Aconcagua Day 2: Casa de Piedra

After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we hit the trail at 8:40 AM and continued following the Vacas river and valley. The trail was very rocky and we had to cross the river multiple times.

Crossing the Vacas River.

One of many river crossings.

We stopped for another nice lunch where we made tasty sandwiches followed by a 15-minute siesta. We got right back on the trail and pushed straight to our second stop, Casa de Piedra at 3200 m (10,700 ft), arriving at 2:20pm. Yet another fast paced day.

Enjoying a tasty sandwich in the Vacas Valley.

Mules carrying loads in the Vacas Valley.

Over the last hour of our hike, the headwind was blowing in our face really hard making our movement a little more difficult. 15 minutes before we reached our camp, we got a great glimpse of Cerro Aconcagua. The mountain looks very majestic.

Wind and dust blowing on the way to Casa de Piedra.

Our first glimpse of Aconcagua.

We quickly pitched our tents during the high wind and settled in for a bit of rest. We grilled some burgers or whatever was left of them for dinner. It appears our cooler was banged pretty hard during the mule transport and many items had to be discarded.

Our camp at Casa de Piedra.

Garrett Madison cooking up Burgers.

Joe Ashkar enjoying a Burger at Casa de Piedra.

Tomorrow we wake up early and trek for 5-6 hours into Plaza Argentina Base Camp. It will be a more strenuous day as we gain nearly 1100 m (3,300 ft) in altitude over the last 10 miles.