Suzy - Hi all!!
Well, I am not sure where to start or even where I left off.
We are now in Villa O´Higgins, Chile at the end of the Southern Highway,The Carretera Austral. We got here from hitchhiking 37 km from El Chalten then hiking 12 hard kilometers around Lago de Desierto leaving the view of Fitzroy and Cerros Torres behind us. We camped at the Argentinian border crossing for the night and headed out the next morning to hike another 22km into Chile for the ferry crossing. The trip was incredible.
We were first picked up by a family in two cars heading to a swanky resort. The daughter was probably in trouble with her family. We were a bit smelly and our packs could hardly fit into the vehicles and her husbands Mate spilled in the car (Argentinians LOVE their Mate) as we shoved ourselves into the back seat with Mike´s pack in our laps. Opps! but I figure her Karma cup is full by making her family take us the 15km down the dirt road on New Years Eve in the rain. Yes, it was raining that day on and off.
We were then picked up by a fly fishing guide who had lived in El Chalten for 37 years. He moved to the tiny town as a baby with only 6 other families homesteading the area. He was great and full of stories about gigantic Atlantic Salmon swimming from the ocean up rivers and through lakes and up more rivers to the spot he was going to drop us off at. Some of the fish he caught were 65lbs (30kg) WOWWEEE!!!
The whole 37km of dirt road was INCREDIBLE!! The waterfalls, rivers, mountains and forests were so beautiful and we didnt care that it was raining and that most people just drove right by us without a care. Once we got to the end of the road we had to find the trail to the border that went around the lake. Whew! It was a bit braided and scattered and I would end up off trail many times but it was beautiful. The old´growth beech tree forests were something you would imagine Robinhood riding out of. The lichens and moss growing on the trees gave the area a surreal feeling. We were surrounded by hanging glaciers and mountains the whole time, while saying good bye to Fitzroy and Cerros Torres. We could see those towers on and off through the clouds the whole way around the lake. We ended up camping at the border crossing from Argentina to Chile and had the best camp spot with no one around us. The next morning we stopped at the office got our passports stamped and set out to hike the 22kms. I was scared that I couldn´t make the 22km before 5pm (ferry departs at 5pm) as it was a mountain pass that we had to cross to get into Chile and the next ferry wasn´t for a couple more days. The whole day was ours until we saw this lone bicyclist coming up the road.. (oh, the first 7km was a hiking trail with many water crossings and the 15km was a desolete dirt road) The cyclist was a happy young French guy named Marc. He told us how he spent the last 9 days in Villa OHiggins where we are headed. He was happy to know that he had just topped out on the pass after his grueling uphill grind with his heavy touring bike and it was downhill from there. BOO! but now we have the steep downhill to go to get to the ferry and the Chilean border station. I have decided I would rather go uphill with a heavy pack on my back than the knee crushing downhill. I get blisters on the downhill. WOW! and what a trip down it was. We passed deep river gorges with the most incredible colored glacial water that pours into Lago OHiggins an equally beautiful lake. I coined it as Lake Powell on steroids....Except this lake is NOT manmade with water so aqua in color it makes your eyes hurt.
So, we made it to the dock for the ferry after getting our passports stamped again. Boy! I am going to need new pages in my new passport. We say Hola to this young guy that is obviously waiting for the same ferry. After we exchange hellos the inevitable ¨¨where are you from¨¨ comes out. We told him Durango, CO and he said that had just worked last year near Durango.....AH! He told us he worked in Mancus, CO!!! NO WAY!!! WHAT??? This is the little town I lived in before moving to Denver just outside of Durango.....NO WAY...No one has heard of Mancus!! hehehe.....and here we were 3 people in the middle of no WHERE Patagonia and we have ties to that little town. His name is Aaron and he was all of 24 years old and he has done more things in his life than most could dream of. He grew up in Eagle, AK 20 miles from town off the grid with parents that trapped for a living. He was now a part time river guide on the Baker River here in Chile. He had just done the same hiking trip from El Chalten as we did.....Yet he hooked up with some Yosemite, CA climbers that were in El Chalten and attempted Egger tower next to Fitzroy. Wow! The kid had amazing stories and travels around Patagonia when not guiding the river here. He was full of stories and tips about the National Parks that we are heading to. Oh yes, and he also told us that Torres del Paine´s fire WAS started by some idiot that didnt know how to use a camp stove, as we suspected (YES! Torres del Paine caught fire after we left and we read that 30,000 acres around Glacier Gray have burned and the park is closed now)
Whew! We have been so lucky to see the sights that we have seen......The good weather that has seemed to have followed us is amazing. After awhile of chatting with Aaron, our ferry comes as planned! We get on the first ferry of the new year....yipee and it was on time! Now 2.5 hours on a fairly rough ride to Villa Ohiggins....I didnt get sick and kept myself busy by focusing on Aarons stories. Whew! we made it and the ferry company had a bus to take us to town...yeah! we didnt have to hike anymore. So now we are resting at El Mosco hostel. We both are now suffering horrible head colds and are so happy to have to wait till Friday for the next bus out of here. We are now at the mercy of the sporatic buses that run only on certain days. It is fine with us as we are loving the remoteness of the area. We may attempt the hike to the hanging Mosco glacier but that depends on our health it is probably better to rest.....We are enjoying just staying put and soaking in the lack of noise here. We are the only guests at the moment as everyone left on the AM bus our first morning. The hostel owner is from Spain and built the hostel 8 years ago. Mind you, this is the literal ¨¨End of the road¨¨ for the Carretera Austral (The Southern Highway) It just ends here!! and you have to hike from here. There is a couple from France that is here working at the hostel until they get itchy feet and head out on their bicycles. They are on a long exteded bike trip thru South America and like to stop for awhile in places before moving on. It is funny how we say we are traveling for 2 months and most ask us why such a short time but Americans think we are nuts leaving for so long...heheh.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Crossing back to Chile
Suzy - Hi all!!
