Today was a slow, lazy day. We woke up at 8:30 a.m. and headed down to the mess hall dome for breakfast at 9. We were served pancakes with dulce de leche, which were a delicious start to the day. After breakfast, we stayed in the dome, relaxing and chatting until 11 a.m., when it was time to see the doctor.
At the doctor’s tent, Mathieu and I were the first ones to go in. The doctor measured our blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, and listened to our lungs to ensure everything was fine. My results were good: 92% oxygen saturation, normal blood pressure, and no concerning lung sounds. Mathieu’s results were just as positive, and he was able to leave quickly.
I, however, stayed longer because the doctor and our guides had to discuss my specific situation, given my history of pulmonary edema. They debated whether I should start taking preventive medication, including Viagra. Ultimately, they decided I could continue with the current plan and only start medication if any symptoms appeared.
After the check-up, I managed to get online and called Ji for about an hour and a half. I showed her the tent and shared some pictures of what we had done so far.
At 1 p.m., we were called for lunch, which was a parrilla cooked outside on the barbecue. The steaks were decent, but not the best cuts of meat we’ve had.
After lunch, I tried to take a nap in the tent, but it was both too warm and too cold at the same time, making it impossible to sleep and even giving me a bit of a headache. I moved to the mess hall to try and nap there, but still couldn’t manage to sleep.
Around 3 p.m., we started preparing our bags for the coming days. We organized three separate bags: one was our backpack for the hike, which we packed as fully as possible, leaving only items like sleeping bags and mattresses to add tomorrow morning. The second bag was for Mendoza, containing items we no longer needed. The third was for Plaza de Mulas, which we would use after our summit attempt.
While the rest of the group decided to take $25 showers, we thought that price was excessive. Instead, we improvised by washing our hair at the sink. I bent over near some rocks while Mathieu poured water over my head to clean it—before “accidentally” pouring water down my shirt too.
Afterward, we chilled for a while until dinner, where we were served a huge piece of pork with gratin dauphinois. As we ate, Mathieu decided it was the perfect time to make a ridiculous joke about gravity for climbers, which made me laugh so hard I nearly choked. I joked that it might lead to needing a helicopter evacuation off the mountain. Thankfully, we avoided that—and hopefully will continue to avoid helicopters for the rest of the trip!
After dinner, we returned to the tent around 9 p.m. to finish some final bag preparations and get an early night’s sleep, ready for another long day of hiking with a heavy load tomorrow.