Kings Canyon Backpacking Day3 no.1

In the early morning on the third day, Mr.N was doing a funny noise (bubbling sound?) when he breathed while lying down. The noise scared me. However, when he got up, the noise was gone. Retrospectively, this was the first sign we should have taken more seriously. If it had been a high altitude sickness, he should not have had appetite but he ate breakfast as usual. I thought that it might be a cold, because once I had a cold that drove coughing only when I was lying down. He said that he was okay, but I should have insisted to go back to the track. Besides this, the lake was very pretty under the morning sun. It reminded me of a piece of Bruckner. I did laundry in the lake. The water was super cold, but comfortable. The air was crisp and cool.

After breakfast, we decided to proceed the trip. First we walked on the "inconspicuous saddles". The lake we camped became smaller and smaller as we ascended, meaning the view was magnificent. I offered to carry a tent, which we shared, however, Mr.N refused. We walked slowly.

Then, a little before noon, he asked me to carry the tent. I was happy to carry it and some other his stuff, but this gave me some anxiety because he had never asked me that kind of things, even when his backpack was much heavier than mine. I reached the Potluck Pass (~11,000 feet) first and left my backpack at the top and came down to him and tried to carry his backpack, but he refused. I had never seen him struggling or slower than me on a trail. I was hoping that we could finish the next pass and reach to the LeConte Canyon at 8,000 feet so that his symptoms would be better. 

３日目。

朝目が覚めて、MrNの息の音がおかしいことに気づいた。横たわって寝ている時に息をすると妙な音がする。ストローで水の中に泡を立てているような音だ。うーむ。風邪か？

しかし起き上がるとその音は消えた。

後で思い返すと、これが最初のサインだったのだ。この時にこのサインをもっと真剣に考慮すべきだった。

もしもこれが高度障害だったらば食欲もないはずだが、MrNはきちんと朝食も食べたので、我々はちょっとした風邪かということでとりあえず少し歩き始めることにした。後で思い返すとこの時が引き返すチャンスだったのだ。

そして少しずつオフトレイルの山を登り始める。キャンプしていた湖がどんどん小さくなって行く。綺麗な景色なのだが、MrNの容態が心配だった。共用のテントを持とうかと提案したがMrNは大丈夫だと言った。しかしその後昼過ぎになってMrNからテントを持ってもらえないかと言って来た。もちろん持ったが、これはまずいかもと思い始めた。

そしてなんとかポットラックパス、３５００メートルに到着。ここから早く下って２５００メートルまで降りたいなと考えていた。そしたらMrNの症状が良くなると思ったからだ。 

続く。。。