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.