June 21 report from Baranco Camp

13,047 feet, 6:30 pm

We are sleeping in the clouds at Baranco camp tonight. It is misty and damp. After avoiding the incredibly bright sun all day we now miss it. For most of our hike today we were looking down on the clouds - it was really a site.

At 8:40 am we left camp at 13,650 feet and hiked up through lava fields to 14,860 feet for lunch. Lunch was mushroom soup, fruits, fried bananas and grilled cheese sandwiches with vegetables - again all very good. We made it into our camp for tonight around 4:30 pm.

For a few days now our individual medical reviews (morning and evening) with our guides include resting pulse, blood O2 saturation, answering a list of questions and listening to our breathing with a stethoscope for fluid, which could be a precursor to a pulmonary embolism; one of the potential consequences of ignoring signs of AMS (acute mountain sickness or altitude sickness). The evening reviews are one on one - they want us to rat out our tent mate if they are hiding an illness or injury.

When it comes to the vital stats Brian and Allison are doing very well. Michelle is doing OK and I am doing lousy. At home my resting pulse is in the low 60s. This morning it was hovering around 100. The Diamox that Michelle, Brian and Allison are taking may be helping them a bit.

As I think I have said before, this is much more difficult than I thought because of the altitude. I also forgot how much I prefer hotels over tents. Michelle's version of a tent is a three star hotel, so she is really suffering for the team.

Michelle's pulse and blood O2 sat looks good; however climbing over boulders and down steep inclines of loose stone is not her cup of tea. The same willpower and determination that allow her to stay up for 36 hours prepping for a big case are what she is drawing from to keep on going. Michelle leads the group on our hikes. We are happy with the pace she sets.

Michelle was not able to keep warm at night - and we're not in the really cold elevations yet. She has a new 0F rated North Face down bag, sleeps with down slippers, sweat pants, a sweater and a wool hat, a down comforter and down jacket on top of the sleeping bag - and still was not able to keep warm. Last night that changed. Our guide had several plastic Nalgene bottles filled with very hot water. Those were placed in her bag - it did the trick. The bottles were still warm this morning.

Brian and Allison surprised me at lunch with a Father's Day card which was greatly appreciated.

The hotel we stayed in prior to the climb is not exactly what we want to go to after finishing this trip, whether we make it to the top or not. The hotel had intermittent electricity, no A/C or TV and beds a bit bigger than a crib. We are trying to get reservations in a different town when we are finished so we can enjoy a real bed and bath.

Occasionally we listen to our iPods, but most of the time you're just thinking (and breathing deeply) as you watch where you are putting your foot next. My micro revelation - in some ways this is worse than a marathon - not the preparation, but the event itself. When you start a marathon you know that in 3-5 hours you will be finished, picking up your medal and pigging out on fruits and snacks. An hour later you're in a nice hot shower followed by a great nap. No such luck here. What we look forward to is just getting off our feet and the porta potty, which is in a 3' x 3' tent (honest) set up just for the four of us. It's basically a very small toilet seat over a plastic bucket that has a bleach-like solution to prevent any odors - yes, that is one of the very few things we look forward to every day. The food is great, but we just don't have any appetite so we don't enjoy it. The porta potty is our reason for making it to the end of each day.

We were not able to use the solar panel today (I forgot a cable in the porters bags) to charge the batteries so we are a bit low on battery power and will not be able to transfer and reformat any pictures tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be a relatively short, but very steep, day, so hopefully I will have time to charge the batteries and send some pictures that are legible.

For all the hardships I must say that the views are amazing every step of the way. As we crest a ridge the views change completely. The scenery is incredible.

Kevin, Michelle, Brian & Allison