Getting to South America / Mendoza

wall mural of a woman’s face

I did not get off to a great start, having only had a total of three hours’ sleep Thursday night. When the alarm went off at two-thirty in the morning I was still jet lagged from my trip to Beijing the previous week.  The sleep that I got had not been all that meaningful either, as I was running a 99.2 degree fever while switching between the sweats and the chills. I had also pretty much lost my appetite. I am sure that I had flu and a strain that I had caught in Beijing versus the USA. I feel pretty strong about this because I had the flu shot and I assume the variant I caught was not from my neck of the woods.

Besides being sick I was pretty much prepared. There is something special about laying out your clothes for the next day when travelling so that you simply need to; wake up, have a shower, dress and then drink your morning shot of espresso. This was exactly what I did with no concern for time. It was 3:00AM and I did not have to leave till 3:30. There was one problem, there always is, and one that could not be resolved.  I had lost one of my luggage locks and after wasting 15 minutes looking for it I simply gave up and decided I would get a lock in Boston and lock the bag when I arrived in Lima before rechecking it to Mendoza.

Now I had these two huge bags, North Face Base Camp duffels, Large and Extra Large and a back pack filled with 20 pounds of electronics, yes I weighed it! The bags made it into the trunk of the car and then for the long drive to the Airport. A little Boston trivia, to drive to Boston from Concord, NH can take upwards of one and a half hours during rush hour but at 330AM there was little to no traffic. Being sick and weak, you know the feeling where every joint aches? I summoned up some strength and left the car with my two duffels in tote weighing about 45 pounds each, and with the backpack on my back, I found my way to the check-in counter and got rid of the bags. I felt totally wiped, went through security and headed directly for the United Club. The United Club is an Airline Lounge where you can settle in to recharge devices and yourself. Once in the club I got myself a cup of hot water and poured two packages of cough medicine in it. I began to drink it as if it was a chilled glass of water on a 100 degree day. My first stop would be Houston on this trip and I was lucky to have an Aisle seat. The flight left on time with no issues.

Now you might ask why I was travelling with flu. The answer is a bit complicated; the trip was planned one year in advance, the symptoms were controllable with medicine, and I could not change the flight by even one day as all the South American legs were full. So onto the plane I went. The first hour of the flight was uneventful but the remainder of the flight was pretty uncomfortable as I spent most of the time doubled over in my seat with stomach cramps or in the Airplane restroom, and as we all know avoiding the plane restroom is always the best option-one I did not have. This flight is where everything went downhill, I was so uncomfortable that I could not sleep and thus could not rest and I feel that it just made me sicker.

Once in Houston, I made it to a club and sat down for my five hour layover. I had lots of water, some Pepto and sat rather quietly and watched time pass by slowly. Still with no sleep and feeling weaker as every minute passed. It had occurred to me that since I could feel my head and know I had a fever was there a chance that customs in Peru, my first stop, would quarantine me when I landed. I popped some Tylenol and hoped it would reduce my flu derived fever.  It occurs to me as I write this journal that making self-diagnosis may not have been the best decision I ever made.

I boarded the plane to Lima and after about an hour delay the plane departed. The plane was an older accommodated Boeing 767 and I was lucky to have an Aisle seat again.  I was hoping to get some sleep on this leg of the journey. But it seemed the second the plane went to altitude I had a headache and cramped up again and I was in just pure pain, I spent six and a half hours between my seat and the restroom again,   when I was allowed to get up, as there was plenty of severe turbulence when the plane was crossing the equatorial region. It was so bad that the also made the stewardesses sit down until they worked their way around the storm. The only thing positive about the flight was that I had an eight hour layover in Lima and I reserved a hotel room directly across from the airport at the Costa del Sol hotel.

We landed a few minutes before midnight and I was never so relieved to get off a plane. I was hoping that there were no lines and I would be quickly to my hotel, but it was not one of those lucky days. First, the line for immigration control took forever. Next it seemed like my bags were the last out on the belt making it a long wait in customs. Finally, there was a long wait for check-in at the hotel.  I made it to my room around 1:30 AM. I felt so weak and so tired that I finally just set a wakeup call for 5:30 AM and went to sleep. Even though I was still jetlagged from China, which was exactly 13 hours difference making night into day, I pretty much just passed out.

