Friday, December 31, 2004
THE DEEP SOUTH
I spent last weekend in Santiago in an attempt to recover. I did not think that a spot of rambling could be so exhausting, but it proved so for me, I must have lost over a stone in weight, & I was tired out for days. I have been on a strict diet of cakes, chocolate, steak beer & wine in an attempt to regain my former majestic physic, only very marginal improvements so far.
An other reason for staying in Santiago was to check out flights to Easter Island ( famous for its heads ) LanChile fly there & were offering a return for 230pounds which I thought good value but unfortunatly the only flight was on the 1st jan returning 4th jan which was not good timing as I would be stuck in Santiago for days each side of the trip, so back to plan A, & I left Santiago on 28th dec aboard a south bound train, not The Old Patagonian Express, unfortunatly.
The train took me to Temuco in 9 hours were I stayed the night in a higglety pigglty old hotel called the Colonial, (7.70pounds)The reason it is this way is due to earhquakes, either this or the builders level was a bit out.
Next day caught a bus to Puerto Montes, where the Chilian part of the pan-American hghway runs out. I was hoping to catch a ferry south but when I checked it out there were no ferries untill the 3rd of Jan, which was no use. Stayed the night in a *** hotel 13 quid. I ordered an OK Coral Burger for my tea 6.30pm on the dot, & received a meal the size of a small bungalow. It was without doubt the biggest meal I have ever seen, ate my way through the front door, along the hall & into the parlour, that was all I could manage.
Decided on going south through Argentina instead, so hopped on a bus back the way I had come back to Osorno then over the mountains again & into Argentina, to a plce called Bariloche.
This is a very European town in an alpine tradition, a lot of Gerries came here after the war apparently, Simon Wiesenthal* could probably have scooped up a fine haul here.
Attractive place all the same, South America´s answer to Zermatt, on the shores of a large lake with mountains all around. The place is full of school kids & holidaymakers so accommodation was very hard to find, trailing round innumerable hotels I have had to stay in a ****star Hotel at great cost, 28 quid!! Exellent tea last night in quite a posh restaurant, starter, steak. bottle of wine 11Quid. Yip you can swank it here!
NEW YEARS DAY
I am still in Bariloche an have decided to take a aeroplane south to Calafate. The reason for this is the alternative is a 30 hr bus journey which does not appeal to me. I leave tomorrow on a FourWinds flight, I wonder what kind of aircraft this will be. The flight cost 100quid but this will be my last major expense as I have already paid for the return flight from Pontas Areanus to Santiago.
I am still staying in the **** hotel, but its not really 4* there are no amenities not even a kettle to make coffee in the room. The weather here is a very comfortable 75 with blue sky & light winds, I am a bit bored though as all I have been doing is wandering around.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO BOTH MY READERS
I hope Wally has a good party tonight, Who I wonder will win the QUIZ!!
An other reason for staying in Santiago was to check out flights to Easter Island ( famous for its heads ) LanChile fly there & were offering a return for 230pounds which I thought good value but unfortunatly the only flight was on the 1st jan returning 4th jan which was not good timing as I would be stuck in Santiago for days each side of the trip, so back to plan A, & I left Santiago on 28th dec aboard a south bound train, not The Old Patagonian Express, unfortunatly.
The train took me to Temuco in 9 hours were I stayed the night in a higglety pigglty old hotel called the Colonial, (7.70pounds)The reason it is this way is due to earhquakes, either this or the builders level was a bit out.
Next day caught a bus to Puerto Montes, where the Chilian part of the pan-American hghway runs out. I was hoping to catch a ferry south but when I checked it out there were no ferries untill the 3rd of Jan, which was no use. Stayed the night in a *** hotel 13 quid. I ordered an OK Coral Burger for my tea 6.30pm on the dot, & received a meal the size of a small bungalow. It was without doubt the biggest meal I have ever seen, ate my way through the front door, along the hall & into the parlour, that was all I could manage.
Decided on going south through Argentina instead, so hopped on a bus back the way I had come back to Osorno then over the mountains again & into Argentina, to a plce called Bariloche.
This is a very European town in an alpine tradition, a lot of Gerries came here after the war apparently, Simon Wiesenthal* could probably have scooped up a fine haul here.
Attractive place all the same, South America´s answer to Zermatt, on the shores of a large lake with mountains all around. The place is full of school kids & holidaymakers so accommodation was very hard to find, trailing round innumerable hotels I have had to stay in a ****star Hotel at great cost, 28 quid!! Exellent tea last night in quite a posh restaurant, starter, steak. bottle of wine 11Quid. Yip you can swank it here!
NEW YEARS DAY
I am still in Bariloche an have decided to take a aeroplane south to Calafate. The reason for this is the alternative is a 30 hr bus journey which does not appeal to me. I leave tomorrow on a FourWinds flight, I wonder what kind of aircraft this will be. The flight cost 100quid but this will be my last major expense as I have already paid for the return flight from Pontas Areanus to Santiago.
I am still staying in the **** hotel, but its not really 4* there are no amenities not even a kettle to make coffee in the room. The weather here is a very comfortable 75 with blue sky & light winds, I am a bit bored though as all I have been doing is wandering around.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO BOTH MY READERS
I hope Wally has a good party tonight, Who I wonder will win the QUIZ!!
Monday, December 27, 2004
Aconcagua : A solo attempt
Dear readers do look in the Archives column for the freshest updates as I am very nearly up to date with all the high excitement. Do not read alone if you are of a nervous disposition!
