How to get there:
This peak is close to Mendoza, but it still takes quite some
time to drive there. I had a normal car and that worked for a while,
but I still had to park more than 5 kilometer before the planned trailhead.
From Mendoza go to the north-east of town. Hwy. 13 begins near location
S32.83258, W68.87316. Note that this road soon has a sharp left bend, then
cross a river, slippery - do not stop.
The dirt road is pretty wide and quite reasonable until it enters a more
narrow valley. From here, the road is rough and a 4WD would be a better choice.
The road climbs steeply with many sharp hairpin curves to reach a local saddle.
Next, a small descent to reach a (small) populated place called Casa de Piedra.
The road now gets increasingly rough and there are sometimes a few options
on which track to follow. Good judement is important. The road follows the
canyon, often in a dry river bed. I was able to drive to
location S32.75829, W69.05153, elevation near 2550 meter.
A good, high clearance 4WD may be able to drive all the way to location
S32.76828, W69.11217, elevation near 3190 meter. The road that runs towards
the mountain from the key road fork is actually pretty nice, better that
the road before you get to that col.
Route description:
From where you park, first follow the road
to the key road col. This is
pretty obvious once there. Take the left fork road towards the peak. This road
continues (pretty good 4WD) to S32.76828, W69.11217, elevation near 3190 meter.
From here, a good trail continues, with a gentle descent to reach the col between
the nice peak you have seen to the right of Pelado. Next, ascend on the same trail
to a smaller col. Once there,leave the trail, a faint climbers trail
marked with some cairns forks left. Ascend a much smaller trail that makes a climbing
traverse left when fscing the mountain. Follow cairns and tracks from previous
ascents to reach the summit ridge.
Finally, follow the summit ridge a short
distance to the summit. A track is posted on Peakbagger.
Comments:
The plan was to drive to the key col where this road starts descending.
However, the road was much worse
than anticipated and I parked already
slightly below 2550 meter, more than 5 kilometer before the planned col.
I walked up the road, it was misty and pretty dense fog, no visibility.
Fortunately, once I got to the road fork, I was above the clouds with
great views across to other peaks.
The first part of the route from the key road col,
continues as a road, mostly
pretty good. I could now (finally) see Pelado.
When it ends, a nice trail continues to a small col at the base of
the final uphill slope. However, the (good) trail continues through this col and
goes somewhere else? I certainly believed that this trail would go to the summit.
Heading uphill, I soon followed some minor trails, obviously made by climbers. This
got me into some easy class 3 scrambling. I realized that I should traverse more
left and soon picked up a bigger climbers trail, partially cairned. This got me to the
summit ridge without any issues.
The summit has a couple of markers and a tall mast.
I arrived around 1345, it had taken me about 3:10 to get here. I was well above the
clouds that filled all valleys below. A good line of view across (west) to 3 much
bigger peaks. Leaving around 1400, I now followed what is clearly the main route
of ascent, no class 3 here, so the route is really (YDS) class 2.
I walked by the key car col, ascending I had taken a road that forked just before.
The descent was easy, much loose scree everywhere also on the road. I was back at
my car by 1610.
What remained was the non-trivial driving back down to Mendoza, about 30 kilometer
taking a bit more than 2 hours. The day ended with a nice dinner at the Italian
restaurant that I discovered on my day of arrival.
