2nd of October - Morocco - Heading to the refuge

Tuesday began early. This day we were bound for our refuge in the mountains, Refuge Mouflon. Luckily this was a fabulous day with shining sun from a cloud free sky, but with cooling breaths of mountain air. The ascent for this day was about 1400 meters over a stretch of 10 km, so not too steep at all. Our group named itself the pit vipers on a whim. So off the vipers went. It took us about 6 hours to get to our destination. We kept a very calm speed so as not to over exert any of us in the group as we were quite a mixed bundle. We had many breaks for hydration and more or less about half way we stopped at Sidi Chamharouch for something to drink. video



Some went for freshly made orange juice, some for coffee, but most of us went for mint tea and some of our own snacks (nuts and figs).
At this point I had almost all the names in my group memorized. I can be soo extremely bad with names. The pit vipers consisted of Mike, Sarah, Gary, Sophie, Peichii, Jemma, Mat, Chris (the last name I etched into my head while sitting there basking in the sun) and me.
After a rest and toilet break we continued up the mountain side for a bit more before deciding we needed lunch - the one we had bought the day before. Bread with cheese, chili sausage with a suspiciously pink color, eggs, bananas and apples. And a whole lot of water, of course.
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On the path upward we passed and were passed by numerous mules of which most were heading downward with large packs. Many trekkers were going downward too. It seemed like some of the mules were carrying luggage. Cheats ;)
Two of the trekkers told us that there is ice on the top of Toubkal and that crampons are necessary in order to reach the summit. That said, it seems as the ice and snow will be hard pressed to melt enough for us to reach all the way to the top. So we may not reach it at all ! Oh well, this is how expeditions go - uncertainty, sudden changes of plan... Adapting to the situation...

When we finally neared the refuge temperature dropped somewhat. It must've been about 10 degrees Celsius.We got our sweaters and jackets out and as we got to the refuge, even the staff were wearing jackets.

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Les Mouflons has its name from a mountain deer (mouflon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon ) that lives in the Atlas mountains among other places. The refuge is located at 3207 m elevation and is quite large, 600 m² . The dormitories have up to 24 beds. Our room had bunk beds with 8 people sleeping side by side and double bunk bends. Quite funny actually.

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On arrival we were offered warm mint tea, which at that point was quite appreciated. It took us quite some time to get the body warmth up again. The refuge was quite dark inside. No electricity until nightfall and then only for a short while. We sat huddled together in the main hall wearing winter clothing and fiddling with oxymeters. I tried Sarah's phone oxymeter (with my frozen fingers - saturation is often falsely low with cold fingers) and had a SAT of 89%. At sea level with warm fingers I would expect it to be 97-100%.

The soup that arrived shortly after was evened with flour, but luckily I wasn't very hungry. What I did notice was the lack of water, however. I had only had one liter of water on the ascent. I tried out, or at least attempted to try out the mini Sawyer that I borrowed from Ben (my brother), but I couldn't attach it to my bottle. After a while I was forced to seek other solutions - thus I bought a 1,5 L water bottle. I tried the mini Sawyer on that bottle as well, but it didn't fit. Just to be sure i tried a third time, on my other bottle, that I had brought with me from home and NOW it actually fit the mouth of the bottle! it turns out the mini Sawyer only works with slim bottle mouths and by chance I had brought two different bottles with me, a Kildevæld - wide one, and an Egekilde, slim one. I hadn't even noticed. They look the same.

After the soup I tried to have a nap as others were enjoying a card play, yoga and just mingling. While lying there, doing my best to relax my attention went to my breathing. I was actually hyperventilating. It came totally naturally. Well, at least my body was attempting to normalize its oxygen level.

That evening we had a lesson on primary care and medical kits, which was very interesting. We had a brain storming exercise on what to bring for an expedition such as ours. They also talked about different things that are important to keep in mind before an expedition concerning the previous medical history of attendees and what might go wrong with travelers medication due to factors such as jet lag, dehydration, lack of food, stress and differences in time zone. Simple but important stuff.

Dinner was unfortunately spaghetti, so once again I went for bread. I had a can of tuna with me so no worries. My appetite wasn't great either, so surviving on toast worked out fine.

Tomorrow we will be getting to an early start at 6 o'clock and try to leave the refuge at 7 sharp wearing head lamps and winter clothing. Exciting!