“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. – Winston Churchill
Sleeping in a tent at 15,500 feet is not for everyone. In fact, after the first night I had the unfortunate realization that it was not for me. After a restless, freezing cold, tossing and turning night of sleep I rose to the sound of a barking farm dog feeling completely exhausted. How on earth was I going to make the first big hike? I felt like hell.
It quickly dawned on me why we were the only ones stupid enough to be at the campsite. Instead of the usual 100 tents or so during high season, there were only three and they all belonged to us. Sleeping with rough winds, thunder and a deep burning freeze of 15 degrees farenheit on frozen solid ground was not my ideal way of spending my vacation. Apparently the others who were not there figured that out way before us.
But again, every negative has its positive. We had the entire, beautifully serene place to ourselves. And perhaps it was worth the temperamental weather. Obviously camping and hiking with hordes of people was no where near as special and amazing as being completely, utterly alone.
The first night, I did learn a few important things about sleeping so suddenly at altitude. First of all, you simply don’t sleep on the first night. It is impossible. Your body tosses and turns and you wake up a million times throughout the night while you struggle to acclimatize to the lower amounts of oxygen. At one point, my heart was beating so fast I was scared. But then I remembered the test for altitude sickness. Nausea, severe headache, dizziness and an inability to sleep. I had only one symptom but my worry about getting altitude sickness when I was hours on foot away from civilization unfortunately kept me up more.
The second thing I learned is the unfairness of being a woman in matters of using the restroom. When you are at high altitude you are constantly thirsty and have to drink a lot in order to fight dehydration that can lead to altitude sickness (which can be life-threatening). For obvious reasons, being a man is simple. Yet being a woman leaves you only two options and neither was good. First, I could jump out of bed, freezing, grab a flashlight and run to the latrine a minute walk away. Or, second I could jump out of my freezing sleeping bag with every item of clothing from my backpack on top of it to try to keep me warm (it didn’t work), open the tent door and go outside, and freeze. I chose the second option which was utterly miserable but at least my suffering from the cold took less time.
Needless to say, it was a very rough night but once we rose the next day and opened up the tent to see the gorgeous clear blue sky over the Andes I realized it was worth it. Today was going to be a stellar day and I could hardly wait to start hiking.
As we set off I was spellbound by the reflection of the morning clouds on Chiar Kota (“The Black Lake”). Thankfully the wind had died down from the night before and the rain clouds had lifted. We could finally get a panoramic view of our surroundings and it was gorgeous.
The “practice” hike today was to the top of Mount Jaillaico at 16,899 feet (5,152 m). Tomorrow our hike would be longer, higher and harder so this was supposedly a simple jaunt.
When we set off, I immediately felt the altitude. I had been a few thousand feet higher than this a few years back while I was trekking in Nepal but we had an entire ten days to acclimatize. For this trip, it was only my fourth day in Bolivia and I left at basically sea level a few days before.
Starting off was very, very slow. My heart was beating like a drum, and it was difficult to breathe. I took it slow so I wouldn’t get too dizzy or risk getting sick. I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep the night before or a taste of a little bit of altitude sickness but I felt horrible the first hour and wondered how I’d make it to the top.
But as time went by, and I truly concentrated on my breathing techniques I was fine. I knew that all would be well and I would get there to the top. It was only going to be a few more hours until we’d earn our prize of a 360 degree view of the Andes. Sometimes the risk is worth the reward.
Stay tuned…..
Option #3 – use a bedpan inside the tent and empty it in the morning. Haven’t tried it personally, but I’ve thought about it. 🙂
Its a great option except I was sharing a tent with my dad! Lol.
RUT!
Pics are simply awesome!!! Keep on doing what you do 🙂
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed them!
I hear you on the disadvantages sometimes of being a woman, especially when it’s very cold. Spectacular views!
janet
Thanks Janet!
The trip sounds amazing! Great photos too 🙂
Thank you!!
These photos blew me away! What a day you had!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the pics! ☺️
I think I would be too chicken to go because I’d be worrying too much about the altitude sickness. Brava to you for doing this. Beautiful photos.
Yes you don’t want to take high altitude lightly. Luckily I’ve been at about 18,000 feet before and was fine so my body tends to do ok. But you have to be very careful. ☺️
Or try a shewee!
http://www.shewee.com/about-us/
Thanks for the tip!!!
Serenity
Yes indeed. Serenity beauty and peace!
Fabulous photos, and how wonderful to have the place all to yourselves. I know those nights when sleep never comes (from altitude, and from worry) but always it seems the dawning of the new day, especially a bright sunny one surrounded by breathtaking scenery, brings a new perspective and new energy. Bet you wouldn’t have missed a minute of this adventure!
Alison
Thanks Alison for the comment! It was such a beautiful place. It felt surreal. ☺️
It’s incredible that such beautiful places actually exist!
Yes it doesn’t seem real when you see such beauty!
What memories are stored for future musings. Your experience with your dad probably trumped those unpleasant experience. Hats off to both of you for taking such a life-atering adventure together.
Thanks Sally! I do feel blessed and like you to have this special connection with nature, our beautiful world and my dad was very special.
Amazing, absolutely breathtaking! If you love travelling and photography, check out my blog too https://theinversecanon.wordpress.com/ 😉
Thanks! I will check your blog out! Thanks for letting me know.
I could completely relate to this. I just wrote about my experience on a hike in the hills and our photos are so similar.
Thanks!
Hey, great post indeed.
I think the beauty of such trips is that one is passionate and hopeful that in spite of difficulties faced, the rewards shall be mesmerizing !
Great pics too.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed!!!
What an amazing experience…despite the discomfort.
Thanks Debra! I love mountains so much! You are lucky to have them so nearby when you are in Italy!
The photos are incredible, Nicole! You have my heart beating faster, just thinking about this 🙁
Oh thanks Jo! 😊
Haha to your response about sharing a tent with your dad. There is always a catheter, I say snickering. That is the absolute worst about camping in the cold. But your nighttime experience was compounded by the altitude and you didn’t have much time to acclimate. When I climbed Dead Woman’s Pass in the Andes, I thought I was so cool! But, you are the coolest! We acclimated 3 days in Cusco, and I chewed cocoa leaves and took Diamox. I felt like I was floating in a cloud for days and when we returned to Lima, we all had nagging coughs that lasted for weeks. Thanks for describing your experience and taking us along on the gorgeous hike. I’ll bet you slept like a a baby when you returned home.
Thanks for the comment Debbie! I remember liking in Peru was pretty hard too. Thankfully I do ok with altitude but just get dizzy and can’t sleep. My brother can’t even sleep in the mountains of Colorado when we ski. Altitude is a crazy thing!
absolutely stunning photos. Looks like an amazing spot for a hike, and to sleep 🙂
Thanks! Yes sleeping in the Bolivian Andes is quite magical and cold!