Aconcagua: Mallory & Team Resting at Plaza de Mulas
Today was everything you could ask for on a rest day during a mountaineering expedition: we stayed burrowed into our sleeping bags until the sun hit the tents at Base Camp and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, speculating about the outcome of the weekend's games that we missed and drawing out our meal well into the mid-morning. Taking advantage of the perfect weather, we spent a few hours spreading out our equipment and once again going through our gear, culling the unnecessary items and making sure that we had everything we needed for tomorrow's move to Camp 1. In the afternoon we wandered across the moraine to an old hotel built decades ago. Now boarded up, the stone and wood structure sits awkwardly in the middle of the landscape of rocks, glaciers, and snowfields. Despite its current state of neglect, it offers phenomenal views of Aconcagua's west side and while we stood there we were fortunate to have not a cloud in sight. By late afternoon the long shadows crept back over Base Camp and the temperature immediately began to fall as we wrapped up dinner. Base Camp's 14,400' elevation is starting to feel less challenging and we are feeling well rested and ready to move up the mountain. Tomorrow we will climb to Camp 1 at 16,600' and set up camp. While we've enjoyed being at Base Camp, we are ready to move onto the next portion of the climb, we'll check in tomorrow evening from higher up!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