When the call came to wake me up I felt so tired that it hurt to get up. My eyes burnt and all my muscles ached, it hurt just to swallow water, but I did and I got up and showered and headed down for a quick breakfast. The breakfast was far from great but to be honest I was not hungry and just forced myself to get a little protein in the form of sausage and eggs and a glass of juice. I then went back to my room and put my bags on the airport cart. Yes I had taken it all the way to my room, and I headed to check out. I paid my 89 pesos for two bottles of water and headed off to the Airport.

Travelling in South America at times can feel a bit sporty, not that it is, but it is just different. When I arrived at the ticket counter there was some issue, I immediately thought it was related to my bags because they had to retag them. I was guessing I should prepare for some fee, but after 16 minutes of computers and managers I was curious so I asked. Apparently the previous flight to Santiago was cancelled. Because of this they were having some issues and needed volunteers to take a different flight to Buenos Aires versus Santiago to Buenos Aires. This seemed interesting but I was unsure as to why it was impacting me, my plane was not cancelled.

Finally, the check-in Agent returned and he said he was registering me as a volunteer and I needed to sign a piece of paper, and I would get a future credit for 150 dollars and a breakfast voucher. Now I don’t remember volunteering ever to give up a seat, however I just shrugged and listened. I was told no worries because I would have 30 minutes in-between this new flight and a transfer to Mendoza. So, I went upstairs to the departure gate and waited for my flight, it was delayed, turning my 30 minutes between flights to more like ten minutes. I feared that even if I made the connection my bags would not. This flight to Santiago was about a four hour flight.

The second we took off or perhaps before I was so tired that I fell asleep. It was good, I believe I was dreaming, and then it happened, BOOM. Then more loud noise and my seat was shaking violently. I woke and saw everyone was calm, my seat was shaking and then I saw why. A little girl about five or six was using her tray table, the back of my seat as a drum as her mother slept peacefully. About the same time I awoke so did her mother and she caught my stare and she stopped her daughter for the first time. While I was able to sleep fate would prevent it because, well, that is the way the universe works! You might be curious as to what I was thinking on this four hour flight. Well, I was glad I did not need the restroom and had no discomfort and second that I knew I looked so weak and a pasty white and I felt the same way. I just felt like I had neither energy nor appetite.

I arrived in Santiago with several minutes remaining till the next flight was supposed to board, however, I found that the flight was delayed an hour so I was fine. More importantly, as I queued to wait to board, I saw my bags being loaded. What a great feeling it was to see my bags would make it. The flight was comfortable and fast and what a view as we went over the Andes. I saw the mountain and thought to myself that I am so sick and weak in this moment how will I ever summit Aconcagua. I relaxed for a moment and thought that that was not the goal of today, today’s goal was getting to South America and more specifically Mendoza and as I walked out of customs and saw the driver that was picking me up I knew at least these last two days were successful. And soon I would be in the hotel where I could sleep.

On a Side note: I lost the key to the Luggage Lock I purchased in Boston. It was easily removed with the Ice Ax I had in the other bag. =)

Worldwide Faculty Discuss the Science of ‘Interstellar’

Researchers and civilians alike are flocking to theaters to see director Christopher Nolan’s latest film, “Interstellar,” featuring a crew of space travelers sent through a wormhole in search of a new, habitable planet after Earth’s resources have been decimated. – See more at: http://worldwide.erau.edu/newsroom/press-releases/worldwide-faculty-discuss-the-science-of-interstellar.html#sthash.xzT9nvCq.dpuf

Departure in three months but the challenge starts today

I always mark my calendar three months before I am about to commence any significant trek. Looking back on my previous summits, I had the same feeling and questions every time-with three months to go; why did I sign up to do this and how will I ever be successful? The three-month point is the no return point and the clock is ticking. My challenge this time is summiting Aconcagua and it marks the first for me as related to mountains as follows:

