Entries By mike king
Just as planned, we spent today lounging at
Camp 1. Snow plumes off of the col above us indicated high winds this morning, and made us glad we had gotten our carry out of the way yesterday. Otherwise, the sky was clear, and the sun we had been missing for the last couple days made things pleasantly warm. Today was a day for recovery, organizing for tomorrow, and eating all of the extra lunch food we could. Tomorrow will be our move to
Camp 2 (18,000 ft)! We'll check from there.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the RMI Aconcagua team
Last night was a windy one, though when we woke we realized that it sounded much worse inside the tents than it was outside. A couple centimeters of new snow fell overnight freshening up our surroundings, but it was quickly transported by the wind with much of it ending up in the vestibules of our tents. With some sun above and winds not too bad, we decided to make our carry to
Camp 2 to cache food and personal gear. As we hoped, the winds stayed relatively light, and we had a pleasant climb. Throughout this climb, we have been just behind a large crowd, so that we hear rumors of camps being full, but arrive to find them deserted. It appeared today that everyone had just vacated
Camp 2 for high camp. This works in our favor as we don't have to fight for tent sites.
As we began our descent, the winds strengthened, with several strong gusts. We were all happy to get back to the tents and crawl into fluffy sleeping bags for the afternoon to recover from yet another big effort. With a great meal of tortellini sticking to our ribs, everyone is psyched for the scheduled rest day tomorrow.
Cheers,
Aconcagua Campo Uno residents
On The Map
We made the move to
Aconcagua Camp 1! We're now resting in our tents at 16800' or so. The group did great and climbed strong. When we woke, there were clouds over the summit, and towards the end of our first stretch, a sudden snow squall blew threw, sending us scrambling for our hard shells. For the next couple of hours, sun alternated with clouds, making it hard to choose the correct layers. Just as we got ready for the last hard climb up a scree hill to camp, the snow set in in earnest. The group did great getting camp set quickly so everyone could get into shelter. We're settled in for the night now, and our hope is to wake to nice weather so that we can bump a cache of food and gear to
Camp 2 tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and crew
On The Map
It's been a lazy day here at Plaza Argentina, which was exactly what the doctor ordered after the group's big effort yesterday. We woke late, cooked up a big batch of crêpes stuffed with bacon, fried apples, and dulce de leche for brunch. A few hours later, after books, more jokes, and a card game, we fried up some croque monsieur (sense the French food theme today?), and then went for a nice hour-long stroll up towards Ibañez, a sub peak outside of
Basecamp. As hard as it can be to motivate for a hike after a day like yesterday, it really does aid and speed recovery. Our gear that will stay at Basecamp is sorted, and we are very ready for our move to
Camp 1 tomorrow! Just one more delicious Argentine meal first...
Hasta luego,
RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and the team
Today the group woke to a cold and snow covered base camp. In preparation of our carry to Camp 1 the team received their loads yesterday. We started walking after breakfast and hot drinks. Our goal today was to cache our food and equipment for the upper mountain, while climbing higher then descending to help acclimate. Climbing through loose scree with heavy packs is always an eye opener for what lies ahead. The team climbed strong and enjoyed a blue sky with light winds. We spent an hour at 16,000+ before returning down to
Aconcagua Basecamp as an evening storm approached. There is a day off tomorrow, which the entire team is looking forward to.
Cheers
RMI Guide Mike King and crew
On The Map
Despite being a rest day, today has flown by for the group. We were able to sleep in a bit, but most were woken at 7:30 to the park helicopter hovering low over camp, picking up barrels in a sling to be flown off the mountain. We took a leisurely breakfast of burritos with fresh veggies, bacon, cheese, and eggs, and then headed to the medical building for our obligatory check-up. Everyone passed with flying colors. Then it was time for gear sorting for our carry to
Camp 1 tomorrow. This often takes longer than expected as everyone hemmed and hawed over how much lunch food and other items to bring up. To this point, we have been spoiled with the mules carrying most of our kit. From here up though, anything we bring up, we will carry down.
