[pct-l] altitude sickness

[jrharris626 at MSN.COM (Jackie Harris)]

It hits me about twelve thousand, hard; headache, nausau, and overall body weakness, a kind of high-altitude sea sickness.. On Rainier, ~14,400, I kept the enervating symptoms just beyond my fingertips by breathing hard, nearly hyperventilating mode, an inhale and exhale for each step. I repeated this on Forrester Pass and while hiking up Whitney; and had no problems, just the burden of breathing deliberately. If your threshhold of sickness is 11,000, obsess with breathing deliberately and forcefully, in keeping with steps, over those very few passes that carry you up that high. For the most part, don't worry. If the symptoms appear, which they probably won't, breathe!: hard and in time with each step.