| The body really does adapt to the altitude |
| Acclimatizing |
| By Candice Martin on 5/24/2007 5:29 PM |
Joe and I went on a two hour hike towards Interim Camp this morning gently encouraging our bodies to produce more red blood cells. Although we travelled a fraction of the route hiked a few days earlier, I for one found the difference quite remarkable.
Last time, I was forced to halt every ten minutes to catch my breath, calm my pounding heart and re-hydrate. Now I was actually enjoying the uphill march stopping infrequently for Joe to record ambient sound - of a gentle breeze near base camp, the gravelly crunch of our footsteps on uneven terrain and the soft lapping of a secluded turquoise lagoon encountered on our return.
Seems this acclimatization malarkey of which all these climbers speak is not such a fiction after all. I can testify to the fact that one’s body really does adapt to the altitude, allowing more oxygen to enter the lungs. Without so much as a gasp or a plea to slacken the pace I loitered only to select an interesting rock or ten to shove into my trouser pockets - even they couldn’t weigh down this one woman dynamo!!
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