Cerro Champaqui

Last weekend was a long weekend, because Friday was teacher's day. So, I had the opportunity to take a small 'vacation,' and I joined my companions of my program in Villa General Belgrano.

This small town, smaller even than mine, is in the far west of the Cordoba Province (my province). There, there are a series of mountain chains that serve as sort of a preface to the Andes. The sierra VGB is located in called Sierra Grande, and is home to the tallest peak in cordoba Province and the second tallest peak in Argentina, Cerro Champaqui. It is 2.88 kilometers high (1.7 miles).

Villa General Belgrano, while small, is a well-known and rather wealthy town. This is because it is home to the annual Fiesta de Cerveza of Argentina, in which thousands and thousands of people gather in October to celebrate and consume the various artesanal beers that have their home in the Villa. Does this sound familiar? Yes, this is Octoberfest, and it is celebrated in a historically German settlement. Argentina has a long history of accepting German immigrants, even during World War II, and the town proudly displays the German aesthetic.

As excited as I was to be in the beer capital of Argentina, as I said, that was not why we were there. We spent Friday evening in the Villa, and early Saturday morning, we set out of Villa Alpina, a miniscule mountain village of a couple dozen people, mostly farmers and shepherds, to meet our guide and our horses.

So, for the first time in my life, I rode a horse. For four hours through mountainous terrain. Though it was difficult at first, since riding a horse is all about getting a living, somewhat nervous creature to do what you want to do, but after the first hour I was beginning to feel comfortable. We rode horses to preserve our energy for Cerro Champaqui, though I definitely had saddle sore by the time we reached the refuge.

The refuge is a small set of buildings near the base of the mountain, owned by locals, for climbers to stay in before and after they climb the peak. There, they cooked for us (grilled lamb and potato salad), and with us were a group of university students from Rosario, a city in the east of Argentina located on Rio de Plata.

But, we did not have time to rest. After riding to the refuge, we had the chance to nap for a half hour, and then it was time to set out for the mountain, which we had to climb up and down in about five hours if we wanted to be in daylight.

I was already tired from the ride, but I was eager enough, self-assured that my time in Boy Scouts would help me to handle the long climb.

I was not ready. This really is a mountain, and to climb it without the proper equipment is a lot, lot harder. Scaling boulders, hopping over crags, breathing thin mountain air, and navigating twisting, narrow paths are all part of this climb. I was exhausted halfway to the peak, but I knew we had to climb, and we didn't have much choice, so I did my best to keep pace (and did a good job, too). Our guide, who has lived in the mountains his whole life, told us he could travel from the refuge to the peak in forty-five minutes, and climb back down in twenty-five. He was barely winded by the time we reached the peak.

We, on the other hand, were totally, thoroughly exhausted, and the excitement of being on top of a mountain was a little dampened by our fatigue. But it was beautiful, just like being in an airplane. We could see cities and villages all around, and the transition from the cloud layer to above it. Cirrostratus clouds were high in the sky, like angel feathers. The peak is actually home to a small lake, which during the winter is dry (it was dry when we were there, the name 'Champaqui' is a native word meaning 'water over my head') and it is festooned with busts and crosses, I can't imagine being one of the people to carry them up there.

After half an hour, it was time to climb back down, lest the sunset catch us. By this time I was going on pure willpower, my legs were only working because I told them too, not because they wanted to. I learned a lot about the stamina of human legs, we truly are creatures designed to walk, and even though your legs might feel like they are on fire, they will keep working and working. But still, by the time we made it to the bottom, I was practically stumbling down the mountain. Thank god, by the time we reached the refuge, we had an amazing asado waiting for us. There are few times I've been hungrier.

The next day, we walked back, since using a horse cost 100 pesos. Again, I was impressed by my ability to keep going and going and going over this terrain, even though I was sure I could. Again, I was stumbling by the time we made it to Villa Alpina, and now my knees were complaining every time I used them. But again, there was an asado waiting for us, plenty of proteing to feed my screaming muscles. After lunch, we left again for VGB, and parted ways.

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All in all, it was a great experience, but an extremely physical one. The amount of time in which we had to to everything was much shorter than in should have been, so what could have been an appreciation of a sort of wilderness I've never seen before was also the biggest test of endurance I've ever had in my short life. I think I passed with good marks.

I will post pictures later tonight.