Man....so good to be home. A two day slog on airplanes and sleeping on floors in terminals, but I made it. I"m beat. That might have been harder than the actual expedition.
So I"m obviously still settling in....but I"m going to need some time to recover. From Everything. Healthwise my body is doing well, but craving so many things. I"m pretty thin, and have lost a lot of muscle in my body. My body also needs some time to be fed properly. Eating canned and freeze-dried food for a month just doesn"t give your body that "ah, yes.....fresh food!" feeling. Sleep, I also need a lot of sleep.
My body is also starting to get back all its senses to the things it lacked at 17,500ft. Smells, sounds, feelings....all those things get stale at such high altitudes....but down here, they fill the air. The air is like a soup, and my body is on sensory overload. It"s pretty awesome actually. It"s kinda like being inserted into the Matrix (kinda).
So I walked away from the mountain unharmed. My frostnip injuries from Denali a few years back are acting up (my big toes are numb), but that was to be expected. The feeling comes back after a few weeks. Same with some of the tips of my fingers. No biggie though.
My mental attitude is good. I"m happy with the decision I made of turning around, casino pa natet but obviously there is a little bit (actually, a lot) of regret. I keep thinking if only I had pushed through a few more hours, I would have made the summit....but in reality, it would have been a HUGE risk. I usually go for risks, but not up there.
So, am I going back? OF COURSE. When? As soon as possible. Most likely 2013. Climb For Memory lives on. Alzheimer"s is very important to me and I will continue to climb to raise awareness and donations for it. More details about my next climb(s) will be up in the next few weeks.
Also, give me some time to organize my photos and videos (I have thousands of pics and hours of footage), I will post them on the site and facebook as soon as I can. Also, more blog posts, especially one covering the details of my summit day.
Thanks everyone for following!