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 to work too hard but tomorrow the Adventure begins! We will leave this low spot at nearly 11,000 feet and take the trucks up to our next camp at 4,000 meters. At that point, we will be equivalent to the summits of Colorado 14ers.  It takes a lot of work and time to acclimate to Ojos del Salado, which is over 22,600′. We relaxed in some amazing hot springs in a canyon this morning while our guides worked with the local police to get our permits for climbing the mountain.   We have the better end of the deal! Last night we stayed in a town called Fiambala and it was a very nice place.  Our nice accommodations and food are about to end as we will be sleeping in tents and cooking for ourselves. But that is why we are here. If the mountain was easy, everyone would climb it.  Most everyone that does try to climb the 2nd highest peak does it from the Chilean side.  There is more of an actual trail and several refugios along the way to stay in.  But why take the easy way?  We have identified many amazing science targets for a study including glaciers, penitentes, hot springs and fumaroles, and the summit area. Most of the next week will be slowly moving up the mountain and acclimatizing, but also collecting a lot of good samples from the lower elevation science targets. I have a big smile on my face because it has been eight years since I have climbed in the Andes. Whenever I return to climb, it feels like my second home. So far everything is working as planned and I hope that continues.  Our team is ready and we have great guides to help us out.