Day two is often tooted as the toughest day of the hike. It is only 11km, so I had difficulty imagining that it would take that long, no matter how hard it was.
Well, it did, and it was. As I type, Deb and Sandra have still not made it to camp (our guide is with them). Before lunch, we climbed 1000 metres, on ancient, 800yr old steps. Did I mention it was raining? Well, it was. We were high to begin with, about 3000m. So breathing and climbing that quickly was difficult.
Where we stopped for lunch was icy cold, surrounded by snow, and encased in cloud. Needless to say lunch was hot and good.
We still had further to climb before we reached "Dead Woman's Pass" (actual name). It was slow, many of our little group were I'll, seeing spots, or had headaches. I could just feel the pressure of my chest, trying to suck enough air in. Jenny and I set a steady pace, and after an hour or so we were at the top. It was spectacular.
We stayed long enough for a muesli bar, and a couple of "coo-ee" s, and watched the rest of the group for a little while. However Lopo had told us not to wait because of the cold, and we discovered he was right. We layered up and headed down the other side to camp.
Going downhill was a relief for a couple of minutes, and then it was also slow going and tough on our legs! The trail is in excellent condition, but slippery, steep, and very uneven. It took us almost 2hrs to complete the final few kilometres.
On a brighter note, that's the toughest day done with!
Hopefully the girls make it in before dark.
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