Bolivia Part 2: July 28 - August 6 - Dispatch #8

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair called in at 11:45 on 7/31 with the following dispatch:

Hey this is Alasdair.  The whole group went up to ice climb today, but Robert and I came back early because we felt so bad.  But at least those guys got to get on some ice today. Tomorrow, we're going to send the Meanwells and Neil to climb Pequeño Alpamayo with Juan.  Hopefully I might feel better after that.  Robert's been sick since day two, and neither him nor I are getting much better.  Juan is doing a great job of keeping everyone together and keeping the trip running for the other climbers.

Bolivia Part 2: July 28 - August 6 - Dispatch #7

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair called in at 9:30 on Monday morning with the following dispatch:

Hey, it's Alasdair here.  It looks like it's my turn with the flu.  There is only 1 person left who hasn't gotten this flu and hopefully he doesn't get it.  Since I can't really move much, I turned my tent into a bird blind and am shooting pictures of birds.  Juan has the group up on the glacier doing some skills.  We can't go up much farther right now because of weather.  There are some pretty high winds and zero visibility. 

Hopefully I feel better this afternoon, and maybe go climb some frozen waterfalls later and then climb something more substantial soon, probably Pyramid Blanca on Wednesday.

On a side note, another group tried to climb Piqueno Alpamayo, but couldn't get to it because of the lack of visibility.  Hopefully we have better luck!

Bolivia Part 2 - 7/28 - 8/6 - Dispatch #6

Guide: Alasdair Turner


Climbers: Walter, Stacy & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Gabrielle Zartman (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair called at 2:45pm PST on July 29th with the following dispatch: Today the group went to climb Pico Austria without me, because I had the flu. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow so I can actually do some teaching. The weather is still pretty unsettled here, lots of clouds lots of fresh snow up high. That's about it, I'll try and call with a better dispatch tomorrow.

Bolivia Part 2 - July 28 - Aug. 6 Dispatch #5

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter, Stacy & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Gabrielle Zartman (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair called at 2:04pm July 28th with the following dispatch: Today we left the hotel at 8am and went to Lake Titticaca. We got on the boat with high winds which made for large waves and very scary conditions on the lake. But the driver seemed confident so we rallied on only slightly concerned about ending up in the drink. But we made it! Now we are at the trailhead for the Condoriri region. We plan to head in, set up camp, and hike Pico Austria tomorrow.

Bolivia Part 1 - July 21 - 27 - Dispatch #4

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter, Stacy & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Gabrielle Zartman (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)



Alasdair called at 2:00pm July 26th with the following dispatch: We are back in La Paz. It seems like this flu bug has finally run its course with everyone. I do think we are all grateful to be back in town though. Today was just a little bit of a trek to reach the bus stop at Plaza de LLamas. We came out a little early so the group could recover a little more and then we will all head in near Condoriri for a final trekking day together.

There are huge storm clouds sitting over Illimani and the cordillera. Worse than I've every seen. So, we are watching and hoping that they clear up before we head in there. Bolivia typically has excellent weather so we are not anticipating that this storm will stay for long. 

Bolivian Night Sky: Alasdair Turner

Bolivia Part 1 - July 21 - 27 - Dispatch #3

Alasdair Turner called at 1:20pm PST with the following dispatch: We are hanging out at a lake called Laguna Juricota at about 15,290 feet after a long day. It's an absolutely gorgeous lake. We look up the lake at Condoriri.

Today we passed over two 16,000+ foot passes. It looks like everything is coming together for this trip now. The team is mostly recovering from our bout with illness and we did okay today. We are going to head out to La Paz tomorrow.  Tomorrow we've got a few more miles out of here. We have one more "low pass" to go over just below 16,000 feet. We will finish tomorrow by going down through plaza de mulas to lago tuni.

Today was a good day. It was actually quite a difficult day. The two passes were hard but having had this flu bug really worked us.

Bolivia Part 1: July 21 to July 27 - Dispatch #2

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter, Stacy & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Gabrielle Zartman (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair called at 10:00 PST on 7/24 with the following dispatch:

Unfortunately, we have been hit with a 36-48 hour flu bug.  We are on the trek, trying to move while dealing with the maladies of this bug, but it has been difficult.  We are headed down to another lake tonight and are looking forward to a nice trout dinner and a calm night.  It feels a bit cooler here this year than it has on previous trips, but we are still enjoying shorts and T-shirts.  Hopefully we will all recover soon, get back on track and be able to enjoy the rest of the trip.  I'll talk to you again soon!

Bolivia Part 1: July 21 to July 27 - Dispatch #1

Guide: Alasdair Turner

Climbers: Walter, Stacy & Reis Meanwell (Wisconsin), Robert French (Arizona), Gabrielle Zartman (Arizona), Dennis Boyle (Pennsylvania), Neil Rosenberg (Illinois)

Alasdair emailed us Sunday night (7/22) with the following dispatch:

Today was a great day! We spent some of the morning and early afternoon wandering the markets of La Paz. Sundays are fairly quiet in La Paz with the exception of weddings, and we came across two today. There is not much doubt that the people of La Paz know how to 'throw a wedding.' They are really colorful, and a lot of people get involved. Weddings are very much about community here.

 We then went to El Alto for the world famous Cholita Wrestling. The Fighting Cholitas are a group of female lucha libre wrestlers. The Cholitas were the subject of an award-winning 2006 short-subject documentary, The Fighting Cholitas. This was an experience like no other and quite possibly the most entertainment I have ever had for $10.

We are back at the hotel now after a good dinner here in La Paz and tomorrow morning we begin the trek along the base of the Cordiella Real. Talk to you then.

Aymara women in the wedding party.

 

Wedding procession in La Paz with the women in front,

then the men, then the band in the rear (in red).

Panorama of La Paz with 21,201-foot Illimani in the distance.