that but still tough. We walked over to a small ridge to take photos of the Ande mountain rage. We had views of the Aconcagua summit to the right and ahead of us was the Gussfeldt Glacier and Cerro Fitz Gerald (5357m) Cerro meaning mountain. Fitz Gerald is lower than our camp which sounds crazy and also the fact that we are above clouds now! Also to the left of us we could see Cerro Manso (5487m).

After the little hike / walk I had with Peter and Mike to look at the mountain rage of the Andes we went back to camp to eat some light dinner drink some water and straight to bed.

Again - like the other nights this night was terrible. At 5500m the sleep was super light and I felt like I was suffocating every time I closed my eyes I kept waking up short of breath.

I kept doing a lot of conscious breathing wim hof exercises to bring in more oxygen to my body, lungs, and brain. Without taking any meds it seemed to have helped :) to avoid an altitude headache.