• Aconcagua is the highest Elevation for me: 6,960.8 m (22,837 ft)
• I will have to use Crampons: First Time
• I will have to use an Ice Axe: First Time
• I will be hiking through a field of penitents

I am somewhat ready. I have been running over 10 miles a day, divided across two or three runs a day (Fitbit Stats: https://www.fitbit.com/user/274ZR9) . However, I have recently discovered several weak spots in my personal fitness objectives that I am now fixing with jumping, squatting, (aka general core strength), and working to improve my upper body strength. Oh and again, I have three months left! I have come up with the workout gear and time needed to complete the three-month challenge. Additionally, I have also begun hiking up and down mountains and volcanoes.

I went to Mexico (for the first time) and completed a hike up a caldera of volcano (non summit) for altitude training. Living in New Hampshire, weather permitting, I will summit a mountain at least once this weekend and every weekend following that I am in country.   So now if the weather would cooperate and provide me with snow I can start training for ice and snow hiking up north.

Climbing Aconcagua has really been a multiyear effort and something that I have been building up to starting with Kilimanjaro and everything since then. Here is the initial passage from Wikipedia about this mountain:

“In mountaineering terms, Aconcagua is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the normal route. Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world, since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins. Although the effects of altitude are severe (atmospheric pressure is 40% of sea-level at the summit), the use of supplemental oxygen is not required. Altitude sickness will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on the degree of acclimatization. Even if the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain (in January 2009 alone five climbers died).” (Wikipedia, 10/16/2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua

The most important thing for me now is to simply keep up the training both in the gym and in the wild. I have received medical clearances from multiple doctors and I am good to go. Now to stay injury free!

In closing, many people believe that for a life to be well lived it needs risk and /or challenge. For me the risk is less important than the exploration of both the environment and myself. When I trekked in Nepal, to Everest Base Camp last November, I said to a couple of the climbers that I was with that to me the mountains were a place to reflect and leave behind things that cannot survive such a challenge. In reality I probably leave myself behind and a new me with different perspectives comes off the mountain. I am sure questions like this are best answered on the way up the mountain because on the way down my mind is always very free.

Cheers,

Rob

Some Photos from Mexico

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A lesson from the five horns of China

I have lived in China, on and off, for the last few months. I actually compare the city that I have spent the most time in, Changchun – the city of Eternal Spring, to Philadelphia. This is because you have everything and everyone living together from; automotive factories, great universities, financial institutions and a mixing of the educated and blue collar liberally. Changchun’s meaning makes me think of Yu Hua’s book, “China in Ten Words”. One of the words that he claims describes China is “Bamboozle”. In his book he told a story of how his father convinced his mother to come to his home city and leave her own. This was during a period when a person would have to give up citizenship of one city to move to another. The Author’s mother’s city was much better so there was some pride on the part of his father in his ability to bamboozle his mother. I think of this book and the word “Bamboozle” every time I see the name Changchun. My adopted home city reminds me of my home, Concord NH USA, as related to climate. In Concord we have three seasons, winter, summer and mud. Occasionally, on some off years, we get a long fall – but spring?  Not so much unless snow covered flowers is spring to you.

Most days I start my morning with a cup of Puer tea and then I head for a run. I go to the Jilin University track for my run. To get to the track I leave my Apartment and head out, running, down a small street around 4am usually. During the beginning of my run I was introduced to the first horn of China. I was running along at a nine minute per mile pace when I heard a cars horn beeping rapidly. I of course reacted immediately and noticed a taxi racing down this small back street at around 50 miles per hour. He was using his horn over and over. I was shocked, there was nothing in front or behind him, he was the only car on the road, but he was beeping away, maybe to announce he was speeding? So I call the first horn of China the “I am here” horn. Not long after this cab drivers horn I was introduced to the second horn of China. This was at the end of the small street leading to the university. At the end, the small street, combined with a larger road where there was both merging and two way traffic, shops, bus station and the main entrance of the university. I had to run and cross the road by a bus station so as cars or trucks turned left or right by the university gate I would hear them beep at each other and me occasionally. This, the second horn of China, I termed the “We are here” horn. Crossing into the University at around 4:07am I was done with horns for the moment. I would not exit the university until around 6am. At his time I would walk back to my Apartment.