Sorting finished, everyone took a siesta, eating lunch, taking naps, playing cards, and reciting Chuck Norris jokes. Despite a forecast of clear weather for the foreseeable future, the clouds built this afternoon, and as we sit, it is snowing gently at
Basecamp.
We'll have more news tomorrow when we are back from our carry. Ciao.
RMI Guides Mike King, Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, and the team
We made it to our base camp at
Plaza Argentina! We got an early start this morning in order to take advantage of the muleteers offer to ferry us across the Vacas River. For some, it was their first time riding a mule, and it was a much more pleasant start to the morning than wading the four frosty channels would have been.
It's a pleasant walk up the canyon of the Relinchos River, and before we knew it, we were walking into
Base Camp to be greeted with juice and fresh melon from our excellent outfitter, Grajales. They cooked a wonderful dinner for us tonight and will handle our meals for our stay at Base Camp.
On tap for tomorrow is a well deserved rest day. We'll use the time to sort gear for the carry to
Camp 1 the following day. Before all that though: a big breakfast of breakfast burritos.
Hasta luego.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer and the RMI Aconcagua team
On The Map
Hola from
Casa de Piedras! Today's weather was a total contrast to yesterday's, as we wound our way further up the Vacas Valley. We woke this morning to clear skies that turned to sun as it cleared the canyon walls. It made for a pleasant walk as we covered the nine miles or so from camp last night. A light breeze helped to keep things from getting too hot.
The trail crosses the river over a small foot bridge immediately out of camp. Once on the opposite bank, it alternates between following the river bank, and rising over a chain of small bluffs.
Casa de Piedras is located at the mouth of the Relinchos Valley and river. Tomorrow we will cross the Vacas, and leave this valley behind as we ascend the Relinchos to base camp at 14,000 feet. Everyone is in great spirits (it's amazing the power that big orb in the sky has) and sends their best. Tomorrow we'll touch base from
Plaza Argentina!
Cheers,
RMI Guide
Pete Van Deventer and Team
Good evening ladies and gentlemen from the team at Pampa de Leñas. Yesterday we left the hot and humid climate in Mendoza for
Los Penitentes where we enjoyed our last night in a warm bed and feasted in the Hotel Ayelen dining hall. This morning we began our hike into the Vacas Valley under some un-characteristic weather indeed. Instead of a clear blue sky and unrelenting sun, we left Punta de Vacas in a light rain and cool breeze. But as we pressed on, the rain soon subsided and we enjoyed a pleasant hike into camp where we had our tents up by 4:30 and dinner by 6:30. The team did a great job on this first day and we look forward to sunny skies tomorrow as we continue up the Vacas Valley to our next camp at the 'House of Stone'.
Hope everyone enjoyed their Monday; we certainly enjoyed ours.
Until Tuesday...
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
Hello all!
The whole team is finally in
Mendoza and assembled! Due to several flight delays, today has been a bit chaotic, as we raced around to get through the park permit registration process, and buy last minute lunch food. In the end, we decided to cool our heels in Mendoza for one more night, rather than push up to Los Penitentes. This will allow us to organize, let a few folks get their first good nights sleep in a few days, and finish up the permits for a few folks. So it goes on a major international expedition.
Tomorrow, we get back on track, leaving in the late morning for Los Penitentes. Once there, we will sort gear for the mules, and get ready to begin our trek the next day!
In the meantime, we're going to enjoy another fantastic dinner in Mendoza. Best wishes to everybody back home, and we'll be in touch soon, this time from 9000 feet!
RMI Guides
Pete, Leon, Mike, and team
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
—T.S. Eliot
Posted by: Janet on 1/30/2013 at 11:51 am
Wishing you all a calm & clear day for the next big push - Best of luck tomorrow! Lots of Love, Mom & Dad
Posted by: Paula & Bill VanDeventer on 1/29/2013 at 5:18 pm
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