being surrounded by that many people while hiking is my ultimate nightmare

That amount of noise from other people would drive me insane within a day.

You made the right call going down, buddy. Kilimanjaro ain't going anywhere. You'll get it next time!

It was an honor hiking with you, young man. I had altitude sickness on this hike. I’m still coughing.  Headed to the doctor next week to get checked out. Otherwise, beautiful video and thank you for this memory.

The dude carrying the red holdall on his head. Incredible

From a medical perspective, you absolutely made the right decision. In the hospital, once someone's O2 Sat is below 88%, we give them supplemental oxygen. Anyone who's below 80% with supplemental oxygen usually buys themselves a bed in the ICU or Step-down ICU and regular respiratory breathing treatments. 55% is like "let's keep the crash cart nearby because that big a strain on the cardiopulmonary system could start causing cardiac arrhythmias"
Very dark urine for two days sounds like some degree of rhabdomyolysis, or muscle breakdown - far beyond what we get from exercise alone. The oxygen scarcity probably killed muscle tissue when it couldn't meet the demands put on it. Definitely a hit on the kidneys too - that's why anyone with rhabdomyolysis in the hospital gets pretty high volume IV fluids to protect the kidneys when all the products of muscle breakdown have to be excreted in the urine.

I totally get not wanting to take any medication on an attempt like this… it can feel like cheating. We really do want to earn our achievements on our efforts alone. So don't beat yourself up over not taking altitude sickness medication. You'll summit soon, I'm sure of it. Heal up stronger, Kraig!

Honestly, Kraig's videos are so calming. Some of the most incredible shots.

the guides carrying all the bags (some of the guys with huge bags on top of the head) are the true heroes/hikers! cheers to them!

Can't blame you man, all those other people didn't have to keep running back to retreive a camera.

I'm so glad you left so much of this without music. The sounds of this piece were really special to me, especially when the porters and guides started singing.

I’d go bonkers if I had to hike with that many people. Always hearing everyone’s chit chat, footsteps etc.
waiting on the slow pokes

8:17 Never before seen footage of Kraig going back for the camera..

Being able to bei honest with this whole situation makes you so authentic. I've seen other videos about the summit but none about a failed summit attempt. I would even say your video may be more interesting than the summit videos. I learned that hiking should not be all about the summit.

Introvert in me is SCREAMING!!!!

voices, silence, voices, silence, voices, silence = spectacular sound editing and mixing

Great video, splendid images... Return to the mountain as often as you'd like, but if I may, please consider forgetting about "beating the mountain" (23:50). When in doing high altitude hiking you absolutely need to change your mindset, it can never be about conquering the summit, beating the mountain... The mountain is just there... it doesn't care if you live or die, but you should care and should always be mindful of your safety.
Focus on having fun, on the journey, on getting great images of what you can. The end goal should be to come back alive and healthy.
Cheers

"Altitude Sickness, it's serious."  Good that your group organizers were well prepared with Oxygen saturation meters.  Your experience echoes that of mine and millions of others who climb.  It's unpredictable and the best prepared/trained are almost as vulnerable as those "mostly" prepared/trained.  That you chose the smart move and went down shows you to be a hero.  Thank you for All of your videos.

How did you pull this off with no music? Next level travel vlogging hahah
Also I'm pretty sure I stayed in that exact hotel in Hong Kong. Also there's no shame in not summiting. Your health comes first.

My husbands friend felt altitude sickness on this trip 5 years ago.  They both decided to continue and unfortunately my husbands friend passed away on summit night.  So good decision to turn around.

The timing of this video coming up in my feed is uncanny...I just got back from a failed backpacking trip, in which I suffered from heat exhaustion and had started the beginning stages of a heat stroke. I too listened to my body and cut the trip short. Upset with myself, frustrated, embarrassed, all similar emotions. Thank you for sharing this experience and being real with your audience. I appreciate it.