Hard to say goodbye to Tom this morning. Feels like such a daunting task ahead of me, and it was really nice to have him here. Glad he got to meet the cast of characters. He left with a porter named Ignacio (Nacho) around 10 this morning and was going to hike about 16 miles to Pampa de Lena today and then out to the trailhead tomorrow. He'll be back in Mendoza by tomorrow night and will then have a couple days to visit some wineries.We decided to do a light carry to Camp I--down jacket, insulated pants, big mitts, ice ax, and crampons. Lots of scree and sand; it's going to be a grind with a heavy pack. We stashed everything in one tent up there and hung out for about an hour. First we had wind and clouds, then snow, and then thunder and lightning on the way down. Arrived back in camp just as the precipitation got worse. The wind comes and goes, as does the snow, sleet, and hail. When lying in the tent, I can feel a breath of wind blowing. The tent stretches, flexes, and flaps, luffs like a sail. We haven't had a taste of the real winds here yet. When I get cold down here, I have a hard time imagining what it's going to be like up above. Pray for calm.
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