We took off in the first group this morning with Paula, Sierra, Monique, Nan, Doug, Stephanie and Gina. Its nice to be walking with Stephanie as it has been a few days since we’ve walked together. After the first break Nan and Doug drop back to go at a more gradual pace. At the second break they catch up with us and Nan is really having some bad pain in her...

Last night we had a big dinner and I ate way too much for someone who is starting to have stomach trouble. I will need to watch it today. It was beautiful this morning with the sun coming up as we headed over to Barranco Wall. Yesterday August told us that it is nicknamed the Breakfast Wall because a lot of people “lose their breakfast” climbing the wall....

We were up early – 5am – ready to get going so we went ahead and dressed and packed up. John climbed out the the temp to use the bathroom and saw Jeff outside getting photos. It was almost a full moon and the sky was full of stars. Jeff was taking advantage of the beautiful night to get some good photos of the mountain and the camp. He took one looking up...

I woke up after 6 hours of sleep thinking it was 6 in the morning but it was really 4 am. Note to self – do not put on Dr Watson’s salve and got to bed in a -20 degree sleeping bag unless you want to be the next nights stew! My legs and back were on fire from the heat of the bag and the muscle salve. It was kind of like being in a crock pot. I got up and...

I was a little sluggish when the alarm went off at 6:15 from getting to bed so late. We finished packing, had breakfast with Monique and Sierra and brought the bags down for loading. More hurry up and wait – patience again – while we stood around waiting for the group interviews. This is a good lesson for me but I don’t like it despite the fact that...

The journey begins in earnest today. John and I are in Washington, DC at my friend Carla’s house. Our plan was to have breakfast this morning with my cousin before flying out in the afternoon. For some reason we’ve had in our heads that we are flying at 4 this afternoon. Fortunately John tries to go ahead and get boarding passes, which Ethiopian Air does...

Great nights sleep and feeling rested now. It was a good idea to come in a day ahead of everyone else and make sure we got over the jet lag. Doug has caught a cold from someone on the airplane and I am worried about him, for his own sake and for the possibility of transmitting it to the other climbers. I have started taking loads of Emergency and my Coptis Chinesis...