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Craig and Steph Hike in Patagonia

Part 1 of our 3 part Chilean adventure. We hike the \"W Circuit\" in gorgeous Torres del Paine National Park on the Pure Patagonia Trip. Photos and text originally published at our web site http://www.craigandstephsvacations.com
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Photo Album

New Year's Eve on a Plane

Dec 31, 2004
Photo by Stephanie Smith
As we have been very happy with our previous trips to Peru, Guatemala, and Belize through Adventure Life, we decided to book some trips to Chile through them. After much planning, and deciding what we both really wanted to see and what we would have to forego, we decided on three distinct trips strung together. The first would be their Pure Patagonia trip, which involves hiking the so-called "W-Circuit" in Torres del Paine National Park. We would head to the Lakes District to do a sea kayaking and horse trek extension. Then it would be off to Easter Island. These three trips seemed to fit together to give us a good overview of Chile yet left plenty of opportunity to come back and see more someday. Prior to departure, we went to the Lahey Travel and Tropical Medicine Clinic. It turned out that all of our immunizations were still valid, and neither Chile nor Easter Island was a danger zone for malaria. We were given a TB test (as we hadn't had one since returning from Guatemala and Belize) and were issued some antibiotics to take with us, just in case. Today was New Year's Eve, and Craig and I both had the day off from work. We had been up until about midnight last night preparing for the trip, and we still had some additional packing to do. So we woke up at 7:00 am and got right to work. We ordered pizza for lunch, and while we were eating, our friends Tom and Karen stopped in to say goodbye. It was pretty warm (in the 40's) and the snow was melting like crazy. Steve drove us to the airport, and we left the house at around 3:00. The airport was pretty quiet when we got there. We checked in at the Air Canada desk and got our seat assignments. The clerk told us that the flight wasn't very full (which would turn out to be an understatement). We went to our gate (the same one we had been at on our last flight to Toronto) and waited. We bought some water and juice. Suddenly Craig realized he had left a banana on the counter at home. He had meant to dispose of it properly but got sidetracked. The thought of coming home to a house full of fruit flies was just too much so we called Steve and asked him to do something with it. He laughed and said he would. The flight was almost ready to board and there were very few people waiting at the gate. Everyone seemed to be on their cell phones making plans for the evening when, at a little after 6:00, our flight started boarding. We were the first coach people to board the plane, and we were in row 28, the second to last row. The nearest people were three rows in front of us. We had an aisle and a window seat with noone in between. The flight attendant asked about our trip. We had a nice conversation and she seemed very interested in our plans. The flight took off on time, and we were served our favorite Air Canada snack: Clodhoppers (little chunks of graham cracker covered in white chocolate) and cranberry juice. We watched a bit of the English language news and since the flight was only an hour and a half, we were there in no time at all. There were probably only about 50 passengers on the flight, so service and deplaning happened very quickly. This had us thinking about the total amount of time we would be spending in airports over the next three weeks. With a total of 12 different flights in 5 different countries we would spend over 3 days on a plane not even counting airport wait time. This short hop proved to be a lot more overhead but the next flight would surely make up for that. We arrived at Terminal 2 in Toronto. There was a light rain but the weather was well above freezing. This was fortunate as delays in Canada could throw off everything. We were initially a bit concerned about planning a flight through Canada in winter. We went through customs and had our passports stamped. The airport was empty and there are very few signs telling you where to go. Fortunately we had just been to this airport on our Vancouver trip, so we went upstairs and outside to catch the bus to Terminal 1. We went through security there and then outside to catch another bus to the "infield" gates. It was a rather amusing drive across the airport grounds. More than once we needed to yield to planes getting towed by. When we got to the infield terminals, we found a currency exchange booth. We wanted to have a little bit of local currency when we arrived so we exchanged some U.S. money for Chilean pesos (at a very poor exchange rate, might I add), and then headed to gate 531. I took out my journal and then realized that my unopened water bottle was missing! Craig said he thought he knew where I left it, so he went back to the currency exchange and found it - still sealed. Hooray! We had a lot of time to kill so we took some pictures at the gate of Craig sprawled out on the seats relaxing. Unlike Logan Airport in Boston, there were no pesky armrests, so you could fully lay down across seats. While waiting, a whole group of airline personnel came along chatting up a storm. They were telling some rather funny stories about their families and some of the incidents that had occured over Christmas. It seems any time families gather there are always funny stories to be heard and this kept us entertained. Meanwhile a small boy, maybe 7 years old, was playing with a whoopie-cushion and having a great time. We could only hope this was a temporary thing and not one that would persist for the 14 hour flight to come. We boarded the flight at about 10:30 pm and took our seats, again in the second to last row. The plane finally took off at a little after 11:00. We had a spastic toddler seated in front of us and a lady who insisted she NEEDED three seats to lay down to our right. She went on and on about how she made that clear to the woman at check-in, and that they have to let her have three seats so she could lay down. She NEEDED them, afterall. Her husband, who also had three seats in front of her, also needed to lay down. Of course it turned out that she was sprawled across the seats used by the crew. After a bit of shuffling, she was able to get her much needed seats in another row. Meanwhile, Craig and I were making the most of our single seats but found that our overhead reading lights kept turning on automatically. We noticed this was true with everyone else's on the plane. Good luck if you were trying to sleep. We found it particularly entertaining as the lights kept shining right on the woman's face as she tried to sleep. This only lasted for a few minutes and then straightened out for the remainder of the flight. Craig immediately noticed something about this plane that concerned him. What has happened to the individual air controls? It seems many planes no longer allow you to control the air blowing on you which means you are at the mercy of the old folks that are always too cold on the plane. Craig likes the cool air blowing on him as the air is always so stagnant on airplanes. As midnight approached, we wondered if there would be any acknowledgement of the arrival of 2005 on the flight.

