LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1133887
Summer 2019 LOCALadk Magazine 65 LOCALadk The helicopter couldn't land, so a full evacuation to base camp began. Another team on the mountain assisted us and provided critical support. Essential gear was loaded into packs—sleeping bags, ground pads, extra layers, food, and water. Headlamps were clicked on and Henr y was rotated be- tween the arms of teammates until he got to base camp and was put on oxygen. The next morning, a helicopter landed and evacuated Tim and Henr y. Shell-shocked, Paul, Jason, Spence, Justin, and I remained at base camp and began to plot our exit strategy. We still had gear at Camp Colera and Camp 3, but our minds and bod- ies were mentally and physically exhausted. Luckily, there was a porter ser vice and we hired two porters to assist us in retrieving our gear. The mules came the next morning, and our duffels were roped down upon their backs. We trekked eighteen miles toward the park's entrance, and that night I fell asleep under the stars while Jason began another stor y about Cassiopeia's daughter, Andromeda. Two days later, after multiple rain showers and a long bus ride, we were reunited with Tim and Henr y in Santiago, Chile. Henr y was bear-hugged by the five of us. Jason gave him a Heath Bar that he'd carried off the mountain, and I handed him a bouquet of wilted flowers. Bottles of wine and beer were opened and we cheered for Henr y and for all of us be- ing healthy and well. Henr y apologized that we didn't make the summit. "It's not about the summit," I reassured him. Summits, even if you make them, are a small fraction of the time you spend on a mountain. What truly impacts and changes you are the thousands of moments that make up the experience. It's Ja- son, Spence, and Justin playing cards at night. It's Paul crack- ing another joke. It's Henr y writing in his journal. It's Tim transporting us to the Himalayas with his stories. It's how my mind slows down and I can sit in utter peace and watch the clouds float by. It's all the dehydrated meals we'd eaten and all the songs we'd gotten stuck in our heads. It's ever y high and ever y low. Most importantly above any summit, the most valuable gift from a high mountain expedition is the family you gain, when just three weeks ago you were meeting as strangers in an Atlanta airport.