Start point: Punta de Vacas 2,400m
End point: Las Leñas 2,800m

We had a relaxing late start in the hotel  for our first day of hiking. We stocked up on water, threw the day bags in the back of the bus and drove to the trailhead at Punta de Vacas at 2,400m to start the trek. Our summit gear has gone ahead on one group of mules and will meet us at basecamp in three days; our overnight gear is on a different group of mules and will meet us each night as we trek our way up the Vacas Valley to basecamp.

It was 30 degrees when we started from Punta de Vacas at 10.55. Our expedition leader gave us a little reminder of peeing and pooping etiquette on the trail and in the camps: some camps provide toilets, some camps provide “solids only” toilets, don’t pee near the drinking water and any mid-trail pooping must be carried with us to camp. Fun stuff.

Then our local head guide gave us a talk about the challenges facing us over the next few days: dehydration, sun burn, heat exhaustion, blisters – they all came to heat. I think most of the group were a little guilty of forgetting this side of the trip – that our first 3 days were at relatively  low altitude in the Argentinian summer.

Over the course of the day, the thermometer on my watch reached 40.6 degrees. The watch was sitting on a rock in direct sunlight when it registered that,  but we were in direct sunlight all day long. It was a scorcher.

Packie told us about the history of the partially ruined, (but extremely impressive) railway line that followed most of roadtrip from Santiago to Mendoza and back to Penitentes. It was superceded in the late 60s by a road that gets 1,000 trucks a day in each direction – every one of which we’d been able to hear from our hotel room.

Packie also told us about the wildlife we’d see on our trip: both the (kinda boring) little lizards and little birds we could see everywhere, and the (kinda exciting) condors, llamas and red foxes that we had pr as practically no chance of seeing.

The first day of trekking had a couple of firsts, which were announced and celebrated amongst the team: the first person to fall on their arse was one; the first person to use a she-wee was another. Well done to all concerned!

We were advised to use walking poles as they reduce the impact on your feet and legs by about 30%. This early in, I thought,  anything that helps avoid blisters and injuries is worth it. So I started using my poles and began to develop blisters on my thumbs. When we got to camp, a lot of the team who had used the poles had sunburn on their hands and forearms, me included. Arse.

When we got to camp, some people immediately sat down in the shade of a big rock to get out of the sun, other people went down to the river to cool their feet. I did both. It was lovely.

We were shown how to put up our tents. We spent 20 minutes trying to put up ours before we realised our poles were for a 3 man tent while we were trying to put up a 2 man tent. When we’d sorted that mess out, we unpacked our camp bags. I got my sleeping bag, my liner, my pillow… but no inflatable mattress. Bugger. I checked everywhere but no luck. Very worrying. I do have a mat to sleep on, so I can probably survive without both until basecamp but afterwards missing those would be the end of my trip. Hopefully the two things will be in my basecamp duffel. Hopefully…

We finished the day with a barbecue prepared for us by the guides and muleteers (mule drivers who get our stuff from place to place). They even provided wine and Mate tea. Drinking mate (pronounced ma-ta, I think) involves a lot of ceremony. Everyone shares the one cup which is initially filled 3/4s full with tea leaves and is then refilled with hot water between each drinker. You drink from the cup with a special metal straw and the straw must be pointed at the next drinker when the cup is handed to them. One person is responsible for preparing the mate and drinks the first cup. They can pass the second cup to the person on their right or to the person on their right, but the direction is then fixed. Our greengrocer was extremely eager to try it. He was sitting on the left of the mate preparer. The second cup went right. There were 14 people at the table – that was a very long wait for a cup of tea.