Altitude sickness and a new CO Elk hunter......?

[Al Kidner]

G'day all,

 Well in a few months I'll be in the back country with longbow in hand, footed shafts in my quiver and a spring in my step all for a stalk on a good Colorado bull.

I'm just doing some homework on altitude sickness and I guess I'm just throwing it out there to see what works and what does not really.

I've read about certin drugs one can take, both natural and not .. so some info on that will be nice please.

Currently I'm working in Kabul, Afghanistan and like to think myself as fit due to a liking of the gym & the hight of this city in the mountaions. Naturally enough I'll be hunting higher though.

Anyhow, lets see what come out.


Cheers,


ak.

[J. Adams]

Glad to hear you will finally be able to chase some elk, Al.
If you make it to my neck of the woods, look me up!
Stay safe!
Josh

[wtpops]

Anything below 7000' i dont have a problem but above that all i do is take some advil with me for the head aches and move a little slower which is always a good thing anyway

[Wolfkiss]

Don't go straight up to your huning grounds, have a night in Denver before going higher(if that's where you are landing)  And take it easy for the first couple of days.

Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. I went through 2 litres daily while hunting. I popped an Ibroprufen tablet every morning, (I also had some ant acid tablets incase I started to develop symtoms...unused)i had no symptoms of alt sickness
but did notice the lack of Oxygen for 3 or 4 days.

I was hunting up to about 10K ft.

With altitude sickness its usually the young fit ones who go running straight up the mountain that cop for it.

Have a great hunt, Andy.

[Whip]

You're going to have the time of your life Al, so good thinking to take precautions to make sure the altitude doesn't take anything away from your enjoyment.  

I think Wolfkiss sums it up pretty well.  The only thing I do different is I do take the antiacid tablets even before I have any symptoms.  I eat a bunch of them every morning and more at mid-day and night.  Might not even need to do that, but that is my routine and it has been working well for my on trips as high as 13,000 feet.  

As he suggested, a day spent somewhere below 8,000 feet before going higher is a great idea.  Then take it a little easy for the first couple of days and I'll bet you will be fine.  Drink lots of water!!!

Are you going to have a day before packing in?  I'll be in the west during September, and if there is any chance we might be close I'd love to try to meet up with you.

[ozy clint]

i've heard that eating lots of garlic is the thing that the guides do on marco polo sheep hunts north of where you are now. thins the blood apparently.  those hunts are at 4000-5000m  (13000-16500ft).

you might get a tent to yourself too.    

good luck mate.

[straitera]

Altitude Sickness is insidious response to stresses & strains abnormal to your regular regimen and environment. It may strike at anytime regardless of whether you're in shape. You'll definitley reduce the chances if you are fit & climatize beforehand. A day or 2 gradually increasing to altitude is usually enough to adjust oxygenation. Good luck.

[donnyjack]

I've elk hunted the west since 1982 and the only time I had an issue was the first year in 82 when I tried to climb the highest mountain on the first day.
We drive stright through and camp a between 8 to 9K feet and start hunting ether that afternoon or the next morning.  Whats been said above counts for a lot, Take your Time, go slow, drink lots of water, and have some pain releavers with you.
Enjoy the experance and don't try to do it all the first day.  
Best of Luck and good hunting.

DJ

[sagebrush]

As has been stated above, drink plenty of water. You can tell how much you need by the color of your urine. If it is clear, you're ok. My hunting partner got it real bad one year. He couldn't hardly walk back to camp. He was dehydrated and didn't know it. I always told him I would make sure he made it out if he got hurt. Even if it took two trips. Gary

[Don Stokes]

Water is important enough to mention again. It's heavy to carry, but worth it. You can't trust even the highest-altitude streams to be safe for drinking without treatment.

At high altitude you don't notice that you're sweating because the evaporation rate is so high, and you lose a lot through heavy breathing, trying to get enough O2. Most folks from flatland country (like me) go slowly the first couple of days, because they can't get enough oxygen to go any faster!

One year my bro and I stayed above 9,500 feet for two and a half weeks, hunting up to 11,000' every day. After the first week, we hardly noticed the oxygen deficiency at all. When we came down to go home we drove to low elevation the first day. That night, even though we were pretty well worn down from hunting and driving, we stayed awake nearly all night in the motel room because then we were getting too much oxygen! Amazing how your body adjusts.

[tradtusker]

where you gonna be hunting Al ?

[geno]

we camp at 11,000 and hike to 12,000. Stay in camp 1st day and relax.Make sure your lungs are strong. we did bleachers with weights in are back-pack to get ready. When your done and come back to 5,000 you feel like superman in the gym for a week. have fun, post pics.G

[ChuckC]

you are used to the sun, being where you live.  In the mountains though, the air is thinner, cleaner and you are that much closer to God (and the sun).  Watch out for sunburn.  Learn to stay in the shade as much as you can, both because of the heat as well as to keep out of plain sight.

I quickly learned to not really stop walking till I get to some shade (when scooting down the trail to get to my hunting areas).

