When planning for this last trip, I knew Marcia and John wouldn't be heating any water on climb morning so I had spent a little time turning over how to get my caffeine-fix.
* I couldn't stomach cold instant coffee, so I settled for an "iced mocha" (instant cocoa, instant coffee, cold water) -- and if time didn't allow for even that, then there was the caffeine in the Gu. It was an adequate solution: it wouldn't slow down the group, and it would prevent a withdrawal-headache to layer on top of the all-but-guaranteed altitude headache. But even though it was a solution, I felt kinda pathetic that it was an issue at all.
Then today I find this Mazamas tip-o-the-week:
Coffee on climb day For we NW coffee heads, an alpine start at some obscene hour of the morning can be doubly difficult without that morning cup of java. But who has time to brew up in the pre climb hour, stumbling around with your headlamp getting all the rest of your gear sorted? If you have an espresso maker at home, try this: make a few shots at home, let it cool, then transfer to a small plastic container with a solid lid. In camp, all you need to do is boil water, pour in the 'spro, and you have coffee to go in a few minutes, without fiddling with grounds, filters, and presses. If you lack a home brew espresso maker, just stop on the way to your climb and get a few shots to go.
Did I read that correctly? There are climbers out there carrying a mini-Nalgene full of espresso? For days? In addition to everything else?
And to think that my little packet of instant had made me feel like a I-Must-Have-My-Coffee Princess...
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* Marcia, I found out later, waits until she has a withdrawal-headache then grinds up a No-Doz tablet into one of her water bottles. I'm going to assume that's not quite as nasty as it sounds.
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