Camp Canada on Aconcagua

Today we got up when it seemed time. We packed up about 12 days food and clothing we do not need at base camp. I took off first out of camp. Nice and slow. I have never been so high so quickly. My pack was 35-40 lbs. I felt great. I was back into the climbing mode. There is pain involved but if you are in the right mindset than it does not hurt. We made good time, got up to Camp Canada in three hours. I shot straight up to it the last 500 feet. Next time I will stick to the trail. At 16,000 feet with a full pack, it is not wise to climb straight up anything. I did not have my ice axe and the new snow was a bit slick. Once in camp I threw all my gear into the travel duffle bag I brought up. Soon Bob arrived and did the same. The day was beautiful, partly cloudy. At 16,000 feet we could finally see over the mountains around Base Camp. We still need to go higher for better views. On McKinley at 16,000 feet, you see for hundreds of miles and it is cold. Here you see more mountains and it is often warm. I came down in about 1 hour. I did not stop but one time. Back at base here I did some chores and laid down to rest. The rest of the day was spent hanging out near camp talking to the keewees. We also heard news of a missing climber (Polish climber) near the summit. One of the funniest things I saw were some guides near our camp building these fires then they were throwing fuel bottles inside the fire. After a few minutes BOOM! Sounds like a glacier crashing. There are so few rules here. The dogs that have been following us since the beginning followed us to 16,000 feet today. They are sleeping in Robs tent. I am very content now. It is about 8:30 p.m. It gets dark in a half hour. I just ate a can of tuna I traded for 2 candy bars. I am listening to my radio. I had the hardest time turning it off last night because they were playing the best techno music. Tomorrow we hope to move our camp to Canada 16,000 feet. The rumor is another storm is coming but that is what they said yesterday and today was the best day so far.

Well it is sometime in the afternoon. It has been quite a day. We awoke to pure blue sky. We knew it would be because last evening everyone was out looking at the mountains alpenglow. We awoke this morning and packed up camp. We kept asking about our permits but they still have not arrived. We left a huge duffle at the Keewees base tent full of stuff we do not need up high. Slowly we climbed the trail to Canada Camp. Bob and I took 2 good breaks and arrived around 2 p.m. The view is great with this perfect weather. At 16,000 feet, it is warm with the sun but a cold wind does flow through at times. We are camping next to Boyd and Colorado. Unfortunately, Colorado will not let us call him that so he is actually Nile. Also setting up a camp next to us is a guy from Seattle. The dogs also followed us up here. They are going to be real cold tonight. The best part of today was listening to my walkman the whole way up here. Our plan now is to take a load tomorrow up to Alaska or even Nido! I guess there is a dead guy above Berlin Camp. It is now after dinner, and the rough chore of melting snow is done. I just heard one of my favorite songs played. I am picking up a whole lot of music up here. Looks like were skipping on Camp Alaska and going to Nino. From there it is only Berlin Camp. I am just sitting here thinking how we are sitting at 16,000 feet. It is after 7 p.m., the sun is warming the tent. Outside you need fleece but gloves and hat are optional. When I do not think about how tiring this altitude is I often think I am summer camping. It does drop below 0 at night when there is no cloud cover. Ok, it is now 9 p.m. and just had to write down that I feel great. We just watched the sunset over some mountains, having some cocoa, and an ibprophren. Now I feel ready for another 2000 feet tomorrow.