1st – Up; the beginning

We had a late start today; our guides wanted our equipment for sending to Base Camp and keeping at the hotel at 1030 with departure at around 1100. This meant a gentle morning starting at 0800 with shower and breakfast before getting ready to leave. Enjoyed it a bit extra as this will likely be the last slow morning in a while.

The bags were loaded into a car that went straight to a pick-up point where the mules would collect them and bring them to Base Camp, while we drove out in a bus, passing by Puente del Inca which is a mineral/rock formation carved by a passing by river, which brought us to the check-in point for the Aconcagua National Park.

Puente del Inca.

From there we got out, grabbed our daypacks containing our equipment for the next two days, and commenced the relative short day to the first camp on the route, camp Confluencia located at 3409m, giving us a gentle 400m ascent on a app. 7km route. We left the gate at around 1145 and arrived at the camp 2 hours 45 minutes later.

The group. The look of happiness is because the photo was taken before it got tough.

Crossed a bridge on the way to Confluencia. If it looks recognizable it's probably because you have seen it in the movie 7 Years in Tibet.

On the way to camp with Aconcagua in our sights.

The camp is fairly large with a sign-in desk and doctor’s tent (test was successful; 110/70, saturation of 92, unknown pulse (but assuming acceptable value as I was still alive)), and while we were still sleeping in our own 2-man tents we had access to a dining tent with (plastic) furniture and real cutlery. Not what I had expected, but I could get used to this. And we have a real toilet, too!

The first couple of hours were spent on being introduced to how it all works after which we took a short stroll on a nearby hill where we could get an overview of the entire camp. The rest of the day was spent on… yes; relaxation.

Tomorrow we will attempt leaving at 0800 for BC, app 17km away by taking a route which is basically circling Aconcagua, bringing us app. 800m higher than we are now. It’s going to be a long day but rather uncomplicated, and we are still only carrying our small bags. BC is apparently like Confluencia, but 3-4 times bugger, with charging stations, internet, a gallery(!) and other convenient facilities. It will be a sad day leaving this to camp further up the mountain. Our guides would agree; they usually do the cooking when camping, but when staying at these camps there are established kitchens with personnel which means that they get time off.

We will have two nights at BC before beginning the “real” ascent, but ultimately it all depends on the weather forecasts. It is very warm here during the day though winds from Aconcagua cool down the air. Because it’s very dry in the area there is a lot of dust in the air – having a buff helps a lot and I am realizing that buying one as a last-moment idea before departure was probably the best thing I could have done.

Confluencia.