Sunday, December 26, 2004
The Climb: Aconcagua a solo attempt
Arrived Pontes des Incas from Mendoza Mon 6th dec. Decided to stay in my tent to try out my equipment, sort of. It was dark & stormy night (what a start to a novel!!) yet the 15 pound tent stood up. Sleeping bag was also satisfactory, Puntas is at 2750mtrs so its quite high & cold at night, it is also 32 degrees south if your interested. Good meal in the hotel restaurant 3 quid & 50p for a beer 1.20 for a bottle of wine with the meal, & this place is the best in town!
Spoke to some Italians i the hotel, these guys were proper climbers, Mountain guides in Val Gardena ! they only managed to Independencia due to bad weather. They told me of a German & his girl friend who were climbing the Poilish Glacier when the girl slipped & slide 2000m down, the rescue helicopter went for a look but no sign, & the do not bother attempting to recover bodies round here, so she will stay there for ever & ever!
7th DEC
Spent the day in Puntas as a sort of acclimatisation day Looked at the natural bridge over the Horcones river & walked to the park gates & back. Paid $120 to have mules take my bags to Plaza des mulas.
I met an Irish guy & one Russian/american & an american in the hotel bar & had dinner with them, they had just been up to Plaza des Mulas The Russian got the collywobbles & the american lached on to the ruski & it was 2-1 & down they came ! The Irish guy was not happy!!
So Greg next time choose guys with a bit of backbone!!!
8th DEC
Left Puntas at about 1pm Did the stuff at the park gates & heavily laden with water walked up to confluencia 3300m arrived at 5pm & set up camp. Chated to an Argentinian called Tomas in the next tent, 25 & had been working in Livinio so his english was good. Went to bed at 9pm as it was dark.
9th Dec
Up & had my coffee and porridge & thought about walking up to Plaza des Mulas the alternative was to walk up to plaza francia and have a look at the notorious south face, it was 10.40 & i dithered decided on the acclimatisation walk, good choice! Due to the extra day in Confluencia I did not have enough food so paid $15 to an outfitter for a meal, soup & bread which I put in my pocket for the next day ( the bread not the soup) steak then fruit, Feeling a bit negative, slight touch of the collywobbles, decided to PULL MY SOCKS UP! felt better immediatly.
10th DEC
Up early eat the soupbread & coffee, lovely day blue skies (why is it ´skies¨ when there is only one sky?) set off at 8.55 just behind Tomas who told me there was water after 4hrs, I take extra all the same. Long walk with medium wieght pack, no water after 4hrs no vegitation either not even lichen on the rocks! After 6hrs find Tomas melting snow as he had no water, Last 2hrs very much uphill, arrive at 5.30 exhausted & set up camp. So tired I do not have a proper tea,
Plaza des Mulas is 4350m Have a bad night, the dry air dries out my nose & I feel stuffed up, toss & turn all night. Not cold though, so far so good with the sleeping bag.
BASE CAMP & BEYOND
11th DEC
Rest day - and I need it . Good weather again, cloudless sky & little wind.
Eat my porridge, its still a struggle, I cannot help thinking of it as congeled wallpaper paste.
Take a walk towards Camp Canada, only go up a few hundred mtres just to see what the walk is like. Take another wander over to the Refugio & have a coffee.
Come back for my tea & discuss with Tomas what he is doing, he is considering walking back down to puntas des Incas to get some more food as he does not have enough with him. What a walk !!! I try to persuade him that I have enough for two - he doesnt believe me. He receives further offers of food from 2 french who are going down & he is given another few items from an Argentinian girl, He has nearly enough! An American gives him more & at last he feels he
has ample. Windy night but the tent stays up.
12th DEC.
Decide today to do a porterage to Nido de Condores, then return to mulas to sleep.
This involves a 1000m climb from 4350m to 5350m but I feel I can manage that & leave at 11.30am, After 1/3 of the way I am doing quite well, the next 1/3 i do not do so well & arrive in Camp Canada at 4900m at 2.15pm & it is another 3hrs to Nido, then another 2 hrs down, stop and talk to two hollanders & their guide ( I keep meeting these 3 guys at all sorts of stops) They have decided to make camp at Canada the following night, I briefly think about what to do & conclude that a Camp in Canada the next night would be a good thing. The extra effort to go to Nido is not worth while, not much point in exhausting myself just to get there.
Stash the food & look out for Tomas on his way down, eventually see him, I missed him by 20min at Canada, & it took him to 4.10 to reach Nido. Tomas is fast up a hill, the fastest I have ever come across!! & that includes Vernie in a bad mood!!
Meet 2 Germans & one Spanish on their way down, 1 german is ok but the other two are in real bad shape, staggering about and hardly making any progress, I go over & offer to take a pack 2 other frogs come over & after a bit of a confab the 2 frogs take the packs of the sufferers, & I end up carrying my own empty pack down, Oh well after me offering first too!!
Have a lovely tea at 6.30pm prompt. Thomas receives more food from Superman Andy from Alaska, who claims to have walked in with 37Kg of stuff mmmmm. a superhuman feat, he then of course climbed the mountain. He was smaller than me ( ten years younger right enough) & did not have big thick legs either, I noticed this when he sat down, & he was going to carry everything out as well, just to save $40.
A chat after tea then to bed at 9pm, manage to find BBC world service & listen to that for a while, Better sleep though still getting stuffed up, which means I end up breathing through my mouth & then due to the very dry air my throat dries up Leaving me with a continuous sore throat.
