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November 28, 1998

GEOCAP 1998 expedition to the South Patagonia Ice Cap

Personal log of Bart Matthews

Day 1 11/28

One would think that having a list and checking it twice would keep me from leaving anything behind well, it is never that simple for me. After rendeveuxing with Rob Weber and Kyle Bohenenstiehl in Las Vegas, Nevada, the three of us crammed into my truck, along with a load that made my rig look like a low rider in Espanola, New Mexico. USA. We parted from Sin City to the city of Angels along a highway covered with skid marks heading into the ditches. Karl Feaux was prompt in meeting us at LAX airport at 11:00, two North Face Bags filled to the gills, and one extra bag for the remaining communal gear. We were quite the sight at the curbside check-in but we only had one extra bag. This is when the first adventure really started. Kyle and I left to drop off the truck with my cousin Eric, leaving Rob and Karl with the remaining gear to be sorted. Short tempers were showing on everyone, as the pre-departure clock was ticking. Fortunately, Eric resided close to the airport. I have not talked to Eric in some time and still have not, but by the looks of the house we pulled up to; he was doing pretty well. I was a little confused by 2 kid’s bigwheels in the driveway, but we were in a hurry to make it back to the airport. I was going through a checklist in my head, and realized something very important – my passport and cash. Realizing my stupidity, I announced to Kyle, "We have a problem." Ten more gray hairs seem to form on Kyle’s head. The real bummer of it all was I had dropped my truck key in the mail drop box. Our taxi driver was shaking his head in disbelief.

Cursing myself on the way back, we stopped by a laundry mat to get a coat hanger. This is LA and all we want is out of there at this point. Gathering the only tool I could use off hand, we sped off to my cousins. Back at the scene of stupidity, Kyle and I are trying to pry my door open to get the hanger through and a blue van is pulling into the driveway, the only problem was, the driver was black. Kyle and I look at each other, he remarks, "is there a side to our family you have not told me about?" I stare at him, a little dumbfounded, turned and approached the van with an old black man staring at me, wondering who the hell this white boy was, slowly he rolled down his window. "Pardon me sir, do you live here?" . I proceeded to tell him of my ignorant move. He mumbles yes and says he will retrieve by keys for me. Talk about good luck being on our side; I was ready to break my truck window. We moved my truck to the right house, one block over, got my passport, got my cash and vamos rapido back to airport. What luck, we hope it holds. Departed to Miami for an hour layover and then the 7.5-hour flight to Santiago. We chowed on a Thanksgiving cheesecake and had a nice overnight flight that was practically empty.

Day 2 11/29/98

Arrived in Santiago with all luggage accounted for and no hassle at customs. Dave, Rob’s old buddy from Flagstaff was there waiting for us with the diesel KIA Mini-van complete with a huge roof rack and plenty of space for comfort. Dave remarks, "so where to fellas?" To the Beach! Ah, a cool cerveza and salmon lunch, and we head off to the "el cemetariao" portion of the beach. I guess this was the place to be, and from the number of beautiful Chilean women sunbathing, Dave was right. We definitely were drawing some attention for we decided to set up the Mountain Hardware tent to make some final adjustments to it. Iridium in hand, tent fully deployed, we were quite the sight. All tent guys lines in, I decided to take a power nap since I was lacking on sleep. This would be a reoccuring theme during the expedition. I am not really sure how long I was asleep, but when I felt an ocean wave at my feet, I knew it was time to move. I woke Karl up, who was crashed out in the tent. Dazed and confused, I tell Karl to get it together because all of our electronics were outside the tent too. We quickly packed our gear and decided to head back to Santiago. What a beautiful country this is, the landscape and its people. A 12 pack on the way home for the pasajeros was enjoyed as we passed vineyards and orchards outside of the city. Santiago is a huge place and Dave lives on the 21^st top floor of typical luxury apartment building, so the views were spectacular. Evidently, in the winter, you can’t see any of the mountains because of all the haze caused by the severe inversions and automobile pollution. Frederica and Christian arrived, Dave’s roommates, and the partying started and lasted till about 4 in the morning. We were introduced to the Jote, that delightfully refreshing Chilean specialty drink of Coca-Cola and vino tinto and this knowledge served us well in the hinterlands later.

Day 3 11/30/98

Kyle was the only one to get up around 8:00 am., the rest of us slept in till about 11:00. Kyle was able muster downtown to get a copy of our permit form the DIFROL office, so travelling to the Campo Hielo de Sur is no problem politically if one perseveres. After he got back, he and I took off again to get our plane tickets from Puerto Montt to Cohaique and our return flight from Cohaique to Santiago. We finally departed Santiago around 4pm with Dave and Audrey, a friend of Dave’s from France, in the fully stacked mini-van. We drove about 6 hours and decided to camp out at some hot springs. Well, the springs ended up being a resort for a $120 a night per couple, so that ended that idea. We ask for the nearest campsite and after 5 or 6 different options we finally found Camping Pehoe for the night, waking the dueno from his bed. A brief run in with some lobos headed for Rob was about the only excitement for the night.

Day 4 11/31/98

Our plane was departing from Puerto Montt around 4 pm this afternoon, so we departed our campsite around 6am that morning. A majority of the drive down, the landscape was agriculture up to the foothills on both sides of us. The road to Puerto Montt was a 2-lane highway a majority of the way, and through the Lake District, numerous police speed traps, one of which Kyle was busted on doing 84 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. I think Audrey’s presence got us off the hook but I was too sleepy to remember the details very clearly. We made it to Los Angeles about half way and realized we were not going to make it on time for our flight at 4, so we called our travel agent Barbara, who is a part of the Santiago collective we were introduced to, on the Iridium, and had her reschedule our flight for the next morning. We arrived in Puerto Montt around 5 and found a quaint restaurant in the port of Angelmo for some seafood and cervezas. There was a nice fish market here, where I wish we had purchased our smoked trout and salmon because Cohaique ended up having a poor selection. Kyle had been to Puerto Montt before and found us a nice little casa for the evening for around $50. We all piled in and sorted gear one more time that evening.

