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April 23
Hi Kids,
Today we returned to Base Camp. I could hardly wait to leave
Camp 2; although our set up there is very good, I felt so
tired and found it so difficult to eat most of the time I
was there that I couldn't enjoy it.
The other weird thing
was that because we had to carry all our personal items ourselves,
I hadn't brought anything to pass the time (except my diary,
which I hid in Pat's pack!) and so spent a good deal of time
huddled in my sleeping bag.
Anyway, when we got up, I saw it had snowed overnight. "Oh,
no, I thought, I hope we're not going to be stuck here any
longer." I headed into the kitchen and as soon as I
saw Clare and Pat smiling, realised that we were heading
down. I put my things in a pile and ate some breakfast. Pat
had told me off for not eating before I went climbing the
previous day and I knew he was right.
We began the climb down at 8am and continued to climb without
a break for 4 hours. Pemba said it was important not to stop
as we climbed through the icefall. There had been a couple
of big crashes
since we had last passed through - big walls of ice had caved
in, crashing down and destroying the route. Luckily, there
had been no
one injured and as we climbed, I kept all my fingers and
toes crossed that we would be safe.
When we eventually arrived at Base Camp, Dawa was there to
meet us with hot juice. He had already prepared our favourite
meal of chips, fried eggs and coke! We sat down hungrily
and ate our fill. It was almost 5 days since I had eaten
properly and I was starving!
Freddy getting ready to leave
his tent at Camp 2
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April 22
Hi kids,
I woke at 4.45am this morning; Pat, Pemba and Clare were
already up and dressed. I had slept out - we were due to
leave for the Lhotse face around 5am. We had decided to head
a little later than usual because it tends to be very cold
early in the morning; we were aiming to be on the Lhotse
face just before the sun would come up, so that at least
that would warm us a little.
I quickly grabbed my gear, but didn't have time to eat or
drink anything much. I was annoyed with myself for keeping
the others waiting. Tenzing passed me a handful of sweets
to take with me. The weather wasn't bad; it was cold, but
there was no wind as we started.
I felt a little breathless as I tried to keep pace with the
others, but didnít complain. As we got closer, I could
feel the winds beginning to pick up.
I shivered violently and kept shaking my paws to try and
warm them up.
I felt really sorry for myself and began to lose ground.
I wished I could turn back; I was tired, cold, hungry and
wet. I called out to Pat as loudly as I could, but he didnít
hear me above the gusting winds. I called a second time and
Pemba turned. He could see I was in trouble and stopped to
wait for me. "I'm freezing cold Pemba - my paws are
numb,
I want to turn back." My voice was shaking as I shouted
above the winds and I was close to tears. "OK, Freddy,
just keep going to the bottom of the ice wall, we'll stop
there and decide what to do."
I struggled on, sobbing to myself, but still keeping an eye
on Pat and Clare. I could see they had slowed down. Eventually
I caught up with them. Pat thumped my back and said "Well
done, Freddy". "I'm too
cold Pat I've got to go down." "OK, Freddy. You
head back with Pemba. Clare and I will go up a little way
and catch up with you on the way
back to Camp."
We turned and moved quickly across the glacier. Pemba kept
chatting
to me and as we walked the heat of the sun warmed us. The
weather improved again so quickly, I couldn't believe it
and I began to feel like
a wimp!
By the time we arrived back at our Camp, Clare and Pat had
caught up with us. We headed in to the kitchen tent together
and Tenzing made us hot soup. I was glad our climb for the
day was over and went to rest in my tent for a little while.
Returning
from the Lhotse face with relief
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April 21
Hi kids,
This morning we got up around 8am again. Pat suggested we
go for a
bit of a walk up towards the upper part of Camp 2. Pemba
and Lhakpa had already left for Camp 3 at 5am. We had some
breakfast and got ready to leave. As we walked uphill along
the snow and ice, I felt wrecked. It wasn't difficult, but
my body still wasn't used to the thin air
up here. We only walked for an hour or so, to a spot where
we could get good views of the Lhotse face - our next big
obstacle before reaching Camp 3. This is a 4,000ft steep
wall of blue ice that would make for a difficult days climbing.