13 DEC
Another rest day, altho I go for a walk in the opposite direction to Aconcagua, 2hrs up in the hope of getting a good veiw / photo of the hill, Back down to the Refugio good walk & not too tiring. Phone home from the radio satallite phone, much cheaper than the INKA one at $5 a min. Eat spagetti tea at Just after 6.30pm, & talk to the new man who has moved in next door, Gerhard or something from Sweden, He arrived at 11pm last night & is not in good shape.
Go to bed at 9pm & listen to radio again.
14 DEC.
Have some porridge for breakfast, I will never get a taste for this stuff, leave for Canada at 12.15. Carry remaining items required & pack quite heavy but not unbearably so, Plod up & arrive at 3.15 set up tent & Tomas makes some tea, rice & corned beef, surprisingly the corned beef here in Argentina is not as good as the stuff we get in UK (its more like spam). At 7pm the wind sarts up, then snow so eat tea in tent. The wind & the snow continue to increase untill it reaches storm proportions, the tent is pulled this way & that, I am very fearfull the the stiching will rip, or the guy ties be pulled off, the tent poles are bending all over the place, Snow is getting into the tent, & the worry & the flapping does not allow me to sleep. Lie awake all night, at times holding up the tent when particularly ferocious gusts threaten to collapse the tent, There is quite an accumulation of snow in the tent during the night, I really really hope that daylight will bring a reduction in the force of the wind, but it doesnt! I am now extreemly concerned that if it stays this way I will have to spend another night here, it is 5000m up & very cold. I do not think the tent could stand much more of this. It has been on the verge of collapse all night & I am sure it would have gone without me holding the thing up half the night. The door flaps do not close properly & this is where the snow is getting in, everything in the tent has a layer of snow on it, quite thick at the door end. A collapsed tent would spell disaster.
About 11.30 the wind dies down, I have decided to go down to Mulas (if I am spared) as soon as its calm enough. I take down the tent & start to pack up. It takes me a long long time to do this as my hands / fingers become very cold very quickly, is this going to be by Achilles heel?
More than half of the 8 tents at Canada are going down, with no intention of trying again. Tomas, whose zips have burst on his outer skin (of his tent that is) is going to stay tonight, even though a fair amount of snow made it into his tent, ( not as much as mine right enough but still). Eventually pack up & wearily make my way down to base at Mulas. Arrive at about 4pm & put my tent up in the same place as before, Gunter still there & not feeling any better,
Go over to the Refugio to phone home, decide to have my tea there, its $15 but what the hell, I get taking to Amanda & Peter, she stays in the Sooth side & he in Oxford, altho he works in Strathclyde Uni in Non-Destructive Testing, I ask him if he Knows Fraser Hardy & he sayes that he knows of him (well nearly) They did a porter to Nido the other day putting up a tent so they are ready to go tomorrow.
Enjoy not a bad meal but it is a chilly place, just coffee to drink again. Off to bed at 9.30
This is a mountainous desert, nothing grows here, not even lichen on the rocks, it is just rocks gravel & bare exposed bedrock. The glacial melt waters & rivers have nothing growing by them untill well down the valley. As Captain Scott said ´´this is a hellish place´´, He then of course left Dundee and sailed to Antartica where he spent the rest of his life!
The weather at Plaza des Mulas on good days is quite pleasant whilst the sun is shining from 9.15 untill 7.30pm - then it becomes cold then, very cold, the water in my bottle freezes every night, & the meltwater from the glacier freezes up. The water when I take it out of the stream in the morning is grey & opaque, but it is all there is and it has not done me any harm yet.
I am now 9 days without a wash, & wearing the same clothes day & night, my nose is peeling quite badly & things may well get worse!!
15 DEC
Another very windy & stormy night altho no snow, so another poor sleep, I wonder how Tomas is getting on?
Go round the outfitters & find one which will rent me a tent, this is a good tent, a Mountain Equipment copy, cost $15 a night with a $200 deposit, its a bit heavy though at 5Kg but a much better piece of kit to have your life depend on than the Tiso purchase. I am sure I will be in much better shape should I be caught in a storm again, I am sure I could ride it out in such a tent - which is good for the confidence. I only have 1 gas canister left, as Tomas took the other 3 up to Nido, where I hope they still are, I cannot find any here so I may be forced to risk it, this could be problematic as above Mulas there is no running water, you have to melt snow for all your water. Wear new boots all day & they seem reasonably comfortable altho a bit neat. Well we¨ll see.
Goody! find gas canister to fit stove, & only $2 which I think is too cheap ... but the man says $2 so Ok.
Go to Ayamara outfitters & eat there $18 a bit steep & stuck in a tent on my own, but not bad grub,
Return to tent and am surprised to see Amanda & Peter back from Nido. Amazingly thier tent was not where they left it, the only explaination being that it blew away in the storms, in the tent were their down jackets as well. The Italians I met on the first night lost a tent as well... just blew away, this seems to be fairly common. Amanda & Peter will decide what to do in the morning.
16 DEC
Very stormy night again, wee tent all over the place, no snow though.
Go and pay the deposit of $200 in travellers Cheques for the tent, & prepare for a very very hard day, over 1000m of ascent to Nido des Condores, with full pack , all cold weather gear 5Kg tent, thermarest, stove, gas, sleeping bag & liner, 5 days food &water for the day.
Set off at 11.30am hoping that I can make it, if it gets too much perhaps I can stop at Canada.
