How the equipment went

This entry is in answer to questions some of my friends interested in going to Aconcagua have asked, and so will only be interesting to those who like talking about gear and technical clothes.

As I went up the normal route, a lot of technical gear was unnecessary. The crampons were a must, and we used them quite a bit (from Camp 2 up) because there was a lot of snow. I did not use my ice axe, as my walking sticks provided the necessary stability.

Glasses: these were primordial, and most people had two pairs in case one broke, as altitude blindness (both from the sun, so much more potent up there and reflected off the snow, and as a possible symptom of altitude sickness) is pretty serious. I had brought a pair of colourless glasses for the nightime summit departure, but as it turns out, few people leave in the dark, and I did not use them at all. The glasses, naturally, need to be category 3 and preferably 4, mountain glasses, with side protections to keep out the sand, sun, wind etc.

Tent: this was provided by the company, a four-season, wind-proof north face expedition tent. Made for 2, but 3 of us slept in it in the high camps pretty comfortably.

Clothes: the company I traveled with had a long list of things we should bring, and I feel that it could be cut a little. There are a couple of things I never did use. As things gets carried to base camp by mule, however, I sent everything along, and decided there what to take up higher.

Feet:
-I used my ice-climbing, sportiva boots. These are not double-plastic, and are colder than double plastics. I used them together with supergaiter and two pairs of wool socks. Despite this, my toes got cold a couple of hours into summit day, but this may have been due to the fact that I was unwell, and very slow, therefore unable to keep warm. I was fine on the other days I wore them. Still, if I were to do it again, I am not sure that I would not decide for double boots.
-I wore my leather trekking boots up to base camp. They could theoretically be worn to Camp 3, but that adds so much weight, few would want to do it.
-I had my mec base camp duvet booties and would definitely take them again. They kept my feet warm, have enough grip to allow for walking around the camps without any problems, and let sore feet rest instead of being in boots all the time.
-I had 3 pairs of solid, up to knee, thick mountaineering socks, and merino wool base layer socks. They are very comforting. Still, my feet got cold at night and I slept with my fleece coat wrapped around them.

Lower body:
I wore trekking pants up to base camp. For the higher camps, I had a pair of thermal underwear, a pair of fleece pants, and a pair of goretex pant covers, all of which I wore on summit day.

Upper body:
Once again, up to base camp, a t shirt, with a long-sleeved thin shirt on top for when it was cooler, was enough during the day(both were of merino wool). At the higher camps, I chose a thick synthetic base layer (I had two, one a mec, the other a patagonic; the mec had the advantage of having a hood and thumb holes), with a thicker mid-layer. I did not have, but wished I did, a sleeveless vest, useful to keep the wind off your core while still keeping you from over heating. The higher we went, the colder it got. Depending on the wind, I added to this either my goretex coat with underarm zips opened to let body heat escape, or my wind-proof fleece jacket. When we came down from summit day, which was cold, I wore both. On summit day itself, I had my two base layers and my duvet coat, which had, up until now, only been worn at night at base camp, and while not walking on the upper camps. I had also chosen to bring a very light duvet "sweater", which I slept in at the higher camps, despite my warm sleeping bag. It was a very welcome addition. I tried to sleep with my fleece jacket, but somehow, that made me colder.

Hands: I had two pairs of fleece gloves, but wish I had brought a pair of waterproof gloves for when it snowed, because my hands got cold when wet, and putting on the goretex overmits reduced dexterity. I also had a pair of thick synthetic mid-layer mitts and goretex overmits for summit day. Layers is key.

Head: I had 2 tuques, one a lightweight fleece perfect for most days, the other a windproof tuque. I wore them together in the higher camps, and slept with the fleece one. My duvet jacket had a hood which is indispensable. I brought a neoprene mask (that I use for running when it is extra cold) which I wore on summit day. I wish I had not lost my balaclava, it would have been great to keep the dust out on the first, hot days. Bandanas would have done well too.

I took hand and toe warmers. The toe warmers work pretty well, but almost none of my hand warmers did. I don't know if there wasn't enough oxygen for them, but depending on them is definitely dangerous.