Day 5 12/1/98

We got up around 6 am and had a big breakfast with plenty of café and juice knowing we only had a day or two left to do so. We made it to the airport in plenty of time and loaded a majority of our gear as cargo for it was 280 pesos/kilo compared to 800 pesos/kilo as carry on. A quick hour flight and we were in Cohaique. What an amazing, beautiful town this was ; the streets were clean, even amongst the low-level grass covered hills, big evergreen trees towered and great rock climbing areas were close to town, and evidently one of the best trout streams in Chile, the Rio Simpson, passes through town. Our driver, Fernando, lined us up with a nice, spacious house where we were able to spread our gear out and do another gear organization. After dropping all of our equipment off, we headed to the super-mercado to get the rest of our food. We ended up spending $400, but we have to make sure that our food would last us over a month out on the icecap but does not overload us. Rob and I returned with the food back to the casa to organize it, while Kyle and Karl went to check in with the Military and Police.

"Karl and I really had a rough afternoon as we had four things to accomplish in 5 hours. The first chore we had, was to inform the Police that we were headed into the isolated South Aisien region of their command. While sitting in the office waiting our appointment with the G.O.P.E. lieutenant, we notice the prisoner's bill of rights on the wall. We were comforted to know that we had the right not to be beaten or killed while in the confines of the Carabineros headquarters. Our fears quickly were allayed as the young lieutenant took an interest in our equipment and technology. We took their phone number and thought it would be useful if we had to call someone in an emergency on the Iridium. Next we went to the Ejercito army base where we entertained the same questions. We learned of a party that crossed in February of 1998 and a few other details about the area we were headed in to. I really felt anxious not knowing what lie ahead as even here in the regional capital, details were few and often contradictory. Next we shopped for transport. Some Americans in the grocery store told us it might be better to rent a car form a car dealership rather than an agency. We hit the local Chevy dealer and tried to line up a rig for the next day. After some wrangling and a dozen phone calls we had a driver and Chevy Luv crewcab 4x4 for the next day to Puerto Yungay. Now to buy white gas, change money and pick up a few pills for the medical kit. I am accustomed to over the counter Valium in Bolivia but not so in Chile. I repeatedly ask for the MAS FUERTE, and every time the pharmacist brings up some packet of mild pain pills. Finally, I feel confident that the Sedantol we settled on will do the job when those storms are ripping apart our tent up on the ice cap. Our white gas, while I thought it was good quality at the time, turned out to be a major problem in the MSR Dragonfly. And money, you really can't have enough of it down here in Patagonia so it was very fortuitous that we did exchange a few hundred extra.

Three or four hours later, they showed up successful on both adventures, especially on finding a truck and chauffeur for $320. Excited we got the transportation lined up for the next morning and were headed into the unknown. We took on our task of dividing the food up into dry bags and capped the evening off with a great pork chop dinner, Wild Turkey, and Guinness. Last hot showers before bed.

Day 6 12/2/98

Our chauffeur arrived promptly at 0700 hrs in a nice Chevy 4x4. We packed the truck bed to the hilt with all of our gear. I will have to say this guy was the best driver we ever had. Evidently, he was an official driver for the Military, escorting Generals around. His motto was "no fear". I will have to say he put the pedal to the metal. The drive was truly amazing scenery. Lush green landscape, bare mountain tops with scattered snow capping the peaks. Then we began to see the glaciers, water falls cascading from the hill tops, feeding into a Rio grande that made class V look like child’s play. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life. The rivers were all a turquoise color filled from the fine crushed sediment from the glaciers once being solid rock. We stopped in Cochrane for an excellent lunch of carne and papas, not forgetting a cerveza or two. We ended up having to hang around for a little while because all of the stores were closed for lunch. In the meantime, we met with the military officials, to notify them of our expedition, the ride ended up taking us about 10 hours to Porto Junquay which was a military outpost. I will have to say this was probably one of the most depressing places I have ever visited. There were about 3 or 4 young military guys stationed here, with old run down shacks, a kitchen that would give a health inspector a field day, and that was about it. They definitely bent over backwards though to make us feel somewhat at home. We were able to line up a boat from Tortel to come over the next day and pick us up. They cooked us up a dinner of chicken and potatoes, plenty of grease for the week.

Day 7 12/3/98

The police boat didn’t arrive until noon. I guess we stirred up a lot of excitement, because captains, lieutenants, and a general all showed up, curious as to what we were doing. After Kyle telling everyone about our scientific expedition, we finally departed Puerto Yungay around 1430. The sky was a little overcast and rainy travelling to Tortel which was about a 2-hour boat ride. Tortel was quite an interesting fishing village. There is no road into it. You can only get there either by boat or a small craft airplane. Flying out of Tortel is only about $40, but getting there from Cohaique was real expensive, or so we were led to believe. The other problem flying there is that you were only allowed 15 kilos per passenger in weight. We unloaded all our gear onto the dock and immediately found the man Juan Nahuelaho we hired to take us to the head of the glacier. For a round trip boat ride of 5 hours each way was $360. Fortunately, he also had a hut at the glacier with horses to carry our gear up part of the way, cost a $100 one way. Kyle and I were to inform the military of our arrival, while Karl and Rob guarded our gear. Tortel consisted of numerous boardwalks throughout the village, so getting around was pretty cool. These particular military guys were the toughest group we came across, but after Kyle negotiated our efforts, signing on the dotted line of a release form that they were not liable, we were on our way. Juan was waiting for us at the dock to take us over to his home for dinner and a place to sleep. We all went to bed pretty early that night in our own beds which was going to be the last bed we had for over a month.

Day 8 12/4/98

We got up around 0600 today with a clear blue sky and no winds. The little old wooden boat departed around 0700 for a 5-hour boat ride to the glacier. Again the boat ride was amazing scenery with snow covered mountains in the distance and heavily wooded mountains in the foreground. About 4 hours into our boat ride, I decided to take a little siesta and was woken by Kyle for lunch of soup, chicken, and potatoes provided by our guides. Coming out from below our makeshift plastic cover, I was greeted by icebergs all around. The best part was hearing the occasional ice chunk bumping into the boat reminding me of the Titanic scene of an iceberg ripping a hole in the boat except our boat was made out of wood. This area is when we first started seeing waterfowl, snow geese mostly. We finally arrived at Juan’s place around noon, quickly sorted our gear and loaded up 2 packhorses. The hike in took about 4 hours, passing the 4-mile lake, taking a little break a makeshift hut at the head of the lake. After a snack, we moved on across a wide stream, soaking all of our boots, which was probably better because it helped break them in. The final drop off point where we set up base camp was at a small glacial lake about 3 km from the head of the glacier. We all made it to base camp safely, a little muddy, pricked by the thorny leaf bushes, a couple mosquitoes, and sore shoulders. Our two horse riders took off to bring up the final load in the morning. We finally broke out our tents for the first time, debating whether or not to put on our flies, which we did fortunately because it rained later that night after we had gone to sleep around 2200.