It is a hard, hard day, imagine spending an hour of extreem effort at the gym ... well try that all day for 7 hours,
Arrived Nido absolutly tired out, find Tomas is still there & he helps me put up the tent, the wind is picking up again, we erect the tent not perfect but good enough, flapping a wee bit.
Tomas offers to cook me some tea ( my own stuff incidently ) mixed rice again, I can only eat a little & I cannot drink much either, which is stupid, I kow I have not had enough to drink today, I drink some but it is frozen in the bottle, then I fall asleep. I awaked at 11pm knowing I am dehydrated, not thirsty but shaking & not cold. I have a supply of snow in the tent bag ( this is where you store the snow for when its required) I am awake now knowing I must have water, use the rice pan without cleaning it out , just start melting snow & as soon as it is liquid drink it, I must have been at it well over an hour untill all the snow is gone. The wind is still very severe so I do not fancy going outside. I hope this will do me till morning but I dont think so. Try to sleep, wake up at 2am to use pee bottle, its a bit squashed so does not hold as much as I anticipate & whoops!!! a little overspill, They say you should not xxxx on your own doorstep but when your 5400m up & its blowing harder than anything youve experienced........
well I just empty it out the front of the tent!! then fill it up & empty it again...and again.
Try to get some sleep but what with the storm blowing a real hoolly all night, the flapping & of course the damp patches its not a good night, exept I feel the tent can cope...and it does.
17 DEC
The rest of the night is not too bad considering, I may have been abit damp but at least I was not cold. Get up at About 11am when the wind settles down. Good God is it like this every night up here?
Tomas is of to Berlin Camp, he has been on a porter the day before, Berlin is at 5860m so he expects to arrive there in 2-2.5 hrs. Bump into the Hollanders again, they came down from Canada but obviously came up again the next day, they are off to Berlin too.
Spend the day making water - melting water so I have a full water supply, I am not getting caught out like that again ( we will see about that!). Everything has dried off, & I have a lazy day which I need, it also helps me acclimatise.
I will leave tomorrow for Berlin at about 12 - 1pm which is the high camp from where the summit is attempted. Feel Ok now exept my blister has burst & is bleeding a little.
I feel quite confident about reaching Berlin, which would be a small success of its own, a record high sleep or attempted sleep, & surely I could manage to get to over 6000m.
A go at the summit requires a good day & I am not going unless the weather seems favourable.
It is said to be a 12hour climb to the summit from Berlin, no pack right enough but 1100+ meters of ascent & at this altitude that is quite an effort.
18 DEC
Tomas comes in past to tell me he is going down, the weather was bad & he does not think his equipment is up to it. He made it as far as Indepencia before he was forced back. I said goodbye & I would see him back at Mulas ( and do you know - I never did)
Leave Nido for Berlin & then start worrying about having enough water, so stop to make some, whilst doing this bump into one of the hollanders again, he has had enough & was coming down,
Make it to Berlin & set up camp, make plenty of water & drink alot too.
I have a stock cube type drink before going to sleep.
I wake up all through the night needing to pee, I drink all my water, every time I have a drink of water which is of course ice cold it cools my body down & I shiver for quite a while afterwards. I am up peeing all night. I begin to wonder whats wrong with me. I have 2 cups of coffee at 5am then get a little sleep as the incessant peeing stops. It must have been that stupid stock cube.
19 DEC
Nice day, but I have no water so no attempt on the summit, spend a long time making water then at 12.30 decide to climb up as far as Indepensia, just before Indepensia I met the other Hollander & guide They had made it after leaving Berlin at 6am.
Stopped at Indepencia & took some Photos, just under 3 hrs to indepencia, & just under an hour down, New record high as Indepencia is at 6400m. Altho it is not desperatly cold today my gear seems Ok.
The hollander made it Berlin - Summit - Berlin in 10 hours, so if I left at 8am, then I could be back in Berlin by tea time. Lets hope for a decent nights sleep.
There is a Vande tent beside mine & there has been no one near it since I arrived, an American at Mulas told me that when he arrived at Mulas a German was being helped out because due to an inadequate tent in the Canada night storm, snow entered his tent & in his attempts to clear it out he ended up with frostbite & it looked like he was going to loose all his fingers, perhaps this was his tent!
20 DEC The Summit Attempt
Wake up at 6.40 & start making water up as the stuff in my water bottles is frozen, have a weak coffee & try to eat something, I really do not feel hungry, but eat a little. Leave Berlin at 8.10 & start to plod up, good day clear sky with light winds. Lets see how far we can get!!
Arrive at Independencia at 11.20 & find my fingers & feet cold, so stop, sit in the wee hut out of the wind & try & warm up, eat a small amount of nuts & raisins & know that this is not enough & I weaken later. Set off again at 12.00 so to manage above 6400m well be another record for me.
There is a long stretch round to the notorious canaleta, (this must mean something in spanish i wonder what!) anyway this is 500m verticle of loose dry 1F type hardcore, not compacted & with large boulders in it. It is now 3.20 & I am weakening through lack of nourishment, 2 climbers just beneathme chuck it so there is no-one else about, eat what I can in nuts & raisins.
The top does not seem very far away but it is such a struggle to climb up this rubble, the time is getting on & the weather is not so good, much more cloud about, I try to keep going, tired & weak I plod on & on eventually reach the bealach between the north & south peaks.
6.00pm & I make it to the north peak. I only have time for a short photo session as its too cold to set up the camera for many shots, the cloud is gathering & looking a bit ominous, it is of course very late to be up here so best start down again. Take some photos with my flag & me, I brought the flag with me especially,
I do not have any great sense of achievement, just a feeling thatI had a go & gave it my best shot without wimping out for some frivolous reason, also I am not finished yet, I still have to climb back down.
