- Hike to Pampa de Leñas -

Journal:

"January 12, 2000 - Day 1 Hiking - Punta de Vacas to Pampa de Leñas - We were awakened by 7:30am to prepare for breakfast.  The pace was casual as our first day on the hike was not going to be a long one.  Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs mixed with diced ham, bread with fruit in it, and coffee and orange juice.  At 9:00am we were showered and packing our day bags - the larger bags had been prepped the night before. Keith and Bruce paid Monica and David for the stay and for the mules that would carry our things for the first three days.
    At 10:30am we were packed and jumped into trucks with Monica and David as drivers - in 15 minutes we were at Punta de Vacas, the starting point of our journey.  My altimeter read 2450m.  We would follow the Rio de las Vacas today to a height of 2800m.
   We kissed Monica and told David goodbye and gave deep thanks for everything they did for us.  Monica passed out small bags of candy that she had made and they both wished us luck and a safe return.  Then we turned and started our hike.
    We started on a dirt path that paralleled the river and eventually became gravel.  We went up and down hills, in and out of the gravel riverbed, slowly gaining in elevation.  At one point a mule team returning from the mountain came and we had to move quickly out of the way - or be trampled.
    The scenery was gorgeous, we were in the Vaca Valley, surrounded by foothills covered in green bushes, overhead was a deep blue sky - the kind of blue you can only get at altitude.
    After an hour and a half we stopped for a water and food break and rested our feet - which had been taking a beating from the rock path.
    We continued up and down the hills up the valley.  We were now able to see some mountains with a bit of snow on them, all much shorter than Aconcagua.  Another hour and another rest and food break.  by now I had drunk about 2 liters of water and 1/2 pound of food - Cliffs bar, trail mix, and candy.
    The path went back and forth between large sized gravel and a dusty trail.  45 minutes later we reached a stream feeding the Rio de las Vacas.  We filled three 5-gallon containers that we would boil for cooking, used filters to fill our water bottles, and had a quick cleaning in the stream.  We carried the water jugs about 1/4 mile where we reached our destination - Pampa de Leñas, our camp.
    Having been in the hot sun for 5 hours, I made a distinct point to wait in the shade for the mules to come - which took several hours.  Luis and Juan, the mule drivers, finally came in making quite a lot of noise - mules are not friendly animals, especially when forced to carry 150-200 lbs. each for hours on end.  Luis and Juan eventually got the mules tied and we were able to unload them.  Each was fitted with a saddle that had two metal racks, one on each side, that opened horizontally for loading and then folded up for storage.
    Luis and Juan moved the mules away from the camp while we began to pitch the tents and cook dinner.  The tents were expedition North Face 4-season tents and we pitched them as we would at higher altitude in the wind.  The tent was pulled out and the tent bag weighted with a rock.  The tent was spread with its broadside facing the wind and each guy-line was tied to a rock.  Next the poles were fitted and the tent was raised.  Finally the rain fly was placed over top and its guy lines tied down to rocks.  As we finished moving our essentials into the tents, Bruce gave the dinner call.
    Dinner was thick hamburgers with cheese and an onion and tomato salad with vinaigrette dressing - we would not be eating this well each night.
    After eating we cleaned the dishes with boiling water and got settled in to sleep.  A 6:30am wakeup call would be waiting for us.
    A coyote visits us."

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