Ways to avoid altitude sickness

[Labs07]

I am heading to WY to hunt Elk again this year.  My buddy moved to a different location and we will be hunting between 10 and 12K above sea level.  I have never hunted this high before.  We have, for the past 4 years, hunted around the 8 to 9K level.  Does anyone have reccomendations for helping with altitude sickness?

[dreamunelk]

Get in good shape and acclimate.  Time to spend lots of time hiking at altitude!

[baldopepper]

If you've been hunting in the 8-9K altitude you probably won't have that much trouble.  I hunt in Utah at the 10,000 ft level and after the first day or two of slight headache and difficulty catching my breath I'm usually fine.  Just don't plan on doing much the first day or two. I've taken other lowlanders with me and they tried pushing to hard the first day and paid a heavy price (Nausea, severe headaches, muscle aches)  Other than taking along oxygen I personally don't know of much else you can do.  Either you can adjust or you can't-some can't and have to go back down to lower altitudes.  Not something you wanna mess with if you get really ill. 

[wariner87]

Good luck , brother.  I'm no expert, but you should simply listen to your body.  When hunting the mountains in Alaska growing up my father told me to do a few things .
When traveling on foot  choose a pace  and stick to that pace. ( DO NOT  push too hard)  rest every  3 miles or so.
 Obviously oxygen is levels are low at that altitude , so It will be challenging.  Hydrate well when resting .

[Bean Counter]

By sickness do you mean HACE/HAPE? At 10,000 feet you're a bit low to have to be concerned about HACE but HAPE can show up. If it does pop up, you can't really control it with medicine as much as you should do something, which is that you must immediately seek lower elevation.

I personally don't like being that high but that's where my elk hunt will be this fall. I am scouting h in the area and packing 50 pounds of salt around as practice. The bulk of my hiking this summer is around 4,000-5,000 feet which is obviously not going to be as challenging but better than nothing.

[time2hunt]

http://www.wms.org/news/altitude.asp
 

[Tbob]

I read an article awhile back and this guy said he was eating a half dozen Tums twice a day and it seemed to help with his altitude sickness. ? Seems like a little "home remedy" but ya never know.. I think I read it years ago in a field and stream mag?..

[Wose]

Time2hunt posted a good resource.

Here's another good one:

http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869V/CHEM869VLinks/www.nols.edu/Publications/FirstAid/AltitudeIllness.html

From my experience and training leading backpacking trips and such, it helps to be acclimated to the altitude. That isn't always possible, so the next best thing is to work on your physical conditioning in general.

The biggest mistake I've seen people make is they either fail to hydrate, or they counteract hydration by imbibing too many cocktails around the campfire.  Proper hydration makes a big difference.

Once symptoms onset, the biggest mistake people make is they try to "push through it" or "tough it out."  You really just need to rest a while and see if they abate, and if they dont' descend.

Hope that helps.

David

[jackelope]

Above 7500' will affect people. Everyone is affected differently. I don't know that there's a way to "avoid" it...hydrating properly is the most important thing you can do. Once you get up that high, slight changes in altitude could affect you too if you're not acclimated.
At 9500' I had no appetite and felt real wimpy...at 11000' I was back up and running with a huge appetite.
 

[Labs07]

Thanks for all of the advise!  I really appreciate it!

[snarkybull]

Unfortunately the best remedy is not available here.  Coca tea is the standard in the Andes for us sea-level wimps.  Every hotel in Cuzco will greet you with a cup of it.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I just got back from a boy scout camp in northern new mexico. We hiked up to 11700 feet and none of the boys had any problem. We aclimated, spent a week at 6500 and then started our 150 mile hike. We hydrated, to the extreme. I was drinking 2-3 gallons of water a day. We did a 3 mile 1500 foot climb in under 2 hours and we were fine. We stayed over night @ 11700 feet and nobody complained about anything. I read that hydration and sleep are the keys to fight it. But it does affect everybody different.

[Falcon]

I think proper hydration should be at the top of your list.
I summited on Rainier 2 times back in the day.
Keep hydrated.
Some type of Gatorade style drink with eletrolytes is a good idea.
Some people have a very hard time over 10k.
If that is you, you will have a bad headache and feel like throwing up.

Best of luck.

Bryan

[callonetta]

 Acclimatisation is the best way to deal with it, if you can get there early, keep hydrated and what "snarkybull" said is 100% correct, too bad the Coca leaf is the base ingredient of cocaine, I hunted in Peru's highlands and chewing and  drinking the tea from those leaves saved my arse.

[Caseyd]

If you really want to train and acclimate

http://www.hypoxico.com/hypoxico-rental-systems/

[Caseyd]

Also if your a light sleeper, forget about using the tent system because of the machine noise.