Bluffdale Elementary Bucket Filler Award

Today Seer was awarded the Bucket Filler of the Week at her school by her principal. She was nominated by her teacher for being kind and putting her work first. It's a very fitting award for her since she is always filling my bucket.

Without Josh and Kaiden Valentine's wasn't the same. But having these 3 princesses as my Valentine was not so bad at all.

We Can Do This

This is a post from several days ago that I put on facebook.

I finally have the details on Josh Ellison and Kaiden's trip so far. The details were far worse than I had expected to hear but they are safe.

-They were both trapped at base camp 4 at 18,500 feet in a blizzard for 6 days. The temperatures were negative 20 degrees. They ran out of food and water and we're starving because they had to wait out the storm for so long. 

This was at base camp 4 called Nedo de Condores where they were trapped. You can see the ice inside their tent. They were in all of their gear and sleeping bags and still freezing.

-They managed to gather some energy and descend Sunday to Plaza De Mulas, Aconcagua Base Camp 4.200 MSNM (or 14,000 feet) which is second largest base camp in the world outside Mount Everest south Nepal side. 

Plaza de Mulas-The Second Biggest Basecamp Next to Mt. Everest

-Some other climbers gave them some jerky which helped them get down the mountain.

-They are preparing to go back up Wednesday when there is a break in the weather with the help of Porters who will carry their food and water up. Apparently doing it alone (without an expedition team) as they did is not common. The fact that they made it that far is miraculous. 

-They are tanking up with lots of food and water now and enjoying the luxurious amenities of an outdoor toilet (vs. frost bitten hole in the ground) at their camp. 

Looking Good and Ready to Try Again

-They feel great and are ready to go back up.

-I'm confident they will be safe but anxious that their trip is extended and wish I could be there to help.

-Aconcagua is one of the 7 summits at 22,838 feet. It is the second highest in the world to Mt. Everest.

Plaza de Mulas

Josh got some reception as they moved up the mountain. I was able to text with him Friday and Saturday. I haven't heard from them since Sunday morning when they were moving up to Camp Canada at 16,076 feet. Today should be a rest day and a day to acclimatize to the thinner mountain air. This is the highest either have them been, the second being Rainer at 14,409 elevation gain.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) they will climb to Camp Berlin-19,685 feet, come back down and sleep at the lower elevation and carry back to Berlin on Thursday. They will rest Friday and the plan is to summit Saturday.

Kaiden was sick on the way up from the park entrance to their first camp. He had a bad headache and had forgotten to pack his warm clothes before giving his gear to the muleteers. It was snowy and very cold so Josh gave him his warm gear and wore a paper thin jacket. It was 8 hours or so through these conditions and climbing on top of it. The guides told them Kaiden probably got sick from the water and the previous camp Confluencia and that he would recover quickly. Now the boys are relying on their own water supply and purification.

Plaza de Mulas. Expedition Team Provided Meals and Tents

That day (Friday) and Saturday was 65 MPH winds but they got to hide out and rest in the expedition tents. Sunday morning when Josh text he said it was great weather and that they were both feeling great.

It's in the low 20's where they are now but with the chill factor it feels about 5 degrees. On summit day according to the weather it will be about 1 degree with a chill factor of -24 degrees but no storms. They were anticipating -40 degrees so it looks like they will have a warm summit...JK. They are fully prepared with all of the right gear so they should be relatively comfortable.

I will probably not hear about the summit day until they return back down to Plaza de Mulas at 13,943 feet which is the the last time I heard from them. Which will probably be Monday. I'll let you know when I hear.

Mendoza-No Burritos

The boys made it safely to Mendoza, Argentina late Sunday afternoon. Customs was a little longer than they anticipated but all went well. It was 100 degrees and they enjoyed going for a swim that evening.

Near Hotel in Mendoza

English speaking was a little more scarce than we thought it would be. I guess they're navigating that part ok though. My two burrito loving boys were surprised to find out that people in Mendoza don't even know what a burrito is. They also couldn't locate any peanut butter. Strange how customs differ. 

Dinnertime

Yesterday (Wednesday) they rode the 4 hour bus ride to Los Penitentes which is the closest town to the mountain. They stayed the night there last night and this morning they were off to their first camp Confluencia with an altitude of 11,050 feet. So they gained about 2200 feet so far. They will stay there until tomorrow when they travel to Plaza de Mulas-Altitude 13,943 Feet. 

Bus Ride from Mendoza to Los Penitentes

I haven't heard from them since they were in Los Penitentes early this morning (Thursday) and Josh's phone is offline so I'm afraid we've lost contact until they are back down off the mountain which will be about another 9 or 10 days if everything goes according to plan.

Mountain (not Aconcagua) near Los Penitentes

-->   -->