For women: I gave up wearing sanitary napkins or tampons with applicators many years ago, for environmental reasons, but I would take tampons with applicators up the next time. Keeping your hands clean is hard up on the mountain. Just remember whatever trash you create has to be carried out. Makes pads a great deal less appealing. Also, some women skip periods altogether after a certain altitude, which is what happened with me, I had a 5-week cycle, and my normal cycle is 3 weeks. One shouldn't depend on this, of course, but I was very thankful for it!

I would definitely bring more of the foods described in that post (one of the earlier ones).

Stoves are fickle at high altitude. It's always best to know how to take them apart and fix them, and also primordial to have a back up. We had 3 for the 5 of us.

And a few notes on comfort. Lots of people don't bring pillows. I had a very small, duvet one, which is supplemented by adding whatever clothes I was not wearing, and am glad I brought it. Sleeping is important, it is not a luxury, and being comfortable helps in that. A few personal items that bring comfort in difficult moments help emotionally. For me, that was having my cel phone, on which I had pictures and messages that I looked at and read, having my journal to write it, and having a book to read to pass the long hours of listening to the wind.

On the note of reading, I brought some classic mountain literature, and rather regret it. Being in difficult conditions and then reading about hardship did not really help. Wish I'd stuck to a trash novel.

So, apart from a few details, I feel we were very well prepared for this expedition, gear-wise, and there are not many things I would change.

Buenos Aires

A nearly 20-hour (comfortable) bus ride got me to Buenos Aires, where, although my stay was very brief, I was very happy to be able to see my friend from Montreal Christine, who is staying here for 3 months. She is loving it here, and we had a great time walking around together.

Despite appearances, I do like to do girlie stuff! Christine and I went shopping and got the same pair of groovy sandals. Of course, I won't get to wear mine for another few months...



We also went to Las Canitas for dinner, where we met up with some friends and had a nice evening.



Et c'est à regret que j'ai quitté Christine, Buenos Aires, l'Argentine... les magnifiques voyagent ne donnent qu'envie de ne pas revenir, mais de continuer à découvrir. Mais ils enseignent aussi qu'il faut vivre pleinement et entièrement toute expérience de sa vie, et c'est une leçon que je tente de ne pas oublier. Je compte vivre pleinement Montréal et mes amis et famille!

Feb 15th, return to Puerto Madryn

Our last day was very peaceful. The calm continued, and what had taken us a long time the previous day was much quicker today. We were back in Puerto Piramides for lunch.





But of course, we stopped once again to play with the seals. I can easily imagine staying with them all day, they are a lot of fun to observe.



They were especially playful today, and came right to the kayak. One started biting on the camera that Julio had filming them underwater, one came to nibble on the handle on the tip of the kayak, they swam under the kayak and lifted it a little, which feels very impressive!


Baby seals learning to swim in a small pool created by the receding tide and little caves on the stone beach. They were a riot to watch! They cry like lambs.


This one practically came to my face! They stick their necks out really far, and look and look, then breathe loudly and take off pirouetting.


Julio watching the babies.

We went straight back to Puerto Madryn when we landed in Piramides, and spent some time cleaning out 4 days' worth of salt and sand off our kayaks and gear. Then a shower was very welcome!

We had a farewell dinner in the same restaurant where we ate the first night (the food is so good there, almost as good as what Julio makes) and I went to sleep for my last night here. Tomorrow, I grab a bus to Buenos Aires, where I will meet Christine, and then I fly home...

But not without memories!

Feb 14th Peninsula Valdez

Today, the weather was finally good, so we packed up the kayaks and took off for a few hours of paddling to another of many secluded beaches. It was good to be on the water, away from the dust.

One of the many small caves along the coast.

On our way, we played with the seals. They are so funny! They are very curious by nature, and come really close to the kayaks, even touching them, poking their heads out of the water to see what kind of creatures we are, flipping in the air before diving back in the water. And the water is so clear that you can see them under it. The shyer ones look at you this way, through the water.



I have very few pictures of them as we tried to take mainly videos. I had my small point and shoot which I was trying to get neither wet nor salty, and Julio had the camera with submergible plastic thingy.



