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Carry to High Camp on Aconcagua

Posted by: | January 15, 2009
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,600 ft.

The sun hit our tents just after 7 AM and we got out fast for our carry to high camp. There was a distinct change in the weather as we saw a wind sculpted cloud cap hovering above the mountain’s summit for much of the day. We were walking by 8:30 AM in any case, fully prepared for big winds to begin… but they never really did. It was novel to have the trail to ourselves as most other groups seemed to be on a slightly later schedule. As usual, our production teams were leapfrogging and ambushing all the way, but we made fine time anyway. The goal was to carry gear and food to our intended high camp, but also to get in a day of exercise at altitude… mission accomplished. Along the way, we enjoyed views of a few other Andean giants and some new valleys below. The sky grew progressively more cloudy, but we retained our great views of Aconcagua’s formidable summit pyramid. We’d reached 19,200 ft by mid-day and all seemed reasonably comfortable with the altitude. It didn’t take long to cache the gear and head back down the crushed lava and pumice trail to low camp where we relaxed through an easy afternoon in the tents. Resting up for our big move tomorrow… weather permitting.

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