Despite the lack of motorcycle we have not lost a lot of time. The second day of the trip we left Chile and entered Argentina crossing the Andean pass, Puertecitos.
In Mendoza, we bought our permit to hike in the Aconcagua, and found time to take advantage of being located in the middle of the wine region to benchmark and tour a few of the wineries. After tasting wine, we took the night bus to Penitentes at the base of the Aconcagua.
We left Mendoza at 11:30pm., reaching "Penitentes" at 2:35am in order to catch a few hours of sleep before the next morning´s climb. The bus driver unloaded our bags in front of a darkened building. "Es aqui? (is this it?)" I asked, "sí". Kelly pushes open the double door and we find ourselves in the middle of a warm dining room. There is a big chimney in the middle, a long couch, a bar in one side and tables in the other. Despite our arrangement that someone would be up waiting for us, no one answers our calls. I take a look around outside, in case we entered the wrong place. I find a bar, a ski rental shop, a few other unmarked houses, and one with a very big dog that mistook me for a thief. I run back to the building where Kelly waits, and we again venture out, now at 3am, into the full moon night. We are still in our shorts and Sandals from the summer we just left in Mendoza, and as we run up and down the highway, to keep warm and search for the right place to stay. A bus was parked out on the highway and the driver tells us that he thinks it is two kilometers up the road. We evaluate going but decide to camp out on the couch of the dining room we found earlier. As I get cozy in my sleeping bag Kelly runs back from the bathroom full of excitement: "there are rooms back there, we must be in the right place!"
After a few hours of satisfactory sleep, we wake up to throbbing MTV tunes. Walking out of the shower, I run into a guy cleaning, and he gives me a funny smile. Kelly asks him if this is the refuge "Gente de Montaña" He shakes his head, "no".
So, at 2:30 in the morning, we found our way to the wrong place, but at least got a good night sleep. It turned out that the big dog scared me away from where we were supposed to be, where a young Argentine couple had stayed up late waiting for us. We finally began our adventure up the Aconcagua.
Enric
The three days hiking in the Aconcagua were absolutely amazing. The first day we hike to an early base camp, Confluencia, at 3,300m. Out of our gear came 2 small backpacks, and a large red duffel with our sleeping gear - not something easy to carry. We had 3 choices: hire a porter for $50, hire a mule for $60, or put Enric to work for $00 and a bite of chocolate. Enric got an extra good workout on the way up. All in all, we were pretty lightweight. Dedicated climbers heading toward the top were carrying 40 kg packs of food! We met many Argentines, Americans, and even a few Valencianos (south of Catalunya). People come for days and for weeks, to climb to the top, or to walk around the bottom.
Our second day, we make it to the Southern Face base camp at 4,200 meters, where we looked up to an impressive wall of snow and glaciers that peaks at 6,959 meters. We stand among a huge bed of rocks that hide the glacier below us, and are the only people for miles around. A diminutive Ecuadorian crosses our path in his search for water. He tells us that he will climb the southern face tomorrow. He will make it up in one day. He shows us his planned route with his finger. The last 1,000 m are a shear wall of ice. People told us that only crazy people attempt to climb the southern side of the Aconcagua. I hope they made it.
A comment on the beauty of the Aconcagua.
Neither our words nor pictures will do justice to the scenery of the Aconcagua. We were surrounded by greens, reds, oranges, yellows in sedimentary rocks that run diagonal, and then in circles. A yellow mountain next to our camp in Confluencia glowed gold at sunset, facing the red crusted rock on the other side of the valley. The full moon rose at midnight, along with the Southern Cross, and at night, our tent was filled with light.
Kelly
No comments:
Post a Comment