Middle-aged flash packers

Mauna Kea is the highest volcano in Hawaii, standing proud at 4207 metres. However, most of it is under water and if you take that into account, it’s over 10,000 metres tall – higher than Everest. It’s also one of the few places in the world you can drive from sea level to over 4000 metres in less than 2 hours.
Steve particularly wanted to climb Mauna Kea because it would be the highest mountain we’ve climbed. I just went along for the ride.
When we arrived at the visitor centre (already at 2800 metres) all was good and we set off to join the trail. Within 5 minutes of walking the trail I decided I really didn’t want to climb this mountain. It seemed too much effort and the scenery was very dull. However, I didn’t want to spoil Steve’s day, so I plodded on.
As we progressed, I felt as though I was wading through treacle. The walking was arduous as it was sand and pebbles and your legs have to work much harder than usual. Plus I was carrying a pack that felt as though I had a small child in it.
We had a stop after an hour which revived me a bit and I forced myself to eat a handful of nuts.
The next hour was literally one foot in front of the other and I didn’t feel like talking. All this time, I was dwelling on how much I was hating the climb. I felt sick and my appetite had disappeared even though I knew I was burning calories and needed to snack.
By the time we had reached 3900 metres, I had to admit defeat. We were only 300 metres away from the summit and I hate giving up but I just couldn’t go any further. I had completely run out of energy. It’s hard to describe how bone weary I felt. I told Steve who was obviously disappointed and I offered to wait while he summited but he didn’t want to do that. I got quite upset and I think it was at that point Steve realised I had altitude sickness.
We descended quite quickly and my energy came back a bit but we both had stinking headaches by the time we got back to the visitor’s centre.
Getting “home” was such a relief! I googled altitude sickness and I had the lassitude, nausea and mood change that are typical symptoms of mild altitude issues. Apparently because we drove from sea level to over 2800 metres so quickly, there was always a danger one of us would be affected. The cure? Stop and descend.
I think it will be a while before I do that again.