Well, I am not sure where to start or even where I left off.
We are now in Villa O´Higgins, Chile at the end of the Southern Highway,The Carretera Austral. We got here from hitchhiking 37 km from El Chalten then hiking 12 hard kilometers around Lago de Desierto leaving the view of Fitzroy and Cerros Torres behind us. We camped at the Argentinian border crossing for the night and headed out the next morning to hike another 22km into Chile for the ferry crossing. The trip was incredible.
We were first picked up by a family in two cars heading to a swanky resort. The daughter was probably in trouble with her family. We were a bit smelly and our packs could hardly fit into the vehicles and her husbands Mate spilled in the car (Argentinians LOVE their Mate) as we shoved ourselves into the back seat with Mike´s pack in our laps. Opps! but I figure her Karma cup is full by making her family take us the 15km down the dirt road on New Years Eve in the rain. Yes, it was raining that day on and off.
We were then picked up by a fly fishing guide who had lived in El Chalten for 37 years. He moved to the tiny town as a baby with only 6 other families homesteading the area. He was great and full of stories about gigantic Atlantic Salmon swimming from the ocean up rivers and through lakes and up more rivers to the spot he was going to drop us off at. Some of the fish he caught were 65lbs (30kg) WOWWEEE!!!
The whole 37km of dirt road was INCREDIBLE!! The waterfalls, rivers, mountains and forests were so beautiful and we didnt care that it was raining and that most people just drove right by us without a care. Once we got to the end of the road we had to find the trail to the border that went around the lake. Whew! It was a bit braided and scattered and I would end up off trail many times but it was beautiful. The old´growth beech tree forests were something you would imagine Robinhood riding out of. The lichens and moss growing on the trees gave the area a surreal feeling. We were surrounded by hanging glaciers and mountains the whole time, while saying good bye to Fitzroy and Cerros Torres. We could see those towers on and off through the clouds the whole way around the lake. We ended up camping at the border crossing from Argentina to Chile and had the best camp spot with no one around us. The next morning we stopped at the office got our passports stamped and set out to hike the 22kms. I was scared that I couldn´t make the 22km before 5pm (ferry departs at 5pm) as it was a mountain pass that we had to cross to get into Chile and the next ferry wasn´t for a couple more days. The whole day was ours until we saw this lone bicyclist coming up the road.. (oh, the first 7km was a hiking trail with many water crossings and the 15km was a desolete dirt road) The cyclist was a happy young French guy named Marc. He told us how he spent the last 9 days in Villa OHiggins where we are headed. He was happy to know that he had just topped out on the pass after his grueling uphill grind with his heavy touring bike and it was downhill from there. BOO! but now we have the steep downhill to go to get to the ferry and the Chilean border station. I have decided I would rather go uphill with a heavy pack on my back than the knee crushing downhill. I get blisters on the downhill. WOW! and what a trip down it was. We passed deep river gorges with the most incredible colored glacial water that pours into Lago OHiggins an equally beautiful lake. I coined it as Lake Powell on steroids....Except this lake is NOT manmade with water so aqua in color it makes your eyes hurt.
