Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Altitude Sickness

LKC:

I've climbed all of the "Fourteeners" in the lower forty-eight, the Mexican volcanoes, I've climbed Denali (Mount McKinley) three times, Acongagua, and a bunch more high altitude climbing. So I've had lots of experience with altitude sickness. I've had it and my climbing partners have had it.

The two most serious types have already been mentioned and they are both killers. HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) is fluid in the lungs and you can self-diagnose it when you feel gurgling in your lungs or pain in the chest. If your breath is condensing and your friends aren't condensing, then you may have fluid on your lungs. HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) is fluid on the brain. You can self-diagnose it when you get dizzy and stay dizzy for more than a few minutes. If one of your hunting partners goes unconscious (doesn't wake up in the morning) you need to transport him to lower elevation within twelve (12) hours to save his life. The only effective field remedy requires an item called a Gamow Bag and you won't have one. So DECEND, DECEND, DECEND! Get to lower elevation immediately if you want to live. Fortuantely HAPE and HACE are both rare below 10,000' elevation.

The most common type and the least severe is AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). It's almost always associated with dehydration and its' symptoms are similar to those of influenza and they may include mild headache, vomiting, lassitude and periodic breathing (the kind I got). Common Aspirin and Rolaids (not Tums) can help because Rolaids coincidentally contains the just the kind of ingredients that your body needs and it is a mild astringent that reduces the effects of dehydration. Diamox is the brand name of a prescription drug that works for some people. It can be taken a couple of days before you begin to ascend. But it doesn't work for everyone and there are some potentially miserable side effects. In most cases if you rest for a couple of days and take Aspirin and Rolaids, AMS will subside and you can start enjoying yourself.

The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to ascend slowly (1,000' per day). But you don't have that much time. So get in good shape now. Good shape means strong heart and lungs. Good exercises include running stairs, swimming, bicycling, or any other kind of exercise that works the heart and lungs. Also try to develop a technique called pressure breathing. Essentially you generate a rhythm between your body effort and your lungs so that you have air before you need it. If you wait until you need the air then it's too late and you're always out of breath. However sometimes even the best athletes can get altitude sickness so don't count on that being the cure all. Get to high elevation a few days early and just lounge around before you start exerting yourself. Stay hydrated, avoid alcohol and coffee or any other kind of diuretic, take one Aspirin and one Rolaids each day. Be alert to the sympoms mentioned and react appropriately if they occur.

Good luck and have a great hunt.

KC

I live in Iowa at 1200+- ft and have hunted out west 15+ times. 8000-13000 feet on the hunts. Went skiing as a kid and with the family for 30+ years. Only had acute altitude sickness 2x once as a kid and once 3 years ago. Both times on sking trips just felt completly tired and weak and a little nausea. The last time it took 1 1/2 days to resolve. Interesting fact was that it was hard for me to eat much,no appetite. I was eating because I knew fluids and food would help. I asked my wife for some chicken soup and 10 min after eating the hot salty soup It was like a light switch was flipped and I was fine for the rest of the trip. So if no diamox is available dont be afraid to try some chicken soup!!
As was posted above if it is a bad case dont fool around get down in elevation.

Is there anything that chicken soup won't cure?

KC

The chicken soup thing is kind of a joke but I will tell you if I ever get it again it wont take 1 1/2 days for me to start in with the soup.

It is a horrible feeling. You get tunnel vision, severe headache, nausea and you feel like you have water in your head. I got it when I hit 10,000 feet, then worse at 11,000 feet. I stopped right there and moved down the mountain. I was packing a 40 lb. pack and was probably not hydrated well, but it scared the crap out of me. Time moved slow and I felt like I was floating in space. My partner got it worse than I did. We are both in excellent shape, so that doesn't have much to do with it. It sure isn't any fun. I felt like I was dying. Flinch

Mine was something like that- it was a splitting headache and horrible nausea- there was no desire to do ANYTHING but get better. IF you get AMS- you will probably have to descend to get over it. I think the remedies mentioned are mostly prophylactic in fact.

I live at 1900 ft. and hike a good bit in the high country. I haven't had a case of real altitude sickness since I was a teenager. But I do watch for it.
KC nailed it quite well. Stay hydrated and watch your breathing. Your hydration bladder is your best friend. Don't be shy about using the step/pause routine that the mountaineers use if you find yourself becoming short of breath. Never allow yourself to get really behind in your breathing.
If you get hit with it, like he says, go down. You are better off camping lower and climbing each morning if you are close to the 10,000 ft. plus range. E

I live at 7200 and went through about a three year streak where whenever I was at 10,000 or above I felt like crap for a day or so with bad headaches, unable to sleep and lack of hunger. It went away when I decided to get my rear into better shape.

Try to get to Wyoming a few days early so you can relax and adjust. And lay off the booze while here.

At times I hunt with guys who run marathons but live close to sea level. Even they get punked for a few days over 10,000. Altitude does funny things to people and you have no way of knowing until you actually get up there.

