February 6, 2019
Hitting the Trail (Luke Reilly)
Our two teams on Aconcagua checked in this afternoon. Rikki and his group were able to establish Camp 2 around 18,000 feet and the weather continues to cooperate. The upper mountain on Aconcagua can be a pretty windy and cold place, but the mountain is being nice these days. Historically, the first nights dinner at Camp 2 is pizza. I guess the question I’ll have to ask Rikki tomorrow is whether he went with pepperoni or veggie for the group.
Down lower on the mountain, Robert and Co. were able to hit the trailhead this morning and walk the dusty trail to the Pampa de Leñas camp. Sunny and warm is a good way to describe conditions down lower on the approach. Everybody is most likely in shorts and a t-shirt for the first couple days into basecamp. Aconcagua truly is a mountain of extremes. Hot to cold in a few short days. They’ve got a couple more days before they hit basecamp but it’s an enjoyable walk with some really good bbq dinners.
Luke Reilly