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Cameo and Ken are a couple of working stiffs who discovered long ago that life's more satisfying when they're chasing grizzlies and climbing mountains.
So far their travels have taken them to six continents from Tuktoyaktuk to Tasmania with a few stops in between.
This is their adventure...
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Category Archives: travel
Aconcagua Images
Also posted in aconcagua, photography
Tagged aconcagua, camp canada, confluencia, mendoza, nido de condores, plaza de mulas, seven summits, south face, trekking, wine tour
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Aconcagua – Initial Thoughts

Worsening conditions on the way to Camp Canada – Parque Provincial Aconcagua, Argentina ©theexplorerslens.com
We didn’t make to the top.
It’s been over a week since poor weather conditions forced us to abandon our summit attempt on Aconcagua – we’ve posted a snippet of the conditions during our time at Nido de Condores (facebook link here). We are disappointed, but given the alternatives we consider ourselves quite fortunate that our guides and teammates made some very prudent decisions that allowed everyone in our group to safely return to friends and family.
Others were not so fortunate.
Summitting’s Always Optional
In our last update (aconcagua – update #4) we wrote “If everything goes well we’re in for a 12 hour day and will summit Aconcagua”… well it didn’t and we didn’t. We tried to wait out a persitent storm for three days at 5,600m/18,400′. Breaks in the weather revealed Aconcagua’s summit above us, tantalizingly close, but as time and the storm continued on our window to summit changed to become finding a window to get us safely off the mountain.
Thirty-five climbers 365m/1200′ above us couldn’t resist the lure of the summit and decided to risk 80kph plus winds, intermittant white-out conditions, and frigid temperatures for a chance to stand atop Aconcagua. We were told only one climber succeeded. One member of the group exhausted and lost perished just outside our camp. Another suffered frostbite so severe it is likely he’ll lose both hands.
Old Climbers
There’s a saying that goes something like this – There are old climbers and there are bold climbers. There are no old, bold climbers. It’s too easy to play armchair mountaineer in cases such as this. We weren’t there. Suffice to say a bad decision was made and a number of people had a very bad day on the mountain.
Thankfully we hunkered down… old climbers.
Would we Go Back?
Nothing’s written in stone, but we would most likely not return. It’s expensive, a long way to go, and it’s not the most pleasant 30km of trail just to get to basecamp. Never say never!
Apres Climb – Mendoza
On a lighter note Cameo loved Mendoza, the heat, and the food. Let’s just say I was less smitten.
The wine tours were fantastic and probably something we’ll highlight in a future post.
If there’s anything specific you’d like us to address regarding this trip please leave us a comment. Lot’s more Aconcagua/Argentina content coming in the near future.
I’m here for Jimmy – Las Vegas

New York skyline circa 1940 – New York-New York Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas NV ©theexplorerslens.com
One half of the explorer’s lens is in Las Vegas this weekend.
About 6 months ago I received a call from an old school chum that went something like this –
- Pete: I have Gord with me, we’re planning our next road trip.
Me: I’m in!
Pete: Don’t you want to know where we’re going?
Me: Not really. Nothing to do with livestock, right?
Pete: We’re thinking Jimmy Buffet in Vegas.
Me: Great! I wouldn’t know Jimmy Buffet if I tripped over him.
The language was probably a bit saltier and I’m not 100% certain the livestock provision was properly vetted (with these guys you never know), but since then I’ve had some expert coaching/interventions regarding my inexperience with the ‘parrot head’ culture and looking forward to tomorrow’s show.
Now where did I put that Landshark Lager?
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Squack Alberta Adventure Gallery
Back in August we wrote about our friends, the Squacks visiting from Ontario and us sending them on our infamous Two Week Tour of Alberta. As you can see words just do not do the tour justice.
Special THANK YOU to the Squack family for sharing their memories and images.
Yellowstone National Park – Lamar Valley

Yellowstone’s pot of gold – Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park WY/ID/MT ©theexplorerslens.com
If you’re contemplating a trip to Yellowstone National Park – and who isn’t – the one thing we’d recommend you include in your itinerary is at least a day trip to the Lamar Valley. Tucked into the north east corner of the park amongst the mountains exists a place where time, “progress”, and crowds have thankfully forgotten. Elk, bison, and pronghorn graze along the banks of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek under the watchful eyes of golden eagles, wolves, and grizzlies. With seemingly no attractions and fewer services the Lamar is easy to overlook, but if you’re wildlife junkies like us this is where the real Yellowstone exists.
If you need a little stretch, a short trip to Trout Lake will reward the patient with delightful sightings of River Otters and,if timed right (late June early July) Cutthroat gathering to spawn at the mouth of the inlet stream. Each evening the pullouts are populated with spotting scopes as the ‘wildlife hopeful’ scan the fields for wolves and grizzlies.
The closest services outside the Park can be found in the hamlets of Silver Gate and Cooke City MT. Interesting places onto themselves and well worth a look to get something to eat before returning to Yellowstone to continue wildlife watching.
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Tagged grizzly bear, idaho, lamar valley, montana, slough creek, wolves, wyoming, yellowstone national park
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