Aconcagua Day 2: Shuttle to Puente de Inca

Posted on by Backcountry Fever

Following breakfast the next day, we were packed up and ready to roll by 10am.

Gear pickup at hotel

Our travels will take us from Mendoza to Puente de Inca, about 3 hours away up into the Andes.

map to puente de inca

on the road to puente de inca

Our first stop was in Uspallata for lunch and tiramisu (which turned into a constant craving for several of us during this entire expedition).

tiramisu in uspallata

The next stop was made at an Inka staging area where we separated our gear into 4 designated bags.

inka staging area

Distribution of Gear

  1. The first bag to prepare was for high altitude gear, which would be loaded on a mule and not be seen until we arrived at base camp, three days from now… this bag included stuff like climbing boots, crampons, helmet, expedition parka/pants, heavy gloves, extra layers, thick wool socks, etc.  For this, I used a Hyperlite 140L Expedition Duffle.
  2. A second bag was to be packed with every day gear, which was also carried by mule but would follow us along the way to base camp: containing our sleeping bag, sleeping pad, food, etc.  My second bag was a Gregory Denali 100 backpack that I would later use to carry my own stuff up from base to camp 3.
  3. Our third bag would be a daypack that each of us would carry with whatever we felt was needed along the trail to base camp: water bottles, snacks, electrolytes, sunglasses, sun screen, sun hoodie and the like.  Here I used my Hyperlite Prism 40.  This may be been more than I needed but the Prism is lite, packs small and offered some flexibility if I needed to switch things around.
  4. Any other travel luggage would be locked up and left behind at this staging area until the expedition was over.  Packed in this bag were casual clothes, neck pillow for travel, laptop and whatever extra items we brought that were deemed unnecessary for this expedition.

Everything was bagged and tagged in a very organized manner.

inka very organized

When that task was done, we made our way to Portezuelo del Viento in time to settle in before dinner.

portezuelo del viento

Not far from the Chilean border along RN7, this mountain lodge offers a comfortable atmosphere…

comfy couches at portezuelo del viento

…and clean accommodations.

clean accommodations at portezuelo del viento

It’s a nice place to stay before the real part of our adventure begins!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Winter is my favorite season, and cold weather camping is one of my favorite winter activities.

#coldweathercamping #wintercamping #tenting #lovewinter #lovecamping

19 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18088708565160118
Winter is my favorite season, and cold weather camping is one of my favorite winter activities. #coldweathercamping #wintercamping #tenting #lovewinter #lovecamping

Scoping out snow levels for my annual winter campout this weekend. Yep, there`s enough to still make it fun!

#wintercamping #coldweathercamping #winterhike #sunset #weekendwarrior

19 2
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18093303244798082
Scoping out snow levels for my annual winter campout this weekend. Yep, there's enough to still make it fun! #wintercamping #coldweathercamping #winterhike #sunset #weekendwarrior

Yeah, you read that right — 5,000,000 vertical feet. That’s a million feet of vert every year for five straight years. Who does that? Well… these two average hikers from Utah have been stacking numbers like this since 2021 — quietly, but well beyond “average”.

The numbers speak for themselves. Get a summary and breakdown by month from the link in the bio ☝️

Think about that: we’re talking about an average of 50 miles and 20,000 feet of gain every single week.

It’s hard to wrap my head around that level of commitment. What they’re doing every month is roughly what I log in a year, all while holding down full-time jobs. That’s one serious fitness program.

In talking with Andee about what comes next, they took the week off after Christmas, then jumped right into the new year on a local favorite—Mount Olympus—with plans to log another million in 2026.

#goatworthy #biggoals #millionverticalfeet #hikerlife #hikemoreworryless

24 5
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 17966367422867268
Yeah, you read that right — 5,000,000 vertical feet. That’s a million feet of vert every year for five straight years. Who does that? Well… these two average hikers from Utah have been stacking numbers like this since 2021 — quietly, but well beyond “average”. The numbers speak for themselves. Get a summary and breakdown by month from the link in the bio ☝️ Think about that: we’re talking about an average of 50 miles and 20,000 feet of gain every single week. It’s hard to wrap my head around that level of commitment. What they’re doing every month is roughly what I log in a year, all while holding down full-time jobs. That’s one serious fitness program. In talking with Andee about what comes next, they took the week off after Christmas, then jumped right into the new year on a local favorite—Mount Olympus—with plans to log another million in 2026. #goatworthy #biggoals #millionverticalfeet #hikerlife #hikemoreworryless

As the seasons change, each quiet mile through these trees feels like an invitation to let go of what was and move toward all that`s yet to come...

#seasonschange #lettinggo #movingon #pressingforward #lookingahead #newbeginnings #natureishealing #healingenergy #goodvibes #autumnvibes #autumnmountains #hiking #hikerlife #mountainlife #mountains

28 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 17902202193279047
As the seasons change, each quiet mile through these trees feels like an invitation to let go of what was and move toward all that's yet to come... #seasonschange #lettinggo #movingon #pressingforward #lookingahead #newbeginnings #natureishealing #healingenergy #goodvibes #autumnvibes #autumnmountains #hiking #hikerlife #mountainlife #mountains