Sart down the canaleta which is quite hard to climb down taking much longer than I thought, found a crampon on the way down, i picked it up on the principle that if someone was careless enough to loose one perhaps they would be careless enough to loose the other thus providing me with a set of crampons. Sadly I only found one. Dropped my water bottle half way down the canaleta, & nearly lost it, this gave me a touch of the collywobbles, but a stern talking to soon had me back on track.
Arrived back at the tent at 9.20pm & dark just made it. Another hard, hard, hard day. A 13 hour day at this altitude is excruciatingly difficult, some soup & weak coffee & to sleep.
21 DEC
Eventually get up & pack away my gear, as usuall it is like slow motion & takes for ever, talked to an Aussie & a German who were going to stay the night at Berlin, they thought it very odd that I had stayed 3 nights at Berlin, so did many others right enough,but I slept as well here as
anywhere else.
Looked in the abandoned tent but no bodies or fingers or anything.
Left Berlin at 2.30, stopped at Nido & ate my tin of tuna, which made me feel ill, but I had to eat something & it was all I had other than a tin of corned beef ( which the key had fallen off of )finally reached Mulas at 7pm. Wee tent still up where I left it, Tired out again this time with very sore feet. Took the tent back though, so as not to incure another $15 nights charge.
Went to an outfitters tent for something to eat & had a dreadfull meat sandwich, made I think from the remains of an old and particularly tough mule.
No sign of Tomas or Gunther the Swede
22DEC
A bit late getting up, and go to the tent lady & ask if she would like my boots as I cannot be bothered carting them about, they were not a great fit anyway, she accepts them,
Arranged for a bag to be taken down by mule $2 a Kg, incorrectly measured & only $24 in total.
I gave the guy who did the measurements nearly a full bottle of vodka ( which seemed well appreciated)
Left Mulas at 12.30 on a clear windy day, fortunatly the wind was behind me blowing down the
valley. Overtaken by two germans who were racing down the hill at an very quick pace.
Plodded on & on down the valley, arrived at the Horcones river brigde at &pm decided on a short cut down the river valley, which went well enough untill the last bend where there wa no way past soI had to climb out, not easy straight up a very dodgy scree slope with the river raging below. Regained the path at 7pm, not such a good shortcut after all! Reached the park gates at 8.30. Another hour to the Puntas des Incas hotel arrived dark again! very very tired yet again. I must have looked a mess, unshaven for 17 days, my nose sunburnt & scabby, covered in dust & having worn the same clothes day & night for 17 days, the proprietor welcomed me anyway.
Delighted to discover that the mule men delivered my bag to the hotel so I had some freshish clothes to wear,.
Steak & wine for tea & the fast Germans were there so I talked to them, one made it one did not.
The next day the hotel waiter flagged down a bus for me (that 20pesos tip was moneywell spent) & I returned to Santiago, for a few days rest before the next little adventure.
Log on to find out what happens next.
Spoke to some Italians i the hotel, these guys were proper climbers, Mountain guides in Val Gardena ! they only managed to Independencia due to bad weather. They told me of a German & his girl friend who were climbing the Poilish Glacier when the girl slipped & slide 2000m down, the rescue helicopter went for a look but no sign, & the do not bother attempting to recover bodies round here, so she will stay there for ever & ever!
7th DEC
Spent the day in Puntas as a sort of acclimatisation day Looked at the natural bridge over the Horcones river & walked to the park gates & back. Paid $120 to have mules take my bags to Plaza des mulas.
I met an Irish guy & one Russian/american & an american in the hotel bar & had dinner with them, they had just been up to Plaza des Mulas The Russian got the collywobbles & the american lached on to the ruski & it was 2-1 & down they came ! The Irish guy was not happy!!
So Greg next time choose guys with a bit of backbone!!!
8th DEC
Left Puntas at about 1pm Did the stuff at the park gates & heavily laden with water walked up to confluencia 3300m arrived at 5pm & set up camp. Chated to an Argentinian called Tomas in the next tent, 25 & had been working in Livinio so his english was good. Went to bed at 9pm as it was dark.
9th Dec
Up & had my coffee and porridge & thought about walking up to Plaza des Mulas the alternative was to walk up to plaza francia and have a look at the notorious south face, it was 10.40 & i dithered decided on the acclimatisation walk, good choice! Due to the extra day in Confluencia I did not have enough food so paid $15 to an outfitter for a meal, soup & bread which I put in my pocket for the next day ( the bread not the soup) steak then fruit, Feeling a bit negative, slight touch of the collywobbles, decided to PULL MY SOCKS UP! felt better immediatly.
10th DEC
Up early eat the soupbread & coffee, lovely day blue skies (why is it ´skies¨ when there is only one sky?) set off at 8.55 just behind Tomas who told me there was water after 4hrs, I take extra all the same. Long walk with medium wieght pack, no water after 4hrs no vegitation either not even lichen on the rocks! After 6hrs find Tomas melting snow as he had no water, Last 2hrs very much uphill, arrive at 5.30 exhausted & set up camp. So tired I do not have a proper tea,
Plaza des Mulas is 4350m Have a bad night, the dry air dries out my nose & I feel stuffed up, toss & turn all night. Not cold though, so far so good with the sleeping bag.
BASE CAMP & BEYOND
11th DEC
Rest day - and I need it . Good weather again, cloudless sky & little wind.
