CAMP 1 & 2

After a day of rest in the Base Camp, we continue our expedition. This time there are no mules to help us carry the loads. We have to divide each trip into two days. The first day we carry equipment, food and fuel, which will not be required until the upper camps. After reaching the site of the camp above, we dump the loads and return quickly to the camp below. The following day we pack the camp and move to the camp above. We need two days to move from the Base Camp to Camp 1 at 4,400 m (14,440 ft).

The upper part of the Guanaco Valley is surrounded by rocky peaks covered with snow and glaciers.

Above Camp 1, we run into large fields of "nieves penitentes" (penitential snow). Dry climate, high wind and sun carve last winter's snow fields into rows of snow spires, which from a distant look like kneeling monks.

As we cross them, I get a glimpse of the East Face of Aconcagua and Cerro Zurbriggen.

As we climb above Camp 1, the trail continues across large fields of penitentes.

After two days of hard work we set up Camp 2 at 4,850 m (15,900 ft). Unfortunately we have a big problem with food. Despite Aventuras Patagonicas assurances about...

"Gourmet mountain food from the trailhead to Base Camp including; fresh salad and fruit, meat, fish, eggs, pancakes, and wine. (vegetarian menu upon request). All food above Base Camp is quality high altitude food."

...all we get for breakfasts is hot water with powder coffee, chocolate and basic cereal, while for dinners we get watery soup from powder and alternatively mashed potatoes, couscous or spaghetti in tomato sauce. This is hardly "a quality high altitude food". We have plenty of chocolate bars and other sweets, but at this elevation we need solid fat meals to maintain high levels of energy. Our guides, who cook the meals for us, are trying their best, but without proper ingredients are doomed to fail. I am told that the high altitude food is very expensive in Mendoza. So to maximize the profit for the organizers we climb Aconcagua mostly with empty stomachs.

After late dinner, I get a chance to catch the setting sun casting deep shadows on the glaciers of Cerro Zurbriggen and rocky ridges of Cerro Ameghino (5,918 m - 19,420 ft)