Argentina

This was mainly a climbing trip up Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America. And in North America. In fact, it's the highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayas. It's a very challenging climb, and out of the 14 of us in our climbing group only 3 made it to the summit at 22,837 ft. And I wasn't one of them. My group made it up to a bit over 20,000 feet before being turned around by horrendous weather. Other trip highlights included the hip & happening wine & party town of Medoza, our starting point, and the big Chilean earthquake that rocked the area at the end of the trip. The quake extended my trip for a few days because of damage to nearby airports.

Andes Mountains. The flight to Argentina takes you right down the spine of the Andes mountain range. And luckily for me, I was sitting on the side of the plane facing my goal : Aconcagua. The Big One - that's it right in the center of the photo, sticking up way above the surrounding peaks, which are also huge.

Casa Piedra, Argentina. You hike for 2 days before you even get your first view of Aconcagua (center-left, in the distance). Here we are contemplating the approach to Base Camp, at nearly 14,000 feet. Looking at these photos now, years later, I realize that pictures just don't do justice to the enormous size of these mountains.

High Camp, Aconcagua. It's a beautiful but strenuous climb up to high camp at 19,300 ft. You get great views from here but it's miserably cold at night; our guides were estimating wind chills near -30 degrees when we set off for the summit the next morning. And we were crammed 3 climbers into a 2-person tent, then one of them threw up all over the place. Awesome fun!

Going up.. Scenes from the 10-day ascent.

Top : Crampons are a must for crossing icy areas.

Middle : These pointy ice-pinnacles are called "penitentes", the Spanish word for 'monk'. Because they look like a monk in robes. They are a LOT of work to climb through!

Bottom : Working through the penitentes.

Home sweet home. It might not look very comfortable but after a long day of climbing these little tents are as good as a 5-star resort.

High Camp, Aconcagua. The views make all the work and suffering worth it. At high camp you're above just about every other mountain and you feel like you're on top of the world. The top photo is looking west over the lower Andean peaks into Chile. If it was less hazy I'm sure you could see all the way to the Pacific Ocean. To the right is a cool picture taken near sunset. Looking away from the sun, you can see the shadow of the huge peak of Aconcagua projected onto the haze layer - an amazing sight.

Uspallata, Argentina. On the return trip to Mendoza, an old abandoned health spa in the foothills of the Andes, caked with more than a century of mineral-water buildup.

Mendoza, Argentina. An unexpected surprise : one member of our climbing group was an owner of Septima, one of the large vineyards outside of Mendoza, and he treated us to a 5-star tour/lunch/tasting at his beautiful winery. Our reward for all that hard work on the mountain!

Mendoza has more than its share of fine public parks.

Mendoza, Argentina. Signs of discontent. There always seems to be some kind of anti-government sentiment not too far under the surface almost anywhere in South America. Even in places where you'd least expect it, like calm, peaceful, happy Mendoza, Argentina.