Rest Day at Camp II (February 22nd)

We’re really getting into a rythmn now. We moved up to Camp I, carried half our gear up to Camp II, then moved up to Camp II with the rest of our gear yesterday. Now we’re taking a rest day here because one of our teammates—a great Aussie guy named Chris—had to go down to Base Camp last night. He had serious facial edema (swelling) and his blood-oxygen levels were very low, meaning he was not acclimatizing to the altitude. We are very sad to see him go down. We have now lost 2 of our group of 12. Hopefully no one else will get injured or sick! On an entirely different note, the view from Camp II is unreal. It’s at times like this where I feel the majesty of nature and the extraordinary beauty of our earth. I can’t wait to upload pics.

The group taking a break mid-mountain. I'm in blue second from right.