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Some Day 5 images and videos
How I felt waking up
Since I didn't get much footage myself, I found this video on YouTube showing the Barranco Wall so you can see what I was facing in the state that I was in!!
This is the Kissing Stone when I made my second climb in August 2022
Day 5 - Tuesday 22nd February
Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp
Via the Barranco Wall & Kissing Stone
Barranco Camp - 3,900 m Karanga Camp - 3,995 m
6 km hike - approximately 4 hours (they lied again!!)
We had long stopped believing what what written on the signs both in terms of the distance travelled and the time it would take!! All smartwatches and phone apps recorded the distances as being more!)
Written by Tina Sibley in March 2022
Video Overview of the day
A Brutal Day! The hardest so far by a long way!
Today's report is going to be very short! The sad truth is that I was simply too ill to take many photos or much video footage. :-(
I didn't get much sleep the night before and in the morning I felt absolutely dreadful.
When I got out of my tent to visit the toilet tent, someone else was in there and while I was waiting, I suddenly got taken by a retching attack and needed to go and find a rock. In the end, I wasn't actually sick but couldn't stop the urge to retch.
This was a really low point for me and I couldn't help asking myself what the hell was I doing on that mountain. If I could have waved a magic wand, I would have magicked my way home and into my own bed! But I pulled myself together and decided to dig deep and get on with it.
I couldn't eat much breakfast but did my best to force something down me.
The Barranco Wall looming ahead as we set out
The Barranco Wall
The Barranco Wall is a sheer cliff face of 300m and looks impossibly daunting when you look at it from below.
In reality, it's not as bad as it looks and the path zig-zags up the face, and doesn't feel that scary when you're on it. Although because we were shrouded in mist, that might be why we didn't notice the drop below us!
We set off as usual at 08 am but because of the way I was feeling, I lost the rest of the group pretty much straight away. The group, along with James, Kajeli and Iddy went on ahead, while the fabulous Adolf looked after me. And he really did have to look after me.
Although never actually physically sick, I had to keep stopping and retching, trying to bring up something that wasn't there.
Because of the crowds of people coming up behind us, in order to not hold them up and cause a bottle neck, we had to move over to a side and perch on a rock while I struggled to get my retching under control. It was very slow going. Adolf was amazingly patient - and he carried my backpack for me from the very outset. He also helped me clamber up and over the rocks, practically hauling me up them.
The Kissing Stone
We came upon the kissing stone quite early on and it came on me so fast, I didn't have to think about it. The mist shielded the view of the drop behind me, Adolf took my hand and I was over it before I knew it. Beforehand, I had wanted to get a photo or even video of me going past the kissing stone, but there was such a bottleneck of people, I had to get out of the way and missed the opportunity. But Adolf did film some others tackling it for me, so at least I have some footage of what it was like - however, you don't really get the feeling or what the drop is really like.
The weather wasn't great and rained on us as we began our journey up the Barranco Wall, but before we had got to the top, it got absolutely brutal. We had thunder, really heavy rain and hailstones. This caused cascades of water to run down the rocks that we were trying to climb up - it was like climbing up a waterfall.
When we finally got to the top of the Barranco Wall, James was waiting to greet us and check on how I was doing. I think everyone was surprised that I was still going - especially me! It normally takes people between 1-2 hours but it had taken me nearly 3 hours! I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have made it up that wall at all if it hadn't have been for Adolf's amazing patience and help.
I really don't remember much about the rest of the way to Karanga Camp.
I do remember continuing to retch on a regular basis - and at one point, I made for a rock to collapse on while I retched over the side of it. Adolf was so comforting and rubbed my back for me.
The guy in the picture at Lava Tower went past and saw me struggling and retching and gave me an encouraging smile. It's amazing how a smile and acknowledgement from a total stranger can really lift you up.
I also remeber that, as well as retching, I was struggling badly with the diarrhoea and severe tummy cramps so I was in a right old state.
Lunch and afternoon at Karanga Camp
I finally got to Karanga Camp at just before 2pm after 6 hours of struggle.
Everyone else was already in the mess tent having lunch so after a necessary visit to the toilet tent, I went and joined them. I got a lovely welcome and cheer from everyone, which was heartwarming!
Of course I had no appetite and struggled to eat or drink. I had drunk less than a litre of water all day, which wasn't good but I just couldn't manage it. However, on the bright side, we weren't moving on so the prospect of an afternoon in my tent was something to look forward to.
After lunch, I had a couple of hours rest and was able to organise my kit, which was great. The bowl of hot water to freshen up was very welcome and I changed my clothes and put on some warmer clothes for the next couple of days as it was starting to get really cold.
In My tent at Karanga Camp
Evening at Camp
After my rest, wash and change, I had started to feel a little better but when we went through our health checks, I was gobsmacked to find that my oxygen levels had actually increased from 85 the day before to 90 which was surprising considering how I was feeling! My heart rate was also still very good and I had no pressure on my lungs or difficulty in breathing.
At the time, I had put my sickness down to altitude, but my oxygen levels and lack of strong headaches and other symptoms lead to the conclusion that it was an ongoing stomach bug rather than altitude sickness. Of course, the altitude probably magnified my symptoms!
As I was feeling much better than during the morning, the nausea settled down and I managed to eat a little at dinner. I still had dreadful diarrhoea and tummy cramps though - but at least I was at camp all afternoon and evening.
Karanga Camp
My Overview of the Day
