One of the guides for our trip, Walter Metzke, brought his Phantom 4 drone, which we were able to use to get some aerial footage of our field site. We were able to do this for the penitente field located around 5200m, because we spent some extra acclimation time there. In these videos, Adam has… Read More
We’re all heading down the mountain! Around midday after staying at 5,550m, Walter, who is usually acclimated to these altitudes, exhibited symptoms of altitude sickness. As a precaution, I was sent down with him, since I had also exhibited a few mild symptoms. Unfortunately, I did not get to continue up the mountain, but luckily… Read More
We made it to highest camp at 5550m (18209 ft). Today we hike to 5900m (19357 ft), return to rest, then leave at midnight to get to penitentes and fumaroles at 6400m (20997 ft). We will try to summit. -Brian Hynek… Read More
The sun is setting on our remote camp at 5200m. We have had 2 great days acclimatizing and doing science in penitentes. All feeling good & ready to move to 5700m mañana – Brian… Read More
We made camp at 4000m, took samples, and had an acclimatization hike. All feel good. Last night we ate homemade pizza in the doma and are headed to 5000. – Brian Hynek… Read More
Hello from Brian. I am writing from 3,300 meters. We are staying our final night in civilization and the accommodations are luxurious here in the middle of nowhere at a place called Cortaderas. There is one hotel up high off Hwy 60 and near the Chilean border with Argentina. So far, we have not had… Read More
Adam and I collected our first microbial samples and light measurements at 3400m yesterday. Today, we move up to 4000m for another sample collection and to camp higher than any of Colorado’s mountians. This will continue our acclimation process to prepare for the higher altitudes to come.… Read More
Permits to access Ojos del Salado are a complicated task that takes a few hours is Fiambala. While our guides handled that, we were able to sneak away to a local hot spring. We’d estimate the “aguas caliente” to be coming out of the rocks at about 70°C, and it quickly cools when exposed to… Read More
Hi all, this is Nick Dragone. I am a graduate student in CIRES and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder in the lab of Prof. Noah Fierer. My research focuses on the microbial communities found in volcanic sediments and other challenging environments around the world. In particular, I am interested in… Read More
Welcome to Buenos Aires! We finished the first leg of our trip and arrived to a beautiful sunny day, a shocking 90°F. The 9hr flight gave us our first look at the Andes, as we flew over just after sunrise. We are too far from the city to get into town during our layover, so… Read More
