Today the team said goodbye to Mendoza for a while. After a leisurely breakfast of pastries, and more pastries, we finished off the process of obtaining our Aconcagua climbing permits. We only experienced a few hang ups in the permit office, which is about par for the course. We amassed our gear into one big pile in the hotel lobby, partly to prepare to load it into our trailer, and partly just to see how much stuff we have. In my professional opinion we brought enough stuff, judging by volume alone. After transferring our pile into a vehicle, we hit the road to Penitentes. A few naps, and more than a few empanadas later, we arrived in Penitentes. This afternoon, we packed everything for our travel to Aconcagua Base Camp. Everything has to be packed such that it doesn't get destroyed on the mules. The team made quick work of that task, leaving us plenty of down time before dinner. I'm pretty sure most people took another nap. Tomorrow morning we will hit the dusty trail, and things for us will get much simpler. For a few days we will just walk, eat, and sleep. Everyone is looking forward to it. We'll let you know how it goes. RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello