Margaux Rhymes with Fargo

Back to Camp Farm! Since Pía and Nacho weren’t planning to arrive until the evening, Will and I had some time to kill during the day. We decided to go back to Camp Farm, partially because there aren’t a ton of longer climbs around the La Junta base camp area and partially because we didn’t finish the full route on our first attempt a few days ago and wanted to get the full send.

This time, instead of fording the river, we kept our pants on and used the Tyrolean traverse. It was way more efficient than I expected and we definitely should have done this the first time, but then Will wouldn’t have learned how to ask “have you seen a gringa without pants” in spanish. Maybe the first cold and wet river crossing was worth it after all.

I’m not strong enough to pull myself all the way across in one go without sliding backwards, so I used a special pulley that can rotate one way but not the other. That meant I could hang out in the middle and rest and contemplate my life for a minute without losing any of my progress before sighing and continuing to pull myself across.

Our second attempt on Camp Farm was way faster, a total of 5 hours base-to-top-to-base. We made it up all 8 pitches this time, and I wiggled through the offwidth bulge much more easily, and we rappelled down quickly with barely any faff. We’re learning! It was nice to have a day out with less hiking and more climbing to help out with the modified Perfect ratio, and also to just remember why we’re here. Climbing is so much fun.

We had originally planned on hiking up to one of the upper valleys that same evening, but Pía and Nacho didn’t arrive at the campsite until after 7pm so we quickly scratched that plan. Comfy sleeping pads and a tent for one more night, hooray!

Luckily, Pía and Nacho were able to get a last-minute campsite in Trawen, the campground next door to ours. The camp host gave everyone a bit of a wink and then led them (and us) across a suspiciously hidden bridge to a secret camping area where they could spend the night. While Pía and Nacho set up their tent and campsite, Will and I walked back to our site in the other campground and make some dinner. And by “walked”, I mean “wandered for a solid ten or fifteen minutes trying to find the bridge back to the main part of the campground before we found someone to direct us”. I haven’t felt that lost in ages and we weren’t even in the backcountry.

Anyways, the good news is the Pía did bring me a new sleeping pad! I won’t have to sleep on the ground or on the rope in the upper valleys! She’s the real hero.

Day 7 Modified Perfect Ratio

23 pitches : 19 hours

Finally a ratio higher than 1!! Now we just need to keep it that way.

The full list of Cochamó posts can be found here.