The walk back was during much busier traffic and this is where I was introduced to the third and very common horn of China, the “I am faster than you” horn, this horn is generally coupled with flashing headlights. It happens when you go to cross the street and a car can see you from the distance and the race begins. The car will speed up and start pounding on its horn in rapid succession as a warning. This is OK when it is a car or a cab but when it is a huge truck or bus it is important to get out of the way. I encountered the fourth horn the first time when I was turning the corner while walking  by a garbage station right before getting to my apartment building. It was a blind turn where I could not see around the building and a driver could not see in my direction as well. As cars approached this they would sound the horn in quick bursts. This is the “I can’t see you” horn.

The fifth and final horn of China is the most aggressive and perhaps violent horn at first glance. I spotted it the first time when heading to cross a 6-8 lane highway to get to work. I walked to work as did many others and there would be maybe 20-40 of us in the morning heading down a small road to the highway to cross. Cars headed to the highway would come up behind us and release the “get out of the way” horn. As always I would react. Instead of just jumping I might let out a “Come On” or a “Are you kidding me?” This continued until I had an epiphany, like in the Hollywood movie, “The Matrix”.  the protagonist, Neo,  goes to see the Oracle and is in a waiting room with some gifted children. He sits and talks to one child who is bending a spoon with their mind. Neo takes up a spoon and attempts the trick but fails and the child says;

“Do not try to bend the spoon — that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon.”

I had a choice, one that I noticed everyone around me already made and seemed to hold like some deep secret. My choices were clear; I could try find reason in the horns – which seemed to be a impossible task and one that I feared could lead to insanity, or instead I could could continue with the culture clash that was driving me crazy. With this in mind for the rest of the day I observed all of the five horns over and over and what I came to notice is that there were no horns or better put the horns were ubiquitous and had absolutely no meaning to anyone but me. The horns had meaning to me because the reality and culture I was used to had not yet accepted or transitioned to the new reality of living in Changchun China.

The lesson of the five horns of China is simple;

• A Person needs to recognize what is important in the culture or space that they are living and/or working in and react to that but at the same time ignore all of the distractions that do not add but take away from life and/or work
• If a person can accomplish this they can assimilate to their current culture
• If a person cannot accomplish this they should leave before becoming too unhappy

For my part it is easier to ignore the five horns, as taken in context they have no meaning,  and enjoy the China that I love.

 

References:

Changchun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changchun

The Matrix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_matrix

China in Ten Words: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua_(author)

 

A Moment in Time

To get to the mountains my group took a plane from Kathmandu to Lukla, a small town in the Himalayas. The plane’s cockpit, open and visible, was clearly in poor repair with a cracked windshield and no sun visors. As a Pilot myself, I found it odd that our pilot did not even have sunglasses and on takeoff and climb out he used his left hand to shield his eyes from the sun. To get to Lukla we would need to land at the Tensing-Hillary Airport (LUA).  This airport was rated as the most dangerous airport in the world by a program called “Extreme Airports” aired by the history channel. Lukla would be my first stop and the first stop for most trekkers headed to the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal. The Himalayan mountain range is home to Mt Everest, the planets highest mountain, where the basecamp at 5364 meters (17,598 feet) would be my final destination. That is if I was successful of course.  Something, that to me at least was in serious doubt, due to conditions.

