Today we get our usual breakfast and pack a lunch and some warmer clothes for an acclimatization hike to Camp Canada at 4900m (16075ft).  This will be the first time that we will be wearing our double plastic boots; it’s a good thing I have my gear.  We ascend at a slow determined pace.  Andre gets antsy about the pace and cruises up ahead, but soon stops to rest and falls into line the rest of the time.  Vicki is having trouble with her rented boots right off the bat - they are the wrong size, too big.  Nacho helps her tighten them up and then stays with her to pace.  Cynthia is slower than the rest.  There are lots of switchbacks here.

 

We arrive at Camp Canada in about 3 hours.  The wind picks up as we eat lunch.  Today is tuna with cheese sandwiches, which I like better than any other lunch sandwiches, but the rest of the group hates them.  I am still drinking all I can.  We head back down to Plaza de Mulas just as Vicki and Cynthia are arriving at Camp Canada.  We do a lot of scree sliding/running down and we get down very quickly.  As we arrive, clouds roll in which blocks the sun and drops the temperature 25 degrees immediately.  It starts to snow.  Vicki and Cynthia ate a quick bite at Camp Canada and then came immediately down, arriving only 30 minutes after us.

 

At dinner we have the same soup as we have had for several meals, but this time as an added bonus it has been thinned with water.  I always eat the soup, lots of fluids with a bit of nutrition are very important.  The rest of dinner was not memorable.  Cynthia doesn’t show for dinner.  She has Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and goes to medical where her numbers are not good.  Her climb is over.  She is not hungry.  The guides ask her what she can eat and she says a hamburger.  Most everyone has left the dining tent and I am consoling her.  They bring her 2 big beautiful cheeseburgers on soft buns with ketchup and mustard.  Why can’t we get good tasty food when we aren’t sick?  Anyway, Cynthia eats them both.  She offers to me, but I let her eat.  That’s what good food will do - it will help you to eat well.  

 

The temperature will be -18C (0F) tonight.  I took out my sleeping bag and draped it over the one I was using but I got way too hot.