Yeah I already read that. I guess what im looking for is peoples experiences on the mountain and see if theres anything they wish they would have known or prepared for.
It doesn't matter how good of shape you are in----things can go wrong. Besides things like weather conditions, the altitude is a serious factor. I did the hike for the first time last year with my 67 year old father. He did great. I got sick and both of us had to turn back shortly after Trail Camp. A month later we tried again and made it with relatively no problems. The second time I attempted to get more rest before the hike but I still did not have time to acclimate. I was flying from 4-5 hours away and did not have time to plan a trip that would allow for proper acclimization. I also tried to concentrate more on deep breathing. Finally, I also took small doses of Diamox a few days before the second trip. But I cannot say definitively that Diamox helped or what factor allowed me to make the summit on the second attempt.
My trip was late in the summer and I had spent the previous several months doing more hiking than ever in my life. I've also ran marathons and was in very good shape going into the trip. My father was also in good shape but as noted he had no problems at all other than balky knees on the descent. One of my theories is that since I was in such good shape, and hiking at a slower pace than normal, because I was with my father, I simply was never even close to being winded and wasn't breathing hard enough. Therefore not taking in enough oxygen. On the second attempt, I kept the same pace but frequently exaggerated my breathing deeply as if I were somewhat winded.
My best advice is just to be prepared for the unexpected and be willing to turn around. Best decision I made was to turn around and start descending---10-15 minutes later on our way down I started vomiting and was in bad shape the rest of the descent. It was actually very scary and thoughts of rescue were definitely in my head.