Santiago

Jan 01, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
At midnight they announced the New Year and someone blew a party horn over the intercom. It was very sudden and loud causing quite a few sleeping passengers to jump in their seats. It was pretty funny as I don't think they expected it to be that loud through the intercom. One brave flight attendant donned a party hat, and the others soon followed suit. They gave out wine for a toast, and then the meal arrived. It was a cold plate of beef, potato salad, and shredded carrots in mayo. We also had fruit, bread, cheese, and crackers. They handed out free headphones and we started to watch "Shark Tale". It was pretty cute, but it was hard to see all of the sight gags on the small screen and we both started getting rather drowsy. At around 1 o'clock we both fell asleep. Craig woke up in the middle of the night and watched part of a National Geographic "Amazing Race"-style show without headphones. I woke up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom. We then napped a bit more. They served us a weird little cucumber, cheese, tomato, and mayo sandwich. Next the hot towels were passed out. How refreshing! Then breakfast was served. Craig got eggs and I got cinnamon French toast. We had croissants, bread, fruit, and yogurt. While we were eating, the woman in front of us changed her spastic toddler's diaper in the seat. She didn't think to use the changing table in the bathroom. No, she simply used the table that the rest of us normally use to eat. We were both rather disgusted by this behavior and we will never again think of airplane seat-back trays as generally clean. Needless to say this did wonders for our appetite. Next thing we knew, she was walking around aimlessly trying to find a place to dispose of her diaper. After breakfast we watched a funny episode of "The Flintstones", "The Tycoon", where Fred changes personas with a business man. It was pretty funny. They told Fred that there are only three phrases he needs to use in business meetings: "Whose baby is that?", "What's your angle?" and "I'll buy that." It was funny how well it worked. Argentina, in its summer, is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Our flight was continuing to Santiago, but we had to deplane in Buenos Aires and go through (very loose) internal security. Anyone who set off the metal detector (including myself, I assume because of my boots) wasn't screened further. We hope they were a little more thorough with passengers not already inside the system. I went to the bathroom and by the time I got back to the gate it was time to reboard the same plane. We got settled in our same seats and immediately took our shoes off. We were served cold roast beef with potato salad, cheese and crackers, bread and butter, fruit, and a Cabsha chocolate (product of Argentina). It had a chocolate shell and the interior seemed to be mint, caramel, and gooey chocolate. We watched a $40/day show on Food Network where a woman named Rachael was travelling around, but we couldn't tell where she was since we weren't listening to the sound. The woman who needed three seats to lay down (who was still next to me) tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out the Andes out the left window of the plane (which was our side). We saw snow-capped peaks and what was clearly a volcano topped with a crater full of snow. Unfortunately the trip across the Andes came and went suddenly as we would have enjoyed viewing more. We finally arrived in Santiago at around 3:30 pm. We had to pay U.S. $100 apiece as part of a visa reciprocity fee. They stamped our passport as a receipt and stapled a receipt to the back page. We then got our passports stamped again and got our visitor's card stamped. We picked up our bags and went through customs with nothing to declare. They scanned our bags and the strap of my pocketbook got caught in the conveyor belt. One guy kept pulling on it and called out for someone to hit the emergency kill switch. Meanwhile he was trying to prevent it from being sucked in and torn apart but the strap was beginning to fray and soon there was a clump of thread forming on the roller. It was a good thing that it wasn't a real emergency, because it took them a good long time to stop it. Once they stopped it, they had to crank it by hand and finally got the strap out. Although it had seen better days it was pretty durable and handled this injury better than a human body part might have. Even though my pocketbook hadn't yet made it through the scanner, the man handed it back to me and said "Phew!" As we exited the airport we were approached by a gentleman who asked if we needed a cab. He said that he would take us to Hotel Orly for 12,000 pesos. (One U.S. dollar was around 580 pesos). We agreed and got into the car. As we exited the airport, we noticed that there were mountains in the distance in every direction, but that Santiago itself, situated in the valley, was pretty flat. Chile is broken up into 13 different regions, each with a name and a number. Region I is in the north and region XIII is at the southernmost tip. Santiago is located in the middle and is the only region without a Roman numeral attached to it. Santiago is centrally located between region V and region VI, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. Today was a holiday (New Year's Day) and we noticed that a lot of businesses were closed. We also noticed a lot of trash on the streets and assumed it must just be left over from last night's New Year's Eve festivities. We saw some teenagers breaking down what had apparently been a stage. It was pretty hot out. After a little more than half an hour later, we arrived at Hotel Orly and checked in. It was a nice boutique hotel. We went up to room 25, which was small but quite clean and comfortable. We relaxed in the room for a while and flipped channels on the TV, enjoying watching some subtitled shows. There were a lot of cable channels, some in English and some in Spanish. After a while we were both ready and we headed out. Our street (Pedro de Valdivia) was nice and lined with trees. We took a right turn onto the main road, Providencia. The streets were relatively empty, and most restaurants and shops were closed. This was clearly the business district of Santiago and by the look of the buildings the city is doing rather well. This was not the same as other large South or Central American cities we were used to. This entire city felt more like being in Europe and not South America. We noticed a crowd of people on one section of the sidewalk and eagerly walked by to see what all the fuss was about. It turned out to be a gelato shop called Bravissimo Gelateria. People were sitting on benches eating ice cream, people were sitting in their cars eating ice cream, people were inside the shop eating ice cream...it was obviously the place to be. The place was absolutely packed with lines extending onto the sidewalk. Since almost everything around us was empty, and this was such a big hit, we clearly had to try some for ourselves. We felt a little bit intimidated by the crowds and feeling suddenly thrust into another world, we weren't quite ready to settle down yet. We made a mental note of the place and continued our walk. After walking a bit further along we stopped at a very interesting tree growing out of the sidewalk. We sat for a little while on the stone wall surrounding the trunk. A little further down the road we came across another ice cream place. This store wasn't nearly as crowded. That was it, we decided that on our way back we would have to stop at Bravissimo Gelateria. When we arrived there, it was obvious that there was some kind of protocol to which we were not privy. There were various lines which each seemed to have their own purpose. We had no idea how to proceed. We decided to take a risk though, and observed how people seemed to line up at the cashier, pay, and then proceed to a line at the ice cream counters. So we did the same, and in Spanish ordered two single scoop cones. We paid and received our receipt, which we then brought to the ice cream counter and exchanged for the actual ice cream. After looking through all the different flavors available to us, Craig decided on frutos del bosque and I got frambruesa (raspberry). Both were very fresh and made with real berries. They were served in cups with upside-down cones on top. We were proud of ourselves for tackling the unknown and successfully obtaining ice cream without incident. We sat out at the sidewalk eating our refreshing treat in the late afternoon heat. It was suddenly summer after all. After that we walked some more, and passed a Dunkin Donuts a block up from our hotel. We noted that if we got tired of instant Nescafe (the staple coffee in South America) we could always stop in here for a taste of home. It really is a shame that all the good coffee seems to be set aside for export. Instant coffee is the norm everywhere we have travelled south of the United States. We walked through some shopping courtyards and passed some restaurants, but noticed that pretty much everything except for U.S. franchises was closed. We weren't really looking for dinner as we were getting tired and had already been awake for what seemed like two full days. We were about to stop in a Mexican restaurant for a drink and an appetizer when suddenly a woman wielding a menu approached us trying to coax us into the very cafe we were about to enter. Feeling like prey that had been spotted by circling vultures, we quickly said "no thanks" and decided we didn't really want food or drink anyway. We crossed the street to a park which contained a bridge over a canal. The canal is actually the Mapocho river but due to flooding risks a concrete walled canal was built to keep it under control. The canal's muddy water was running very fast, to the point of being whitewater. There were nice mountain vistas in the background. We walked through a cultural park and saw some interesting artwork. This was our first experience seeing how the Chilean people publicly display affection. Couples were cuddling, kissing and gently stroking each other every direction you looked. It was all very innocent yet it made us a little uncomfortable walking by while looking at the pieces of art. At around 8:00, we headed back to the Hotel Orly and noticed that a theater (Teatro Oriente) and a couple of restaurants and pubs (though they were not open today) were right next door. These might come in handy since we are coming back to this hotel two more times before this trip is over. We headed back to the room and put on the TV while we got our things prepared for tomorrow. We found an Elton John concert on TV and watched that while I journaled and we organized luggage. It started to finally get dark at about 9:15. We watched a bit of "Tony Bennett Unplugged" and finally went to bed at 10:00 and fell fast asleep.

