Kilimanjaro Climb Day 3 On the Mountain

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When tonight comes, after an 8 hours hike today, we will have gained 110' in elevation. This is a technique used by climbers designated 'climb high - sleep low', and helps with the acclimatization process.

I hiked with Shoshanna the entire duration today. It was tough sledding from the beginning for Shoshanna. Before breakfast she was feeling nauseas and was given Pepto-Bismol by our head guide Eliakim who requests that we call him 'General'. It seemed to help until we started hiking and then Shoshanna couldn't go on. I carried her day-pack for her and they sent back a porter from an advanced camp to carry her pack all day. After that it was up and down from there.

We went pole, pole today which means slow, slow in Swahili. This also helps the body acclimatize better and also conserves energy.

We hiked to 15,000' and then back down to 12,950'. In more detail; the body is sent into overdrive creating more red blood cells at 15000', then when you camp at 12,950' you get a much better quality night's sleep. This is critical because tomorrow we start at 6am, hike for 8 hours, go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 11pm, and leave for the summit at midnight. ETA for summiting is 6am. Yeah, this is our idea of fun.

I haven't showered since day 1. Tomorrow is day 4. I believe everyone else has washed with baby wipes, etc... I'm the only one who hasn't bathed. Good thing I'm already married. If I were single and this information got out, I'd have a hard time getting a date. I'm just holding out for the real thing, screw baby wipes, good things come to those who wait.

As usual the scenery today was gorgeous and inspiring. It's hard to put into words as far as a description is concerned, but the pictures will be posted on the web once the blog is completed.

I was under-dressed today. Not sure how or why it happened, but it was colder than I anticipated. I am quite miserable when I am cold. I would much prefer it be 100 degrees if it had to be one extreme. Tomorrow I will be warm, trust me.

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