There is one thing about which I feel I must write, although I have been avoiding it until now. I think the reason for my coughing on and after the mountain was due to a post-nasal discharge which was irritating my throat. Particularly after coming off the mountain, I noticed that when I blew my nose in the morning, I was getting chunks of dried blood out, or at least that is what it looked like. This was odd as I did not have a bloody nose, and as it went on for days. I thought it was just me, until one of the other climbers mentioned it himself. So maybe it was more common than I would have guessed. Perhaps a combination of the altitude, dry air, cold, and medication slightly injured the interior of our nasal passages and/or sinuses, and it took a few days to heal.