Day 16: Sunday, 1/10/10: Return to Plaza Argentina

We slept in till about 10:00. I felt like I could have slept for a lot longer, but we needed to get organized. We were still both exhausted the day's prior events. Personally I had very little hunger or thirst. I didn't want anything to do with all of the powdered food and energy bars I'd been living on. I was significantly dehydrated also. We started sorting gear and trying to figure out how we would get everything back down to base camp. Once we were ready, our packs looked like a mobile REI. Everything was strapped or hooked on with a biner somehow. It was around 2 or so when we were ready to leave.

The last time we descended to Camp 1, it only took us 45 minutes. Due to our exhaustion and and dehydration, this trip would be a different story. Our packs were probably around 80 lbs each. It took us about two hours to get down to Camp 1. We rested for a bit, picked up some supplies and a refuse bag that we left there and proceeded back down. The boulder scree descent slope from Camp 1 proved to be a balancing challenge as we continually slipped and navigated around other passing climbers. I needed to regroup and get the pack off before we tackled the mine field. For as much as I wanted to get to base camp, I couldn' believe how little motivation I had to continue. Jason kept me going and eventually we made it past the mine field and started the final descent to base camp. The tents were a welcome site and an indication the "reality" would soon be upon us. We Finally arrived around 19:00 hours in the evening.

It never felt so good to take off my pack. We spoke with a few teams that had just arrived at Base Camp and briefly filled them in on our success. We joined the "Rocket Scientists" along with Kelly and his partner Dave for some pizza at Daniel Lopez Expeditions tent. I managed to polish off a pizza and a half along with half a pitcher of wine. We craved coke, but unfortunately everyone was out. I went to bed again exhausted, but happy that I was able to eat and drink. I probably went a bit overboard, but I succumbed to the neglect I gave my body the past couple days. I also noticed that my face and lips felt a bit sunburn. Little did I know what would be in store tomorrow.

Day 15     Trip Report Index     Day 17