I slept okay in Twin Falls at 3,743′

 So, last night at over 6000 feet again in Wyoming I found out I was okay sleeping at this altitude which is quite a relief because we likely will be over 6000 feet for some time now on this vacation.

So, it's possible to adapt to sleeping above 6000 feet for most people. However, at age 17 I tried to climb San Gorgonio and found myself while backpacking throwing up in the middle of the night at around 10,000 feet and had to pack up my backpack and climb down to around 8000 feet where I could then be okay sleeping some more. It's true that I might have overdid it with too heavy a pack the day before I slept at that altitude or any number of things could have been the problem then. However, I have made it a rule since I was around 17 or 18 not to try to camp and sleep above around 8000 feet after that experience. Being at an altitude is one thing but sleeping at that altitude is quite another.

For example, at age 22 in 1970 I climbed to the very top of Mt. Shasta and I was okay with the altitude over 14,161 feet at the summit other than the fact that I felt my brain was about like at a 5 year old level in the way I was viewing things. It's important to have respect for altitude whoever you are because once you are above 10,000 feet or higher everything can change in an instant on a dime. So, for most people sleeping above 8000 to 10,000 feet is kind of iffy unless you were born and raised at that altitude.

And then there is a lady  from my church during the 1980s who dreamed of going to Tibet to Lhasa and when she flew there since Lhasa is at 12,000 feet she died 15 minutes after she landed there. Of course she was at least 70 or more years old at the time.

So, it's important not to have fantasies about sleeping from 6000 feet or higher at any age because things can shift on a dime regarding your health. Another factor is that hypothermia can set in while camping quicker or easier at these altitudes too especially on overnight backpacking and camping trips where you might get hypothermia before you know it.

Hypothermia just means your body temperature gets so low you. might start to hallucinate from how cold you are and not be able to function mentally until you warm up somehow once again. IF you are shaking this is a sign you have hypothermia usually and the more violent your shaking the more serious your case of hypothermia is.

Often what mountain climbers actually die of isn't just a falling accident but due to bad decisions from becoming mentally incompetent because of hypothermia to one degree or another.