So, we made it to the dock for the ferry after getting our passports stamped again. Boy! I am going to need new pages in my new passport. We say Hola to this young guy that is obviously waiting for the same ferry. After we exchange hellos the inevitable ¨¨where are you from¨¨ comes out. We told him Durango, CO and he said that had just worked last year near Durango.....AH! He told us he worked in Mancus, CO!!! NO WAY!!! WHAT??? This is the little town I lived in before moving to Denver just outside of Durango.....NO WAY...No one has heard of Mancus!! hehehe.....and here we were 3 people in the middle of no WHERE Patagonia and we have ties to that little town. His name is Aaron and he was all of 24 years old and he has done more things in his life than most could dream of. He grew up in Eagle, AK 20 miles from town off the grid with parents that trapped for a living. He was now a part time river guide on the Baker River here in Chile. He had just done the same hiking trip from El Chalten as we did.....Yet he hooked up with some Yosemite, CA climbers that were in El Chalten and attempted Egger tower next to Fitzroy. Wow! The kid had amazing stories and travels around Patagonia when not guiding the river here. He was full of stories and tips about the National Parks that we are heading to. Oh yes, and he also told us that Torres del Paine´s fire WAS started by some idiot that didnt know how to use a camp stove, as we suspected (YES! Torres del Paine caught fire after we left and we read that 30,000 acres around Glacier Gray have burned and the park is closed now)
Whew! We have been so lucky to see the sights that we have seen......The good weather that has seemed to have followed us is amazing. After awhile of chatting with Aaron, our ferry comes as planned! We get on the first ferry of the new year....yipee and it was on time! Now 2.5 hours on a fairly rough ride to Villa Ohiggins....I didnt get sick and kept myself busy by focusing on Aarons stories. Whew! we made it and the ferry company had a bus to take us to town...yeah! we didnt have to hike anymore. So now we are resting at El Mosco hostel. We both are now suffering horrible head colds and are so happy to have to wait till Friday for the next bus out of here. We are now at the mercy of the sporatic buses that run only on certain days. It is fine with us as we are loving the remoteness of the area. We may attempt the hike to the hanging Mosco glacier but that depends on our health it is probably better to rest.....We are enjoying just staying put and soaking in the lack of noise here. We are the only guests at the moment as everyone left on the AM bus our first morning. The hostel owner is from Spain and built the hostel 8 years ago. Mind you, this is the literal ¨¨End of the road¨¨ for the Carretera Austral (The Southern Highway) It just ends here!! and you have to hike from here. There is a couple from France that is here working at the hostel until they get itchy feet and head out on their bicycles. They are on a long exteded bike trip thru South America and like to stop for awhile in places before moving on. It is funny how we say we are traveling for 2 months and most ask us why such a short time but Americans think we are nuts leaving for so long...heheh.
Well, I am not sure where to start or even where I left off.
We are now in Villa O´Higgins, Chile at the end of the Southern Highway,The Carretera Austral. We got here from hitchhiking 37 km from El Chalten then hiking 12 hard kilometers around Lago de Desierto leaving the view of Fitzroy and Cerros Torres behind us. We camped at the Argentinian border crossing for the night and headed out the next morning to hike another 22km into Chile for the ferry crossing. The trip was incredible.
We were first picked up by a family in two cars heading to a swanky resort. The daughter was probably in trouble with her family. We were a bit smelly and our packs could hardly fit into the vehicles and her husbands Mate spilled in the car (Argentinians LOVE their Mate) as we shoved ourselves into the back seat with Mike´s pack in our laps. Opps! but I figure her Karma cup is full by making her family take us the 15km down the dirt road on New Years Eve in the rain. Yes, it was raining that day on and off.
We were then picked up by a fly fishing guide who had lived in El Chalten for 37 years. He moved to the tiny town as a baby with only 6 other families homesteading the area. He was great and full of stories about gigantic Atlantic Salmon swimming from the ocean up rivers and through lakes and up more rivers to the spot he was going to drop us off at. Some of the fish he caught were 65lbs (30kg) WOWWEEE!!!