We broke for lunch and explored a beach. We found all sorts of stuff.



The carcass of a whale, very small, likely a still-born thinks Julio.

It was only about 4 or 5 hours of kayaking in all, and we arrived early at a place that was suitable for camping. As the tides are huge here, most of the beaches we saw on the way were going to be submerged during the night, so we had to be careful about which spot to choose.



This place was great. It provided a protected, flat area for the tents, and plenty of room for cooking. Not to mention superb views of the surrounding area! And for once, the wind calmed down.

While I set up camp, Julio improvised. It turns out that we had not only lost the bag of food that morning, but we had also forgotten to get more bread (as I mentioned, we bought it daily) and more wine and cheese. We had pasta and tuna with crackers, but if we ate that tonight, we'd be left with no lunch for the next morning. So Julio went back to the sea and got us some fresh mussles. We cooked them, then opened them up and mixed them with olive oil and flavoury spices to put on the pasta. It was soooooooooooo goood! Living off the land! (or the sea, in this case). As we had no wine, we drank whisky instead. No, you can't say we suffered much!



The setting sun created beautiful colours on the walls. We later moved the kayaks even further away from the water.



Another amazing sunset!



It was amazingly warm, we could get by with just an extra shirt, a very unusual thing for Patagonia at night. I used my sleeping bag mainly as a mattress than to keep warm.

Feb 13th, Peninsula Valdes, car trouble

We wake early with the dawn. Julio is already outside, coaxing the fire back to life so we can make coffee.

It is really windy. This is a problem with kayaking. It becomes a great deal less fun when you have to fight that much.

After breakfast, we break up camp and go back to the beach to say hello to the pinguins. In my hurry to do so, I believe I dropped a bag where we had all of our dried fruit, chocolate (gasp!), coffee, tang, my little army knife, a beloved present from my sister, marmalade, and other food. We can't be sure, but it seems the most likely possibility, as we both definitely saw that bag that very morning, but could not find it later. Oh well. Add that to the long list of things I've already lost on this trip. Playing with the pinguins a bit was a lot of fun, though!




Then we drove to the only town in this place, Puerto Piramides, where Julio has a friend, Pablo. Pablo informs us that the weather will be bad for kayaking all day, and Julio decides that maybe we can go to different points on the Peninsula by car instead. So we leave our kayaks with Pablo (he owns a few himself, and rents them out to tourists) so the car is lighter and head off to Punta Norte, where we will arrive after about an hour and a quarter, at about the same time as high tide.

After going through desert landscapes and seeing lots of guanacos, an animal related to the lama, we get there. It is really really hot, and we are covered in dust. As we got our hair salty with the sea the day before, the dust sticks to it, and we have a good laugh at how old we look! This reminds me of a photo of Claire and David I have, while they were doing construction work on their home, and they ended up in a similar state.

This part of the Peninsula is the wide sea, and there are orcas living here at this time of the year. As well as a huge (over 1000) colony of noisy sea lions with their pups. Everyone seems to be waiting for something, lots of questions about when, exactly is high tide, along with ooohs and aaahs whenever we see, at a distance, the orcas' fins come up. Until then I had thought that the high tide business was because, from the lookout point from where we are allowed to watch the seals, they are much more visible at high tide. But when Julio mumbles how morbid this all is, I find out that no, it's that the orcas beach themselves at high tide to eat the pups, and then manage to get back to sea with the next wave. Everyone is waiting to see an orca play with a pup live. I feel my heart sink, but of course, this is normal. Except that orcas like to play with their food before eating it, and this part I am not looking forward to.


We wait and wait and wait and wait, high tide comes and goes, and we are hungry. Julio gives me the keys to the car so I can get us some fruit, teasing that I will manage to miss everything. I secretly hope I do.

His car is pretty old and beat up, and none of the keys work that well. I always have a hard time opening the trunk, because you have to be a little forceful with the lock. Which is why I am not surprised when I am unable to turn it right once the key is wedged in. I try to turn with more force.

And the key breaks in the lock! My jaw drops, I look at the key stub I now hold in my head, think of everything in the trunk (all our camping and snorkeling gear, including wet suits, as well as most of our food) and run back to Julio.