Eat my porridge, its still a struggle, I cannot help thinking of it as congeled wallpaper paste.
Take a walk towards Camp Canada, only go up a few hundred mtres just to see what the walk is like. Take another wander over to the Refugio & have a coffee.
Come back for my tea & discuss with Tomas what he is doing, he is considering walking back down to puntas des Incas to get some more food as he does not have enough with him. What a walk !!! I try to persuade him that I have enough for two - he doesnt believe me. He receives further offers of food from 2 french who are going down & he is given another few items from an Argentinian girl, He has nearly enough! An American gives him more & at last he feels he
has ample. Windy night but the tent stays up.
12th DEC.
Decide today to do a porterage to Nido de Condores, then return to mulas to sleep.
This involves a 1000m climb from 4350m to 5350m but I feel I can manage that & leave at 11.30am, After 1/3 of the way I am doing quite well, the next 1/3 i do not do so well & arrive in Camp Canada at 4900m at 2.15pm & it is another 3hrs to Nido, then another 2 hrs down, stop and talk to two hollanders & their guide ( I keep meeting these 3 guys at all sorts of stops) They have decided to make camp at Canada the following night, I briefly think about what to do & conclude that a Camp in Canada the next night would be a good thing. The extra effort to go to Nido is not worth while, not much point in exhausting myself just to get there.
Stash the food & look out for Tomas on his way down, eventually see him, I missed him by 20min at Canada, & it took him to 4.10 to reach Nido. Tomas is fast up a hill, the fastest I have ever come across!! & that includes Vernie in a bad mood!!
Meet 2 Germans & one Spanish on their way down, 1 german is ok but the other two are in real bad shape, staggering about and hardly making any progress, I go over & offer to take a pack 2 other frogs come over & after a bit of a confab the 2 frogs take the packs of the sufferers, & I end up carrying my own empty pack down, Oh well after me offering first too!!
Have a lovely tea at 6.30pm prompt. Thomas receives more food from Superman Andy from Alaska, who claims to have walked in with 37Kg of stuff mmmmm. a superhuman feat, he then of course climbed the mountain. He was smaller than me ( ten years younger right enough) & did not have big thick legs either, I noticed this when he sat down, & he was going to carry everything out as well, just to save $40.
A chat after tea then to bed at 9pm, manage to find BBC world service & listen to that for a while, Better sleep though still getting stuffed up, which means I end up breathing through my mouth & then due to the very dry air my throat dries up Leaving me with a continuous sore throat.
13 DEC
Another rest day, altho I go for a walk in the opposite direction to Aconcagua, 2hrs up in the hope of getting a good veiw / photo of the hill, Back down to the Refugio good walk & not too tiring. Phone home from the radio satallite phone, much cheaper than the INKA one at $5 a min. Eat spagetti tea at Just after 6.30pm, & talk to the new man who has moved in next door, Gerhard or something from Sweden, He arrived at 11pm last night & is not in good shape.
Go to bed at 9pm & listen to radio again.
14 DEC.
Have some porridge for breakfast, I will never get a taste for this stuff, leave for Canada at 12.15. Carry remaining items required & pack quite heavy but not unbearably so, Plod up & arrive at 3.15 set up tent & Tomas makes some tea, rice & corned beef, surprisingly the corned beef here in Argentina is not as good as the stuff we get in UK (its more like spam). At 7pm the wind sarts up, then snow so eat tea in tent. The wind & the snow continue to increase untill it reaches storm proportions, the tent is pulled this way & that, I am very fearfull the the stiching will rip, or the guy ties be pulled off, the tent poles are bending all over the place, Snow is getting into the tent, & the worry & the flapping does not allow me to sleep. Lie awake all night, at times holding up the tent when particularly ferocious gusts threaten to collapse the tent, There is quite an accumulation of snow in the tent during the night, I really really hope that daylight will bring a reduction in the force of the wind, but it doesnt! I am now extreemly concerned that if it stays this way I will have to spend another night here, it is 5000m up & very cold. I do not think the tent could stand much more of this. It has been on the verge of collapse all night & I am sure it would have gone without me holding the thing up half the night. The door flaps do not close properly & this is where the snow is getting in, everything in the tent has a layer of snow on it, quite thick at the door end. A collapsed tent would spell disaster.
About 11.30 the wind dies down, I have decided to go down to Mulas (if I am spared) as soon as its calm enough. I take down the tent & start to pack up. It takes me a long long time to do this as my hands / fingers become very cold very quickly, is this going to be by Achilles heel?
More than half of the 8 tents at Canada are going down, with no intention of trying again. Tomas, whose zips have burst on his outer skin (of his tent that is) is going to stay tonight, even though a fair amount of snow made it into his tent, ( not as much as mine right enough but still). Eventually pack up & wearily make my way down to base at Mulas. Arrive at about 4pm & put my tent up in the same place as before, Gunter still there & not feeling any better,
Go over to the Refugio to phone home, decide to have my tea there, its $15 but what the hell, I get taking to Amanda & Peter, she stays in the Sooth side & he in Oxford, altho he works in Strathclyde Uni in Non-Destructive Testing, I ask him if he Knows Fraser Hardy & he sayes that he knows of him (well nearly) They did a porter to Nido the other day putting up a tent so they are ready to go tomorrow.
Enjoy not a bad meal but it is a chilly place, just coffee to drink again. Off to bed at 9.30
This is a mountainous desert, nothing grows here, not even lichen on the rocks, it is just rocks gravel & bare exposed bedrock. The glacial melt waters & rivers have nothing growing by them untill well down the valley. As Captain Scott said ´´this is a hellish place´´, He then of course left Dundee and sailed to Antartica where he spent the rest of his life!