The whole 37km of dirt road was INCREDIBLE!! The waterfalls, rivers, mountains and forests were so beautiful and we didnt care that it was raining and that most people just drove right by us without a care. Once we got to the end of the road we had to find the trail to the border that went around the lake. Whew! It was a bit braided and scattered and I would end up off trail many times but it was beautiful. The old´growth beech tree forests were something you would imagine Robinhood riding out of. The lichens and moss growing on the trees gave the area a surreal feeling. We were surrounded by hanging glaciers and mountains the whole time, while saying good bye to Fitzroy and Cerros Torres. We could see those towers on and off through the clouds the whole way around the lake. We ended up camping at the border crossing from Argentina to Chile and had the best camp spot with no one around us. The next morning we stopped at the office got our passports stamped and set out to hike the 22kms. I was scared that I couldn´t make the 22km before 5pm (ferry departs at 5pm) as it was a mountain pass that we had to cross to get into Chile and the next ferry wasn´t for a couple more days. The whole day was ours until we saw this lone bicyclist coming up the road.. (oh, the first 7km was a hiking trail with many water crossings and the 15km was a desolete dirt road) The cyclist was a happy young French guy named Marc. He told us how he spent the last 9 days in Villa OHiggins where we are headed. He was happy to know that he had just topped out on the pass after his grueling uphill grind with his heavy touring bike and it was downhill from there. BOO! but now we have the steep downhill to go to get to the ferry and the Chilean border station. I have decided I would rather go uphill with a heavy pack on my back than the knee crushing downhill. I get blisters on the downhill. WOW! and what a trip down it was. We passed deep river gorges with the most incredible colored glacial water that pours into Lago OHiggins an equally beautiful lake. I coined it as Lake Powell on steroids....Except this lake is NOT manmade with water so aqua in color it makes your eyes hurt.
So, we made it to the dock for the ferry after getting our passports stamped again. Boy! I am going to need new pages in my new passport. We say Hola to this young guy that is obviously waiting for the same ferry. After we exchange hellos the inevitable ¨¨where are you from¨¨ comes out. We told him Durango, CO and he said that had just worked last year near Durango.....AH! He told us he worked in Mancus, CO!!! NO WAY!!! WHAT??? This is the little town I lived in before moving to Denver just outside of Durango.....NO WAY...No one has heard of Mancus!! hehehe.....and here we were 3 people in the middle of no WHERE Patagonia and we have ties to that little town. His name is Aaron and he was all of 24 years old and he has done more things in his life than most could dream of. He grew up in Eagle, AK 20 miles from town off the grid with parents that trapped for a living. He was now a part time river guide on the Baker River here in Chile. He had just done the same hiking trip from El Chalten as we did.....Yet he hooked up with some Yosemite, CA climbers that were in El Chalten and attempted Egger tower next to Fitzroy. Wow! The kid had amazing stories and travels around Patagonia when not guiding the river here. He was full of stories and tips about the National Parks that we are heading to. Oh yes, and he also told us that Torres del Paine´s fire WAS started by some idiot that didnt know how to use a camp stove, as we suspected (YES! Torres del Paine caught fire after we left and we read that 30,000 acres around Glacier Gray have burned and the park is closed now)
Whew! We have been so lucky to see the sights that we have seen......The good weather that has seemed to have followed us is amazing. After awhile of chatting with Aaron, our ferry comes as planned! We get on the first ferry of the new year....yipee and it was on time! Now 2.5 hours on a fairly rough ride to Villa Ohiggins....I didnt get sick and kept myself busy by focusing on Aarons stories. Whew! we made it and the ferry company had a bus to take us to town...yeah! we didnt have to hike anymore. So now we are resting at El Mosco hostel. We both are now suffering horrible head colds and are so happy to have to wait till Friday for the next bus out of here. We are now at the mercy of the sporatic buses that run only on certain days. It is fine with us as we are loving the remoteness of the area. We may attempt the hike to the hanging Mosco glacier but that depends on our health it is probably better to rest.....We are enjoying just staying put and soaking in the lack of noise here. We are the only guests at the moment as everyone left on the AM bus our first morning. The hostel owner is from Spain and built the hostel 8 years ago. Mind you, this is the literal ¨¨End of the road¨¨ for the Carretera Austral (The Southern Highway) It just ends here!! and you have to hike from here. There is a couple from France that is here working at the hostel until they get itchy feet and head out on their bicycles. They are on a long exteded bike trip thru South America and like to stop for awhile in places before moving on. It is funny how we say we are traveling for 2 months and most ask us why such a short time but Americans think we are nuts leaving for so long...heheh.
The Els. Calafate and Chalten.
Our trip to Argentina began with a trip to the bus station in Punta Arenas where we met an Italian Mountain Guide who had just returned from a successful climb of Cerro Torre. It was his 4th attempt but he said it was not too hard. Only 37 pitches of 5.10+.... The bus trip to Rio Gallegos was 6 hours long most of which was spent at immigration at the border crossing. We had 4 hours in Rio Gallegos and went on a walk in search of town but didn't find anything other than endless sprawl. We managed to make it to El Calafate by midnight though and found a hostel for the night.
We spent one day in El Calafate, walking around town, shopping, and going for a run along the lakefront. It is a very touristy place, reminiscent of a Colorado mountain town. All the amenities were there but all at a high price, although the hostel are cheaper then anyplace else on our trip. nevertheless it is a pleasant place to recuperate for a day or two.