Day 9 12/5/98

Today we made the push for Camp 2 up on Campo de Hielo Sur. The glacier was about a 2 hour hike in from what the local guys informed us, but it ended up taking us about 4 hours because we exactly did not know the way up or the trail which there really was none. This was the toughest part of the trip so far. The rain seemed to come and go in 30-minute intervals with an occasional break in the sky but not for very long. The fist part was steady bushwhacking until we reached the head of the little glacial lake. At this point we had to cross the stream on the east side and up over a little knoll then back down across the stream towards the glacial skree. As we came around the bend going back east to the glacier, a large waterfall greeted us flowing over a large granite wall about 500 feet up and we were still unable to see the glacier. We were all kind of bummed about this because the Landsat image taken 12 years ago showed that the glacier had extended below the existing waterfall. A quick snack, we pushed forward to the base of the granite barrier and sent Kyle up on a recon. He found a good route up some skree about a 100 yards from the waterfall south. When we finally made it to the top, there was the glacier, larger than anything I ever expected. We ended up going down to the base of the glacier and went up along the south side of glacier up some lateral moraine and moved out onto better ice to climb onward. Kyle and I found a good size boulder to stash our first load and decided to do a recon to check out the ice cap. What a scary sight, blue crevasse ice as far up and down as we could see. There were 5 peaks to the southeast we decided to name them the 5 sisters, and further south there was the barrier ice fall which would be our last obstacle to overcome before we made it up on the snowfield. By this time Karl and Rob had made it up to the cache under the boulder, so we decided to head on back down and return to base camp. It still rained sporadically on us the whole way. Some hot soup and a good meal, I soon faded away for the night.

Day 10 12/6/98

We awoke to more rain today, so we stayed in the tent a little longer, hoping the rain would let up, but it didn’t. Ah, that wonderful feeling of putting on cold wet boots. Kind of sucks. Kyle fried up some greasy bacon, making sure we got our exceeded cholesterol intake for the day. We bought like 8 pounds of bacon in Coihaique; it was definitely the treat. Some flapjacks and we were good to go. The rain still didn’t let up. I felt pretty good today carrying my load, the most frustrating thing was my waist buckle on the pack kept blowing out. I was not able to put any weight on it, so a majority of the weight was on my shoulders. Once we got above the waterfall, I really started to get cold, I was soaked to the bone and the temp was definitely colder on the cap. Karl and Kyle made it up first and set up the Ferrino so we could stash our gear for Camp 2. I quickly unloaded my stuff and headed back down to Camp 1. Today was very wet.

Day 11 12/7/98

Another wet day. Cold to the bone. More hauling. Tranquilo.

Day 12 12/8/98

Woke up to rain again today. Some bacon and pancakes, cold wet boots and wet clothes, we broke Camp 1 and pushed the final load to Camp 2. This was the last of vegetation in the sense of trees and shrubs we would see for probably 3 weeks. Down at the head of the lake, I clipped a branch off a red flowering tree to be our Christmas tree out on the ice cap. Hopefully it will hold some of its color. Glad this was the last leg of this section of the trip. The big news of the previous evening was we finally figured out our recharging problem of the Iridium phone. A fuse had blown. Carlitos, the rocket scientist, wired it up and got us back on the charge mode. We were really concerned about this because this was our only way to communicate to the outside. We were seriously concerned about this because we were going to be so isolated and way far away from any kind of help, but fortunately we could continue as planned. We get the Ferrino up already, and added Karl’s big Mountain Hardway on the hard ice. You could smell the pulling pulverizing of rock in the air, hear the glacier move occasionally, the crash of chunks of ice falling into the ocean into huge icebergs, avalanches off the big mountain to our west, water rushing in surges underneath the ice, and the sound of a crashing boulder down into a crevasse. This was going to be our home for the next 3 to 4 weeks. I was scared. Just taking it all in, seeing how powerful of a force we were standing on. Seeing the valley’s carved over the milleniums, the realization of what we were getting our selves into, the years of planning, it all sunk into me at once. Yes, I was scared, but that anticipation for this moment, this adventure, being here with 3 good friends, seeing a place I had always dreamed and being more than I ever anticipated was overwhelming but awesome. The rain started to fall harder, so we got all our gear stashed away and decided to put 3 of us in the Mountain Hardware tent and I in the Ferrino. Everyone elected to put me in the Ferrino because I snore so loud. I was kind of psyched to have my own tent, but later in the evening when I was lying in my sleeping bag in the deep blue Ferrino all I could think about was a crevasse opening up and swallowing me up. A couple Tylenol PM and I was out. No worries when I saw the sun come up.

Day 13 12/9/98

Onward to Camp 3. Woke up to a light drizzle, and then believe it or not, the sun finally started to break through. Getting started in the morning has been tough on all of us. Your body and all muscles ache, the rain, the wet boots, it gets old quick, but our fearless leader Kyle keeps us moving. After a hearty, warm breakfast we moved southward now through the treacherous part of our expedition through all of the crevasses and snow bridges, we started off a little too far outward from land as we came to find out was a much better route on the way back. Bashed my hand up pretty well today on the ice. Stuff is like razors, very corny texture to it. We found a nice waterfall for lunch, soaked up the sun, and even dunked my head in the stream for a little cleaning action. We didn’t make it much farther, because we ran into a hellish icefall, which we attempted twice to traverse. I even had a close call falling into a crevasse, my piece of shit belt buckle on the Lowe pack came undone, throwing me off balance, so I ended up spread eagled across two ice fins. Kyle was close at hand and pulled me to safety. As it turned out, all of us have had major problems with the waist buckle, definitely a manufacturers defect. Sucks to have figured this out now. By this time we are all pretty exhausted, so we dump our cache near a big boulder not too far from the stream, and headed on back to camp. This time along the land and edge of the glacier, much easier. We stumbled back to camp pretty beat up, ate a fat dinner and right to bed.

