Cerro Charkini, Parinacota, & Sajama

Hola amigos.   This is Mark Ryman in El Alto, Bolivia.  Due to impassable road blockades we were unable to get out of Copacabana by road, so we had to take an unplanned boat ride for four hours to rendezvous with our driver at Tiquina strait.  He was there waiting, along with Gaspar Navarrete, and we loaded up the van to push on to Zongo Pass.  The detour on  the water put us a few hours behind schedule, but not too bad.  We arrived at the hut at Zongo Pass and were treated to incredible vies of Huayna Potosi and Tiquimani.  Yesterday we had an early breakfast and did our first climb.  The weather and route conditions were perfect and we all reached the 17,400 ft summit of Cerro Charkini by 12:30.  After a good lunch on the summit block, and some skills review on the nearby glaciers, we headed back down and enjoyed a great dinner at the hut.  Our jeeps arrived this morning to load up for the long journey to Sajama village.  It sounds like the highways are open with no major obstacles for this leg of the trip.  We are now getting some supplies in El Alto and taking care of phone calls, etc. before pushing on.  Our next objective is Parinacota, one of los gemelos (the twins).  At a little over 6000 meters it will be a good climb to prepare us for Sajama.  Everyone in the group is acclimatizing extremely well and healthy.  That is all for now.  I will send another dispatch as soon as I can access the internet again after the next climb.  Ciao. Mark Gunlogson/ Mountain Madness

 

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