My travel diaries
Sunday 19 August 2007 - Muztag Ata Base Camp, Xinjiang, China
For the first time in days I wake up without dreaming of pitter patter sounds on the tent roof, a sound that for the last four mornings has elicited differing emotions. Usually it has been a hopeful sound, for it has signalled a lie-in, while its absence has meant fiddling about with freezing fingers in sub-zero temperatures. But yesterday it's absence was good news, because it meant a perfect day for a summit attempt.
At last, a lie-in
This morning I can't care less what sound I hear when I wake up, for I'm having a lie-in whatever happens. I can take my time, give my fingers a chance to warm up, shovel hot tea into myself, pack my things in a leisurely fashion and head down the mountain. Having said that, I know it's not going to be an easy day, because we're going to be heading from Camp 3 all the way down to base camp, stripping the mountain of all the kit we've left in camps along the way.
I wake up at 8am, and a short while later David pokes his head into the tent to say that there's no hurry; we can take an hour or two to depart if we like, and leave the sherpas to take down the tents and carry them down, but please can we carry as much as we can so that they're not overloaded. Geoff and I are more than happy about this. The assistance of Abdullah and the three sherpas has been invaluable to us in making our ascent not only possible, but also enjoyable. It has been tiring enough just carrying our personal kit all the way up here, but while we've been making the ascent in our own fashion with plenty of rest days, our porters have been carrying tents, food, stoves, shovels and other supplies sufficient to equip three separate camp sites en route. They are truly unsung supermen, and Galjen and Leela even had time to get to the summit themselves!
David and Toby are preparing for another summit attempt, and by the time I leave the tent they're gone. Geoff leaves at 9.15 while I take it more leisurely, remaining in the tent boiling water for coffee and eating snack foods. By the time I pack up and leave the tent, the sherpas and Abdullah are the only ones remaining in camp. In addition to my personal kit, I already have stove, pots, pans and rubbish from Camp 3. I ask Galjen if there's anything else I can take. He looks around and picks out the lightest thing he can find: two mattresses rolled together. They're bulky, but they don't weigh very much.
Camp 3 to Camp 2
I leave Camp 3 at 10.15, and descend much more slowly with my increased load. I recognise very little of the route down to Camp 2, but this is hardly surprising given that I ascended it in a blizzard and it's about as featureless as can be, anyway. There's been a lot of fresh snow and I have difficulty descending in snow shoes. The sherpas overtake me and three times my snow shoes slide from underneath me and I land on my backside, encouraging me to slip my rucksack off my shoulders and take another rest.
When I get to Camp 2, I see that Geoff has left some of my personal kit outside the tent for me, as well as quite a large and heavy bag of food, which I presume he left as my contribution from the communal gear to carry down. I feel this is slightly unfair given that I have the stove, pans and rubbish from Camp 3, as well as the mattresses (although he won't have known about these). What is Geoff carrying himself, I wonder? I also have my ice axe and crampons to pick up, as well as an empty gas cylinder I found on the way down. Giving my sliding exploits I decide to wear my crampons and carry the large unwieldy snow shoes instead. After a brief rest I begin the task of repacking. My rucksack is now completely rammed, and tied to the outside are ice axe, mattresses, snow shoes, water bottle and pee bottle. Before I leave I offer my water to Galjen, Kaji and Leela, who are busy taking down the tents. They all take grateful swigs and I realise I now have just an inch or so left for the remainder of the descent.
Camp 2 to Camp 1
I leave Camp 2 at 12.15, and stop at regular intervals to sit and remove my pack. I descend very gingerly through the crevasse labyrinth, and the short uphill section at the end of it is a killer. It's a beautiful day, though, and I'll take any excuse to stop, sit down and admire the view. From a distance I see Geoff leaving Camp 1 just before I arrive there. He appears to have two rucksacks strapped to his back; the bulge is enormous and he crawls away from camp like a tortoise. To compound matters an unidentified man leaves camp at the same time carrying absolutely nothing and walking just a pace behind him. I think it might be a Kirghiz man pestering Geoff to carry his kit for him. This would drive me mad, and I have an embarrassed chuckle to myself that I was cursing him for the things he'd left me to carry back at Camp 2. He's smaller than I am, and from where I'm resting his pack looks as big as he does!
As soon as I stagger into Camp 1 and heave my pack down I'm assaulted by muleteers volunteering to carry it down to base camp for me. They're offering a dollar a kilo and I reckon I'm probably carrying as much as 30 kilos by the time I load up the remainder of my personal kit from Camp 1. I decide I've got this far OK, if slowly, so I'm not going to fork out an unnecessary $30 if I can help it. I have my walking boots and an extra bag of assorted hats and gloves to pick up, which I somehow manage to strap to the back of my already heaving pack, and now the snowfield has ended I have to take off my crampons and carry them as well.
Camp 1 to Base Camp
I leave at 2.30. My two previous descents from Camp 1 took 45 minutes, but this one takes literally three times as long, with frequent stops to take the ungainly weight off my shoulders and nurse my meagre supply of water. It's also a last chance to admire the view of the Tadjik Pamirs from on high. Each time I stop I see Geoff and his annoying companion resting a couple of hundred metres below me. Towards the bottom of the descent, Galjen, Kaji and Leela literally run past me, laughing, even though they're carrying even more than I am.
I walk into base camp at 4.45. David and Toby aside, I'm last to arrive. Ela has been watching all of us descending one by one, and she is there to greet me by demanding a tired pose for the camera. Much more welcome, however, she also thrusts a beer into my hand, which I tuck into as soon as I've put down my pack. With her greeting the great sense of achievement begins to filter into me now that the hard work is over. It's a wonderful moment as I join some of the other guys in the mess tent.
I'm tickled to learn that Geoff's unwelcome companion turns out to be Luigi, who invested $50 in a lightweight titanium bowl to lighten his load for the expedition, ended up paying for a muleteer to carry his kit, and then realises he's left his very expensive bowl at Camp 1.
Toby and David walk into base camp at 7pm having failed in Toby's second attempt to reach the summit. They reached 7000m before Toby again had breathing problems. He may not be so good at going up, but he can certainly descend. Following their summit attempt, they rested at Camp 3 before setting off to come down at 4 o'clock. While my descent took me 6½ hours, they've done it in just three.Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Next
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