Day 14 12/10/98

The sky looks very ominous today. Rob and I were really sore and asked for a rest day for all of us, but Kilo and Karl felt ok to hump another load up and leave Rob and myself behind. I didn’t argue with this idea at all. Ended up hanging out with Rob in the Mountain Hardware tent because the Ferrino is such a dark blue hole, kind of gets you down, but definitely nice having it to myself to sleep which was more relaxing last night than the previous night. Comparing our notes to Shiptons expedition in the 60’s, they were able to use sledges at this point. He had mentioned all the snow amongst the vegetation on the way up, which there was none for us, due to La Nina I guess. Also, our LandSat image from 1986 showed the terrain had changed dramatically. Unfortunately, it is much harder today, but sticking to the west side of the head of the ice cap along parallel to land, occasionally stepping off to it, made our cache runs easier some what, not as much ice climbing. Did a lot of reading today, fired up some soup, the rain poured down harder along with wind, then Kilo and Karl made it back in time for soup 4 hours after they left. While they were gone, I tried to fix our MSR Dragonfly stoves that were clogging up, almost after every meal. The carbon build up is unreal after just one firing. A real bummer. After prognosis we determined it was bad white gas that we bought in a Coihaique hardware store. The fine tuning flame adjuster on the stove clogs up, which sucks because there is no other way to bypass it. Finally, poking a small gauge wire through, broke free the carbon build up. It ran like a champ after that till the next meal. Decided, to call it an early evening and went to bed by 9:30 even though its still light out till about 10:30 PM with the sun rising around 4:15 am.

Day 15 12/11/98

Moving our last load to Camp 3 today. Tell you how it went later.

Brutal. Another very wet day. Been able to keep one set of expedition weight underwear and fleece pants and top dry. My booties and 1 pair of socks. A nice change. The ice 9 suits are really paying off. Dry out quick and keep you warm even when it’s soaked. Picked a good overlook on the ice, viewing our next objective, a side glacier flowing into the main going east. We decided to go for the 1^st saddle that had some good snowcover on it. Karl and I found a possible route through a big gully part of the glacier about two fins over. One sketchy part, a lot of jumping crevasses and then onto the flat snow field part of this small glacier. We will see how it goes tomorrow. Probably more rain.

Day 16 12/12/98

Yep, more rain. The good news is we all decided to have a rest day today. Glad to have it. Body is sore. Tiger balmed almost every muscle. Much better stuff than the arnica gel. Feels like its actually doing something comparatively. Missing Susan a lot. Too much really. Dream about her all the time, actually my dreams have been really vivid on this trip. A clear head, I guess. Feels great. Getting in shape again. Even though it’s pouring down rain today. Kyle and I were able to dig out a majority of our clothes. His Wild Country tent is yellow which definitely is brighter; even on over cast days like today. Two candles going and we both had to strip down to underwear. Got a powernap in and a lot of reading. A nice change.

Day 17 12/13/98

Well, you can guess what the weather will be like almost every day. Raining. Today it was cold rain and snow amongst other things. Another way of route finding to Camp 4. Shuttling our loads has been quite the task. Usually, it’s 3 trips to get everything to the next camp, which unfortunately ends up being a couple clicks. We have been leaving caches at each camp and leaving unnecessary gear behind we realize is unuseful. We made it across the edgy fins onto the snowield over the dry land made a beeline towards the saddle. Camp upon another lateral moraine which was really dicy. Got over the shoulder, ate some lunch and headed down into some more fins. Karl started off on this new glacier unable to find a way though, passed the lead over to Kyle. We back-tracked a little e and her found a way through to the next snow field our second one so far.

Day 18 12/14/98

Karl and I volunteered to take two loads down to the snow field for decided to finally put the sledges to use that we have been hauling around. It would only be a short distance, but worth it. Kilo and Rob were back breaking down camp3, which Karl and I agreed this was a task neither of us wanted. We returned for our second load, which was way heavy, even though we left a huge cache behind, a load in itself. Kyle and I went first since Karl and Rob were having trouble with their loads. Kyle and I made it to the edge of the snowfield only to look back and see Rob spread between two Big Blue Ice Fins, really high. The one narrow edge to cross was too sketchy with his load. He made a second attempt, this time his body ended up straddling one ice fin. Karl was able to pull him back no problem, they both unloaded a bunch of gear and try again. Rob made it straddling the ice fin, I would say "Very touchingly." This was his first ice-climbing trip, so had to be a fast learner; his confidence is definitely building every day. Kyle trucked on back and carried the remaining gear, while I stood there shivering in the cold rain and snow, simply in awe where I was standing and what I was seeing, a lot to take it in, still cannot believe where I am. It was nice to be able to finally put our gear in the sledges 12 Days in to the expedition. Karl and I took first dibs; we all roped up, and headed across the snowfield. What a difference. I basically had two loads in the sledge and barely felt the weight. Put Karl and my packs in the sledge and easily hauled our stuff to camp4e weight. Got to the other side, repacked our packs, still cursing the inventor of waist buckles and headed on. Kyle had a lot of energy in him today, guess the rest day did him good. He left us all behind. By the time all of us made it to the second snowfield, he was already headed back for his second load. The rest of us decided to have some lunch, get some energy, and then headed back for our second load. The second trip was hellish as usual, the rain just poured today. By the time we returned with the second run, he had the Ferrino set up at Camp 4 and was returning on skis for another load. I threw may pack off with delight, still cursing the buckle. We set up all three tents, hoping to use the Ferrino as a drying tent. Even the old duct tape failed. Kyle and Karl stayed in the wild country, and Rob and I in the Ferrino. Every campsite so far we typically fin a rock/boulder for a water hole of fresh blue, glacier water. Oh, so sweet and cold. Fortunately, we do not have to use our fuel to melt snow yet. Our solar panel has been doing a stand up job, pumping out 20 volts even in overcast skies. It sure has been a luxury having the Iridium phone. We have had good communication sometimes, but mostly a delayed communication. Glad to have it in case of emergency. Was able to call Susan the night before she left for Germany and Mom for her birthday.

