TREPIDATION OR RESPECT?

I had a day off and after a morning at the gym, did a lot of reading about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) specifically on Aconcagua.  Yes, yes I can read, but it was very difficult finding a coloring book about AMS! The pictures are easy though. Anyway...the little gizmo pictured above is a Pulse Oximeter. This is a very popular tool on the slopes of the mountain. I have my own pulse ox and have used it on other climbs.  

Quite simply, it uses red light to measure how much of your blood (hemoglobin) is saturated, in this case, saturated with Oxygen (O2) and is measured in percentages.  This number is call your SPO2.  A fancy name for how much oxygen is in your blood. In the ICU, this is a standard piece of equipment that we hook you up to upon arrival and then keep measuring it around the clock.  A decreasing or low SPO2 may portend problems or a declining respiratory status. Or, it may mean you have cold fingers and you are just fine!

The percentage of oxygen at sea level is 21 percent.  The percentage of oxygen on the summit of Aconcagua is 21 percent!  So why is oxygen such a big deal on the top of very high mountains?  Well, the percent of oxygen is the same however, there are much fewer molecules available to breathe when gaining significant altitude. It is like placing a drop of food coloring in a small glass of water and then placing that same drop in a swimming pool. It is still 1 drop, it's just very spread out!  That 21 percent just does not go as far when you get to very high places.  

This Pulse Ox also measures heart rate.  Upon arrival to base camp, one of the first places we will check into is the Medical Tent. 

There they take your vitals which includes SPO2 and heart rate. It is "normal" for a body to have a lower SPO2 and higher heart rate when gaining altitude.  Base Camp is at almost 14,000 feet. That is close to the highest I have ever climbed. My SPO2 on our last trek to that altitude was in the mid 90s and heart rate in the 70-80s.  In the ICU we will put a tube down your throat place you on a ventilator when you dip into the low 80s,  On the top of Aconcagua our SPO2 will be in the 60s!!!  NO TUBE and NO VENTILATOR!  

To get out of Base Camp however, one must clear medical...just like the navy. The expedition physician checks your vitals again on the day of departure also. I pray I meet standards!!! They will hold you at base camp or take you off the mountain if you appear ill or there is evidence of not acclimatizing properly.  If you meet the minimum numbers, they put one last eyeball on you and send you on your way up the mountain. All guides have a Pulse Ox  with them and with most companies, they will check your readings multiple times a day to ensure you are acclimatizing appropriately. The human body must adjust to changes in altitude and it takes time. This is why the expedition is three weeks long. 

My only fear on this trip is that my lungs will let me down.  I will be in the most outstanding physical and cardiovascular shape of my life.  Unfortunately, AMS does not care what kind of shape you are in.  Bouts of raging nausea, severe High Altitude Headaches (HAH), High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and the deadliest of all, High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). Research has indicated that all of these maladies have very little if any, correlation with physical conditioning.  I have experienced the nausea and headaches, and one bad bout of HAPE.  Bad things happen when you go up too high and too fast.  Once again, this is why it takes three weeks.  

I have a high level of respect for the mountain and quite a bit of experience listening to my body! Slow is good!  Altitude medications are good!  I pray it is a safe and physically uneventful climb.  I absolutely DO NOT want a yellow helicopter ride off that mountain! 

86,000 SECONDS

86,000 SECONDS AND THE MESSENGER OF MISERY

We will be spending a LOT of time with the Messenger in the coming months!  

M.O.T.I.V.A.T.I.O.N

Get Some!!!

THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY!

THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY

This is one of our possible routes to the last rock!

February 2015

Leave No Trace

THE SPITTERS

SHARE THE TRAIL

The guanaco is a vulnerable animal native to the arid, mountainous regions of South America. They are found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. In Chile and Argentina, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park, and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. In these areas, they have more robust populations, since grazing competition from livestock is limited. A guanaco’s typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years.


Estimates, as of 2011, place their numbers at 400,000 to 600,000.


Guanacos live in herds composed of females, their young, and a dominant male. Bachelor males form separate herds. While female groups tend to remain small, often containing no more than 10 adults, bachelor herds may contain as many as 50 males. When they feel threatened, guanacos alert the herd to flee with a high-pitched, bleating call. The male usually runs behind the herd to defend them. They can run at 56 km (35 mi) per hour, often over steep and rocky terrain. They are also excellent swimmers.


Guanacos are one of the largest wild mammal species found in South America (along with the manatee, the tapir, and the jaguar). Natural predators include cougars, jaguars, and foxes. Guanacos often spit when threatened.


To protect its neck from harm, the guanaco has developed thicker skin on its neck, a trait still found in its domestic counterparts, the llama and alpaca, and its wild relative, the vicuña. Bolivians use the necks of these animals to make shoes, flattening and pounding the skin to be used for the soles. In Chile, hunting is allowed only in Tierra del Fuego, where the only population not classified as endangered in the country resides. Between 2007 and 2012, 13,200 guanacos were legally hunted in Tierra del Fuego.


