How did I get there?

A recent hike with ghaznavid (Walkerpass/Andre's Knob Winds of winter) has left me puzzled and disturbed by my experience.

It was for me a "struggle" hike, little sleep, no energy, cramping legs and a feeling of apathy/resignation. I lost my appetite and my fluid intake was low. An old unsuitable sleeping bag added to poor quality sleep. I failed to motivate myself when I needed to eat,drink and enjoy my surroundings.

Despite reading and seeing movies of hikers/climbers getting to that point I just failed to recognize the signs and make the adjustment. Will this experience allow me to make the adjustment quickly next time ? or is this what happens when a combination of exhaustion/dehydration/hypothermia/overreaching puts you in this place.

Gnaznavid thanks for the patience and help with that 2kg of water.

I have made exactly the same mistake twice this year. This is despite years of following a policy of eat every hour on the hour.

Once in January. On that occasion I was over 30 km from home with about 2 hours of daylight left. I did the only thing possible. I forced down those munchies, drank a whole lot and sat down to enjoy the view for 5 minutes. Amazingly enough, the body does recover.

Enough to make the same mistake on a day in April when I bagged Makheka. On that occasion I also had new shoes that were hurting my feet so I pulled up my trip short by a day and a half. I also came within millimeters of abandoning any further attempts at the GT. Fortunately i recognised the true problem.

Treat this as a useful learning experience. Now you really understand why not to go there and it will be easier to avoid next time.