Punto Arenas, Seno Otway Penguin Reserve, Puerto Natales

Jan 02, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
We woke up at 4:30 am and took nice hot showers with excellent water pressure. We wondered if this might be our last great shower for a few days. At 5:15 we headed downstairs and were met at the curb by Enrique, our Cascada Services representative who would provide our transfer to the airport. It was still quite dark and trees on our street were lit up with Christmas lights. Enrique pointed out a lot of sights on the way as we drove down Bernardo O'Higgins. We saw the national library, the Central Station designed by Eiffel and made of steel, and the President's house. There were many young adults out in the streets after a night of dancing. The streets were more packed with people at 5:30 in the morning than they had been in broad daylight yesterday. We saw one guy throw a punch at another in the street as we were stopped at a red light, but when the light changed his friends pulled him back to the curb. It wasn't a scary sight and actually seemed more comical than anything. Enrique made a comment on how this happens all the time after a night of dancing. He said that he was sure a woman was involved. We arrived at the airport shortly before 6:00, right as the sun was starting to rise. We checked in for our LanChile flight to Punta Arenas via Puerto Montt. There was a round atrium area which housed baggage claim, and in it was a huge statue made of suitcases piled on top of one another. This piece of art towered two stories high but the lighting was such that we couldn't get a photo of it. Maybe next time we came through the airport we'd have a better chance. We were so early that the security checkpoint wasn't even open yet. There was a Dunkin Donuts located just outside the checkpoint entrance and we coveted a cup of coffee. But it wasn't open yet either. After a short wait, security opened and we headed through. To our delight there was a Dunkin Donuts right at our gate. We watched as doughnut deliveries were made and they prepared to open. I could also use a doughnut, since our entire food experience in Santiago had consisted of a single ice cream and we had to leave the hotel before the free breakfast was served. I went to the counter but the Dunkies did not open prior to our 7 am boarding time. We were completely dumbfounded by this since we saw the doughnuts delivered. What else was needed? Why wouldn't they be open for more than 30 minutes? This was only a small counter yet we saw a dozen potential customers asking if they were open yet. So we boarded the plane without coffee, and boy did it show. I had apparently dropped my tourist card when boarding. The flight attendant was working her way down the aisle asking people if the card belonged to them. Craig was watching the woman getting frustrated not finding the owner so he finally asked whose name is on the card. She replied "Stephanie" and, seeing the look on my face, handed it to me. That wouldn't have been good to lose that on the first day! I guess I really needed some caffeine afterall. This time we were in the third to the last row. We were getting used to the backs of planes. It was a short flight, and I slept until food was delivered. We got warm ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit cup (peaches, pears, and pineapples), bread with jelly, coffee, and orange juice. It really hit the spot. At around 9 o'clock we landed in Puerto Montt. The sky was cloudy and there was some light rain falling. This was the first rain we saw in Chile and since we were just flying we wondered where it had come from. Just 2 minutes ago it was nice and sunny with a clear view of the farmland below. Hopefully this wasn't going to be a sign of the weather to come. The weather in southern Chile and Patagonia itself is notoriously fickle and we would be doing lots of hiking so we were hoping for the best. Passengers in transit stayed on the plane while it refueled. It was interesting watching the crew at the small airport. First the attendant set up the fuel truck, pulled out the fire extinguishers, and placed them in the proper position. Everything was very deliberate and clearly safety was the concern. The luggage attendants also approached the plane and swapped luggage on and off the plane accordingly. We noticed the daily newspapers making their way from the big city to the smaller destinations using the only reasonable transportation in such a long country. Some people got off the plane and a few others got on, including about 7 or 8 young men in military fatigues who sat behind us. After the plane finished refueling, we were on our way. Soon after leaving Puerto Montt the sky was clear again and the clouds and rain were history. Before we knew it, we were served another meal (cold chicken, potato salad, tomato, olives, bread and butter, a raspberry tart with whipped cream, coffee, and orange juice). By now we we were stuffed. We couldn't believe how often we were fed on these flights. In no time at all, our military neighbors were all fast asleep in their seats. I guess they will get sleep any chance they can. We watched a Discovery Travel Channel show on the world's best beaches. The segment on Phuket was sad in wake of the recent tsunami which devastated the area. Just before we left home the terrible tragedy struck and we had been thinking of the people that live there not even knowing just how widespread the damage had been. Before we knew it, we were landing in Punta Arenas, region 12, the southernmost region in Chile. The flight path overshot the city and we found ourselves completely over the Straits of Magellan before the pilot turned around and brought us in. The military folks were in a rush to get off the plane, so we ended up pretty much the last ones to disembark. By the time we got to the baggage carousel, our bags were already there waiting for us. We collected them and headed toward the exit where we saw a man holding a sign that said "Adventure Life, Smith". He turned out to be our guide, Cristian. We said hello and he led us to a waiting car. The driver loaded our bags into the trunk and we set off into Punta Arenas for lunch. Cristian asked what kind of food we would like and we replied something typically Chilean. He immediately responded, "Salmon", and told the driver our destination. Punta Arenas was a very quaint town that had the feeling of a frontier outpost. We passed the Magellenic Straits and could see Tierra del Fuego off in the distance. The town has colorful small buildings with corrugated tin roofs. It is right on the sea and had a very Alaska or Catlins area of New Zealand feel to it. You can tell which way the predominant winds blow by looking at the foliage, which is windswept in a particular direction. But the weather today was gorgeous, totally sunny and around 60 degrees. We had the windows down in the car. The driver dropped us and our bags at the Puerto Viejo restaurant. We stowed our luggage in a corner and took a table near a window. Craig and I got pisco sours and explained that we had had them in Peru. We told Cristian that we knew there was a rivalry between Peru and Chile when it comes to claiming responsibility for the Pisco sour. Cristian, with a giant smile, conceded that pisco originated in Peru, but said that Chile has the best grapes, so it is, by rights, theirs. Craig and Cristian each got grilled pejerrey (a type of fish). Craig got mashed potatoes with onion. I got ostiones a la parmesan (scallops in parmesan cheese sauce) that were deliciously fresh and tender. We chatted with Cristian, learning that he is 31 years old, lives in Puerto Natales, guides for most of the year, and works on his family's farm during the winter. We told him about our experiences in Santiago the day before, and that we had had some amazing ice cream. "At Bravissimo?" he asked. He laughed and said that it is a very famous ice cream place with several locations throughout Chile. As the meal was winding down, Cristian called the next driver, who showed up in a Mercedes. We paid the bill, collected our luggage, and headed out to the car. We were now off to Seno Otway (Otway Sound) Penguin Reserve. It was about an hour drive down a dusty dirt road. We passed some ñandús, which are ostrich-like birds. First we passed two adults. Then later on we saw a bunch of babies, one of which was significantly bigger than the others. Cristian told us some facts about the ñandús,. The males incubate the eggs and rear the children. When they encounter another family with a bigger offspring, they appropriate (kidnap) one to help them babysit their own young.We passed some sheep which were huddling in the shade of the undercut earth. Then we passed the Pecket Harbor coal mine, which is right next to the penguin reserve. There were railroad tracks running