Day 19 12/15/98

Been staying nice and warm in the` tent, and plenty warm while sleeping. As usual, during the day, cold and wet. Today was a very difficult day in route finding. More snow bridges than we have accounted before, and big crevasses. Kyle took the lead heading out more towards the middle of the glacier for it looked flat out in the middle of the glacier Jorge Montte, snow an a lot of ice the whole way. We decided after venturing towards the middle that this was not the best way and started to head towards a lateral moraine along near the third snow field. A quick lunch of excellent smoked, rainbow trout, and then into some big ice fins to try and make it into an upper snowfield. Kyle was first, then Rob, myself, and Karl following, all of us roped fortunately because this is when things got interesting. Kyle had to traverse back and forth along these ice fins, all of us following, getting a little frustrated. Karl and I yelled up to Kyle to do a recon because we would all be pissed if this led to dead end, which has happen many times before. He agreed and soloed across a couple snow bridges and fins and over the hill out of sight. Karl sat down for a rest next to me, and Rob stood hunched over ahead of us. Kyle came back into view and said it was clear and a good way to go. He headed back down to us so we could all be roped up. All together again we made a few turns and then what we feared most happened. Kyle and Rob were ahead of me, having crossed one of the last snow bridges before the snowfield. I looked at the snowbridge thinking to myself that this one looks a little sketchy, but seeing the footprints across it, I was reassured. I hesitated, then stepped on the bridge and the whole world dropped beneath me. It happen so fast, all I remember was snow falling all around me, blue ice flashing, engulfing me, and the "Wham!" Backpack and me slamming into the wedge of a crevasse. I was stunned at what had just occurred. All I could recall was me screaming and falling hoping the rope would catch but did not. Gathering my senses and realizing hat had just happen, I felt no immediate injury, no broken bones, just one bloody hand, so I yelled up to my buddies that I was OK and I was about fifteen feet down and pretty damn stuck. Fortunately, the weight of my pack had gone first. I was not able to get to my ascender and felt a little helpless. I was getting cold quick, water was rushing all over me but it all seemed a little ironic because when I looked up, the sun was shining down on me through the section of snowbridge that gave way. Finally, the rope was tightening up, I had screwed up on my part for letting so much slack get in between us, but the zigzagging back and forth made it difficult to keep the tension tight. More snow began to fall on me and the Kyle’s face appeared. I knew it was going to show concern, so I flashed him a smile, he the same. It had taken him a couple of minutes to get to me and I was still unable to reach my jumar. I had him slid one down to me and I was able to pull my self up a little bit, but that 8mm rope kept strecthing like a son of a bitch. My hands were numb at this point, the one still bleeding. I edge up a little further and was able to hook my ice axe to Kyle’s ice axe leash he was holding down, mine kept getting in the way and I was scared that I may drop it. There ended up being a ledge couple feet above me, just close enough for me to reach and get a good numb hand hold. I was able to pull myself up enough to finally get my crampons in the ice, about twisted my knee in the process. I got my pack undone and handed it up to Kyle. From here I was able to chimney up to Kyle’s extended hand and he then pulled me to safety. I was whipped, the experience, the adrenaline rush, the cold and getting myself out was exhausting. I was drenched, hands numb and one bleeding, but why the sun was shining as it so rarely does here in Patagonia, I do not no. I was grateful to be in one solid peace and feel the sun’s warmth. I took a five-minute break to gather my senses and then we pushed on. The wind really started to pick up again, 40 to 50 mph gust, cold. Karl had taken the lead, got us to the top of the snow field, found us a good place for our cache, all of us dropping our loads, then turned back down the mountain. We picked a more direct route back to the flat snowfield of the third side glacier we had come across, and back through the big snowbridges that were 8 to 10 feet wide in some places with no bottom in sight. I little nerve racking for me at this point I must say. We finally came across a wand we had left as a marker for our route and got back on our original track. We were about 500 yards from our tents when Kyle yells’ " There is some kind of animal at our camp!" So here we all are yelling at the top of our lungs trying to scare of whatever creature this may be, but as it turned out as we got closer it was the Ferrino upside down in a nearby crevasse. Luckily, we had tied all three together. A big wind knocked 2 out of 3 tents down. Only, the wild country was standing firm. We took the Ferrino down, since drying was futile and buckled down the remaining tents. Thought about a lot of what happened today. Glad to be alive, here in one piece, and in my warm sleeping bag.

Day 20 12/16/98

Deep inside my sleeping bag, I listened to the constant pitter patter of rain drops.

I really did not want to get up today. Exhausted, sore from my fall. Feel like I have a bruised rib and a tweaked left shoulder. Kyle was knocking at the door ready to fix the stoves and breakfast. We still have to clean the stoves every meal. Kyle has done a majority of the cooking. He enjoys it, so why bother. The mountain behind sure does make a lot of noise. Too bad we can not see it, everyday it is foggy or a low cloud cover. All this rain is starting to wear down on us; we expected it, but not to his extreme. Our loads today were heavy; none of us wanted to make an extra trip. We have finally got our loads, food, and fuel down to two runs. Wish we could be using the sleds for time. Just too many ice fins and crevasses. We followed our tracks to the third snowfield, and decided to try the kid’s sledges we had brought along with the Wilderness Engineering sledges, which were already at the next cache. It ended up being more time consuming getting it rigged up and packed, but it was cool to finally get to try them out. We made it to the other side and decided to cut our rope in half and go in pairs from here. It was just too cumbersome and time consuming with four of us on. Kyle and I took off, while Rob and Karl dealt with a tangled rope. We made it to the cache in no time, loaded up the sledge, and headed out to find our next camping spot. We came upon a huge boulder, from the distance the silhouette of it looked like the head of Godzilla. It was along the edge of the next snowfield directly across from the fifth mountain of the five sisters by the Barrier icefall. We found a good water source nearby, dropped our load and headed back for our remaining gear. Karl evidently got so frustrated with his waist belt buckle he ended up leaving his pack down at the other snowfield and came up to get a buckle off of one of the sledges. I had done this the day before thank god, it made quite the difference. I suggested to change Karl’s out also, but he did not respond until today. The second trip was a workout; Kyle almost hurt himself, tripping over his daisy with his crampons. Got back into the high winds and rain, set the tents up in record time. getting the camp set up down finally. A good hot meal, dry clothes, then to bed.

Day 21 12/17/98

Believe it or not, I woke up to no sound of rain. It was pretty foggy out, and visibility was minimal. Today was a good day. We finally got to ski and use our sledges. We did not make it too far, about 2.25 KM and came across some deeper crevasses and snow bridges. We made it there in no time though, about an hour. We decided to call it an early one today. Rob and I bolted back to camp. Karl and Kyle went to look for a possible route for the icefall. Caught up on my journal. The rain began to pour as soon as we got back to the tents. Going to bed early tonight.