I had already been faced with many challenges leading to this moment; I had been trekking for four days in borrowed and knockoff gear as my own gear never made it to Kathmandu. But perhaps the only issue on my mind at the moment was my cold. My cold had remained for the six days that I had been in Nepal; it was a standard cold with a sore throat and a hacking cough. On top of this I was at 3861 meters (12,076 feet) and not only could I see every breath I exhaled because it was so cold, but also I could feel each breath. I was covered head to toe and had my Sherpa-brand hoodie pulled tightly around my face with my sleeping bag also closed around me so that only a small opening remained to breathe through. Most of the time I breathed through the cloth of the hoodie so that the fabric could warm the air, but every once in a while I felt claustrophobic and took in a deep breath of the ice cold air. I had only been in the mountains for four days but I felt that I was already tested and from conversation with other trekkers in my group I knew we all felt challenged.

In my mind I could picture every step I had already taken to get to this point and I knew in order to get out of the mountains I had to do it the same way that I came, under my own power. So, as I lay in bed and labored to take simple breaths between hacking coughs, it was clear to me that the outcome was uncertain. I had doubts, was all lost, could I continue? I find it interesting that in situations like this you know you are no longer in a battle with the elements but you are now battling with yourself, your doubts and then the surrounding problems. But all of these thoughts seem to move in slow motion when your environment is void of noise and light pollution.  I thought about what it would take to continue my trek, what would it take to go back. What would be the physical cost and what would be the mental price.

In the end life is a matter of habits; good or bad habits.  With this in mind, early in my life I had made the decision to never quit when facing a challenge; this would become the habit most easily recognized in me. This did not mean I was foolhardy it simply meant I refused to succumb to fear. In some ways this fits my definition of courage.  Freezing cold, hard to breath, and having none of my medicine, real physical stresses represented the current mood as I had begun to wage a huge battle with myself. My only personal gear was my boots, Jeans, Red Polo Boxers and a button down shirt; everything else I had quickly purchased in Katmandu, Namche, and/or borrowed.  The trek to Mt Everest Base Camp (EBC) was not a walk in the park under any circumstances and without your own gear it was nearly impossible. For this reason alone quitting would have been understandable and no one would fault me.  Yes, of course I cared what other people would think. Most people care about what their family and friends think, this is not only natural it is helpful.

On top of this my cold was very taxing I found it hard to breath in Katmandu and now I was at altitude congested without the medical emergency kit that I travel with to handle things like this nasty cold. So, If not having my gear was justification to quit the trek, then the inability to breath easily made it logical to quit not only acceptable. But was it logical? I had come so far, this would not be a trip easy to repeat when my cold was a memory and when conditions were better. In fact isn’t this type of struggle exactly what I had been seeking when I set out on this adventure. If it was an easy then everyone would do it and I would not have selected this adventure. But I had not slept well in days as I would wake myself up with violent coughs every night. Every day was a hard workout, on the average of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of Nepali flat and according to my Fitbit device that was the equivalent of going up and down a 100-200 story building daily – with a full pack. Absolutely no one would fault me if I said ‘enough’ and headed back down and off the mountain. It occurred to me, though that I would fault me, and I said to myself that I had this, ‘just try to sleep and make it through to the morning, and just make it to the morning’. My battle with myself was nearing an end, for this night anyway – the decision was made; just ‘make it to the morning and reevaluate.’

Preparations for Aconcagua

Having just finished a Trek to Everest Case Camp and an overall three weeks in Nepal it is time to get ready for the next trek, a summit attempt of Aconcagua. I will be going with RMI and the date scheduled is Jan 2015,  this is the itinerary http://www.rmiguides.com/aconcagua/#itinerary . For those of you that do not know Aconcagua it is a pretty impressive mountain. The Mountain is the highest mountain in the Americas and in fact it is the highest peak in the western and southern hemispheres. It is a mere 6960.8 meters, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua, or 22,837 feet. It is located in the Andes mountain range situated in the Provence of Mendoza Argentina.  I think this one will definitely test my heart and soul not to mention my body. It is the second of the seven peaks that I will summit. I say will because I will be prepared. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_summits

The website of RMI tells me to prepare, and this means running with a pack this year, and increasing my base run to two four mile runs a day.  Here is what the RMI Site Says:

For Aconcagua, you are preparing for:

• Steep climbing with a 50-60 lb load
• Strenuous physical activity for multiple hours a day for multiple consecutive days
• A 12-14+ hour summit day
• Mountaineering techniques which require core strength and flexibility

Everest base camp was hard but they say this will test my soul, I wonder what of the seven peaks would not. I am really excited to be going with a climbing buddy from Kilimanjaro. We summited there a couple years ago. There are videos available as well, like this one preparing for the summit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlLPFklxQSQ#t=13 .

