Having arrived late at night in Lima, we didn’t know how the trip was going to go when the driver showed up at the airport to give us a ride to the hotel in a Toyota Yaris to carry three of us with about 400 lbs. of gear to climb in the Andes. We managed to squeeze all of us and our gear in and got to the Hotel San Antonio Abad at 12:30AM.

After an early breakfast we piled our gear into the taxi for the bus station, which turned out to be one of the most interesting cab rides of my life. It turns out that stop lights and lanes are more of a guideline for driving in Lima than a rule. I finally just closed my eyes and hoped we got there in one piece.

An eight hour bus ride on a two level bus which included Wi-Fi was a beautiful ride, especially as we headed into the foothills of the Cordillera Negra. We finally topped the pass at about 14,500 ft. and started heading down the valley to Huaraz. The views of the glaciated peaks of the Cordillera Huayhuash finally came into view. Now I was starting to get excited about getting up into the Corillera Blanca and climb.

The next day we did a short acclimatization hike above Huaraz at about 11,500 ft. and took in some of the local sights and culture. Eli did some bouldering with some of the local Peruvian kids and then we headed back to town to get some shopping and errands done.

The next day we headed up for a more taxing hike up to Laguna Churup, a beautiful lake that sits at the base of Nevado Churup at 14,500 ft. The views were absolutely amazing and when we topped the final cliff band and the lake and mountain came into full view it was amazing. This was higher than either Renee or I had ever been.

The next day we loaded up the van with gear and headed up to Ishinca base camp. After about an hour and a half ride to the small village of Pashpa where we met the Burrow driver that would haul all of our gear up to camp.

The walk into base camp was about four hours up the most beautiful canyon with 2000 ft. cliffs looming above us most of the way. We finally reached the end of the valley at 14,300 ft. to the most spectacular view of 6032m Tocllaraju towering above us. Juaquin our cook and Edwin our porter along with the burrows arrived about 15 minutes ahead of us and had already started getting everything set up.

The next day we took it a bit easy in the morning. We then got our gear together and headed up to 16,000 ft. on Urus Este to stash some of our climbing gear for our climb the next day and get a bit more acclimatized. All went well and everybody was feeling good with the altitude.

The following day we left base camp at about 6:00 AM to climb Urus Este (17,979 ft.). All went well until about 16,000 ft. Renee was showing some signs of AMS and was starting to slow down a bit. We reached our gear at 16,000 ft. and got everything ready to climb. We reached the toe of the glacier at about 16,500 ft. and Renee really wasn’t up for the climb at this point.

We made the decision to leave her there at 16,500 ft. while Eli and I finished of the climb. Urus Este is not technically demanding, but is was sustained 40 to 50 degree slopes with a lot of hidden crevasses. Eli led the way as we took a different route than most and was a little more demanding. We finally reached the summit at about 11:00 AM. The weather had really socked in and we were in the clouds and snow for most of the way. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the great views of Ishinca, Ranrapalca and Tocllaraju that we were hoping, but it was nice just to be on top of its tiny little summit.

We snapped a few photos, got some fuel in us and started back down. We reached Renee at 16,500 ft. and she was hunkered down in all of her clothes trying to keep warm and feeling about the same. We headed back down to 16,000 ft. where Edwin our porter was waiting and unloaded some gear for the trek down to base camp.

The next day was a rest day, although Edwin and Eli were going to make a run up to Ishinca high camp with some gear before we headed up there the next day. Renee seemed to be feeling better and was just going to take it easy. Everything seemed to be going well and then all of the sudden Renee just collapsed, throwing up and shaking violently. Her head and neck was really hurting.
We got her into the tent and tried to get her warmed up and stabilized. After about 20 minutes Eli determined that it was the onset of cerebral edema. We decided to get her out of there as fast as we could. We got some Dexamethasone into her and got some items to make a carriage if we ended up having to carry her out.

She was able to walk out on her own for the most part, with the help of Eli. Once we got down to about 12,000 ft. she started to feel better, but was still out of it. Edwin had gone up the mountain to make a call to get a ride to meet us at the trailhead. They showed up just as we did and we got Renee loaded up and down to Huaraz at 10,000 ft.

After a night of rest she seemed to be feeling better and the headache was subsiding. So we decided not to take her to Lima and just let her take it easy and recover in Huaraz.

We rested another day, in which I got the stomach flu and was starting to come down with a cold. Eli and I decided to climb Vallunaraju the next day. We would leave town at 4:00 AM which should give us plenty of time to make the climb.

When I got up, I was not doing much better and was really dehydrated from the flu. Juaquin, Eli and I started up the trail at about 6:00 AM. I was doing okay and felt strong, but could really feel the effects of the dehydration. Finally at about 16,000 ft. we were about to the toe of the glacier where we would start climbing, and I just bonked. I was dizzy and nauseous and just not feeling right.

We decided at that point to just bag it and call it a day. Renee was surprised when we were back at the hotel so early. So that was the end of our climbing for the trip, but it was still an incredible trip. We spent the next couple of days hanging out in Huaraz and taking it easy. We both can’t wait to get back under better circumstances!

It's been a long time since my last post, but it's been a very busy time over the last few months. Although we've been training hard getting ready for Peru in September, we really haven't been able to get out much since the end of ice climbing season.

A few weeks ago we set out to climb Hallets Peak, but were turned back before we could even reach the top of Flattop Mountain due to all of the late season snow still lingering around.