Day 22 12/18/98 Z=2780 FEET CAMP 6

Broke down camp in the wind and rain today. Our loads are definitely getting more manageable. Skiing with a seventy to eighty pound pack is kind of tricky. Busted my ass before we even got started. Nice to move on to Camp 6. Made it to the cache in no time. Kyle and I trudged on with a light load to find the best route through the crevasse field to the edge of a small snowfield we saw in the distance. We made it somehow, the rain pouring down, very wet, very cold. Got a little depressed. Rob and Karl showed up about ten minutes after our arrival. Had a power bar, and back for the remaining gear. God, this last haul worked all of us. I was whipped. Had some smoked trout, cheese, and pilot biscuits, and Sprim, the sugar drink that Karl is so addicted to. Loaded the sledges, packs were full, and the off again. Karl and I were hooked up together, Kyle and Rob took off way ahead of us and then went a different direction than we had discussed, so Karl and I hung out at a good advantage point to see what these two were trying to do. We ended up standing in the rain for about forty-five minutes, as those two scampered up a small section of the icefall to check out an iceridge we were trying to get around. Karl and I decided to do our own recon and check out our original plan of attack. Moved into some big crevasses, fortunately they looked do able. It was definitely the way to go. We headed on back to where we dropped our packs, seeing that Kyle and Rob were heading back down. We finally made it back all together, discussed what each of saw and thought and decided to pitch Camp 6 right there. They saw a good water hole a little back, so we all agreed this was the spot. The rain kept poring down as we set up camp, to say the least I was a little down, as I think everybody’s morale was. All of our gear was soaked. We had not had a single day yet to do any drying. It has gotten to a point where my sleeping bag is partially wet, not good. I was getting my wet clothes off in the tent when I hear Kyle yell, "Hey, the sun is out!" I thought he was joking, but sure enough it was. We all made the mad dash to try and dry some of stuff and shoot some pictures, because we could finally see some mountains in the distance. I had not been able to take too many photos because if the constant rainfall. Then it all went away about thirty minutes later. It was nice while it lasted. I was able to dry out my sleeping bag a little bit. Some dinner and Mas Fuerte, to bed I went.

Day 23 12/19/98 Z=3010 FEET FOR CAMP 7

I was awaken by Karl shocked at what he saw, "Bart, you won’t believe this but its blue sky and the sun is coming up!" It was about 7:30 and that was the fastest I got out of my sleeping bag this whole trip. In five minutes the camp was stirring, stringing up clotheslines and taking photos. We were able to dry out everything. A nice feeling and it picked up our morale for sure. W had salmon omelets for breakfast, then a pizza, and then some biscuits. Quite the treat. We then broke down camp and headed closer for the icefall. It was so nice to be on skis, dry boots for a while, sledding, and moving everything in one shot. We headed around the ice ridge into the big flat snowfield below the icefall. Went over some really big, deep crevasses today. Sa a flat area that we ended up traversing to. Had to take two trips in this area because it was to steep for a full sledge. Too much weight to try and pull with skis up a slope. Karl and I went first, found a nice flat area, great views, and decided this was our Camp7. One quick trip back down for our remaining gear. We ended up doing about five kilometers today as the crow flies. The most we have done this whole trip in one day. Got camp set up in no time. Shortly, the rain came as usual, but it sure was nice to have a partial sunny day today. Goodnight.

Day 24 12/20/98 Z=3900 FEET CAMP 8

I was dreaming to an Allman Brothers tune when I heard the word, "Karl, Karl!" I was hoping I was dreaming, but it was Kyle trying to wake us up to make coffee. Karl and I stirred, and mumbled, wanting to sleep in, not the case, and of course it was raining outside. Had a fat breakfast, salami omelets and oatmeal. Packed our gear in the packs today. Still too steep for the sledges. Kyle and I left first to find a route through the last of the big crevasses before the ice cap. Halfway up, the sun came out again. What a great feeling. We even got to have lunch in the sun today. Even got some turns in going back for our final load. I fell twice though, and tweaked my bicep muscle. Really hurt on the pole planting part. We made are way through the last crevasses and headed for the open ice cap. What a great feeling of accomplishment to finally have made it to the top of the icefall. It was such a challenge of our endurance to get here. We got to more amazing peaks now on the horizon. This place is so spectacular. Words cannot describe. Getting here under our on power, seeing a place few ever will is exhilarating to my soul. We dug in deep now that we are fully exposed on the plano, and it looks like some weather is rolling in tonight. Glad we had some views. Had a huge dinner, now some Tylenol PM, I’m done. Camp 8.

Day 25 12/21/98

Woke up to wet snow today. Did not really want to leave Camp 8 today, like the location and views. We have decided that we do not have enough time to Make it to Cerro Lutoro. It’s about 40 kilometers from here. We would need an additional week to make it in time to allow enough return time. Honestly, I do not feel up to a summit attempt. Not having two ice axes, the wet snow, boots, the number of avalanches I have heard, the lack of visibility, and no communication is kind of deterring. Yea, I forgot to mention, we have lost our Iridium service back at Camp 5. We are using a Beta tester and evidently it has one-month service. Rob made some guy who loaned this to us from Bektel to give us another month supposedly. We even made a call to him on the 10t^h to make sure that we were not going to be cut off because this is our only means of communication. Well, they cu t us off, and it really sucks. Not much we can do from here. Hopefully, some one back home will figure out the problem for us and fix the fuck up which was probably Motorola. Anyways, back to today. We broke down Camp 8 and decided to head for another mountain range near by. We were only about an hour out when we got into a major white out. I mean the visibility was about 40 feet. We were using GPS to help us navigate, so we were making some headway. If we tried to do without, you would just zigzag. The snow started to turn to rain as the afternoon went on, and then we came upon a big crevasse. We had planned our route to miss this, but we did not go far enough south. We decided to rope and move on. We pushed on a little further, Karl and Kyle leading the way, Rob and I hooked up separate following, then all of a sudden Kyle falls through a snow bridge. He was down to his head; Karl dug deep into the snow, while Rob and I backed off. We were all on it. Kyle was able to get himself out safely. We knew we were in a bad spot and needed to find a safe area to camp soon, we were all getting cold and did not want to travel anymore with the bad visibility. We found a good spot about a hundred yards away. Hunkered down. Built a snow wall for the wind. Got some warm clothes on, a good meal, its cold tonight. On edge about the crevasses.

Day 26 12/22/98

Snowed in at Camp 9. We are in a full-blown Patagonian storm. We had to dig our tents three times today. Pretty much spent the whole day in the tent with Kyle, except when we next door to Karl and Rob’s tent for breakfast and dinner. Still no contact with the Iridium phone. It’s a real bummer because we know our loved ones are probably worried sick. Hate to have put them through this, but there is nothing that we can do on our end. Back to the storm. Wind gusts have probably reached 60-70 mph and the tents are holding strong. Hoping we can depart tomorrow morning. We shall see.