On the way to El Chalten I sat next to a Spanish traveler names Jose. He had a lot of positive energy and was fun to talk to. My Spanish was better than his English so I finally got a chance to speak it. He had traveled through the American west and was familiar with my area. The bus was a beautiful drive on a clear day so we could see Fitzroy from over 2 hours away. We were very lucky. We arrived in time to hike up to the Mirador Fitzroy which was quite impressive. We also found a brew pub with some tasty beer which is quite rare in the southern hemisphere. Of course we ran into fellow Coloradoans at the brewpub.... The next day we hiked to Lago Torre at the base of Cerro Torre. The hike up was quite nice but while we sat at the lake a windstorm came in and it got dusty fast. Made the hike back to town a bit difficult. On the hike we ran into my friend Jose and the mountain guide we met in Punta Arenas. It's fun to see the same people over and over again and feel like you have friends in town.
The wind roared all night and all the next day. We managed to get in a short hike to a point that looked south and east over beautiful lakes and pampas. We will be sad to leave El Chalten. It has been our favorite place so far. Small, quirky, and lots of trails. While there are many places providing services you don't get the impression that everyone is fighting for your money. Nevertheless we are very much looking forward to the next phase of our trip. The Carreterra Austral through wild Patagonia!
We spent one day in El Calafate, walking around town, shopping, and going for a run along the lakefront. It is a very touristy place, reminiscent of a Colorado mountain town. All the amenities were there but all at a high price, although the hostel are cheaper then anyplace else on our trip. nevertheless it is a pleasant place to recuperate for a day or two.
On the way to El Chalten I sat next to a Spanish traveler names Jose. He had a lot of positive energy and was fun to talk to. My Spanish was better than his English so I finally got a chance to speak it. He had traveled through the American west and was familiar with my area. The bus was a beautiful drive on a clear day so we could see Fitzroy from over 2 hours away. We were very lucky. We arrived in time to hike up to the Mirador Fitzroy which was quite impressive. We also found a brew pub with some tasty beer which is quite rare in the southern hemisphere. Of course we ran into fellow Coloradoans at the brewpub.... The next day we hiked to Lago Torre at the base of Cerro Torre. The hike up was quite nice but while we sat at the lake a windstorm came in and it got dusty fast. Made the hike back to town a bit difficult. On the hike we ran into my friend Jose and the mountain guide we met in Punta Arenas. It's fun to see the same people over and over again and feel like you have friends in town.
The wind roared all night and all the next day. We managed to get in a short hike to a point that looked south and east over beautiful lakes and pampas. We will be sad to leave El Chalten. It has been our favorite place so far. Small, quirky, and lots of trails. While there are many places providing services you don't get the impression that everyone is fighting for your money. Nevertheless we are very much looking forward to the next phase of our trip. The Carreterra Austral through wild Patagonia!
Punto Arenas
On the recommendation of a nice Italian gal we met in Puerto Natales we headed straight to the Hospedaje Independencia when we arrived in Punto Arenas. It was a good choice. Eduardo was very friendly and the hostel was full of interesting people. On the way there we walked right by the LM Gould, the ship Suzy was going to see, and the offices of the US Antarctic Support program. Suzy worked for the program prior to this trip as a buyer and had to send many things to Punta Arenas to load on the Gould for transfer to the Palmer station. It was fun for her to see the port and the ship and visit with old friends. Also very interesting for me.
Saturday we slept in and went for a run along the waterfront to the Zona Franca, the duty free area where you can buy fancy American and European cars, ship motors and other goods. We had been told it was the cheapest and best place to shop but we found it quite the opposite. We also found a fun little coffee shop with a leftist bent on the beach. Saturday night was the big Christmas party where Eduardo roasted a lamb and much other meat. We spent the evening with fellow travelers from all over the world and came away rejuvenated, inspired, and encouraged. Also I discovered the power of Pisco : )
Sunday was spent recovering and I attempted to go on a tour to visit the Penguinos. Turns out they didn't run on Sunday but I had a nice two hour walk through town. We enjoyed Punta Arenas very much. It seemed like a very livable town, with greenways, public exercise equipment, a couple skateparks, etc. Also lots of strip clubs and we suspect prostitution, but it IS a port city after all.
Saturday we slept in and went for a run along the waterfront to the Zona Franca, the duty free area where you can buy fancy American and European cars, ship motors and other goods. We had been told it was the cheapest and best place to shop but we found it quite the opposite. We also found a fun little coffee shop with a leftist bent on the beach. Saturday night was the big Christmas party where Eduardo roasted a lamb and much other meat. We spent the evening with fellow travelers from all over the world and came away rejuvenated, inspired, and encouraged. Also I discovered the power of Pisco : )
Sunday was spent recovering and I attempted to go on a tour to visit the Penguinos. Turns out they didn't run on Sunday but I had a nice two hour walk through town. We enjoyed Punta Arenas very much. It seemed like a very livable town, with greenways, public exercise equipment, a couple skateparks, etc. Also lots of strip clubs and we suspect prostitution, but it IS a port city after all.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Heading South!
