February 2, 2006: Day 2 Ascending through the heath zone

Although I managed to get up early to see the sunrise, by the time everyone else rolled out of their sleeping bags and we all had breakfast, most of the other trekkers were long gone. We just didn't see the need to move any faster, as we knew we had plenty of time for today's hike.

For the first time, we felt the warming rays of the sun as the cloud cover was temporarily absent. The destination for today was Shira camp. Our hike would take us up another 900m in elevation (roughly 2500 feet), about 2/3 of the elevation gain that we made on Day 1. The majority of this elevation gain would be in the first half of the hike, which proved to be the steepest climbing thus far. The path often consisted of slickrock, which fortunately for us had started to dry from the previous nights rain. Otherwise, the ascent would have been more difficult given the steepness and slippery nature of the rocks. We took it slow. Waking up with a resting heart rate of 100 bpm told me that my body was still adjusting to altitude. Otherwise we all felt fine, and we enjoyed the open views that the lack of clouds afforded us.