Day 27 12/23/98

The mas fuerte got us through the night. Kyle’s sidewall of the tent was covered with drifted snow. Its snowing steadily, but with little wind. We had a morning Pow Wow about our situation. We had already abandoned the idea of going for Cerro Latauro. Our camp 9 was going for Cerro Wonni. The storm was definitely not letting up, and considering the storm cycles we have experienced, I was not keen on going in another fifteen kilometers out, especially since our turn around date was only three days away and no form of communication in case of emergency. This alone, I think we have already pushed our limits. Fortunately, everyone agreed it was smarter to head back to Camp 8, and progress to Camp 5 to possibly try Mediterraneo, a very impressive peak with somewhat of an easy route on the south side. Also, there is a big granite wall over a thousand feet in height facing the next glacier south of Meditterraneo that was worth checking out. If the weather is bad all together, which it probably will be, we will just head back to Juan’s place and check out where the glacier is falling off into the ocean if we can get to it by January 2^nd. So anyways, breakfast #3 and oatmeal with manhar, then out into the elements. Gosh it was brutal today packing up today. The wind picked up and the snow started falling harder. My feet were cold, especially the toes. I was glad when we finally started moving, warmed up after a while. Karl took the helm, GPS in hand, 6.5 kilometers to Camp 8 in a full-blown storm. Finally made it through the crevasses to safety. The coolest thing of all, the GPS put us within 40 meters to our cache at Camp 8. Reshoveled our camp hole, built a big wall, even a shitter wall. We are living fat and eating a lot. Gotta love it.

Day 28 12/24/98

Day 29 12/25/98

Christmas Day on Campo de Hielo Sur. More snow and ice than you can shake a stick at. I think I have acquired my fill of snow for this winter. Overcast today, light drizzle out during breakfast. Decided to make the push for Camp 6. Karl and Kyle did a late night ski run to the mountain behind us. Kyle spread our friend Chris Cochran's ashes from a small container he brought along for the trip. Wish he had been here with us. At least he was in spirit. We definitely could have used his strong back and will. After our start, visibility pretty much diminished. Fortunately, we had used the GPS unit on our way up through the icefall. We followed our original route right on. The sledges were a pain in the ass. They kept flipping over from being to top heavy, and mine, the k-mart sledge, was clipping my legs out from underneath me. Then it started to pour. As we got closer to Camp 7, the landscape had changed dramatically. Wee finally got to the camp, ate a quick lunch because it was still raining heavily and getting cold quick when we were not moving. Then it was route finding from here on once again due to new obstacles. We were unable to go back our original route because the snowbridges had gotten worse. It was amazing how much snow had melted in one week’s time. After some trial and error, we got back into some familiar terrain. I was so cold and worn out by this point, but we were close to Camp 6, so we pushed on. Karl’s sled went almost into a blue glacier pool, almost soaking all of his stuff. Finally, the GPS got us to Camp 6 where we had a cache of food waiting, even though we are still well supplied. Put the tents up in the raging wind only to escape inside with all our gear soaked. God it rains a lot here. It has rained everyday since we landed on the beach. We have not had 24 hours without rain. Anyways, my sleeping bag was soaked, but it still kept me warm enough that night. Believe today was the hardest working day for a Christmas in my life.

Day 30 12/26/98

Woke up to the usual rain. Ate a fat breakfast and hung out for a while hoping the rain would subside. It finally did so around noon, our usual departure time. Karl was at the lead with all four of us hooked up after my demand; the pair thing was useless, especially if someone fell into crevasse. We had to make our way around a big blue lake that had formed over our previous crossing. GPS in hand, Karl got us right to the area we had to climb the ice fins from hell again. Previous deepsix articles of Karl’s showed we were at the right spot. Our sledges we no longer any use to us, so among other things we had a yard sale into the nearest crevasse. Crampons on and one heavy load because we were not coming back, Kyle took the lead. It took a long time for us to get across because so much of the snow had melted. Kyle did a stand up job getting us through to safety. Its not a fun job taking the lead, you are most susceptible to falling in. Some gorp for lunch, we put our skis on for the last time and headed out across the now ice field. It’s a flat shot to Camp 5 from here. Karl and Kyle were way ahead of Rob and I because all four of us were not roped up at this point, but we caught up about half way through due to Kyle slipping on some ice and taking a breather. We got him back on his feet and they went ahead while Rob and I took a rest ourselves. Rob and I started moving again, and I got to the exact spot Kyle had fallen when all of a sudden my skis slipped out from underneath me, slamming my head into the ice. Did the full side face plant, then reiterated by a heavy, oversized pack slamming my face into the ice again. I hurt. I am looking straight down into a deep blue crevasse, half my pack hanging over my head, my left ski in a position tweaking both my knee and ankle, and unable to move. Rob comes back, gets my legs somehow straight and rolls me over. He looks at me and says, "Damn!" The left side of my face, by my eye was all sliced up and bleeding. Fortunately, after a close analysis, it was nothing too serious. The blood always makes it look worse than it really is. I got up and gathered my senses. I swear the last 100 meters took it all out of me. I felt so beat up, the heavy load squishing my vertebrae, the sore face, and the weather. I was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag. Got the tents up without any rain, so I shot some photos, something that has rarely happen due to the weather this whole trip. Cleaned the blood from my face, took some painkillers and went to bed I went.

Day 31 12/27/98

Yep, it was raining again, but we needed to push on. Going to Camp 4 was going to be an interesting one we figured since the snow and ice conditions had changed so much. We all agreed at breakfast to break our loads up into two trips because the previous day had worked us. The the day ended up being a light drizzling mist which was not too bad. We stayed higher up on the mountainside for better snow conditions, which turned out to be a good decision. Kyle once again took the lead and got us safely over to our old Camp 4. One section, Rob lost footing and slid down some rough ice, I was behind him, rope wise, at such an angle, I knew I was about to be yanked hard. I had a good size snow bridge below me, hoping it would hold. As expected, I was launched. I was able to somehow turn my back and let my pack take my blow. It ended up being not that bad of a fall, and luckily the snow bridge held my weight and fall. Rob’s butt was a little sore and I was OK. We pushed on to Camp 4. Found good flat are a little higher up than before. Kyle and Karl took off to retrieve the cache we left nearby while Rob and I set up the tents. We were back at the noisy mountain and the avalanches greeted us on our arrival. Some lunch and back to Camp 5 to get our remaining gear. We made the return in record time, the new route at hand and no falls. Preparing for the hell run tomorrow to Camp 3 where we have the biggest return cache waiting.