On the way home from Torres del Paine our stomachs began to grumble. 8 days of oatmeal and instant soup will do that I guess... We managed to find a hostel much cheaper then any other we had seen in Puerto Natales. Our new motto? Follow the isreali's!!! First stop? A long hot shower! Afterwards we returned to Mesita Grande for fresh salad and wood fired pizza! And a new first for me. Corn as a topping on pizza. Dinner was followed by a stop at Baguales, a brewpub for tasty local cerveza's.
In one more example of how small the world is, Suzy and I were there on the recommendation of a friend of hers from work. By odd coincidence I happened to meet the guy through a completely unrelated friend a few months before Suzy and I began dating. At the brewpub we struck up a conversation with another American and it turned out he was an NSF scientist returning from Antartica who had just spent 4 days crossing the drake passage with the same guy who had recommended the place to Suzy and I.... So we were all there on the recommendation of a person that we had all met through completely different circumstances. This is why I love travelling!
Our hostel was so inexpensive and pleasant that we stayed another day to rest and prepare for the next day of our journey. We slept in, found a great coffe shop overlooking the Sound of Lost Hope, purchased bus tickets, did some grocery shopping, caught up with friends, and cooked a nice meal. The next day we got the bus to Punta Arenas...
In one more example of how small the world is, Suzy and I were there on the recommendation of a friend of hers from work. By odd coincidence I happened to meet the guy through a completely unrelated friend a few months before Suzy and I began dating. At the brewpub we struck up a conversation with another American and it turned out he was an NSF scientist returning from Antartica who had just spent 4 days crossing the drake passage with the same guy who had recommended the place to Suzy and I.... So we were all there on the recommendation of a person that we had all met through completely different circumstances. This is why I love travelling!
Torres del Paine
Suzy - Well, we made it back to civilization!!! After 8 days and 65 miles on foot with all we needed on our backs, we are back in P. Natales. WOW! It was incredible and I am not sure where to start. AH! How to describe the beauty and colors of a place that is indescribable? The lakes and rivers took on these incredible aqua and green colors and as the light shifted and was filtered thru clouds it changed again. The towers were sooo amazing! No matter how many times you see the photos of them once you top out on a rough rocky climb, words cant describe once again. Then there was the French Valley AH! 360 degrees of just the most incredible mnt valley after a trail that took you over amazing rivers and thru beech tree forests. I did take a video and not sure how to down load at this time!
Days of hard hiking with heavy packs with 10 days of food in them was TOUGH! and having to move out of oncoming hiking traffic made it a bit worse. How come I am always the one to move out of the way for hikers to pass? Oh well, it filled the Karma Kup and we had the most amazing weather. Hot, Sunny and NO WIND for most of the days! I got a little sunburned but not bad. Then the Glacier Grey! WOWwee! We could see it for miles away and as we got closer and closer you could see the wild blue streaks in the ice. Oh and the icebergs that had calved off the glacier were so odd to see floating on the lake and getting stuck on the shoreline. So, we ended up camping up next to the glacier and headed out for a little day hike.....CAN you say WIND??? 70 knot winds met us on the side of the mountain with the glacier a 1000 feet below us and only spikey thorny bushes to save us if we blew off...I could hardly keep my feet on the ground and a couple of times had to hit the ground so not to blow off......we laughed as the trail crew had built railings in areas not so windy but the windy steep spots were unprotected.. On that note, we noted that there were these sturdy boardwalks across the wetland area but bridges over mountain rivers could hold only 2 personas.....WHAT? the boardwalk over boggy wetland could hold an army but the bridge spanning a raging river could hold only two people at one time the sign said??? Then there were the super sketchy spots that we had to scramble and crawl (me) down into a ravine with stair stepped waterfalls to carefully cross the waterfall. At one point I had to take off my heavy pack so I COULD get down a loose sketchy spot and Mike handed me my pack and I tried to slide it down further from me and WHOOP there it went....bouncing down the embankment....bounce bounce bounce!! Right over the waterfall 30 feet away... There goes my camera!!! AND my passport and my money and my water and my clothes and worst of all our Cadbury chocolate candy bar!!! SHIT!! Mike saved the day with me pleading him to not go after it.....He scaled the rocks to the waterfall and got my pack.....Once it was back in my hands, I realized the water bottle was still on the ledge......so, he went back for it saying something like he has seen seals swallow waterbottles........whew! then we had to climb back to the other side......