When he sees me arrive with a panicked look on my face, and I tell him what I've done and that we can't get into the trunk, he has one look at the bunch of keys, starts to laugh that really heart-felt laugh of his, the one where his eyes get all crinkly, and says the trunk is the least of our problems, that's the ignition's key I've broken, and now we can't start the car. He keeps on laughing as my panic changes to horror.

That's one thing I love about Julio. Nothing is ever cause to panic, or worry, or get angry about. It calms me. When he is done laughing he says well, sit down, we might still see a pup being eaten. I sit without a word. Hungry? he asks. No, I've lost my appetite!

Well, I guess the orcas were not hungry that day, but Julio is happy, he hadn't seen orcas here before.


A "peludo" (hairy one), related to the armadillo.

And now we have a problem to deal with. He starts taking the front of the car apart while I go hunt down someone who looks foreign, because I am sure they will have a swiss army knife. I lost my big one after Aconcagua, and my little one is, I still believe, in the trunk.

I find a group of very cool Tcheks, and they have every knife and tool imaginable! But they don't manage to retrieve the key, and leave apologizing for not being able to help, although they gave us so much of their time. Meanwhile, Julio has more success. After taking apart the whole wheel it seems to me, he finds someone who teaches him to start the car with a screwdriver. It starts. Wow! Julio laughs. I guess he never doubted it would work.

We drive back to Puerto Piramides, to the gas station. He finds a hammer, destroys the trunk's lock, and now we have access to everything. Can't lock it though, but the expedition can go on... I am feeling very sheepish, but Julio just says this is what's great about these old cars. Everything can be fixed by banging on it.



We go to another beach that night. It's a beautiful, wonderful spot, completely isolated, we are the only ones there. We get the wet suits on (the water is too cold to swim without them) and get in. Julio is planning on hunting our meal tonight. He looks pretty impressive all decked out in his black suit and harpoon.

Julio Bond

I have one his friend Christian lent me, it is a camouflage suit. The fish can't see you approach because you look like a bunch of algae. Out of water, of course, you look ridiculous.



To get in the water, we have to climb down these walls, get through some rocks, and then bypass a dead baby seal. That was disgusting. It was completely white, albino. I guess its mother must have abandoned it.

Julio hunts while I take pictures and film. We get back up as the sun is going down and the wind up, and the ground is so hard that we can't set up the tents properly. Originally I was doing that but he ends up having to help me as I am unable to prevent the tents from flying in every direction. We end up using the lead weights that we use to be able to sink while wearing neoprene suits to hold the tents down.



Pretty cool camping spot. Very windy though.

Until the moon comes up it is so dark that we need the carlights to be able to see.

Julio makes a tasty ceviche with lots of lemon with the fish he just caught, and we make pasta, with another bottle of wine. It is beyond delicious and I find it incredible to be eating fish that was just hunted. It doesn't get any fresher than that! I could soooooo get used to this!

Peninsula Valdes excursion Feb 12th

So, bright and early, the alarm rings. True to ourselves, Julio and I let it ring. It's my phone anyway, I've chosen a ringer that is neither annoying nor stressful, so I feel no need to climb over Julio (he won the fight where we decided who got the bed and who got my thermarest) to turn it off. Eventually he asks whether I could, so I hit snooze. About 4 times. Then, of course, we're in a rush to finish packing the stuff we shopped for the day before.

We are deciding on the menu to make sure we bring enough food for our stay. I've provided dried fruit and nuts, chocolate, cookies, and some freeze-dried camping food which he turns his nose up at. We have pasta, canned tuna, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables (after he's been telling me how important it is to keep weight down in the kayaks! not that I am going to complain about anything fresh). We hit a snag when he decides that half a litre of water per person per day is enough and I want to quadruple the amount.

We need some warm clothes because nights are cool here even when it is hot during the day. I arranged our tents (we each have a one person tent, and they are both too small to allow for two people to sleep in there unless you are really comfortable with practically lying on top of one another), sleeping bags and clothes into waterproof kayak bags. I am looking for my headlight everywhere and can't find it. I decide Julio will have his and give up looking for it. Julio is packing the food and kitchen stuff. We haven't fixed my camping stove. There is something wrong with it that makes it turn off all the time.