Water.....  carry it... drink it

Spending a day or night at some altitude really helps.  We started driving to just west of Denver the first day,  sleeping in a commuter parking lot on the side of the road at that point, which is around 6,000 + feet elevation.  That in itself seems to have helped a lot in acclimation.  Then take it kinda easy the first day.  We only hunt to about 9,000 feet so don't get too heavily involved in Altitude sickness,  but some in the group still get some headaches even at that level.   I am starting from a location below 1000 feet elevation (Wisconsin).

Where abouts are you gonna be ?  and When ?  I will be out there very briefly this fall too.  (Unless work screws up the rest of my planned hunt as well as the first half).
ChuckC

[Steve O]

Best thing to do is take it easy and get used to the altitude slowly.

Not any antacid will to; it has to be Rolaids.

Anything over 10,000 Diamox is recommended.

See here:

 http://www.wildsheep.org/pdf/high_altitude.pdf

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Like everybody is saying stay well hydrated and what I was told by a doctor is altitude sickness comes from a PH embalance in the body and the easiest way to bring the PH back up is to use a antacid which it looks like the other guys are saying also.

I always carry cherry flavored rolaids in my pocket and pop one if I'm starting to feel a little wierd or I know I'm going be driving strait up the mountain with out stopping.

Works for us    Good luck on your hunt  :D  

Tracy

[KentuckyTJ]

Again, plenty of water and stay at camp or drive around on day one so your body can acclimate. You will be fine.

More importantly get into shape if you are not. The higher altitude and mountains can abuse you if you are not. Also take wool socks NO cotton. Your feet will thank you.

[McDave]

You can try diamox.  I've used it at times when I knew I would be going from sea level in Sacramento and camping the next day at 12,000'.  It seems to do some good.

As said, drink plenty of water.

Power breathing will make your lungs think they are 1,000' lower.  Whenever you get out of breath, instead of exhailing normally, puff your breath out like you were blowing out a candle, creating a back pressure in your lungs.  Do that with every breath until you don't feel out of breath anymore.

Rest-stepping will save your legs and knees on those long steep climbs.  Rather than keeping your body in steady motion, pause every time you put your foot down and keep all your weight on your back leg for a moment, before rolling your weight onto your front foot to take the next step.  Don't wait to do this until your legs are tired; that's too late.  Do this every step you take when the grade exceeds a certain steepness, which you will have to determine for yourself.

Most important of all, move however slowly you need to move so you don't get out of breath to start with.  In the high mountains, if you're afraid you're not going to get from point A to point B because you're walking too slowly, all that means is that you're not going to get from point A to point B when you want to, because you're not going to get there any faster if you try to walk faster and you get out of breath.

A friend recently wanted to go up Mt. Whitney (14,500') which I have climbed many times.  I wondered if I still had another climb in me.  But having learned to pace myself over the years, I found that I had more energy at the top than I remember having before when I was younger and stronger.

[Kingwouldbe]

Even if it took two trips. Gary  

Gary, remind me to never hunt with you above 7000 feet LOL.

Hi Al, altitude sickness effects every one different and it can KILL you.

You can goggle it and get all the info you want.

I usually hunt every year from 9,000 to above 12,500 here are a few things I do and there is some great info above.

I drink water the week before the hunt lots and lots of water, and I keep drinking lots and lots of water on the hunt.

Ibuprofen every night before I go to bed on the hunt, and some during the day if I need it, I have found for me, if I take it at night, I get a better nights sleep and I wake more refreshed.

Pace your self the 1st day or two, the real work is after the shot, getting it out.

I have had it vary sever a few times, once my muscle ceased up in big knots and I was shaking, usually I will just get a headache.

I had a friend get it, it made him walk like he was drunk and disorientated, he was staggering and slurring his words, at first, we where laughing at him and making jokes, we took him down the mountain a few thousand feet and he came back to normal, but we whir scared for him.

Last year I did a solo trip and I was camped at 11,500 after climbing from 7,000 that morning.
 

Enjoy my friend you will have a hunt of a lifetime.

[Ray_G]

The advice on water during the course of the day is one that always gets me cramped up if I get so focused on hunting.  I have lived and hunted in Idaho since 1993 and have only used one spring for drinking water that I knew had history of cleanliness.

Since 1994, I have used a water filter that is light, easy to use from any source and I have never gotten sick.  Besides the wild critters, I know some of these sources had cattle grazing alotments where cattle were in the water.  This allows me to get water from any spring, creek, clear pond, etc.  The filter is good for 50 gallons of water and easily replaceable - I have a spare.  Just dip the bottle part, slide in the filter, screw on the top cap and drink or pour.  I have filled canteens for two other guys on a day hunt and drank a couple bottles myself while lunching creekside.

 http://store.botaofboulder.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=BOB&Category_Code=FS

Best wishes for a great hunt, Al.      

Ray

[PAPA BEAR]

hey al how are ya? i have a remedy for you that works effectively for me every time i get high   . chew on some caraway seeds,it opens up the lungs and bronchial passages and keeps them clear.you have my word it works and will not hurt you at all.caraway is a member of the parsley family.....larry