out to a small dock from which coal is loaded directly onto ships. The penguin reserve is on private land, and the people who run it do a fantastic job. They charge a small entrance fee (U.S. $5), and there are many signs telling people what to do and what not to do in both English and Spanish. There are boardwalks, bridges, small towers, and blinds for observing the penguins. A sign warns you not to stop on a certain bridge because your presence would interfere with penguins bringing food to their nests from the ocean. Sure enough, a penguin path cut through the vegetation right below the bridge, and we saw penguins there. The reserve was gorgeous - there were green fields, oceans, and mountains in the distance. It seemed to be a popular activity for parents and children to experience together. When a census was taken in 2000 and 2001, there were 10,729 penguins in the Seno Otway colony. As we walked along the boardwalk, we ran into more and more penguins. Though some were by themselves in the grass, most were in groups, including some juveniles. The juveniles were almost as large as the adults but they had grey fluffy feathers. We saw some penguins at very close range. We reached a blind where we could watch the adults giving swimming lessons to the juveniles (according to Cristian, this was a new skill the juveniles had begun acquiring in the past week). We got a great view of them playing in the ocean surf. A sign informed us that the average diving depth for the penguins is 14.9 meters, with a maximum depth of 77.9 meters. They can dive at a rate of two meters per second. Adults were grooming the babies, teaching them how to pull out their pre-feathers so that the real ones can grow in. We continued down the boardwalk. At one point we watched a penguin trying to hop down off the bluff into the water below. Even though it was only about an eight inch drop he kept pacing back and forth looking for the best way to get there. After a few minutes of looking, prodding, and testing the way he finally fell into the water. It was quite funny seeing this as he was trying so hard to be cautious. We then arrived at some small observation towers. Three people could stand there at once and look down on the penguins making their way from the sea to the shore and back again. We heard them braying and saw some of their burrows in the ground. All told, we spent about an hour wandering around the reserve. We went into their little cafeteria to view an exhibit on the history of the reserve. Then we visited their little souvenir stand where they sold penguin-related paraphernelia at very reasonable prices. After buying a couple of things for our nephews, we got back into the car and were driven back to Punta Arenas to the bus station. We wandered into a little bodega with Cristian. It was a really cute little store having an odd mix of everything the locals might need but we didn't buy anything. I didn't have time to use the bathroom as it was nearing our 5:00 departure time. We got onto the bus and found our seats. The bus was nice, but it was sweltering. We were in the sun so we immediately had to close the curtains. This limited our view to the windshield and the right hand side of the bus, where Cristian was seated next to a man and his 4 or 5 year old son. Cristian managed to fall asleep while wearing his fleece. Craig and I were peeling off as many layers as we could and the heat was still unbearable. We really couldn't believe how hot the sun was and even the smallest beam of light coming from between the curtains felt like a laser beam trying to eat through your skin. Eventually we had to just resign ourselves to the temperature in the bus and avoid any movement that could easily raise the body temperature further. Why couldn't my inability to stay awake on long drives strike today when it would be most helpful? It would have been so much more convenient to sleep through this drive for a change. The scenery wasn't even very interesting. It seemed like a endless drive through nondescript grasslands with barely any signs of life beyond the main road. After stopping for a broken down bus at one point, and picking up and dropping off passengers at various stops, we arrived at the Puerto Natales bus station at a little past 8:00. The sun was still high in the sky. By this time I was pretty desperate for a bathroom, so I used the one at the bus station while Craig gathered the backpacks. We got to our taxi, stashed our bags, and drove away only to discover that our hotel was only two blocks away. I should have waited to use the bathroom, but who's to know these things? We felt a bit ridiculous having a taxi for the ride. We were about to hike for four days on rough terrain yet we couldn't carry our bags for two blocks down the sidewalk? Our hotel was a chalet-style building called the Lady Florence Dixie Hotel. The rooms were all in a nice little courtyard area off the back of the main building. We were brought up to room 9. As we entered the room we were immediately hit with a wave of heat. After the heat of the bus ride we were thinking we would lose another dozen pounds or so trying to sleep here. Fortunately the woman who showed us the room felt the same way and quickly showed us the radiators, and the knob to adjust them. She turned them both off and opened a window. Craig also opened the door and the cool air was already changing the room temperature back to reasonable. On our way back to the lobby we came across the owners' kitty. It was so cute and being really playful with us. At one point it was poking through the porch railing and we had to get a photo. Once back to the lobby, Cristian showed us a map of Patagonia and we went over the itinerary for the next few days. He then recommended the Black Sheep restaurant for bbq lamb. Cristian then went home. Craig and I went to the room and chatted about what clothes would be necessary for the next few days. We set out into the town at 9:15. The sun was so bright you still needed sunglasses at that hour. We walked to the Plaza de Armas which had some interesting shrubbery and an old locomotive engine. We passed the Black Sheep and it only had one customer inside. We weren't really ready to eat yet, so we walked down to the shore. There was a playground there and children of all ages and parents were playing on swings, see-saws, etc. Everyone was so happy, and we enjoyed watching parents teaching little kids how to swing, how to use the see-saw, etc. It really seems that Chilean families love their kids and also really enjoy the time they spend teaching them new things. It was also a little refreshing to see all the dangers in a small park like this in action. At home everyone is so overprotective of their children wheras here it seemed that children were allowed to enjoy themselves and even occasionally get a minor scrape or other injury. Here it is viewed as a learning experience instead of fodder for a lawsuit. Somehow the kids all survived and still managed to enjoy themselves anyway. We sat on a park bench and watched the sun set behind a mountain. Craig and I had laughed recalling the time we were in Alaska and the park was full of small children on swings at 10:00 at night. Once again, this time in the extreme southern hemisphere, people take advantage of the daylight when they have it. Once the sun set we were trying to decide if we really wanted anything to eat. One restaurant on the waterfront caught our eye and we decided to look at the menu. It seemed that all the meals were more involved than what we were looking for so we walked around some more. Arriving back at the Plaza we noticed that the Black Sheep was closed. We ended up at El Living, a funky little coffee shop/pub/restaurant that had comfortable couches, tables, and music playing on the stereo. Craig got a Maracaibo Malta Polar beer and I got a pisco sour. During the day they serve vegetarian meals, but at this hour they were only serving dessert. We split a white chocolate mud cake while sitting at a table. Then some couches freed up, and we moved over to one of them. Craig got another beer. I got our itinerary out of my purse and we discussed the upcoming trip. Having sweated out most of my fluids on the bus and having had no dinner, I got a bit tipsy on my first drink. We had fun discussing what the trip would have in store for us, and we left at around 11:30. It still wasn't completely dark yet. When we arrived at the hotel room there was a baby crying two rooms away. I wrote in the journal and we went to bed at midnight, very happy that we had remembered to bring earplugs. Unfortunately, even with earplugs, we both kept waking up to the sound of a baby crying all night long. It was a horrible night's sleep. I know sometimes it is best to let your child cry himself to sleep, but in a small hotel, and literally all night long?

