Dispatch 21: Move from Lower Camp II (6200m/20,341ft) to High Camp II (6400m/21,000ft)

Nick drinking tea after setting up high camp II (6400m) with K2 visible in the background
Nick drinking tea after setting up high camp II (6400m) with K2 visible in the background

Today, we woke up in Camp II at 7:00am, made breakfast, then packed up our things and the tent and headed up toward Camp III. Around 6400m/20,997ft, we placed a high Camp II. We spent the next two hours digging out a tent platform and hacking at the ice that prevented the platform from being flat. While I completed the work on the platform and erected the tent, Lina headed back down to lower Camp II to collect the deposit she had left, and assisted Carlos in placing his tent in a new platform. I spent quite some time securing the tent to the surrounding rocks, then unpacked the equipment into the tent and began melting snow for water. Lina arrived and we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, discussing plans, and trying to replace the huge number of calories we burned doing work at this altitude. We decided that we will carry a tent to Camp III tomorrow and spend the night there.