Rambo to the Rescue: Hot springs and high peaks

This dispatch on the 21st of December is coming to you from the top of Mula Muerto or Dead Mule Mountain (5200 meters or 18,700 feet). Actually it’s the first summit of Mula Muerto, there’s another one further out. We are 1000m or almost 3,300 feet above our hot springs camp down on the lake. It’s been a great acclimatization day.

I say we’re on the top. Karl is actually just now coming up here. It’s a beautiful day, clear blue skies. I think blue is the one color that I didn’t mention – the brilliant deep blue of the sky at 4000 and 5000 meters when I talked about the clearly delineated colors yesterday. Our acclimatization adventures are going well.

Yesterday after I spoke to you we continued our walk around Laguna Verde. When we got to the far end, we reached the faint road that we had followed in here in Bernardo’s Land Cruiser. We were still 6 km from our camp so we used the radio to call another of our staff members I haven’t introduced yet, another of Bernardo’s staff from La Paz. His name is William but we call him Rambo because he likes to wear camouflaged clothes and fatigues. That’s probably the only Rambo-like part of his character. He’s a small man and he’s always got a big toothy grin so he’s not really much like Sylvester Stallone other than his dress.

I called Rambo, or William, on the radio and requested he come and pick us up in the Land Cruiser because we didn’t want to walk the 6 km back on the dirt road. We took that ride back after a long walk and we got into the hot springs.

I’ll try to send out some photographs over the next few days to show you that scene before our dispatches from the Ojos climb ends.

The remarkable thing is we’re in the hot springs in our bathing suits, enjoying all the brilliant colors of this area around us as I’ve described, and everyone’s wearing their sunglasses of course. But the only thing that shows we’re still in the mountains is that people still have their fleece or pile hats on because just before we get in the hot springs it’s quite cold and of course when you get out it’s quite cold.

After the hot springs we went inside and had another of our fine meals. I should introduce the last of our staff members that I haven’t yet – David who is our cook. He prepares really excellent meals.

So, from our vantage point on the top of Dead Mule Peak, I’m going to close today’s dispatch. We’re all doing great and we’re proceeding with our acclimatization well.