Ultima Esperanza Fjord to Torres del Paine National Park

Jan 03, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
We declared ourselves "done trying to sleep" at 5:30 am, showered, repacked our bags, and headed down to breakfast at 6:45. We had a nice corner table and they quickly served us hot water to make instant coffee. They made us scrambled eggs as we helped ourselves to the buffet (which consisted of fresh rolls and butter, jam, cereal, yogurt, orange juice, and a dessert-like cake filled with a decadent carmelized milk called manjar and topped with coconut flakes). We noticed that the yogurt in Chile was very thin but also very yummy. They had both plain as well as a blueberry varieties. We decided to pour some over a bowl of granola but noticed a few others that were drinking it straight from a glass. We were just finishing our breakfast, and deciding whether or not to have one last trip to the buffet table, when we first spied the family that we would name the "Sick Family Robinson". One of the daughters looked just about ready to pass out, and she sneezed right into the fruit cocktail on the buffet. At that point we declared ourselves done with breakfast. Cristian arrived at around 7:10, we brought our bags outside, and soon our transfer arrived. We noticed a family had just come down to breakfast with a small child. His face was very red and he looked terrible, as if he hadn't slept a wink all night long. I'm sure I know what room he was in last night! We prayed he wouldn't be making the day trip with us. We loaded our big packs into a trailer and kept our smaller packs with us in the van. Not really knowing where we were heading for our final destination in the van, we made several stops at other hotels on various blocks to pick up more people. In the end we only went down to the docks, a few blocks from the hotel. We laughed because this was our second very short ride in Puerto Natales where we would have simply walked had we known where we were going. A nice walk through town would have been nice had we only known. Today was a boat ride through Ultima Esperanza Fjord (Last Hope Fjord). The boat (Nueva Galicia) had a viewing deck on top, but at first we headed downstairs to drop our bags and to take a seat toward the back of the boat. The interior was very nice varnished wood with windows all around. There were also spacious and well-appointed bathrooms at the front of the boat. The boat left dock promptly for our 4 hour boat ride at 8:00. Soon they brought us a snack of bologna and cheese sandwiches and small colorful mugs of very sweet coffee. We had our snack and then headed upstairs to the observation deck. It was a bit breezy, but the weather was sunny and clear and the water surface was like glass. We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day. After a while we got a little chilly and went back inside to warm up a bit. One of the Sick Family Robinson's daughters was sprawled out on the cushioned bench looking like she was about to die. Everyone else on the boat seemed to be suffering from some sort of illness as well. There was sneezing, nose-blowing, red watery eyes and people taking various cough syrups and tablets. This was the last thing we needed at the beginning of our 3 week trip, so we donned some long underwear and headed back outside to the fresh air. With the long underwear, we were quite comfortable wearing just a fleece, travel shirt, and travel pants. On deck we noticed that the water was still like a mirror and Cristian said it is never this smooth, but he didn't want to talk much about it as he was afraid of jinxing it. We saw dozens of cormorants perched on the rocks which lined the shore off on the left hand side of the sound and a tall waterfall over on the right hand side. After a few hours on the boat we were finally getting close enough to really be able to see the Balmaceda Glacier and we could see Torres del Paine off in the distance. On board we met a family from New York City with whom we would be spending a lot of time during the rest of the trip: Jane and Richard and their three daughters (Leta, Kate, and Nell). They hadn't taken a family vacation for years and decided to all convene in Chile for this portion of the vacation. Jane and Richard were on extended holiday but the kids were only able to join them for a short time, including Patagonia. Cristian spent a lot of time talking to an Argentinian family and drinking mate and eating cookies with them. Mate is a type of bitter herbal tea that is shared. People drink it out of a special type of cup with a metal straw, and pass it from one table to the next. We noticed that the ritual surrounding mate drinking is very similar to the ritual which surrounds pot smoking in the United States. We have really wanted to try mate and this could possibly be our best opportunity. Unfortunately we were never offered and didn't want to invite ourselves into the circle. In a way were were relieved as the family wasn't all in the best health and Cristian in particular has been battling a cough and sniffle since we first met him. The boat pulled up in front of Balmaceda Glacier. We saw a small avalanche from the glacier. The boat's crew told us that 25 years ago, the glacier used to meet the sea. It didn't even come close now, which is evidence that the glaciers are receding. After a short delay giving plenty of time for photos, the boat turned to the right and proceeded upriver. At around noon, the boat docked at Serrano Glacier at Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. It was nice to get off the boat and stretch our legs for a little while. We hiked a short trail that hugged the shore and then rose steeply into the trees. Suddenly we were staring at a lake formed at the base of the glacier. The water was full of icebergs of all sizes. Some were a glacial blue color. Others had boulders balanced on them. All of them were sculpted into amazing surreal shapes. It was all very beautiful to see. There was a guy taking people on 20 minute zodiac rides for U.S. $17 each. It looked pretty fun but noone took him up on it as the price was so steep and it would take up the whole time of our visit. We still had a long day ahead of us. The little hike was pleasant and we wound up at the foot of the Serrano Glacier. After a brief stop we walked back to the boat. The sun was so deadly. We were fully covered on the boat but now that we were hiking around, more skin was exposed and we needed to get sunblock on quickly. The sun is nothing to laugh at here. The sun is so strong and since the ozone layer has been damaged so badly in this region, people can sustain much worse that simple sunburns. Most of the passengers would be reboarding the boat and going back to Puerto Natales. This is a typical day trip for many people, but we (and nine others, including the NYC family) would be continuing upriver in a zodiac. We put on our life jackets and boarded the zodiac, sitting in the back. We met Javier, our driver. When the weather is worse, they provide everyone with raincoats and rainpants. But the weather was so gorgeous today that we didn't even consider it. We started off at 1 o'clock waving our goodbyes to those folks boarding the Nueva Galicia for the return trip across the fjord. Heading up the Serrano River Cristian asked me if I wanted to steer the zodiac for a while. I agreed, but I am never really comfortable driving boats, and Javier helped me out. The river is pretty deep overall but there are enough places where there are submerged trees and sandbars and I didn't want to be responsible for any troubles that could occur. The weather was really beautiful and clear. At one point we saw a condor circling overhead but it was far enough away that we couldn't see it very well. About half an hour into the very enjoyable ride we stopped at a small island for lunch. We pulled up, tied up the boat, and headed for a small group of little tables. Javier and Cristian then appeared with styrofoam lunch boxes containing a meal of fried chicken breast with rice and vegetables and a chocolate bar. We also got juice boxes (Craig had orange and I had peach). We sat with a couple from the UK and had a very enjoyable conversation over lunch. They had been hiking in Patagonia already but the weather wasn't very good and one of them became very sick and couldn't finish hiking. They felt that a boat trip was something they could handle and it would allow them to see parts of the park that they hadn't been able to see previously. Once again Craig and I hoped this illness, whatever it was, wouldn't get the best of us, especially when trying to hike for four days. After lunch we met a man who had lived on the island for 12 years and never ventures into town. He lives in a shelter made of corrugated metal and logs that are all leaned together in sort of an A-frame. He raises animals and had a bull skull hanging in one of the trees. We really wished our Spanish skills were better as we wanted to talk to him more than we could. We wanted to get some photos of him and his house but decided against it as we didn't want to make a spectacle of him or his lifestyle. Maybe if we were alone it would have been different but with a group of 11 people having 5 cameras between them, we felt it would be inappropriate. After about half an hour on the island, we boarded the zodiac. We all felt sort of envious of the man living there. We were daydreaming about doing such a thing when Cristian reminded us that they have only a few days a year with weather as nice as our day. He said it pretty much always is rainy and cold there and that lunch stop is usually required to allow folks to warm up. After going a bit further up the river we came across a small waterfall of about 6 feet in height but rushing wildly. We stopped the boat along the rocky edge, did a short hike, and transferred to another zodiac on the other side of the drop. A few minutes later two guys in a small zodiac arrived with tanks of gasoline. Javier siphoned the gas into our new boat, and then we took off again. This whole experience was fascinating and just sitting back taking it all in was something special. Once again we were very thankful that the weather was so beautiful because when cruising along the wind was pretty spectacular. We could only imagine how cold it must normally be on this trip. We raced the gas crew's zodiac to the entrance of Torres del Paine National Park. At one point we came across the convergence of the Grey River and the Serrano River. It was quite interesting to see as one river was full of silt and very muddy looking, the other was shimmering blue. The result was an actual line of demarcation visible for quite a distance. After a little more than three hours on zodiacs we were at the official entrance to Torres del Paine National Park. Here a car was waiting with our luggage that we had left behind earlier this morning. We filled out forms to enter the park and grabbed our luggage. This whole stop was very confusing to us and we weren't exactly sure what was happening. It seemed everyone had various needs of Cristian and we just felt a bit frazzled about our lack of understanding of the events to follow. At 4:00, Cristian dropped us at the boat dock for the Hosteria Tyndall and said that we would be taken care of. Suddenly we realized that only Craig and I were going here. Everyone else, including Cristian, proceeded to leave by car to the Ecocamp. We had no idea Cristian was leaving us at this point and we felt a bit abandoned. We never even got to say our goodbyes to anyone that we had just spent the past 8 hours with. If we had known this was happening we might have chosen to continue on to the Ecocamp instead but we felt a bit abandoned suddenly and although this was where we were supposed to stay for the night, we felt a bit dumped. Hosteria Tyndall is located across a river from the park entrance where we checked in, and the hotel operates a boat which shuttles people the short distance back and forth. Craig and I got onto the aluminum boat and loaded our luggage. Suddenly there were two crew and just the two of us. It felt like a terrible culture shock compared to just minutes ago being in a zodiacs. The boat drifted downstream before they could get the motors going, and crashed into the walking bridge. This wasn't a good start and did nothing to raise our sinking spirits. The crew hopped into the water, hauled it back upstream with a rope, it hit the dock, and they tried again and finally got it started. We crossed the river to the Hosteria Tyndall. As we were heading to the main office the woman informed us that we would not be able to go horseback riding as the staff had been sent home today. Considering Craig and I were thinking that might be a nice thing to do after we arrived, or maybe after dinner, this was another letdown. Arriving at the office we tried to check in. There was a bit of confusion about our reservation. They had no record of us coming. They didn't have either of our names, didn't have Cristian's name, didn't have the name of Adventure Life or even Cascada. Realizing that we didn't even know how to contact Cristian, we started getting a bit nervous as they informed us that they didn't even have a single room available for us. Craig asked to look at the list of reservations and realized that there was a reservation for us. It was hiding under "Pure Patagonia" (the fancy name of the trip, but not the name of the tour company). After a sigh of relief we got it straightened out and checked into room 208 which had two twin beds. There are usually all sorts of activities but none were available for this evening. We were told that there was a nice walk that we could do on our own, and since there is such a gorgeous view of the Torres del Paine from the hotel grounds, we decided to do that. We tried to find the signposts that would guide us along the walking trail, but every trail seemed to lead to someone's horse or bull corral or private property. Eventually we decided that as the hike would only take us back to where the two rivers merged (a place we had already been to today), we would just stay put and enjoy our surroundings. We settled down on a little hill which had a phenomenal view of the Torres. Craig rested staring into the sky and landscape while I wrote in the journal. After a while the wind picked up, clouds came in, and it got chillier, so we headed back to the room at 6:30. Dinner started at 7:30, and we headed down the hall to the nice dining room right on time. There was a buffet with soup, bread and butter, broccoli and beef, beef with garlic, turkey breast, mashed potatoes, al dente rice, raspberry mousse, and a fruit torte. We had hefty appetites, and it was delicious although not everything was as hot as we would have liked. We had a nice table between the wood stove and the window. We watched outside as employees getting off work flirted with each other, played with dogs, etc. It was a nice spot for people watching. We noticed that one dog in particular was shunned. We couldn't understand why. Everyone seemed to give all their love to one dog and ignored, or sent away, the other one. I'm sure there was a reason but these are the things you begin to notice when you haven't a real care in the world and just watch your surroundings passing by. At 9:30, as we finished dinner, the sun came out again, and was shining beautifully on the Torres. We headed outside to get some pictures. As the light and shadows shifted, the view grew more amazing each moment. The light hitting the formations grew more and more orange. After taking some photos, we headed inside to the second floor lounge area. We sat near the wood stove and the Christmas tree, looking out the window as the light continued to change. Craig drank a Polar Imperial beer, and I had a Fanta. We went back to our room, reorganized our packs for tomorrow, and went to bed around midnight.

