Plaza Francia and Penitentes, Argentinean Andes

While in Argentina I took two weekend trips with a random mix of folks, each of whom knew one other person in the group prior to the trip. Our first trip was a hike to Plaza Francia, the old base camp for summiting the Pared Sur (South Wall) of Aconcagua. The hike to Plaza Francia was amazing, and I absolutely loved our group. We included two Italian diplomats, the honorary diplomat for Portugal, a smattering of professionals from Argentina, and another biologist aside from me. The group was incredibly friendly, fun, and generally ready for a good time. Some members of this same group invited me on a second hike to the sumit of Penitentes (The Penitent) the weekend before I left Argentina. In similar fashion, this group was a mix of great people inter-connected through various friends. I wish I could transport this hiking group all over the world as they are some of the most mellow, fun, and entertaining people I have met on my travels. Here are some photos from Plaza Francia in mid-February followed by photos and a video from Penitentes in late March. Also, if any of the photos are too small, you can click on them to enlarge. Enjoy!


PLAZA FRANCIA (mid-February 2009)


The national park entrance.


Bichoman and Alejandro dancing.


Bichoman, Alejandro, and Pietro during a rest.


The valley had a lot of gauchos moving pack horses to and from base camp to supply hikers before their ascent of Aconcagua.


Photo of Pietro and Alejandro at Confluencia. We slept here on the first night.


Confluencia and the surrounding mountains.


Our carpa at Confluencia, complete with bunkbeds!



Our group talking with the park guards about a rescue they made of Italian hikers stranded on Aconcagua in January 2009.


Me on the hike to Plaza Francia with the Andes in the background.


This dog, affectionately dubbed "Perito Moreno" followed us all the way from our camp at Confluencia to Plaza Francia. The park guard told us this dog was a local who often joined random groups on their hike in the park.


Our group with Aconcagua in the background.


Relaxing at Plaza Francia with (L to R) Florencia, Mariela, me, Pietro, Alejandro.



Me at the sign for Plaza Francia. The Pared Sur of Aconcagua is in the background. Yes, people have ascended Aconcagua (the highest peak in the New World) by scaling this wall!


Alejandro and Aconcagua on our hike down. My favorite photo of the trip!



PENITENTES (late March 2009)

A photo toward Chile taken on our hike to the summit.


The mountains and me.


Penitentes is named after the rock structures at the base of the mountains to the left of this picture. The rocks resemble a procession of penitent people.

River crossing.



Trying to pitch the tent -- it took them nearly 40 minutes to get this crazy thing set up!



Juan Martin (also known as Bichoman = Bugman) reserved this refuge for us. We gathered in here at night to talk, eat, and drink wine.


Our shadows on the hike to the summit.


Us at the summit. (clockwise from L): me, Alejandro, Pietro, Cecilia, Juan Martin (aka Bichoman!!)



A video of us listening to "American" music while chatting in Spanish.

EL PLOMO

In mid-March, about a week before I returned to the States, I took a bus over the Andes from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile, to meet up with Gus. Gus and I have a friendship that began through a backpacking adventure in 2006: we took a 4 day trip with another graduate student, Eric, around a sacred mountain in Tibet. Eric later wrote an article about the trip that was published on the Grist online environmental journal.

Because Gus has been working outside of Santiago for the past 3 years, he has been staring at a mighty mountain named El Plomo for just as long. El Plomo is a glacier-covered peak that can be seen from Santiago on clear days when the city isn't choking in its own smog. As luck would have it, Gus decided to summit El Plomo this year when I was just a short ride away. So, after hopping on a bus in Argentina, I made my way over the Andes to Chile where Gus and I promptly drove into the mountains in his borrowed Trooper to tackle El Plomo.

The peak of El Plomo is 5400m (17,716 ft), and a portion of the trek requires the use of crampons due to a large glacier that must be crossed. Years ago, El Plomo was frequently scaled by the Incas for religious purposes, and in 1954 a group of archaeologists discovered the mummified remains of an Inca child.