How I am ready; Altitude – No Issues, Legs the 12+ hour Days, no issues. How I am not ready; the core strength and balance with that kind of weight on my back I am not ready for, so yes it is personal trainer time but the good news is I have one year! Looks like I will practice standing on a basketball with a 50 pound pack on – in developing this balance I should probably go for my helicopter license.

They actually want us to do the following training schedule:

MondayAerobic Training

TuesdayStrength Training

WednesdayAerobic Training

ThursdayInterval Training

FridayAerobic Training

SaturdayStrength or Interval Training

SundayRest Day

I think I will have to do more, but in the end I will hire a trainer. More information: http://www.rmiguides.com/resources/conditioning.php Pretty excited about this trek, three out of 10 succeed.  I will be in the statistical 30% of those that succeed! Then maybe Blanc 6 months later!

Cheers,

Rob

Back From EBC, Decided to do another Mountain Jan 2015

I had such a great time on my Everest Base Camp Trek that I decided to do a summit in Argentina in 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua, there is nothing like a good challenge!

Personal Transitions and Preparations

Mount Everest as seen from Drukair

The dictionary says that a transition is “the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another” and it says that preparation is “the action or process of making ready or being made ready for use or consideration.” When I think of the last few months these definitions speak in detail as to what I have been going through. It is true that getting ready for anything in life takes preparation if your goal is the successful attainment of something and when it is difficult it sometimes takes a fundamental transition of one’s self and habits.

I have been focusing on my next travel plan and it is neither an important trip by any means nor is it something that is remarkable to anyone but me. It is simply a walk in the Himalayas to a place where in a time of heroes, giants walked (Major Mount Everest Summits-Wikipedia).  I will be cold for sure because of the time of year that I selected for the journey.

From Wikipedia: “The Himalayas, also Himalaya, (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/; Sanskrit, him (snow) + ālaya (dwelling), literally, “abode of the snow”) is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.”

So being an abode of the snow; the weather forecast states that the daily temperature should be 3-6 Degrees Fahrenheit (-16 to -14 Celsius) daily on this trek, I am sure that it will be below that when adding a few thousand feet and taking away the sun!  But that is OK. I have a very firm personal belief that a life that is not challenged is not lived. 

So it is a simple thing that I will do and a personal challenge that matters only to me, I will spend thirteen days at high altitudes and will do a ton of hiking. It is a time to be alone with my thoughts and my world. In normal life we are surrounded with so much noise that it is hard to think. We stress the small things and live with our first world problems that are nonsensical. So for these days on the trek I will walk, labor, and be in the moment from one second to the next searching for the perfect moment in time while not focusing on anything.   The past will be there and the future will be there and the present will be a subconscious mechanical effort requiring no thought or better put it will be absent from thought.

It takes something like this Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek to allow me to hear my own thoughts again. It is simply a statement that I needed transition to get to this point. I became a runner and transitioned from a place in time where I was out of balance – where my mind was strong but I let my body get lazy. In this transition I have lived the quantified life and now I am a runner that watches everything that I put into my body and how much energy I get from the same. Now I have both a stronger mind and body. Preparations were also required. Cold weather gear to “Gu” all acquired. Batteries and Solar Panels. Blood pressure perfect, Blood Oxygen Perfect, everything is good to go!

There really is not much more to say – in the grand scheme of things this is a meaningless trip but to me the mountains are a temple where I go to seek spirituality and meaning. I look forward to this journey and to the absence of light, air and noise pollution. I look forward to the challenge; whether I fail or succeed is not important the only thing that matters to me is that I walk the path. Hopefully I get some good pictures as well!  So time to finish packing!

Ciao,

Rob

Riley

Riley and Rob