So, Mike saved the pack and our candy bar.....oh how I needed calories! We have been living on crackers, cheese, oatmeal and chicken soups. Oh yes, Mike had brought some 5 year old cous cous, freeze dried re fried beans and lentil soup to be added to our meals. It wasn`t so bad after 5 years on his shelf and it got us down the trail. SO the 4 dollar candy bar was a REAL treat and we didnt want to lose it.......oh for those of you not used to my emails from the field.....I rarely pay attention to details like spelling and punctuation.... Someday as many friends and family want me to do, I might write a book and these will be rough drafts at best.
HUM.....So, granite towers (torres), beech forrests, glaciers, icebergs, imense valleys and lakes of crazy colors, we make it to a refugio and a camp spot with a shower!! WOOOWWWEEEE!! Hallelujah! a shower! and not so fresh clothes that were washed out in a mountain stream AND an enclosed kitchen area to make dinner out of the eliments! Life is good!! So after struggling, pushing and shoving our way to a table that seemed vacent we found our spot in the kitchen. We were among so many different nationalities and languages being spoken. Everyone wanted out of the eliments as the wind, rain and cold was moving in...We were setting up our kitchen space on a table (the room was round and surrounded with windows so you could see the lake, mountains and weather all around us) I had to rescue Mike`s spot several times from people trying to move in at the picnic table....wow! no wonder countries can´t get along....where are everyone`s manners.......our dinner was done our bellies were fat and the ^London School of Business kids had pushed us out of our spot. I can only imagine how ruthless they will be in business after being litterally pushed out of our place at the table and then they just starred at us to clean our kitchen spot too...damnn the world is in for it!....
We went to our campsite! only two days left of easy hiking in the pampas and dreams of seeing Gunacos and pumas were in our heads (small camels and mountain lions) The two days of hiking left were awesome and EASY! whew! we followed a swollen river full of glacial silt. The scenery was so like my beloved WY and Mikes beloved MT....It resembled the Yellowstone or the Snake River valley so much. We were half expecting to see bison or elk wandering the grassland but we were super hopeful to see the small camels or mnt lions that do live in the area. Nope! there were none to be seen or heard....dang! How could this fertile land not have animals roaming and grazing....oh well we did see some ibis birds that have a much loader voice than should come out of their bodies.....and the song birds were amazing as well......whew! we are almost done...
We made it to the administration building and had a couple hours to wait for the bus to take us back to Puerto Natales....WE DID IT! We hiked the W in Torres de Paine and had the most incredible weather. The trails were tough at times and I had to yell at my legs to keep going up at times and now have some blisters to contend with but we DID it! The bus came and as we were driving out of the park.....THERE were all the guanacos and rea birds they where all along the dirt road out of the park.......some things are very similar here to our beautiful parks in the US and some things are quite different.....like speed limits, not hitting the animals and staying on your side of the road in a big BIG bus.....We made it to Puerta Natales and found a cheap cheap cheap hostel so we are staying for an extra day....next is Punta Arenas and maybe a tour of the Lawrence M Gould......we know its in port as we met an NSF guy at the brew pub last night.....that is another story for another time.....but it is a small world....Ciao for now!! we are heading to have our laundry WASHED in machines and a CAFE CON LECHE VANILLA!!! YUM!
Mike - all I have to add is my experience in a new ecosystem a biologist. Like Suzy said, at first glance the landscape appears very similar to Wyoming or Montana. A closer look however reveals a biological bizzaro world suitable for a geeky episode of the twilight zone. All the trees that appear to be pines and juniper are actually southern beech species. Conifers have not made it this far south and beech trees appear to have undergone an adaptive radiation to take their place. Beeches appear like common juniper, pinyon pine and larger mountain species as well. That rabbitbrush? Appears to be some type of thorny succulent on closer examination. Some things appear to be similar but much larger, others are similar but much smaller. And when you turn a corner on the road expecting elk or bison you see Guanaco's or Rhea's instead. I could go on but you get the point... Overall a terrific experience and one that I would recommend highly to one and all.
