International :: Patagonia :: Mt. Aconcagua

Horcones Mirador with Mt. Aconcagua in the background at first part of Confluencia basecamp access trail

Mt. Aconcagua, highest peak in South America (6,960.8 m or 22,837 ft), and one of Seven Summits.  When I was younger I had plans to climb Aconcagua;  but after extensive high-altitude trekking experiences (Kilimanjaro, Nepal) venturing above 4000m was not something I was ready to do anymore.  However, having been over a week in Mendoza during second part of my Grand South-America journey  Feb - Apr '23,  I decided at least to visit Aconcagua park.  Logical choice was dayhike to "Camp Confluencia", first overnight stop on Horcones climbing route. 

Aconcagua logistics are quite convoluted. You can decide to do a day tour from Mendoza - several trekking companies offer that. This should be last option - way too overpriced, with far less freedom - DIY, as always is far better.  Two issues need to be addressed:


1) Transport from/to Mendoza

There is public bus (by Andesmar) leaving from Mendoza terminal with several trips during the day; for day trip, first at 5:55 am, is the best.  Bus stops at Horcones - normal entry into the park.  For return there is 4pm option from Horcones, or 8pm option from Puente de Inca which is ~3km down the road, which I had to walk.  Public bus schedule is posted on government site here.  Tickets can be bought online and are super cheap; however this is "collectivo" that stops many times along the way, and 1-way journey took 3.5 hrs - while you could probably drive yourself with rented car in ~2hrs, but it will of course cost more and has other types of risks associated with it; I recommend bus.


2) Park Entry Permissions

This is SUPER convoluted, and real pain overall.  The sequence as of March '23:

• Book your permit online here.  You are then emailed permit with bar code, store it on your phone
• Pay for the permit here. It was NOT possible to pay in the park and it had to be done in Mendoza; I could not do it online and had to go in person to "pagofacil", showing above permit with bar code stored on my phone.  In return I got paper receipt (not electronic).
• At Horcones visitor center I had to show both permit (electronic) and proof of payment (hard copy); in return I was given the ticket I needed to keep with me to show at checkpoints
• At several checkpoints they validated ticket from visitor center and did a log entry in the book.  At Parks visitor center I was also given garbage bag to use for human waste;  feces left by human hordes are huge problem at Aconcagua

The above applies both for hiking (trekking) and climbing. Fees are progressive; even for hiking there is 1 fee for hiking just to the bridge past Laguna Horcones, and different fee for hiking for Confluencia. In addition there is 1 structure for locals and second for visitors from another countries.  Anyone complaining against Parks Canada, we still have it way too easy compared to this.

The hike itself was beautiful, as expected.   I had bluebird conditions and really enjoyed the whole thing. Trail itself is straightforward, but altitude is already high - most of the day was spent over 3000m.   Gallery below is in chronological order with captions providing more information about that part.  

Gallery