Happy birthday Shaun. I love you.
Woke up as usual at 6 am to my porter and coffee. Packed up sleeping bag, mat, got dressed, ate porridge, filled camel back, filled nalgenes and got my gaiters on. Seems easy, but it is tiring. Was told it was an easy 4 hour hike to Shira Camp 2. Ok- no biggie. Excited to get going and experience the new terrain. All was great, until the torrential downpour. The rain started and grew steadily. I have never experienced rain like it. We were all scrambling to get on our rain gear, cover our packs, try to stay dry- but it was too late. We were all soaked from head to toe. And even though I got Shaun's Northface rain pants on over my pants, I knew the damage was done. I could feel the water dripping into my gaiters and into my boots. I was freezing and worried about how I'd dry out. How could I hike 5 more days, up to nearly 20,000 feet in wet boots? I finally made it to camp and the rain was so bad that the porters weren't even able to set up the tents. There was no escaping the elements, and so I just turned my video camera on and cried into it. It is the funniest thing to watch now, but I was really down and out. I learned that I could get through terrible discomfort and that I wasn't alone. Many of us were in the same predicament. Finally the rain subsided, tents went up, and we all started our attempts to get dry. I absolutely hate being cold. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow.
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