Lake Pehoe, Hike to Grey Glacier

Jan 04, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
We woke up at 6:30 and took showers. The bathroom only had a fraction of a roll of toilet paper with no extra stashed away anywhere in the room. Even though we barely used any of it we ran out of it quickly. Fortunately we brought a roll for our backpacks because you just never know what you might encounter with four days of hiking ahead. Of course we didn't expect to need to break it out while staying in our relatively fancy and expensive hotel, a refugio maybe but the hotel? At 7:30, we were in the dining room for breakfast. It was a buffet - eggs, rolls, ham and cheese, poundcake, orange juice, and some really incredible apple juice that looked really fresh. It wasn't clear and amber-colored like we are used to at home. It was cloudy and sort of an off-whitish yellow color. It was delicious. Unfortunately, we arrived just after a large group of people, so the buffet was sparse and we didn't really have time to wait for them to restock things. At 8:10 we managed to get through the front desk area and checked out. The woman at the desk told us to go to the boat dock as they were waiting to take us across the river to meet up with Cristian. It's only a few minute boat ride but it was much smoother ride than yesterday, and Cristian was waiting for us on the other side. We got into a small bus and drove up the dirt road into the park. Within minutes I was back to my old tricks and falling sound asleep. Once again, something about being in a car or bus and driving along roads like this put me fast asleep. Cristian asked if I was very tired and did I not get a good night sleep but I had to admit that I did, I'm just like this in a moving vehicle sometimes. A few times during the ride a large hare managed to get right in front of the bus and would run and run straight up the road. It was sort of sad as the hare was running for its life but all it had to do was move toward the side of the road instead. The driver was sort of laughing at the predicament that the hare got himself into but he was also trying to slow down to avoid hitting it. He kept driving closer to the right side of the road trying to suggest to the hare that it was safer on the left. After what seemed like a painfully long chase, the hare eventually took a final bounding leap into the scrub brush on the side of the road and was safe. It was all quite melodramatic but completely futile. After about 30 minutes or so we arrived at the the catamaran dock on Lake Pehoé. As we backed down the dirt road to the dock, a Spanish version Billy Joel's "Piano Man" was playing on the radio. We got quite a kick out of it because it was instantly recognizable. Cristian told us that we should wait in the bus while we waited for the crew to arrive. This felt very awkward for us as many other folks were walking up to the boat with all their packs and gear and meanwhile we sat and waited in our coach. We weren't exactly sure why were we asked to wait in the bus but we did. This simple action made us feel as though we were somehow superior and separate from the others on the boat and we weren't comfortable with it at all. Fortunately this only lasted a few minutes and then we boarded. The interior of the boat was very nice. They served us coffee and hot chocolate as soon as we left dock. There were tables with cut-outs the size and shape of coffee mugs (including the handles) so that the cups would not fall if we hit rough waters. At one point we could see a waterfall where Lake Skottsberg spilled into Lake Pehoé but we were traveling too quickly to get a good look. It seemed that at one time some sort of walking bridge was built across it and now it lays as a pile of twisted metal and wood on either side of the fall. The ride took about half an hour, and we were let off at the Lodge de Montaña Paine Grande. It is a brand new lodge that has only been open for three months. It has a gorgeous view of the Torres. Cristian told us that the locals are not very happy with it and preferred the older lodge (which is now closed) because the new one is too institutional, large, and impersonal. To us, at the time, it seemed fine. We had been expecting to be sleeping in tents tonight (due to our misreading of the final itinerary instead of the original trip description), so we were pleased with the dormitory-style accommodations. We checked into the Cuerno Norte (North Horn) room, which had three bunk beds and some bench seating that doubled as storage bins. We had large picture windows with a beautiful view of the Cuernos looming overhead. We stowed our big packs in the room, got what we needed for the day in our day packs, and headed downstairs to make lunch. Cristian was in a little utility room with a spread of turkey, cheese, egg salad, tuna, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, peppers, and avacado to make sandwiches on English muffin-shaped multi-grain bread. We also each got a chewy granola bar. Craig's had chocolate chips and mine had "malvavisco". I asked Cristian what this was and he couldn't think of the English word for it. He said it wasn't a fruit, but that I would recognize it when I saw it. So it would be a surprise. This was also our first exposure to a snack that would become a favorite while hiking. It was a "Costanuss" chocolate bar with almonds. This led to many jokes about how we had to work hard to deserve the snack, hence the name costin' us. The plan was to hike to Mirador Grey, which would have a view of the Grey Glacier and its surrounding icebergs. Then we could continue on for a closer look at the glacier itself. We started our hike at 10:45 and was supposed to take us about 4 hours or so to get to the Glacier Grey refugio and lookout. Craig wore a knee brace on his left leg. He had been very worried about his knees as they really bother him particularly when hiking downhill and when hiking for long periods of time. The hike immediately began climbing up into the nearby mountains. The lower section of my hiking pole seemed to refuse to tighten properly. It wasn't really a problem at this point as the upper section provided the necessary height, but eventually it would become an issue. We were totally surrounded by very interesting rock formations where we could see the way the rock was in layers and rolling up and down. At one point there was a layer that practically spiraled into a full circle. It was amazing to see. It started to rain a little bit but only lasted for about 5 minutes and then went away again. We soon got to a small wooden bridge that was like a ladder laying down across a small stream. Craig took a picture of me crossing it. We would later refer to the picture as "Steph in a red shirt on a bridge, #1." Throughout the next few days, Craig would take numerous shots of me on bridges, and I would consistently be wearing my red travel shirt while hiking. It was supposed to take about two hours to Mirador Grey, and it took us just that amount of time. I was thrilled that we were "on pace", as we are usually pretty slow hikers. When I had some trouble going uphill, I thought of our New Zealand guide Stan, and how he told me to take baby steps uphill as it expends less energy. I did that, and it really helped. At the lookout we were rather exposed and it was quite windy and the clouds were enveloping us at times. It was quite surreal. Craig pulled apart my hiking pole and managed to fix the little mechanism allowing my pole to work properly. Cristian helped me with the proper grip for my hiking pole. We ate one of our sandwiches at the lookout point. At this point Cristian asked if we wanted to continue. What? Of course! We were just getting started! We decided to press on and go to the glacier itself. The climb continued up and down the rock ledges alongside Lago Grey. At times it seemd as though we were going downhill a lot more than uphill and we would be repeating this hike in the other direction later in the day. At one point on a steep decline we ran into the family from yesterday on the trail. They had taken a boat to the refugio near Grey Glacier, and were hiking the 4 hours to the Lodge de Montaña Paine Grande, where they too would be spending the night. They said that we had the right idea going this direction as the way they were going seemed to be all uphill. We explained to them that we were coming back the same day. They asked if we planned on going all the way to the glacier and when we said that we did, they thought we were crazy. This made us feel good actually as yes, we are a bit crazy but this is what we came here for. There was a lot of steep downhill for a little while but we try not to think too far ahead when hiking. Just keep pushing on one step at a time. All along the trail there were all sorts of interesting sights. Often we would have a nice view across the lake to the glacier ahead. There were all sorts of wildflowers, trees, bushes, waterfalls dropping from nearby ledges and the cloudy sky always gave us something interesting to stop and look at. After almost 4 hours we got to the trail that led to the refugio. This was normally where people would go for a nice view of the glacier. This was also the place where the boat dropped off the family for their hike back to the refugio where we were staying tonight. Cristian didn't even hesitate at the crossroads and instead continued on through a very interesting area of old gnarled trees. After about 20 minutes along a steep area, Cristian brought us to a lookout point where he says fewer people go. The view of Grey Glacier was fantastic from this vantage point, and there were no other people around, which he said was much nicer than going to the refugio below. He also pointed out that as the glacier recedes, the view from below is a little less spectacular compared to when the refugio was originally built. We ate the rest of our sandwiches. We broke out our granola bars, and I learned that "malvavisco" means marshmallow. "Marshmallow!" Cristian exclaimed. "I told you that you'd know it!" Cristian told us that we should fill our water bottles at the little stream just off where we were sitting. He said the water is so good and we might as well fill up there for our trek home. He was sitting overlooking the glacier while Craig and I headed to a stream to fill our water bottles. Patagonia's water sources are all quite safe, and we would live on stream water for the next few days. You could really tell the difference in taste between the fresh crisp stream water and the bottled water. While we were filling the bottles, we heard the glacier calving. Craig turned and could see the results of the calving but it was too late. There was a large wave rolling away from the source and a large iceberg floating nearby but we had missed it. Although we weren't that far from the glacier, at this distance you have to be watching for it. Once you hear it, it's too late as the sound gets to you much later than the visual. Cristian was excited as he had seen it though. It was pretty exciting nevertheless and fortunately Craig and I have seen glaciers calving before as it is a spectacular sight. We sure heard it though. It sounds much like thunder with a crackling sound rippling and echoing all around us. We started our hike back to the lodge at 3:45. The hike back always seems to go so much faster as you quickly recoginize almost every step. Your brain is always saying "wow, we're already here" and "wow, we got here quickly". Even places where it was rather steep seemed to go by quickly. Maybe the thought of a nice hot meal at the refugio kept us moving quickly. Whatever it was it was a very enjoyable hike back. The weather was getting a little better but all in all there were just enough clouds to keep the intense direct sun off of us and rain wasn't an issue at all. At one point in the hike there is a great split in the rocks with a river raging through it. It was quite spectacular looking into it and a bridge that crosses it allowed us a great view down into the gorge. Craig started having a bit of a hard time with his right knee. The left one had a brace on it and seemed to be working very well but now his right knee seemed to be bothering him. I noticed as he was hiking, particularly downhill, that he was stepping in such a way as to avoid certain actions on it. Hopefully he wouldn't hurt it too much as we have a lot of hiking to come in the next few days. At one point we decided to have an apple on the go. It's funny how amazing something like that can be while hiking. Craig was going nuts over how good it was. It's like fruit from the gods or something. It certainly hit the spot and once again we were looking forward to that dinner at the refugio. Through much of the morning hike, Cristian was teaching Craig about the different plants we were seeing along the way. We saw a few different berry bushes and even tasted a few but he said they weren't really ready and didn't taste as good as they should. The favorite tree lesson revolved around a species that had three different variants that we kept seeing over and over again. They were the Lenga, sort of a small sized tree, the Ñire, a smaller sized more bush-like tree, and the Coigüe, a larger evergreen. All the way home he would quiz Craig about what trees surrounded us. Craig got pretty good at being able to identify the different types but I think remembering the names was more of a challenge. At one point Craig wondered what a large cluster was that he noticed on many of the Lengas. He thought maybe it was a parasitic plant as it didn't seem to belong in the trees where it was seen. Cristian said it was in fact a parasite and it was called Misodendrum. It seems the parasite is killing many of the trees in this area and unfortunately we would see many more examples of it in action. After what seemed a very reasonable hike we got back to the lodge at 7:30, which means we were ahead of pace for the hike back. It had been a full 8 hours of hiking. I was really proud of myself, and realized that when I kept my mind on the present, rather than worrying about what would be coming up, I had much more energy. Craig's knee was pretty sore but he was doing ok and decided right then to wear a brace on both knees for the remainder of the hiking days. We took nice hot showers and changed into fresh new clothes. We felt like a million bucks. After a great day of hiking we had super hot showers and soon we'd have that hot dinner we were looking forward to. I sat on the benches in front of the gorgeous view of the Torres and wrote in the journal while we waited to meet Cristian for dinner at 8:30. The cafeteria was very big, loud, and impersonal. You grabbed a tray and went through the line much like a school cafeteria. We had a huge piece of meat loaf, a big pile of freshly mashed potatoes, orange drink, a bowl of soup, cauliflower, and a dessert of strawberries in syrup. We enjoyed the meatloaf well enough and after a day of hiking it really hit the spot, but we could hear others questioning the contents. Craig and I didn't even think about the contents, it was hot, yummy and very filling. It was so big Craig barely finished his meal and I didn't finish all of mine. I did finish all the potatoes though. A nice carbohydrate heavy meal is exactly what we needed. Cristian got a bottle of red wine (Santa Emiliana Carménére) for us to share to celebrate the day's achievements. He refilled our glasses liberally. Considering we had images of staying in a tent tonight, this whole experience was welcomed. Cristian showed us a map and pointed out our routes for the next few days. He said that today and tomorrow would be harder than the final Torres del Paine hike. We were feeling pretty confident after such a great day and looking forward to it. We said goodnight to Cristian, and Craig and I stayed in the cafeteria for a little while. Craig got an Imperial beer and I had a Fanta. We were both really pumped up from the days events, but knew we had another demanding day of hiking ahead of us tomorrow. We decided we should turn in and finally went to bed at 11. It turned out that the three of us were the only ones in our room despite having room for six. Cristian went straight to bed, and I wrote in the journal with my headlamp until 11:10. We could lightly hear Cristian's music playing as we prepared for bed. He went to bed wearing his headphones and listening to music as he slept.

