June 18 Departed La Paz for Condoriri base camp.  About a two hour drive up and out of the city.  First on paved roads across the altiplano with the 20000 foot peaks of Huayna Potosi and the rest of the Cordillera Real to our right.  Usual wild traffic of buses, trucks, collectivos and vendors wandering across the two lanes.  Somehow it all works.  Then we turned up a dusty dirt road past little villages approaching the mountains.  Unload where the road ends, met by porters.  They pack everything onto mules and llamas.  They have to hold the llamas by the ears or in a hammer lock to load them.  Then an easy four mile walk up to a lake surrounded by mountains.  We are welcomed with our tents already set up for us.  Climbing teams from about six countries here.  Settle in at 15000 foot elevation to sleep, very cold as soon as sun goes behind mountains.
 

June 19.  Climb Cerro Austria with Patricia (first) Bolivian women guide.  Route is mostly a rough hike up meadows.  Higher up we cross gravel and boulder fields.  It is steep and we feel the altitude, but make the summit ridge in under three hours.  Other side drops away pretty spectacularly... we don't get too close.  Summit is 17090 ft.  Return with ease to base camp.  Weather gradually gets worse in afternoon, with ominous clouds around summits.  Unusual for this time of year.  Kind of cold and raw, have to burrow into our tents.
 

June 20.  Violent hail during the night. Snowing in the morning.  Planned climb postponed one day.  Not much to do but stay warm and read.  Sun eventually comes out, rapidly evaporates three inches of snow.  Very beautiful here.. llamas grazing, climbers from U.S.A., Brazil, England, Hungary and Chile.  Joe and I suffering minor head colds, which aren't slowing us down.

June 21.  Wake 4 AM for climb. About an hour to the glacier, using alternately full moon and headlamp.  Separate party (large) of Americans also guided by Andes Ex. on same route sharing resources.  At glacier's edge Joe has to turn back because of gut troubles.  Rope up, Pat, Matt and I.  Make good time up glacier, climbing about 1500 feet in two and a half hours, as dawn rises.  Cold wind at top.  Climb 40 degree slope to rock summit Tarija (about 17000).  Too many people on a tiny summit (20 or more) including big not competent Brazilian party.  We had to wait here about an hour and Matt and I seriously thought about turning back.  Fortunately Bernardo G. and Canadian guide organized things and went ahead to fix some ropes for climb to summit of Pequeno Alpamayo.  Brazilian went up on separate line, out of our route (thank goodness).  Matt and I were given priority as we had been waiting longest and were considered the most experience.  Pequeno looks like a giant shark fin, we climbing up the edge.  To climb it we had descend about 150 of loose rock.  Then across a knife edge snow ridge, Pat belaying us.  Route then climbed about 800 feet of steep snow at about 40 to 55 degrees.  This is where we used the fixed ropes with ascenders, Pat roped to us.  Very hot work as the sun suddenly heated up.  Summited at noon after seven hours of hard work. Carefully reversed the route.  Reached camp at 4:30 pm, just managing to change clothes and climb into my sleeping bag.  Did manage to get up for dinner.

Happy Solstice!



June 22 Decided not to try Condoriri, since it is considered harder than Pequena A. and Joe isn't total well yet.  Grab handy llama caravan back to road head and reach La Paz by 3 pm for much needed showers.  Plan to use additional days in West of country.
 

June 23 Awake in La Paz hotel.  Afraid I have more energy than the rest of the gang put together.  Spend a goodly portion of the day up in the crafts and witch's markets.  Help buddies with gifts and charms.  Have pizza for lunch at famous Israeli place, El Lobo (Wolfies).  No way the describe this mad and delightful town.  Cars, taxies, buses, collectivos careen everywhere.  Cavalcades of vendors, businessmen, students, shoe shine boys in masks (ask them and they tell you it is 'Ben Lauden' fashion), beggars, police, military... Everyone from Aymara women to auto mechanics in some sort of uniform.  We are exhilarated.  Start a project of my own, in that I arrange for a translator and get a tour of the postal museum and meet one of the designers of Bolivian stamps.  That is another tale, which I hope to write of elsewhere.  Return to hotel to pack.  Buddies are quite spent.  Near fatal encounter with hotel dinner doesn't help.  The chicken could best be described as unfortunate.