Then we go put gas in the car, buy more water (I sort of won that point) and fresh bread (Julio likes buying bread on a daily basis, he does not like day-old bread) and head out.

Along the way, we meet up with many of his friends with whom we plan on hanging out that day and head for Peninsula Valdes, a protected area full of wildlife and beautiful, deserted beaches.

When we get to Paradelas, the one we've been heading for after a bit over an hour, the tide is so high (it's right after the full moon) that there is barely any room to drive. The place is spectacular! This is not a sand beach, the ground is made of very soft stone full of fossilized shells and the such, it is pretty amazing.



We spend the day fooling around, there are about a dozen of us.

Some people snorkel while others kayak while others still go out with the small boat and hunt (fish, with a harpoon).

When I went out with the kayak, there was a pinguin following us for a bit. On the water, they look a lot like ducks. Before going to Patagonia, I had only ever seen them walking or, in documentaries, swimming, never floating around like normal birds, it's really weird, I think most north-americans would not recognize them as pinguins right away. This is all intermingled with food and maté, of course!



The hours fly by and soon everyone else has to get back to town. Julio and I find a spot to set up the tents, go walking on the beach where the pinguins are coming to rest and dry themselves.

We decide on what to cook for dinner.

Both of us are waiting for the other to come up with their headlight, and this is when we realize we've brought none! And we own 4 among us, not to mention flashlights!


Bravo. Meal in the dark! This makes us unable to see what is wrong with the stove, so Julio makes a small fire instead, and it turns out great! Bread, cheese, tomatoe, avocado, with, of course, a nice bottle of wine... And lots of laughter about what a couple of disasters we both are, both depending on the other when we hang out, a bad idea in any circumtance.

The moon comes out and makes everything visible. But by that time, we are both pretty tired and go to sleep.

Feb 11th Puerto Madryn

Julio was waiting at the bus station for me when I arrived from the 20 or so hours it took to get here. The bus was practically empty, a first for me! We had very personalized service (we get served meals and the such on the bus) and it was nice and quiet. And it was great to see Julio. As much as making new friends is fun, getting together with an old one is wonderful. It's comforting to be with someone who knows you.

We dropped off my stuff at Julio's. He was amazed at how much I had! I had already sent him a duffel bag with some stuff I was bringing him (a kayak suit, a tent, a duvet vest for a friend, all stuff that is cheaper in Canada than here) and was arriving with another and a pack. Despite everything I've been leaving to people or losing! (and this list is long).




Julio in a model pose. He hates this picture so I thought to put it on the blog.


That night we had the best meal; this town is known for its fish and seafood, and so we went to a family-owned restaurant where all the food is fresh and fished in a sustainable way. We had seafood salad as an entree, then I had a seafood paella and Julio fish. With, of course, a good bottle of wine, this being Argentina!



The following day, we got up early and went kayaking along the coast. I suspect Julio wanted to know, before we left on a 4 day excursion, whether I had any muscle mass left in my arms and back after being on the mountain for a bit. I was determined to show him I could still paddle!



Loading the kayaks unto the car.



Puerto Madryn is a port city and is also very close to a lot of wildlife. About 40 minutes off from downtown, there is a ¨loberia¨, with lots of seal that one hears way before one sees them.



It was pretty windy, so we couldn't get close enough to take good photos, but it was so gorgeous! The sea is very green in this area, and this contrasts beautifully with the arid landscape.



Coming back was hard work as we were now fighting against the wind. I was happy to be able to work my upper body now after working my legs on the mountain, so this was welcome.

We spent part of the early evening at a little beach bar owned by friends of Julio's (well, this town is not that big, so it seems he knows everyone, every 5 minutes we stop so he can say hello) having beer and corn.





And then it was getting everything ready for our excursion before rushing off to friends' for a pizza. We packed too quickly, which showed in the many things that we missed during the trip itself! But it doesn't matter, I was totally psyched!