Day 6: Western Breach to Crater Camp (18,500 ft)

Western Breach! We've been looking at the Western Breach for days now, a steep, rocky expanse reach up to the vertical cliffs that were, until we crossed them, the highest point on the mountain we could see. The day was LONG but gratifying. Tomorrow is summit day, then DOWN! to oxygen! and warmth! and not living like old ladies (in bed by 7, dinner at 5, hard candies, tea, tons of meds, constantly peeing...) It is breathtakingly beautiful up here, but the almost constant headache is a reminder that this is isn't a place to stay for very long. We woke up at 4 this morning, swearing at the cold and cursing the insanity that brought us here. Gathering up helmets and headlamps, wearing all the layers we could manage (I felt like a snowman), we trudged and shivered to breakfast. We took off soon after, a small line of headlamps in a huge expanse of dark mountain, distinguishable from the barely lightening sky by a lack of stars. Soon the billions of stars gave way to a deep purple, then pink, then pale blue morning sky. Though we were all cold and tired, there was a lot of singing in the early hours of our hike. Jesse sang a song from "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus, and since I didn't know the words to that, I substituted "Party in the USA," which promptly got stuck in my head, which lead to me doing to COOT dance as I hiked to help stay warm. As we approached 17,000 feet, the sun rose and began lighting the clouds behind us as we scaled a steep slope of skree. The pace was polé-polé, but it was good--between the slope, altitude, rocks, time, and temperature,  polé-polé was needed.

The day is a LONG blur. We scaled 2,500 feet in about 3/4 of a horizontal mile, ending at 18.5k feet, but here are some key, memorable moments:

• Shadows of Mt. Meru on horizon/ ground level at sunrise. 
• The full picnic lunch that was set up for us on a cliff 2/3 of the way up the hill, which most of us were in no mood to eat. 
• Lots of hand-over-hand climbing!
• Porters leaving camp 4 hours after we did and catching up (and passing us) easily. 
• Lava Tower becoming a tiny blip below us. 
• Everyone making it up, despite a bunch of people facing problems from the altitude. 
• Afternoon hike to the Ash Pit. Cool. My Red Sox cap prompted a conversation with a climber from a different group, also wearing a Sox cap. He's from Hingham, MA. Small world!
• BRIGHT blue sky. Tall, incredible Glaciers! (Sad they're going away... :( ) 
• Sunset below us. 
• Despite the fact that most of use were not feeling the best, many people in the group were able to keep a positive attitude and there was a lot of cheering eachother on throughout the day. 
• Sophie and Yvonne have begun telling fairy tales about "the land below the clouds," with temperature controlled, big, hard-walled things instead of tents, cascades of warm water, and ample quantities of the friendliest element: Oxygen. 

Ok, I'm cold. 4:30 am wake up tomorrow to GET TO THE SUMMIT!! A week from tomorrow I'll be at Lakes. Weird. My head hurts. Night.