The weather at Plaza des Mulas on good days is quite pleasant whilst the sun is shining from 9.15 untill 7.30pm - then it becomes cold then, very cold, the water in my bottle freezes every night, & the meltwater from the glacier freezes up. The water when I take it out of the stream in the morning is grey & opaque, but it is all there is and it has not done me any harm yet.
I am now 9 days without a wash, & wearing the same clothes day & night, my nose is peeling quite badly & things may well get worse!!
15 DEC
Another very windy & stormy night altho no snow, so another poor sleep, I wonder how Tomas is getting on?
Go round the outfitters & find one which will rent me a tent, this is a good tent, a Mountain Equipment copy, cost $15 a night with a $200 deposit, its a bit heavy though at 5Kg but a much better piece of kit to have your life depend on than the Tiso purchase. I am sure I will be in much better shape should I be caught in a storm again, I am sure I could ride it out in such a tent - which is good for the confidence. I only have 1 gas canister left, as Tomas took the other 3 up to Nido, where I hope they still are, I cannot find any here so I may be forced to risk it, this could be problematic as above Mulas there is no running water, you have to melt snow for all your water. Wear new boots all day & they seem reasonably comfortable altho a bit neat. Well we¨ll see.
Goody! find gas canister to fit stove, & only $2 which I think is too cheap ... but the man says $2 so Ok.
Go to Ayamara outfitters & eat there $18 a bit steep & stuck in a tent on my own, but not bad grub,
Return to tent and am surprised to see Amanda & Peter back from Nido. Amazingly thier tent was not where they left it, the only explaination being that it blew away in the storms, in the tent were their down jackets as well. The Italians I met on the first night lost a tent as well... just blew away, this seems to be fairly common. Amanda & Peter will decide what to do in the morning.
16 DEC
Very stormy night again, wee tent all over the place, no snow though.
Go and pay the deposit of $200 in travellers Cheques for the tent, & prepare for a very very hard day, over 1000m of ascent to Nido des Condores, with full pack , all cold weather gear 5Kg tent, thermarest, stove, gas, sleeping bag & liner, 5 days food &water for the day.
Set off at 11.30am hoping that I can make it, if it gets too much perhaps I can stop at Canada.
It is a hard, hard day, imagine spending an hour of extreem effort at the gym ... well try that all day for 7 hours,
Arrived Nido absolutly tired out, find Tomas is still there & he helps me put up the tent, the wind is picking up again, we erect the tent not perfect but good enough, flapping a wee bit.
Tomas offers to cook me some tea ( my own stuff incidently ) mixed rice again, I can only eat a little & I cannot drink much either, which is stupid, I kow I have not had enough to drink today, I drink some but it is frozen in the bottle, then I fall asleep. I awaked at 11pm knowing I am dehydrated, not thirsty but shaking & not cold. I have a supply of snow in the tent bag ( this is where you store the snow for when its required) I am awake now knowing I must have water, use the rice pan without cleaning it out , just start melting snow & as soon as it is liquid drink it, I must have been at it well over an hour untill all the snow is gone. The wind is still very severe so I do not fancy going outside. I hope this will do me till morning but I dont think so. Try to sleep, wake up at 2am to use pee bottle, its a bit squashed so does not hold as much as I anticipate & whoops!!! a little overspill, They say you should not xxxx on your own doorstep but when your 5400m up & its blowing harder than anything youve experienced........
well I just empty it out the front of the tent!! then fill it up & empty it again...and again.
Try to get some sleep but what with the storm blowing a real hoolly all night, the flapping & of course the damp patches its not a good night, exept I feel the tent can cope...and it does.
17 DEC
The rest of the night is not too bad considering, I may have been abit damp but at least I was not cold. Get up at About 11am when the wind settles down. Good God is it like this every night up here?
Tomas is of to Berlin Camp, he has been on a porter the day before, Berlin is at 5860m so he expects to arrive there in 2-2.5 hrs. Bump into the Hollanders again, they came down from Canada but obviously came up again the next day, they are off to Berlin too.
Spend the day making water - melting water so I have a full water supply, I am not getting caught out like that again ( we will see about that!). Everything has dried off, & I have a lazy day which I need, it also helps me acclimatise.
I will leave tomorrow for Berlin at about 12 - 1pm which is the high camp from where the summit is attempted. Feel Ok now exept my blister has burst & is bleeding a little.
I feel quite confident about reaching Berlin, which would be a small success of its own, a record high sleep or attempted sleep, & surely I could manage to get to over 6000m.
A go at the summit requires a good day & I am not going unless the weather seems favourable.
It is said to be a 12hour climb to the summit from Berlin, no pack right enough but 1100+ meters of ascent & at this altitude that is quite an effort.
18 DEC
Tomas comes in past to tell me he is going down, the weather was bad & he does not think his equipment is up to it. He made it as far as Indepencia before he was forced back. I said goodbye & I would see him back at Mulas ( and do you know - I never did)
Leave Nido for Berlin & then start worrying about having enough water, so stop to make some, whilst doing this bump into one of the hollanders again, he has had enough & was coming down,
Make it to Berlin & set up camp, make plenty of water & drink alot too.
I have a stock cube type drink before going to sleep.