Days of hard hiking with heavy packs with 10 days of food in them was TOUGH! and having to move out of oncoming hiking traffic made it a bit worse. How come I am always the one to move out of the way for hikers to pass? Oh well, it filled the Karma Kup and we had the most amazing weather. Hot, Sunny and NO WIND for most of the days! I got a little sunburned but not bad. Then the Glacier Grey! WOWwee! We could see it for miles away and as we got closer and closer you could see the wild blue streaks in the ice. Oh and the icebergs that had calved off the glacier were so odd to see floating on the lake and getting stuck on the shoreline. So, we ended up camping up next to the glacier and headed out for a little day hike.....CAN you say WIND??? 70 knot winds met us on the side of the mountain with the glacier a 1000 feet below us and only spikey thorny bushes to save us if we blew off...I could hardly keep my feet on the ground and a couple of times had to hit the ground so not to blow off......we laughed as the trail crew had built railings in areas not so windy but the windy steep spots were unprotected.. On that note, we noted that there were these sturdy boardwalks across the wetland area but bridges over mountain rivers could hold only 2 personas.....WHAT? the boardwalk over boggy wetland could hold an army but the bridge spanning a raging river could hold only two people at one time the sign said??? Then there were the super sketchy spots that we had to scramble and crawl (me) down into a ravine with stair stepped waterfalls to carefully cross the waterfall. At one point I had to take off my heavy pack so I COULD get down a loose sketchy spot and Mike handed me my pack and I tried to slide it down further from me and WHOOP there it went....bouncing down the embankment....bounce bounce bounce!! Right over the waterfall 30 feet away... There goes my camera!!! AND my passport and my money and my water and my clothes and worst of all our Cadbury chocolate candy bar!!! SHIT!! Mike saved the day with me pleading him to not go after it.....He scaled the rocks to the waterfall and got my pack.....Once it was back in my hands, I realized the water bottle was still on the ledge......so, he went back for it saying something like he has seen seals swallow waterbottles........whew! then we had to climb back to the other side......
So, Mike saved the pack and our candy bar.....oh how I needed calories! We have been living on crackers, cheese, oatmeal and chicken soups. Oh yes, Mike had brought some 5 year old cous cous, freeze dried re fried beans and lentil soup to be added to our meals. It wasn`t so bad after 5 years on his shelf and it got us down the trail. SO the 4 dollar candy bar was a REAL treat and we didnt want to lose it.......oh for those of you not used to my emails from the field.....I rarely pay attention to details like spelling and punctuation.... Someday as many friends and family want me to do, I might write a book and these will be rough drafts at best.
HUM.....So, granite towers (torres), beech forrests, glaciers, icebergs, imense valleys and lakes of crazy colors, we make it to a refugio and a camp spot with a shower!! WOOOWWWEEEE!! Hallelujah! a shower! and not so fresh clothes that were washed out in a mountain stream AND an enclosed kitchen area to make dinner out of the eliments! Life is good!! So after struggling, pushing and shoving our way to a table that seemed vacent we found our spot in the kitchen. We were among so many different nationalities and languages being spoken. Everyone wanted out of the eliments as the wind, rain and cold was moving in...We were setting up our kitchen space on a table (the room was round and surrounded with windows so you could see the lake, mountains and weather all around us) I had to rescue Mike`s spot several times from people trying to move in at the picnic table....wow! no wonder countries can´t get along....where are everyone`s manners.......our dinner was done our bellies were fat and the ^London School of Business kids had pushed us out of our spot. I can only imagine how ruthless they will be in business after being litterally pushed out of our place at the table and then they just starred at us to clean our kitchen spot too...damnn the world is in for it!....
We went to our campsite! only two days left of easy hiking in the pampas and dreams of seeing Gunacos and pumas were in our heads (small camels and mountain lions) The two days of hiking left were awesome and EASY! whew! we followed a swollen river full of glacial silt. The scenery was so like my beloved WY and Mikes beloved MT....It resembled the Yellowstone or the Snake River valley so much. We were half expecting to see bison or elk wandering the grassland but we were super hopeful to see the small camels or mnt lions that do live in the area. Nope! there were none to be seen or heard....dang! How could this fertile land not have animals roaming and grazing....oh well we did see some ibis birds that have a much loader voice than should come out of their bodies.....and the song birds were amazing as well......whew! we are almost done...
We made it to the administration building and had a couple hours to wait for the bus to take us back to Puerto Natales....WE DID IT! We hiked the W in Torres de Paine and had the most incredible weather. The trails were tough at times and I had to yell at my legs to keep going up at times and now have some blisters to contend with but we DID it! The bus came and as we were driving out of the park.....THERE were all the guanacos and rea birds they where all along the dirt road out of the park.......some things are very similar here to our beautiful parks in the US and some things are quite different.....like speed limits, not hitting the animals and staying on your side of the road in a big BIG bus.....We made it to Puerta Natales and found a cheap cheap cheap hostel so we are staying for an extra day....next is Punta Arenas and maybe a tour of the Lawrence M Gould......we know its in port as we met an NSF guy at the brew pub last night.....that is another story for another time.....but it is a small world....Ciao for now!! we are heading to have our laundry WASHED in machines and a CAFE CON LECHE VANILLA!!! YUM!
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