French Valley and Refugio los Cuernos

Jan 05, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
I didn't sleep all that well, perhaps because of the adrenaline from the day's activities. I finally fell into REM sleep by wake-up time. When Craig tried to wake me up at 6:40, he thought I was dead. Cristian had already left the room to get things together so Craig was calling out my name trying to wake me up. After a few tries he finally got out of his sleeping bag and came over to my bed. He started shaking me by the foot, and that incorporated into my dream and I still didn't wake up. He got a little nervous and shook me more vigorously, which caused me to finally wake up. It was pretty funny and he insists he has never had such a hard time waking me up before. Finally on my feet, we got our things ready for the next couple of days. Today we would be hiking to another much smaller refugio where we would spend the night. It is only accessible by foot or by horse. So there was no way that our extra luggage could be driven there. We got everything that we would need for the next few days out of our big packs and split them between our day packs and two little duffle bags that Cristian provided. We put a towel and some toiletries in the duffle bag and it was full. Cristian then collected the duffle bags and gave them to a porter, who would carry them along with some other equipment to our next refugio. That way it would cut down on the number of things we would need to carry with us on today's hike. This always makes us uncomfortable but at least the small bags they carried for us didn't amount to anything. We met up with Cristian in a little common tent area where all the guides were preparing the food supplies, and we put our lunches together. After that, we headed into the bustling cafeteria to get our buffet-style breakfast of eggs, cereal, coffee, toast, and orange drink. We left the lodge at 8:10 and began the hike across what the itinerary called "undulating terrain". The description was highly appropriate as the land seemed to rise and fall across dozens of small rifts in the earth's surface. We started along the shores of Lake Pehoé, and soon the Cuernos del Paine came into view. Shortly after leaving we reached the edge of Skottsberg Lake. There was a light mist falling from the sky and the bushes along the trail were rather wet, so after a while we put on our raincoats to prevent our hiking clothes from getting too damp. Of course, this quickly led to the body getting too warm and they would soon be removed again. There were stunning views all along this hike, and along the lakes. The surrounding landscape had been ravaged by the effects of glaciers and there were always beautiful features to look at. We stopped numerous times to try to take in our surroundings but we had lots of distance to cover and we shouldn't move too slowly. The trail was in great condition with lots of small wooden walkways created along the path where the trail gets muddy. Not only is this a nice feature for the hiker but it also protects the plants in the area. Hikers will keep widening the trail around wet patches, eventually ruining larger areas with foot traffic. About an hour into the hike, Paine Grande was visible ahead of us towering over everything. At around 10:30 we crossed the French River on a large suspension bridge and arrived at the Italian Camp. Since we would be coming back along this same stretch of trails we left some of our heavier items at the ranger station there. Having a small snack to eat we began the hike up a difficult stretch of glacial moraine toward "The Viewpoint" at the beginning of the French Valley. Soon after beginning the ascent we filled our water bottles and, as always, the water was cold, fresh, and tasted fantastic. The trail wasn't bad but it was much steeper and all rocks. Sometimes we were climbing from large rock to the next large rock, and sometimes it was much smaller stones, almost like scree, which made the ankles get tired rather quickly. We had to keep stopping along this stretch and unfortunately we were quickly losing time. I think that I couldn't help but think about all the ground we were covering and how it would all need to be done again before getting back to the Italian camp. From there our home for the night was still an additional two hours or so. After having a much more positive attitude yesterday while hiking, I think I was a little more concerned about the distance we were covering. This sidetrip really seemed to drain a lot of my energy. Although the weather wasn't bad, it was rather windy and cool. At one point we had a terrific glacial runoff waterfall, or waterslide really, along the edge of the trail. We stopped there for a short while and talked to a few other hikers that had stopped there too. After taking a photo for them we continued onwards up toward the hanging French Valley. Eventually reaching the viewpoint, we had a gorgeous view of the Cuernos del Paine and Lakes Nordenskjold, Pehoé, and Toro. We ate our lunches here. It was quite windy but the views were stunning. All around us were glaciers hanging out of mountain peaks. There were lakes down below, rivers cascading down the valley walls, and trees all gnarled and twisted by the wind. It was quite a sight to behold. Cristian decided that at our pace (well, my pace, actually) we wouldn't continue up to the British Camp, as it would make our arrival time at the refugio very late. He said that you really need to hike a long distance to get a better view and it didn't seem as though the weather was going to cooperate anyway. It could be a lot of hiking with no additional views, and if the cloudy weather didn't clear it might not be worth the extra time and energy. So we decided to use this fantastic viewpoint as our turn-around point and hiked back down the moraine to Italian Camp. The hike down that same stretch went pretty fast and suddenly it seemed as though we hadn't gone as far as we had thought. It was a fantastic climb and the views were well worth the effort though. Unless we were staying closer to this area, it probably didn't make sense to travel further up the valley. Staying at the Italian Camp, or maybe even the British Camp in the valley, would have made more exploration in this area easier. An extra day of hiking might have been a nice addition with a stop in the Valley allowing us to explore further. Eventually back at the Italian Camp, we decided to use the restrooms there before heading out again. It's funny to see such nice "outhouses" here. They have full porcelain toilets and a full sink on the outside of the building. We were both amazed at how nice all of the facilities have been on this trip. When we first arrived, Craig was next in line for the men's room while there were a few people in front of me at the women's room. Craig patiently waited for probably 10 minutes for someone in the men's toilet. A line of women came and went and still he waited. Eventually all the women were gone and I convinced Craig to use the women's toilet. Finally done with this seemingly-endless excursion, we gathered up our belongings and continued on the 2 hour hike across more "undulating terrain" to Refugio Los Cuernos. The hike to the refugio also had tremendous views as we continued up and down the slopes and darting in and out of the trees. The skies cleared up a bit although it still seemed quite cloudy in the mountains overhead and the wind was still quite strong at times. There was one very steep downhill section and we felt glad to be going in this direction. It would have been a little late in the day to be expending this much energy in such a short stretch. Right before arriving at the refugio, we popped out at a rocky beach along Lake Nordenskjold. The beach was made up of nothing but white and black rocks about the size of golf balls. It was very interesting to see since it was a perfect combination of the two main types of stone we saw everywhere around us. The cuernos themselves are huge white stone pillars with a layer of black on top and now we were sitting on a beach created by the remains from these. As we sat on the shoreline we had a few snacks. It was very windy and there were whitecaps on the lake. It almost looked like ocean water. Cristian told us there were kayaks that you can usually rent but I would guess there would be nobody kayaking on the lake today. We sat on the beach for a while and I tried writing in the journal, but the wind was whipping my pages around and I gave up. So we continued on to the refugio. As we approached the area there were various tents peppered throughout the small trees where many folks choose to sleep rather than going inside the lodge itself. We arrived at 4:15 to a very quaint setting, as the lodge is nestled in the trees in the foothills sort of sitting at the base of Cuernos del Paine. It was all very picturesque and very welcoming after another long day of hiking. As we arrived, we started to understand Cristian's complaints about last night's lodge. Although it had been fine, we could immediately tell that Los Cuernos had a lot more character. After all, it was only accessible by foot or by horse, so everyone who was there had come in on a trail. Last night's lodge had been accessible by road and by boat. We had to leave our boots on pegs outside the front door and enter in our stocking feet. We would have brought our sandals if we had known this, but we had left them in our big packs which were in transit to the Ecocamp, where we would meet up with them the next day. As we entered the dining room of the refugio, a wave of heat enveloped us. After hiking in the late afternoon sunshine, this was a bit warmer than we wanted to be. It felt as though a wood stove was on full blast. But it turned out to be totally greenhouse effect solar heat. The sun was shining so brightly through the windows that it made the place almost unbearably hot. Along one wall of the dining room there was a little store where you could buy munchies and drinks, and there was a kitchen where the staff made food to order. Two other walls were almost all glass. They were not large picture windows, as the wind would likely flex the pane so far it would pop out of the frames. Instead they were made up of many smaller panes covering almost the entire wall, floor to vaulted ceiling. In the corner between the two glass walls was a nice Christmas tree which really added a nice touch to the room. Although some folks were getting food, and it smelled so good, we didn't get anything to eat, as dinner was included in our stay. The porters had already delivered our toiletry bags, so we each decided to take a shower right away. We couldn't believe how nice the showers were. Once again we were impressed at the level of facilities. Even at the refugio where a multi-hour hike is required to get here we were greeted with hot clean showers, porcelain toilets and fully functioning sinks. After what seemed like a lengthy mission we were both clean and ready to have something to drink. After going back to our room and putting on clean clothes, we headed into the warm dining room and sat at a table as far away from the sunshine as possible. Although it was warm it wasn't too bad if you avoided the direct sunlight. Being near the doorway we were blessed with the cold draft blowing in when folks came and went. We went up to the little serving window to see what our options were. There didn't seem to be any refrigerated drinks. They had beer and various other cans of soda just sitting in a little display case at room temperature. We joked that room temperature around here could be drastic if we weren't careful. Craig got an Austral beer (with a penguin holding a beer on the side of the can!) and I got a Fanta. Although room-temperature, they were cool enough and quite refreshing. In no time Craig was ready for another one. While I wrote in the journal Craig just was just watching, thinking, and looking at the things on the walls. Often he was listening to other travellers telling stories about other trips they have done. A few of the guests had just finished a few years in the Peace Corps and were talking about their time spent in Uruguay and other travels they had done in Nicaragua and other interesting places. While hanging around we saw Jane, Richard, Leta, and Nell, and their guide Juan. Juan had a very retro look with large pork chop sideburns and big black glasses. He was hilarious though. He added a lot of joking to the evening and it was nice having him there. The rest of their group had hiked up to British Camp with their assistant guide Rodrigo, and had not yet arrived at the refugio. At this point we were glad with our decision to turn around at the viewpoint as we were all clean, comfortable, and sipping drinks waiting for dinner rather than still being out on the trail with the sun sinking in the sky. Some people were getting very hot with the sun beaming into the place and asked the attendants if they could pin up a large tablecloth over the most offending window. Of course this had the dual effect of cutting off the incredible view as well, but we agreed that something needed to be done about the direct sunlight streaming into the already toasty dining room. Juan told us that our two groups would be eating together tonight, so we pulled up chairs to a large table. Juan and Cristian served pisco sour cocktails and snacks of cheese, meats, and crackers. We all got to know one another and were having a great time and nice conversation. Shortly before dinner, the rest of their group arrived, including Kate (Jane and Richard's daughter), Evan and Megan from California, Steve from London, and Kimberly from California. Now we definitely felt better about our decision to turn around on the trail when we did. As much as Craig wished we had hiked further, I know he enjoyed the hot shower, beers and pisco sours that we had been enjoying for the past three hours. Dinner was served at 7:30, and we all ate together. We took the tablecloth off the window and although the sun was shining right into our faces for a short time, it was worth it for the view as the sun set over the mountainous horizon. Our dinner consisted of lentil soup, salmon, mashed potatoes, and fruit cocktail. With dinner we had a few bottles of red wine. When the wine ran out we moved on to a few more beers while we sat around enjoying each other's company. We had a lot of laughs and really left as though we were getting along with this group nicely. Lights-out time was 11, so that was when we went to bed. Juan, Rodrigo, Steven, and another couple we kept seeing along the trail shared our room. Craig and I had each staked out bottom bunks earlier in the day, which was good because the bunks were three high in this room. Earlier in the evening Cristian offered to sleep outside in a tent because the refugio was too full and they were going to have to turn away one of the guests.