I wake up all through the night needing to pee, I drink all my water, every time I have a drink of water which is of course ice cold it cools my body down & I shiver for quite a while afterwards. I am up peeing all night. I begin to wonder whats wrong with me. I have 2 cups of coffee at 5am then get a little sleep as the incessant peeing stops. It must have been that stupid stock cube.
19 DEC
Nice day, but I have no water so no attempt on the summit, spend a long time making water then at 12.30 decide to climb up as far as Indepensia, just before Indepensia I met the other Hollander & guide They had made it after leaving Berlin at 6am.
Stopped at Indepencia & took some Photos, just under 3 hrs to indepencia, & just under an hour down, New record high as Indepencia is at 6400m. Altho it is not desperatly cold today my gear seems Ok.
The hollander made it Berlin - Summit - Berlin in 10 hours, so if I left at 8am, then I could be back in Berlin by tea time. Lets hope for a decent nights sleep.
There is a Vande tent beside mine & there has been no one near it since I arrived, an American at Mulas told me that when he arrived at Mulas a German was being helped out because due to an inadequate tent in the Canada night storm, snow entered his tent & in his attempts to clear it out he ended up with frostbite & it looked like he was going to loose all his fingers, perhaps this was his tent!
20 DEC The Summit Attempt
Wake up at 6.40 & start making water up as the stuff in my water bottles is frozen, have a weak coffee & try to eat something, I really do not feel hungry, but eat a little. Leave Berlin at 8.10 & start to plod up, good day clear sky with light winds. Lets see how far we can get!!
Arrive at Independencia at 11.20 & find my fingers & feet cold, so stop, sit in the wee hut out of the wind & try & warm up, eat a small amount of nuts & raisins & know that this is not enough & I weaken later. Set off again at 12.00 so to manage above 6400m well be another record for me.
There is a long stretch round to the notorious canaleta, (this must mean something in spanish i wonder what!) anyway this is 500m verticle of loose dry 1F type hardcore, not compacted & with large boulders in it. It is now 3.20 & I am weakening through lack of nourishment, 2 climbers just beneathme chuck it so there is no-one else about, eat what I can in nuts & raisins.
The top does not seem very far away but it is such a struggle to climb up this rubble, the time is getting on & the weather is not so good, much more cloud about, I try to keep going, tired & weak I plod on & on eventually reach the bealach between the north & south peaks.
6.00pm & I make it to the north peak. I only have time for a short photo session as its too cold to set up the camera for many shots, the cloud is gathering & looking a bit ominous, it is of course very late to be up here so best start down again. Take some photos with my flag & me, I brought the flag with me especially,
I do not have any great sense of achievement, just a feeling thatI had a go & gave it my best shot without wimping out for some frivolous reason, also I am not finished yet, I still have to climb back down.
Sart down the canaleta which is quite hard to climb down taking much longer than I thought, found a crampon on the way down, i picked it up on the principle that if someone was careless enough to loose one perhaps they would be careless enough to loose the other thus providing me with a set of crampons. Sadly I only found one. Dropped my water bottle half way down the canaleta, & nearly lost it, this gave me a touch of the collywobbles, but a stern talking to soon had me back on track.
Arrived back at the tent at 9.20pm & dark just made it. Another hard, hard, hard day. A 13 hour day at this altitude is excruciatingly difficult, some soup & weak coffee & to sleep.
21 DEC
Eventually get up & pack away my gear, as usuall it is like slow motion & takes for ever, talked to an Aussie & a German who were going to stay the night at Berlin, they thought it very odd that I had stayed 3 nights at Berlin, so did many others right enough,but I slept as well here as
anywhere else.
Looked in the abandoned tent but no bodies or fingers or anything.
Left Berlin at 2.30, stopped at Nido & ate my tin of tuna, which made me feel ill, but I had to eat something & it was all I had other than a tin of corned beef ( which the key had fallen off of )finally reached Mulas at 7pm. Wee tent still up where I left it, Tired out again this time with very sore feet. Took the tent back though, so as not to incure another $15 nights charge.
Went to an outfitters tent for something to eat & had a dreadfull meat sandwich, made I think from the remains of an old and particularly tough mule.
No sign of Tomas or Gunther the Swede
22DEC
A bit late getting up, and go to the tent lady & ask if she would like my boots as I cannot be bothered carting them about, they were not a great fit anyway, she accepts them,
Arranged for a bag to be taken down by mule $2 a Kg, incorrectly measured & only $24 in total.
I gave the guy who did the measurements nearly a full bottle of vodka ( which seemed well appreciated)
Left Mulas at 12.30 on a clear windy day, fortunatly the wind was behind me blowing down the
valley. Overtaken by two germans who were racing down the hill at an very quick pace.
Plodded on & on down the valley, arrived at the Horcones river brigde at &pm decided on a short cut down the river valley, which went well enough untill the last bend where there wa no way past soI had to climb out, not easy straight up a very dodgy scree slope with the river raging below. Regained the path at 7pm, not such a good shortcut after all! Reached the park gates at 8.30. Another hour to the Puntas des Incas hotel arrived dark again! very very tired yet again. I must have looked a mess, unshaven for 17 days, my nose sunburnt & scabby, covered in dust & having worn the same clothes day & night for 17 days, the proprietor welcomed me anyway.
Delighted to discover that the mule men delivered my bag to the hotel so I had some freshish clothes to wear,.
Steak & wine for tea & the fast Germans were there so I talked to them, one made it one did not.
The next day the hotel waiter flagged down a bus for me (that 20pesos tip was moneywell spent) & I returned to Santiago, for a few days rest before the next little adventure.
Log on to find out what happens next.
