ALTITUDE SICK...and ALLERGIC to Diamox (Hiking in the Swiss Alps, Day 4)

Day 4 of a 150 mile hike through the Swiss and Italian alps from Chamonix, France to Fusio, Switzerland, which included the Walker's Haute route. Traversing through 9000 ft passes, I got pretty altitude sick and then had an allergic reaction to Diamox. I managed to make it to my next hut (the most beautiful I've ever stayed at in the world), but I was prepared to turn around and hitchhike back to town if my symptoms got worse. Some lessons learned: 1. You can have an allergic reaction to Diamox (Acetazolamide). My symptoms were numbness in my thighs and slurred speech (which you may notice in the video), a rare but mild side effect of this drug used to prevent and treat altitude sickness: https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-67... 2. In this region of the Alps, you are almost completely dependent on the alpine huts for food, which can be fairly expensive and sometimes low in calories. Prepare for this by stocking up on high calorie snack foods while you're in a city. By this point in my hike, I'd run out of everything I'd stocked up on 3 days before. If you have to buy a picnic lunch, ask the host what it includes, and then buy 2 if necessary (pricey, but better than getting hypoglycemia on the way to your next hut). 3. The most beautiful hut I've ever stayed at is the Cabane des Dix CAS, which sits atop a hill overlooking Mt. Blanc de Cheilon and the Glacier de Cheilon. The hut is a large beautiful stone structure with many rooms, great food, and a wide variety of drinks. The showers are outside and fed directly from the glacier. https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/huts-and-to... This hut is only accessible by foot, and the closest dropoff point seems to be around Hôtel - Restaurant du Barrage, from which a cable car or short trail leads up to the top of the dam. The cabane is a 2-3 hour hike from there. http://www.hotel-barrage.ch/index/index I hope you enjoy this video of one of the most beautiful areas in Switzerland (please forgive my shaky camera work). Gaia GPS track: https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=12.1... Gear List: BackPack: Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Windrider Poles: REI Co-op Flash Carbon Trekking Poles Tent: Zpacks Duplex Sleeping bag: Marmot Helium Sleeping pad: Therm-a-Rest BaseCamp Sleeping Pad Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket Cup: GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Steel (0.5 L) Shoes: Hoka Challenger ATR 5 Socks (outer): Thorlos Lite Running Mini-Crew Socks (inner): Injinji Trail Midweight Crew CoolMax Hat: New Balance Performance 5P Sunglasses: Pepper's Ricochet Shield Jacket: REI Co-op Groundbreaker Rain Jacket Down puffy: Uniqlo Men's Ultra Light Down Jacket Beanie: REI Co-op Polartec Fleece Beanie Balaclava: Seirus Balaclava Headlamp: Petzl Actik Core Headlamp Gloves: Home Depot General Purpose Large Gray Synthetic Leather Glove Sunscreen: Banana Boat Ultra Sport Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 100 Armpit lube: Body Glide GPS app: SwissTopo (on iPhone 8) Photography: Hand Camera: iPhone8, 4K at 24 fps Camera case: LifeProof Head Camera: GoPro HERO7 Tripod: GPX 7-Inch Micro Flexible Tripod Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra...