something to do with your lack of awareness?

Seems amazing.

It was spectacular from start to finish.

I did the full Annapurna Circuit. Started in Besishahar, Nepal (about 2,500 ft). Went up and over the Throng La Pass (about 17,800 ft) and made it to Pokhara like 22 days later. Every day was breathtaking. And not just because of the lack of oxygen.

In about one month I'll be back at altitude again as I'm preparing to hike up Mt. Fuji (12,400 ft) in early July.

Hope I make it back alive!

It included a 12 day trek. We went to the Gosainkunda Lakes region. It was absolutely stunning. While I was with a group, most days I trekked alone just behind the sherpas. For whatever reason, the altitude didn't bother me after the first day (we had a steep climb the first day). I'd never had that much time in complete silence. It was glorious. Someday, I would like to go to Bhutan. I love that part of the world.

Mountain climbing and/or high altitude trekking is something I have a big interest in and want to get involved with. Not sure what type of condition you have to be for that.

I go for a couple hikes a year in the Rockies with greater than a mile of elevation gain in a day. I try to stay in shape throughout the year by jogging up inclines, but one thing that always gets me is that my hip flexors tire out from adding a 25 pound pack. Try to do some training with some weight on your back to get conditioned.

I am walking around a bit, but I can't really prepare for the altitude.

We will do Bear Mountain or Breakneck Ridge either 29 or 30 June just to get used to walking uphill.

Frankly it will be a challenge, but not insurmountable. That altitude is not fun, but at the very lower bound of hypoxia danger. As we are healthy with no lung or breathing problems, I think we'll be fine. The trail is well traveled with aid stations and if anyone is in trouble we'll head right back down.

If I recall, you lived in Japan, so perhaps you've already climbed from one of the 5th stations upward. If so, maybe it will be more strenuous below.


I did an overnight hike from one of the fifth stations, and I thought it was pretty easy (I don't even recall any scrambling), and that the only difficult part was the annoyance of waiting on groups of older Japanese (mostly women) in a couple very narrow spots. In fact it was so crowded that I probably could have done it without a headlamp and relied solely on light from others. I would advise hiking sticks for the descent. I sank and slide quit a bit on each step down for the first couple hundred yards.