We reached the Glacier Gorge parking lot at 7:30AM and as usual it was already full. We had to park at Bear lake which adds about a half a mile to the walk. But if we decided to come down via Flattop, then it cuts off a half mile from the walk.

We made really good time up past Loch Vale, but were slowed down a bit due to still large lingering snow fields up high. We had to do a lot of boulder hopping and route finding to get up to Andrews Tarn. The glacier was big and looked to be in really great shape.

We made our clothing adjustments and got our gear on and started up the glacier. We took a direct line right up the middle of the glacier. Surprisingly, it got really steep in several places, enough to have to lean in and front point.

It only took up 30 minutes to get up the glacier and the weather on top was windy, but still really nice. So we decided to go ahead and make the loop around to Flattop. We had the pleasure of watching a large bull elk and his date grazing at 12,000’.

The loop around Flattop seems like it is never ending. As we finally started down the flanks of the mountain we had to out run a thunderstorm that was moving in fast. We made it down below tree line before it hit and fortunately the brunt of it went north of us.

It seemed like forever, but we finally could hear the hordes of people at Bear Lake. Now we were glad that we parked there instead of Glacier Gorge.

After six months off recovering from meningitis and arm surgery, Renee and I finally got out climbing. Although not a tough climb, Andrews Glacier is a lot of fun. I was a little worried with the warm temperatures the last month that it wouldn’t be in good shape.

After a couple hour hike up to the glacier I was pleasantly surprised that it was still in pretty good shape. It was definitely smaller than last August, but still looked like a lot of fun. We decided to take the line right up the middle of the glacier. This was the steepest and more direct route up.

The first 1/3 of the climb was on hard black ice that gave way to, slightly softer snow covered black ice the higher we climbed. As we reached the top of the glacier I was surprised to find several quite large and deep crevasses that we had to navigate around.

We took a short break at the top and with such gorgeous weather, decided to go ahead and return via flat top instead of descending the glacier. It’s a long schlep going around that way, but it is a really scenic trip.
 
It seemed like it took forever to get down off of Flat Top, this trail seems to never end. The lower we got, the warmer it got. By the time we reached the Bear Lake parking lot it was downright hot, definitely not September weather.

All in all, a great day and nice to finally get out and do something again. Only a couple of more months until ice climbing season will be starting. Rehabbing the arm seems to be going well, so with any luck I will be able to climb by December.

Saturday we met Scott and Krista at the Glacier Gorge parking lot at 6:30AM. Our destination was a 10 mile loop that would involve climbing Andrews Glacier and coming back down over Flat Top to Bear Lake. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. As usual, the parking lot was almost full when we arrived, but we were able to snag two of the last remaining spots.

We were on trail at about 7:00AM and we made really good time up to the Loch. We took the climbers shortcut, which cuts off about a mile off of the normal route and avoids all of the crowds. We didn’t even run into anybody until we had just about reached the cutoff to Andrews Glacier.

We were able to see the glacier from Loch Vale and it looked like it was in really good shape. As we made our way up the valley, we saw a lone snowfield at the head of the valley. We thought to ourselves that this couldn’t be the glacier, but we couldn’t see anything above it.

As worked our way past the Gash and to the base of the snowfield, the view of Sharkstooth and the surrounding area was beautiful. We walked up the steep left side of the snowfield and when we crested the ridge we were greeted with Andrews Tarn with Andrews Glacier at the head of the valley.

We were also greeted with strong winds and a huge temperature drop with the wind coming off of the glacier. This warranted a serious clothing adjustment. We stopped and got out of the wind to refuel and got some warmer clothing on and get our gear ready for the climb.

Andrews is a really easy snow climb with the angle only being 20 to 25 degrees and about a 500 foot elevation gain. But it would be fun to get back on the snow again. When we got on the glacier, the snow was in perfect shape. We got our crampons on and started making our way up.

About halfway up, there was a finger of snow to our left that looked like it would have been an awesome climb. It was steep looking about 45 to 50 degrees and looked like about another 400 elevation gain. I would probably want to bring some protection on that climb though.

As we made our way up the glacier, the wind was really pounding us. Several times a gust would catch you and just about knock you off of your feet.

We topped out on Andrews Pass at about 10:00AM. It was still blowing really hard up top and still pretty chilly. We decided to bypass Otis Peak and made a beeline towards Hallet Peak. Renee was having a hard time breathing, the wind was messing with her asthma. So we just skirted below the summit of Hallet and down to Flat Top.

We started running into a lot of people once we got to Flat Top. Most of them didn’t seem like happy campers as they were making their up. There was a lot of heavy breathing and long faces as we passed them on our way down.

We finally got on the backside of Flat top and were able to get out of the wind and take a break. We shed some of the clothing when we got down lower on the mountain and out of the wind.

Having not been on this trail in thirty five years, I forgot how beautiful the views were. It seemed like it took us forever to finally get down to Bear Lake. We were all starting to get a little tired. Most of all, we were wanting to get down and have a beer.

We finally reached the Glacier Gorge lot at 3:00PM. It was a long day, but a great hike and climb. Our first stop on the way home was the brewery in Estes Park. We stopped to relax with a couple of beers. We noticed as we were sitting there that it looked like some storms starting to build up around Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge.

When we finally got back down to Fort Collins, the perfect weather day had quickly changed to some pretty heavy thunderstorms. It’s amazing how quickly things can change.