Days bleed into night, bleed into days, bleed into nights...laughter fills the street and bodies move in tireless rythms fueled by wandering bands, casasha and the mysterious spirit of carnival...
Post asado shoot with the lovely Luce Paz...
After a long bus ride north, we stumbled into the sleepy little town of Iguazú on the Argentinian side of the cataratas. Photos and rumors of Iguazú fall´s magesty did little to prepare us for the next three days spent exploring the maze of pathways that surround the thundering cataracts.
Thunderstorms alternated pleasantly with the hot jungle sun, and our down time in the town spent playing futbol pickup matches, putting the hostel kitchen to good use, and swapping stories with other travelers was a nice change of pace from the bustle of the city.
Wandering the ancient paths of Recoleta cemetery, I was struck by the beauty reflecting in the dirty windows and behind the rusting bars of the old tombs.
Playing in the streets and amongst the palms of San Francisco...
9:00 I awake with a carefully crafted plan to spend today relaxing around el Refugio shooting Sean and Nico slack-lining - and thereby avoodomg the 2+ hour bushwhack/scramble to the adjacent valley to climb el Campanile with Blake and Scott. It's not that I don't like climbing, but having surpassed my expectations yesterday by climbing a 5.10 pitch on M2 (broken hand in tow) as well getting a number of solid shots of the guys climbing, I feel validated in a rest day.
10:00 Over a breakfast of fried sausage and polenta cakes topped with leftover pasta sauce, Blake...
Day IV & V we climb, shoot, climb, shoot, grub, sleep, repeat.
8:00 Sunrise in Frey, and I can't sleep. Sunburn on my shoulders and my general stench, combine with the whipping wind outside to bring me crawling out of the tent. Yesterday was good. I tested out the hand on a couple of pitches and we topped out on El Piramidal tower. Hand held up OK. Spent the rest of the day jugging pitches (ascending a fixed rope via mechanical means) and shooting Scott and Blake. Challenging lighting conditions, but hopefully salvageable. I should have made more time to prepare for the trip, but Japan and holidays back in NC made it difficult.
12:00 Today...
11:00 We arrived yesterday in Buenos Aires. From there we caught another flight to Bariloche (located in northern Patagonia) and spent the night sleeping on a pebble beach on the outskirts of town. We woke to the sound of weed whackers and a beautiful view of the lake and mountains that bookend it to the west and east.
Today we hop a bus to the trail head, and from there hike on to Frey - where we will set up base camp for the next week's climbing adventures.
17:00 Hiking. Sort of. A ravenous covey of flies, spurred into action by my irresistible stench is...
While traveling in Japan, Ivar and I met so many kind and talented people, without whom the trip would have been truly lacking. Among these people was Yusuke Murata. An incredibly talented photographer in his own right, Yusuke was also an exceptional model as evidenced in the persuant set of photographs...
