We have been in Bariloche for almost 10 days now, and after getting some great climbing in up at the Frey, we have turned all of our attention to the matter at hand, our upcoming expedition into the remote Turbio IV valley in Northern Patagonia. That and eating as much ice cream as humanly possible.
Home in BarilocheYesterday, we did all of the food shopping for the trip, which took all day, having to get things all across town. Luckily for us there are a couple good bulk food shops which were able to supply us with a lot of the items we are accustomed to taking into the backcountry with us. The rest of the day was spent weighing and packing it all, splitting it into 3 separate 8 day resupplys. Our block of cheese weighs more than 7 pounds, and is the perfect size for my alpine-pillow!
Josh weighs flour and watches Everybody Loves Raymond.
You don´t know what you´re missing. FrutiGran is the truth.
Should we take Rack A or Rack B? BOTH!
Ropes are heavy.In 5 days, Josh and I travel south, to start the long process of getting to the Alpine Shangri-La. We have made contact with the gauchos at the end of the valley who will take us and our gear 50km up river, to where the Turbio IV drainage begins. We will say goodbye to them there, and start hiking loads up to the upper valley, where we hope to explore and climb some of the many mysterious walls that lurk in the hidden canyons for the next 25 days, before descending Rio Turbio in our lightweight packrafts filled to capacity with gear!See ya´ll in a month!
A lot of time has passed since the last installment of the Patagonia Sufferfest 2010-2011 Series, but not too much has happened. After a cold climb on Peineta, Josh and I waited out 5 more weeks of very windy and wet weather, mostly in the comfort of Erratic Rock´s warm living room. One attempt on Almirante Nieto, and one attempt on the Aste Route on the South Tower, but both days collapsed before much could be done.
So we left Puerto Natales, and just in the nick of time, as the whole region is now completely shut down by a gasoline strike. We arrived to Bariloche quickly and easily, except for getting hassled by The Man at every turn. Besides being extorted for more than $200 in excess baggage fees, almost all of our freeze-dried and dehydrated meals we brought down for the Turbio expedition were confiscated by Argentine Customs.
Once we got here, we did not hesitate to make use of the unbelievable weather, so we packed up our kit and headed into the hills for several days of alpine cragging at the Frey. We were so giddy to go climbing, however, that we forgot about half of the food that we should have brought. Josh had never been there, so we toured some of the classic routes, topping it all off with Descansa en Paz, an amazing arete climb on the Slovenian Tower.
Camponile Esloveno and its little brotherBack in town we have just been hanging out, eating ice cream twice a day, and getting stoked for the Turbio!
