Aconcagua Day 9: Carry to Camp 4

We slept in this morning and woke up leisurely around 8:30 AM for breakfast. We concocted some scrambled eggs and pancakes. After all, today was supposed to be a rest day. But again, after reviewing the weather report for the next few days, we decided to radically change our plan and itinerary.

Since high winds were in the forecast again and gusts approaching 80 mph over the next few days, we decided to carry a load to our High Camp also known as Camp Colera. Camp 4 is located at a cool altitude of 6000 meters above sea level (19,800 feet).

Climbing up to Camp Colera.

We quickly packed our backpacks and hit the steep trail at 11:45 AM. After a tough scree uphill facing a 40-45 mph wind, we hit some switchbacks with some amazing views of the Andes mountain range.

We kept pushing up and 2 hours & 10 minutes later we arrived at Camp 4, the final High Camp before the Summit. We were greeted on the exposed camp with gale force wind approaching 70 mph. We quickly cached our load, hydrated and made our way back to Camp 3 arriving at 2:55 PM, taking only 3 hours and 10 minutes round trip.

The Andes Mountain Range as seen from Camp 3.

We are now relaxing in our tents and can feel the wing increasing which should make for an interesting night. Tomorrow we will be taking a much deserved rest day, yes for real this time 🙂

Cooking and relaxing in the tent.