POTLUCK
Friday night is the potluck dinner. If you can make a camp meal (or bring something premade at home) that represents your home area or just something that you enjoy cooking at camp, please do so. In addition to the potluck, is a "Beers Around the World" table where everyone brings a few beers from their local area to share. Just come up to the table and pick your flavor.
As a reminder, we have a beer sponsor this year thanks to
@smakee so we don't need everyone to pass on bringing food for the potluck because you're bringing beer to share. The potluck has always been a big hit and we don't want to change that into a beer-only event. The amazing food that is spread across 7-8 tables is one of the best parts of the event. Go big or go small. No one should go to bed hungry on Friday night.
ALTITUDE SICKNESS (I've received a few emails about this)
We had a pretty significant case of moderate altitude sickness in our family this week so I thought this was a good place to share some info on it so you know what to look for. My 10-year-old son climbed Mt Bierstadt (14,065 feet) on Monday in under 2 hours. That's an incredibly fast pace to gain/lose almost 3,000 feet of elevation and cover 7 miles. After reaching the summit, he began vomiting and became disoriented. My wife reached the summit just a few minutes later and turned him around immediately and they started down. When I met them at 13,900, Keagan (my son) was still vomiting and could not hold any water down at all. They continued down the mountain as quickly as possible. His condition never worsened, but he vomited every few minutes all the way down the mountain to the Land Cruiser at 11,200 feet. He continued feeling sick, bad headache, lethargic and weak almost all the way home. Once we reached about 7,000 feet, he rapidly improved. By 5pm that afternoon, he had a cheeseburger and a milkshake and was back to 100%. Although he was miserable while it was happening, this is still considered mild-moderate altitude sickness. Severe altitude sickness is life threatening. Mild altitude sickness is not. Losing altitude is the only way to improve mild-moderate altitude sickness and once down, you should feel better pretty quickly. Not feeling any better, or feeling worse, are signs that medical attention is required.
This isn't meant to make anyone nervous, it's just an example of how over-exerting yourself or rapidly gaining elevation can quickly cause altitude sickness. Everyone in your group may experience headaches, trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, lack of appetite, dizziness or lightheadedness. Those are pretty normal symptoms of very mild altitude sickness. You don't need to rush down the mountain for those. I still get that sometimes when I go above 13,000 feet. If you (or someone in your group) is vomiting continuously and becomes very confused, has trouble speaking or standing and is very pale, it's time to take a ride into Durango or Montrose. A few hours (or overnight) at a lower altitude should bring them right back to normal and you can jump right back into HIH. You don't have to pack up and drive home.
I doubt we'll have any issues. Sitting in your 100 and driving to 13,000 feet is different than basically jogging over rocks from 11,200 to 14,065 feet like my son did. By all means, allow your kids to run around and enjoy the mountains, but remind them to take a short break every once in a while too. Camp is just above 9,000 feet, which is pretty high, especially for those living near sea level. Expect to feel the altitude and some of the symptoms above, but that shouldn't ruin your trip. Expect to have trouble sleeping, especially the first night. Totally normal. Increase your activity each day and you'll feel just like you do at home in no time.
(unlike a Land Rover and some Jeeps)
