In order to go down in altitude we had to first travel through the mountain passes you see in the background. It was a considerable climb to over 15,000 feet.

Joe and I loaded Will in the car and began to put everything back into and on the car.  This was a very difficult task after little sleep, frozen feet (we could not feel them at all), and an altitude of over 4000 meters.  The most difficult for me was collecting the container of water.  It had washed down the river to a sand bar.  I considered leaving it, but I did not want to risk us running out of water.  I hiked through the icy water and sharp rocks to the huge container which had frozen overnight.  I chugged it back, tossing it into the back of the car and after about an hour and a half packing (which would normally be about 20 minutes) we drove onwards towards Karakul and Murgab.

As our feet began to thaw, Joe and I realized that we had bruised and cut them up pretty badly.  It took hours to even begin to feel them, but as they did thaw they hurt terribly.

To be able to drop in altitude, we first had to dive through higher mountain passes of over 15,000 feet–the height of the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc.  This meant we had to ascend quickly–something that was becoming more and more trying on our bodies and worried me terribly about Will’s condition.