When Lhakpa came back, he told me he had found a butterfly
on the Lhotse face! I couldn't believe it; a tiny little
butterfly at about 22,800 feet! I was disappointed when he
told me he was just lying still when he found him. I asked
if we should try feeding him, but Lhakpa said it was too
late.
During the afternoon, I went for a bit of a nap. When I got
up, I helped Pat to do some filming. He wanted to do a couple
of interviews and he also filmed some exhausted looking people
coming in to Camp.
It's really quiet in our Camp this year; I miss my old team-mates,
Ger, Mick, George and Hannah. I wonder what they're all doing
right now and if they would like
to be back here with us?
We decided to eat our dinner in the kitchen tent with the
sherpas - it's
a little warmer because of the stoves. We were in bed by
about 8pm again tonight!
Freddy relaxing at Camp 2
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April 20
Hi kids,
I felt so much better when I woke today; my headache had
lifted and I was starving! I went down to the kitchen tent
to find Tenzing and beg for some lovely hot rice pudding.
As I sat in the kitchen, I looked around at the ice and stones
on the ground. It looked like something from the dark ages,
but nevertheless it was an adventure and Tenzing was really
proud of his new work place. I got 2 cups of tea and took
one each to Clare
and to Pat. We got up and sat on some rocks in the morning
sun. Soon Pemba came over to talk and said 'we have some
work to do.' He explained that we needed to dig out a platform
for a mess tent. He said we needed to shovel and scrape all
the rocks and ice out of the way
until the ground was level. He had a shovel and we each got
our ice
axes and started to work. Before long we were puffing and
panting.
It was real hard work at altitude. It took us until lunchtime
to finish!
In the afternoon, we all went for a rest. It takes time for
the body to get used to the thin air here.
At tea time, Pat, Clare and I sat huddled around a little
candle in the mess tent. We ate soup, pasta, fried eggs and
peas. Although they
had their down suits on, it was still really cold and by
8.30pm we all
went to bed.
Freddy in the kitchen at Camp 2
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April 19
Hi kids,
It was a bit strange going to bed not knowing what lay ahead
for the morning. A storm had started outside and we could
hear and see the winds beating wildly against the tent. As
I lay in bed, I was thinking,
"
we'll never go out in this weather." I turned around
to try and get back
to sleep, but kept hearing noises outside and couldn't rest.
I was having visions of trying to cross those scary ladders
in Clare's pack and suddenly getting blown off by a gust
of wind!
Next thing I knew, Pemba was knocking at the tent. He said
the weather seemed to be settling and that we should make
a move. It was 4.15am.
I was surprised and worried, but got up and dressed. It was
cold outside and the winds were biting. After breakfast we
made our way towards the icefall again. We had an 8-9 hour
climb ahead; it would be a long day.
As we started out, I noticed there were only sherpas on the
route - no foreign - and this worried me too; had we made
a wrong decision? I decided not to say anything as the others
seemed to be concentrating on their climbing. As we continued
upwards, the weather began to clear, the winds stopped and
the sun rose. I started to relax and enjoy things
a bit more.
We climbed at a steady pace, only stopping to watch a close-by
avalanche and to put on our sun cream and sunglasses. After
about 5 hours we reached Camp 1. My little legs had stopped
working; I was tired, thirsty and hungry. I collapsed onto
my rucksack and put my head in my hands. I didn't know how
I was going to keep climbing for another
4 hours. Pat looked and me and passed me some hot juice;
'here Freddy, this will give you some energy' I took it quietly
and also chewed some chocolate. It seemed like no time before
we were on the move again. I walked as fast as I could but
just couldn't keep up. I hated being the slowest. Finally
I saw a ladder ahead; 'Clare, can I hitch a ride with you
for a little while after this ladder?' 'Sure Freddy, just
hop on.' I scrambled in thankfully, using the last of my
strength to do so.
I think I fell sound asleep because the next time I woke,
we were sitting at our site in Camp 2 (6320m) drinking juice.
I was wrecked and had a bad headache (from the altitude);
I went to bed almost immediately although it was only 3pm.
I couldn't even face anything to eat all evening.
Freddy
with a headache at Camp 2
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