I keep things simple, according to Google Earth, my hunting camp is ten feet higher than my house.

Diet also helps. This is hard but, stay away from coffee, fatty foods like steak and fried foods. Eat pasta, fruits and HYDRATE! NO BOOZE! Doesn't sound good does it but it sure helps in keeping going at altitude. I come fromn 43 feet above sea level and need every bit of help I can get!

Figam: No

If I have to do that, I think I'll just quit elking and take up scuba diving or something. The fact that I can do sausage/bacon, hash browns, rolls, eggs, steaks, and bakers with tons of butter and still drop several pounds is one of the reasons I enjoy my fall hunting trips.

Hydration is a key in life regardless so I didn't mention that, but we take extra care at altitude to drink extra and make sure we are hydrated. That plus the aspirin has helped.

I did not know about rolaids... will have to note that and carry...

I live near sea level in Hawaii, but my symptoms in Montana elk camp (8500') are usually limited to terrible headaches for the first 2 nights, even when I've acclimated for several days at 6500' elevation before riding in. I don't get symptoms while awake, even if I climb to 9500' or so.

In addition to taking NSAIDs, a decongestant seems to help as well. I theorize that my normal respiration while sleeping may amount to insufficient oxygen intake, hence the terrible headaches at night and the perceived efficacy of decongestants (helps the air flow better)...but I haven't asked a doctor if this sounds plausible.

I'd ask my wife (a veterinarian), but I'm in the dog-house tonight because I forgot it was our anniversary...again.

On second thought, maybe it's just all that wood we burn (and resulting smoke and carbon monoxide) to make the inside of the tent feel like Hawaii...

Last year we drove from 900 feet of elevation in southeast Kansas to camp, 8,000 feet(not sure off top of my head???) in about 14 hours. Set up camp, ate supper, and went to bed. The next day we saddled up the mules, went riding into our hunting area, probably got to 9500 feet for an hour or two, then went back to camp. After unsaddling, I thought I was going to die. My head was pounding. All I could do was search for a position that would make the pain go away. No position helped. I was sitting in lawn chairs, on the ground, laying down, on the cot, in the truck, you name it, I tried it. Of course, being tough I didn't say anything to anybody..... Dad finally noticed what was going on and took me back to town, 6500 feet. I tried eating, but couldn't get anything swallowed once I chewed it up. We ended up driving around town for a while. Then like somebody said above, it was like a light switch was flipped. I was immediately better. We went back to camp, I was fine. Hunted the whole season, times were above 10,000' and never had a single issue.

Diamox is a sulfa drug, so take care if you have had a hx. of senstivity.

I used Diamox when I climbed Aconcagua. I tolerated it well but it gave me a tingling sensation. I never used it to climb Denali, (but Aconcagua is typically ascended much more quickly than Denali, hence the added need for it).

Some typical rules of thumb -

Ascend 1000ft per day. Obviously you won't have the luxury of doing that on a hunt, but the basic idea is pace yourself. If you feel you may have an issue move higher gradually.

If you get sick - descend. All of the other remedies won't help as much as dropping down in altitude for a while.

Sleep low climb high. The basic idea is sleep where your body can oxygenate and aclimate. Hike higher for your hunts.

As you climb you may notice that your fingers feel fat. If you wear a ring it may feel tight. That's edema. Extremities are not returning circulatory fluid to your core as quickly as normal. You can be sure that the same thing that is happening with your fingers is also happening inside your skull. Be aware of it. I believe aspirin is helpful.

Drink water. Myself personally, (in addition to mild edema) altitude makes me very sleepy and thirsty. Water always helps.

Hey LKC, What part of KY are you from ? I live in Pendleton County (North Central KY) at about 800ft. Just turned 54. Last year went on my first Colorado Elk hunt. Loved it ! I did not have any problems, but I: (a) started dropping weight and exercising in June, and (b) drank lotso water the entire drive out (22 hrs drive time). We got a hotel in Eastern Colorado the first night at about 5000 ft. That may have helped. The first day setting up camp (8500 feet) and scouting, we tend to take it easy.

I did not run around like a mountain goat like the young guys. But the physical conditioning helps. Mid way thru the hunt I went past an "attraction" of sorts at 11,000ft while scouting. About 16" of snow on the ground. Lotso boot prints at the bottom of the hill. Only one set went further up the ridge than I did.

Looking forward to this year. Only 91 more days !

Warren

Spent the first 18 years of my life living at ~9k. Was obviously never a problem. You just need to respect that your body won't have had time to fully adjust to the elevation so you need to take it easy. The dry air is what will dehydrate you. Don't use sweating as a measure. You won't notice the sweating too much, certainly nothing like the east coast, midwest, etc, because whatever sweating you do evaporates. In short, take it a bit easier on the climbs, drink plenty of water, take it easy on the booze and caffeine.

Orion2000,

I live very close (Alexandria).

Orion2000,

I sent you a PM