Guanacos are often found at high altitudes, up to 13,000 feet above sea level, except in Patagonia, where the southerly latitude means ice covers the vegetation at these altitudes. For guanacos to survive in the low oxygen levels found at these high altitudes, their blood is rich in red blood cells. A teaspoon of guanaco blood contains about 68 billion red blood cells – four times that of a human.

And....they SPIT! With a really great aim!

And...they are LOUD!

T.E.A.M

The Team Grows

As of today, the Last Rock Aconcagua Expedition Team has grown to four.  Davy Jenkins, Cory Gaconnet and Libby Stanton!  It will be nice to have familiar faces around. I have trusted these individuals with my life and will continue to do so!  Welcome aboard the Crazy Train!

Mark

Davy

Cory

Libby

THE COOKIE

It MUST be true!!!!  Even the folks at Panda Express know about it!  How could they have known? Ok...so I eat at Panda every now and then.  (Feet speaking now) "he said every now and then", he has a "frequent flyer card".  My feet are selling me down the river again. Anyway, I get lots of veggies and not the rice or chow mien to go with my other healthy entrees so that makes it ok.  MENDOZA, here I come.  The great Panda said so!

TOO MUCH THINKING

I have been doing a lot of "thinking" lately...

The latest thing I have been pondering is where all the places my feet have been in the last 20,456 days. Not only where they have been, but where they are going in the future. Tick Tock Tick Tock, the average human lives 27,375 days. As you can see, my summit clock is ticking!

Yes, I know, me "thinking "is a scary thought but it happens on occasion and the results of those thoughts are usually life altering! For instance, I once thought "I need to get out of town". The next thing I know, 20 years has past and I was retiring from the U.S. Navy. I thought "That girl is cute and fun to be around". Married to the same beautiful person for almost 33 years now. I was invited to a "Fitness Challenge" at work back in January. I thought about it. I do not like dieting, hate running and absolutely love my Maui Onion Potato chips. After thinking about it, I decided I would give it a shot. Three months later, I placed second out of over 30 individuals. I missed first place by 0.01 points. After thinking some more, I signed up for the next 90 day fitness challenge and now am using a personal trainer and arguably am in the best shape of my life (with the exception of Boot Camp). That whole "thinking thing"!

My feet have been in some fairly crazy places. My 20 years in the Navy put them in some exotic places, some dangerous places, and finally, some places where they really needed to be! After "retirement" from the Navy, those same feet decided to visit the very special places that God had set aside for my "mid-life crisis"as some would call it. It is only a mid-life crisis in the very unlikely event I live to be 112 years old! Anyway, these feet at the bottom of my legs randomly decided that VERY high places are the VERY BEST places! Mt. Whitney, Mt. Shasta, White Mountain and Mt. Langley just to name a few of the highest. These feet really like the top of the world. The walk up there...not so much!

Back to that "thinking thing" again. My feet were in agreement that I would most likely not see my 112th birthday. My eyes on the opposite end of where my feet live remind me on a daily basis in the ICU that the "Golden Years" are not always so "Golden". Not golden that is, unless someone spray paints a bedpan for you! So....The feet said to me "Mark, you have thought about "IT" long enough, time to move!"

ACONCAGUA!!!     The two appendages at the end of my legs have decided to go for broke! Go big or go home! They know they will never touch the top of Everest but they and me, have decided this is the next best thing. The tallest mountain outside of Asia, the tallest in the Western Hemisphere and THE HIGHEST non-technical mountain in the WORLD! The feet get giddy just thinking about it! The toenails, well, they have given up long ago! There will be a long training period but it will be over too soon and then it will be time to "fish or cut bait" in January 2017. A little over a year for my feet to convince the rest of the body that we are ready for the event of a life time. Plus it is going to take that long to get the wallet convinced too! LOL A little over a year to get my mind and body as right as my feet think they are.

So why the blog? The Navy, more so than anything else, instilled in me the need for the setting of goals and the practice of accountability. The goals are set. The public posting of my progress to my friends and family will greatly assist me in meeting those goals and being accountable. This venture will arguably be the most mentally and physically demanding event of my life. My Brain, soul and feet will need a lot of moral support in order to stand on that last rock at 22,837 feet! That last rock, the one on the top, just under the cross that has been placed on the summit is where the feet are headed.



The blog greatly assisted me when my feet decided to leave the couch a few years ago and climb the highest mountain in the lower 48 and I think some of you enjoyed watching the transition. This trip will be so much more difficult and the preparation more extensive. Join me in the pain, humor and struggles of getting to the top of the Americas! If the blog is not your thing, that is ok too, my feelings and feet will not be hurt. I have a fairly thick skin. If you do, if you desire to make the trek with me, then...Thank You so very much for the prayers, help, support and good thoughts.

LETS DO THIS!!!