Our trek up El Plomo started on a Saturday. We hiked in 5 hours to base camp, which is situated at 4100m. Several groups had summited earlier in the day. After a restless sleep, we awoke on Sunday morning at 3:30am to make our way toward the summit. We finally reached the peak 8 hours later (with one unplanned detour), and with great luck, the Andes were clear, sunny, and absolutely stunning. We could see Aconcagua, the highest peak in the New World, on the Argentinean side of the border, and for miles and miles we could see the rugged, dry rock of this amazing landscape. We spent 30 peaceful minutes alone on the summit before heading back down. The mellow hike down took 4 hours, and when we reached base camp all but two other people had packed up and headed home. We had the whole camp to ourselves.

El Plomo was kind to us with warm weather and clear skies. The weather often turns cloudy and cold by mid-day, and several trekkers have died attempting the accent.

The follwoing are photos from our adventure.


The trail to base camp had us hiking along a beautiful mountain valley. El Plomo is the snow-capped peak in the background.


Photo taken just after arriving at base camp (4100m).


Lookin' stylish at base camp with El Plomo in the background.


El Plomo reflected in cold mountain water.


El Plomo in the fading light the night before we climbed to the top.


Gus at dawn on summit day.


Gus taking a break on our climb up.


Me hamming it up at the summit. Yes, I was tired, but not that exhausted! Aconcagua is in the background.


Team photo at the summit.


Gus hiking down the glacier with Andes in the background.


Me wearing crampons for the first time.


Gus near the end of the glacier.


Photo of me (left) and Gus (right) taking in the valley view.


At 4620m there is a refuge called "Refugio Agostini" for those in need of a shelter.


Photo of the refuge and valley below.


Gus packing up the tent before our hike out.


A photo of me with El Plomo in the background before we hiked home.


A photo looking back at basecamp.


My battle wounds. Okay, technically, I got these while trying to learn how to self-arrest before tackling the glacier. This took more than 4 weeks to heal.


Gus hiking back along the valley.


Gus back at the Trooper after our hike out.

Birthday Biking, Mendoza, Argentina

Thirty-one years young was celebrated with my friend Gus on a bicycle winery tour outside of Mendoza. Bikes and wine -- a dangerously perfect combination. We visited 3 wineries plus a chocolate factory on our day-long adventure. Gus and I both started on lowrider bikes, but after my chain kept breaking Gus was tired of peddling for the both of us. So, we called the bike company and they brought me a different bike -- a mountain bike. Here are some photos from our tour.

Gus at the bike shop waiting to begin our day of debauchery.


Toasting at one of the wineries.


Sucking down some tintos.


Our last winery had a friendly beast of a dog named Auko. I got some photos with the old timer.

Alpa Corral, Argentina

Federico and I headed for the field during the first week of February to collect beetles for my tests. Below are a few photos from around town. There is lots to say and many more photos, but for now, a few from the area. Basically, Alpa Corral is a very small town that is slowly becoming a tourist attraction for Argentineans. Many still don't know about this charming village in the foothills of the mountains, and one local shopowner told me it was the first time she had ever seen a foreigner in town. We spent 10 days collecting just outside of town, and we had some amazing experiences, my favorite being the gauchos we met. I'll write more about this town in the next several posts.

The town of Alpa Corral, our first collecting site.
Bike rental in "downtown" Alpa Corral.


River bend at dusk near Alpa Corral.


The name our campground -- Pelicano!


Our tents at the campground. We stayed here for 10 days.


Federico setting up the blacklight to catch insects.


My cold tolerance set-up (in the campground's shower!).


While running hot tolerance tests, these sisters came to talk and observe.


"La Capilla," the chapel. This was one of our collecting sites.

Close-up of the stonework on the chapel.


Pinning beetles in the shade of our field vehicle.

Night in Mendoza

The last night before Jenny flew home to California we got dressed up and went out for dinner. Upon returning to our hostel we had a drink with the hostel staff. After a another drink and a tenfold improvement in our Spanish (or so we thought) we went with the hostel staff and some Irish jigs (who were also staying at the hostel) to an outdoor bar next door. The staff was fun to hang out with, and the jigs were moderately entertaining, though they claimed to be horrified that I work with dung beetles. I suspect they were just jealous.

Some photos of our evening in Mendoza.


First, us with our drinks in the hostel lounge.



Jenny and one of the Irish jigs in the background.


Salud!