Acclimatizing at Basecamp

Chris called yesterday, but I was away from my computer due to a severe snowstorm in Colorado.

He reported that the team was taking the rest/acclimatization day that they had planned to take. They were eating like kings (ahhh, Argentine steaks!) and enjoying the interesting scenery around basecamp. Chris is a geologist by training and recognized that the area around basecamp is an old caldera, or "mouth" of a volcano which had exploded outward at some time in the distant past.

The distant part of that observation was reassuring, as Chris also reported that the area had been subjected to several minor earthquakes during the course of the 24 hours that the team had been there. Such tremors are not uncommon in the Andes, situated as they are along the leading edge of the South American tectonic plate, but I suspect they have caught everyone's attention!

The group spent the day hiking around basecamp and bouldering on some nicely featured rocks down valley a bit. the plan is to carry some of their food and supplies up to Camp 1 today and return to sleep at basecamp. The hike from their previous camp at Casa de Piedra gained a lot of elevation, so it is prudent to take things slow for a couple of days and allow their bodies to acclimatize. A couple of people were evacuated from basecamp yesterday for altitude sickness, so the team is being very conservative.

I might hear from the group in the next few hours and will post as soon as I am able.