Day 32 12/28/98

Oh, the constant rain. It is really starting to wear us down. You are soaked to the bone all day long. You are warm while you are moving, but it does not take very long to cool off and get cold, especially when its raining like cats and dogs on you. We had two sections of ice fins to deal with today. The first one was not too bad but the second one we knew we had to establish a new route and it was. The snowmelt was amazing. We made it to edge of the snowfield, now an ice field, and trudged on through multiple water runoff beginning new crevasses. The ice was slushy but safe to walk on. We ended up getting on to the ice fins a little low, and ended up having to do some vertical ice climbing in one section, no problem. We found are big bag o cache, and dragged it to our new area to set up the tents. Karl’s big mountain Hardware tent had a swimming pool of water inside of it. We were all soaked to the bone. Had some soup, pasta, and Yerba with morning thunder for a little extra kick, then back to the elements for our last load at Camp 4. Rob lead the way, came to a dead end, then Kyle tried a route, got us a little further, then we had to switch directions for Rob to lead. We found a much easier way out, with two kind of edgy jumps. Made it to Camp 4 in good time, and high tailed it back to Camp 3. We were close back to the tents and had to cross the hairy section before we got back on safe ice right below our tents. Rob went first, myself next, Karl following, and Kyle bringing up the rear. I had to step on a thin ice bridge that I was not too keen about, so I threw my crampon toes into the vertical ice quickly and got up through. Karl made it through all right, then it was Kyle’s turn. He was taking his time it seemed, trying to establish a foothold I guess; well he stepped down on it too many times. I was turning toward him, giving Karl some rope tightness, then the ice bridge below Kyle gives, he vanishes, Karl got yanked hard to the ground, I had already fallen to the ice bracing for the pull, which was not that bad. The rope held, and Kyle yelled he was all right. A big ice chunk had hit him in the thigh; Karl was laying flat hanging on. I yelled to Rob to come back and assist Kyle, I was in good position to hold Karl. He came around, put an ice axe anchor in for Karl, I got on belay, and moved up closer so Rob could get to Kyle in the hole. I gave Rob my jumar, and pulled up the slack as we got Kyle up. Rob pulled him up far enough up to reach a hand out to pull Kyle to safety. He fell into a deep ass crevasse. He would have been gone if not for the rope. A fine rescue operation. Five minutes later we were back at camp. 9:40 P.M. The latest arrival so far

Day 33 12/29/98

Slept in the blue hole with Kyle. Mas fuerte for a good night sleep. Held up for a little while to see if the rain would let up. It finally did around 11:00. We decided to head for land in a flat stream area about halfway between old Camps 2 and 3. All of us were really tired of sleeping on the cold, hard ice. We decided to do two runs again. We only had one fin area to go through, which turned out to be easier than before. We made it to our destination in no time. Set up camp on the dirt. What a great feeling and the notion knowing no more frigid, unforgiving glacier. The trip for our remaining gear was quick, so we decided to go unroped for there was really no more danger of falling into a crevasse unless you tripped over yourself. Heads up. Karl banged his shin up pretty bad, a nice gash, but he could still walk. All our gear was still soaked, even the sleeping bags again. Hope we have sunshine soon, its been a long time.

Day 34 12/30/98

Something was different when I woke up this morning. Took me a minute to come out of my daze. There was no sound of rain. I unzipped our door to peak out and actually saw patches of blue sky. Camp was already bustling next door, so I new it was a chance to get some drying action in. The sunshine was sporadic, with the occasional raindrops pestering our attempt to gain sanity from the never-ending precipitation. Fortunately, most of gear clothing dried quickly being Patagonia’s finest clothing. All in all the clothing held up the best in full Patagonia conditions. You stayed warm even soaked to the core. The boots on the other, no use trying to dry them. Some scramble eggs on the run. We were able to get a little drying in, hopefully free up some weight for we had decided to take all in one run back to base. We were all tired, and beat up. It had been on non-stop retreat since Camp 8, but the thought of being back at base was overwhelming. It was a heavy load, but we had grown accustom to that by this time, and best of all the sun was out. I tried to get as many photos in as possible. This was our last day on the Jorge Montte Glacier, Campo de Hielo Sur, the hell on ice. The down climb on the skree was hard on the knees and ankles, along with stream crossing, fortunately we all made it to base in one piece. On the way down two Condors greeted our arrival, the same as the three that said good-bye on our departure day to the ice cap. We even saw a young one when we left Camp 3. I always took this as a good sign for our adventure, our Expedition-GeoCap 1998. We did not accomplish our objective of making it Cerro Lautouro and attempt the summit, but in my mind, as I believe the others, this expedition was still a success. In ones own accomplishment to survive for nearly a month in one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is by far the biggest milestone in my life. I believe making it above the icefall to the plano, or ice cap, was a great achievement. Everyday we continually made each other laugh, and still feel the amazement and wonder of being in Patagonia. Not seeing another person for over 3-4 weeks, being sober. Being physically and mentally challenged like never before. This place and experiences that came along with it. I will always cherish and humble that feeling and know again that I have been to a place only have been, felt, smelled, tasted, and gave blood to an amazing natural phenomenon, the third largest ice cap in the world. Pretty awesome. I appreciate my life, my friends, and my soulmate more than anything else. I feel good inside and out, especially after the Pesto Pizza Kyle made for dinner. I am sure I will sleep soundly tonight.

Day 35 12/31/98 Basecamp to Juan's Cabin

Well, I did not sleep all that well. Do not know if it’s the anticipation of getting down to Juan’s cabin or Rob keeping me up. Probably, the later. Hard to believe it was not raining when we got up this morning. Did some drying, lighten my load a little bit. The cache we at base camp was not that much, in the sense of extra food. This is where I had to leave the video camera behind sense we were unable to charge it. We decided to make the push for Juan’s today with all our gear. It was going to be 6.5 km today of brutality through the muck and bushes. We also had the big stream crossing to look forward to. The water level cam up to the top of my thighs felt good on my legs though I had a lot of water to dump out of my boots. It started to drizzle on us lightly after we crossed the stream. Such a beautiful valley here at four mile lake. The backpacking possibilities are limitless. I think my heavy backpacking days are numbered. Like the car camping idea better. Gotta give my back a break. Hoped Juan would be at the cabin when we got back because he supposedly took our gear and wine we left behind thinking someone may possibly mess with or take our stuff. Well fortunately that was not the case, for when I finally made it to the casa after Kyle and Karl, Kyle was there to greet me with the big five liter jug of wine in hand, yelling, " Bart, you ready to get drunk tonight?!" Oh ya. Well, I accomplished my goal and got knee slapping drunk and puked after I got the spins. Out like a light.