Hike to EcoCamp

Jan 06, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
As we had a relatively short 4 hour hike today, we got to sleep in a bit. We woke up at around 8, got our stuff together, and headed to the main dining room. Our toiletry duffel bags were to be carried by a porter to the Ecocamp, where we would then meet up with our big backpacks. Although we could have used our sandals we managed just fine and would be reunited with them soon. We sat with the group to have some nice hot coffee. Once again, "coffee" really means hot water with Nescafe packets, but at times like this it all seems really tasty. At 9:00, breakfast was served: crepes in orange sauce, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, hot chocolate, and an orange juice box. After breakfast Juan, Rodrigo, and Cristian set up the lunch fixings on one of the dining room tables, and we all packed our lunches. The lunch consisted of a variety of meats, cheeses, and tuna as well as tomatoes, lettuce, and avocado. The bowl of tuna was a big hit and was all gone before we were able to make our sandwiches, but there were plenty of other things to make sure we had plenty of food to eat on our hike. Once again one of our favorite treats was the Costanuss chocolate bars. We squirreled a few of those away because they always come in handy while hiking. We finally ended up leaving the refugio at 9:45. The sky was very gray and there were occasional sprinkles falling from above, but the weather was cool and quite nice for hiking. Immediately the trail led uphill and quickly we thought about the nice full bellies we had when setting out. Soon the trail flattened out somewhat. At one point Cristian asked us if we wanted to go to one of his favorite lookouts. Of course we knew this would mean a bit of off-trail bushwhacking but we did want to see it. As we left the trail we started heading straight up the side of a large hump. It was rather steep and there was no trail at all, but overall it wasn't very high and just took a matter of a few minutes to get there. As we continued up the slope I noticed many grouping of ants being disturbed by our feet passing. They probably weren't too used to people stomping along up here. Occasionally one would find its way up our pant legs where we would brush them off. After a short time we were standing on the top of a very high cliff. Looking down at Lake Nordenskjold below we realized that we had actually been going uphill for longer than we had suspected. Cristian said it was sometimes possible to see condors from up there. We didn't see any, but there was a condor feather on the ground. Looking back towards the trail we could see a long rock "dike", or strip of rock cutting through the mountainside. This rock was forced upwards during volcanic activity and now stands much higher than the rocks around it like a row of teeth protruding from a pair of gums. The view from up here was magnificent and we could see quite a long distance in every direction. Not only where we were going, but where we had come from too. It was a great feeling being so far from everyday concerns and worries, where it was all about the moment and the nature that surrounded us. After a short break we descended the hill and found our way back to the main trail below. Once again we were aware of various ants that we were disturbing but soon after we left they were back to their routine. Once on the main trail, in the distance, we could see a man and a few horses working toward us. Cristian says that locals still use this land and many of the trails are used by both humans and horses. In no time at all they had approached us and were on their way again. There were various places where small streams ran across the trail and we were able to fill our water bottles and drink the fresh cold water. About two hours into the hike we took a break to eat lunch. We stopped in a small clearing just to the side of a large rocky area with a stream running through it. There were two women who also stopped for a snack. They were asking us how much further to the refugio and we had to tell them they were just about half way there. We chatted with them while we all ate our food and snacks but soon we were ready to move along once more. The weather was very nice although it was a bit windy. We were wearing long underwear and our travel shirts and pants and were quite comfortable. Every once in a while it would start to rain a little bit, sometimes with the sun still shining. But it wasn't even really worth putting on rain jackets, as we would get too hot immediately. As we continued through the varied landscapes there were many small lakes as well as hanging valleys in the mountains above. There were a few places where you could really see where glaciers used to grind their way through the mountains. Long since melted, they left behind huge stone piles at the end of the valley they created. Glacial moraine was everywhere and it really left you with an appreciation of how powerful a river of ice can be when flowing out of the mountains above. Mountains were ground into stone fragments and strewn all over the landscape. Because this section of trail is mostly just a conduit for hikers getting from place to place it seemed very remote. Although we passed many folks it was always a brief encounter that was soon forgotten. We could sense that we were not too far away from our destination. After a few days of hiking you start to just be able to sense the trail and feel what is to come. As we came around a bend we could see the tops of small building in the distance and Cristian told us they were part of the lodges and camps where we were headed. He told us the Ecocamp is actually a short distance beyond the visible Hosteria los Torres but we were only about 30 minutes away. Cristian dug out his radio and called ahead to let them know we would be arriving soon. Craig joked that they should clean up and hide all the beer because we were on our way. Cristian found that quite funny and referred to it a few times as we continued on. Off to the left of the trail was a place where there was a nice waterfall hidden in the brush. We left the trail and went over to enjoy the view. Very soon we would be dealing with "civilization" again and we thought this area would be a good place for us to take it all in. As we continued across the fields of brush Cristian pointed out various plants that were very helpful if stranded out here freezing. He pointed to a rather large shrub that was very easliy ignited by fire. He said that it is very thick and although alive, was very dry. In an emergency the central leaves are always dry and easy to use when starting a fire. Craig also thought it might not be too difficult to hide between some of the large clumps to protect oneself from the wind and weather if needed. As we continued along this area we saw three ibis flying nearby and squawking away. We tried getting a photo but they always maintained enough distance to make a nice photo impossible with our camera. It was a nice little finale where we became aware of just how little wildlife there seems to be in Patagonia. It just feels as though there isn't as much wildlife as you would expect in an area that is really pristine. Closer to home this land would be cherished and filled with a large variety of animals both large and small. Finally approaching the last stage of the hike, we rounded a corner and were faced with a crossroads. To the left headed up into the mountains and to the right headed more towards the camps. We continued to the right across the plain until we came to a small river running out of the valley above. Cristian pointed to the trail merging on the left and told us that is where we would be hiking tomorrow. We crossed our final bridge of the day: a nice wooden bridge made of very heavy cable and large wood planks across a rather large river that clearly could carry a lot more water than was currently flowing. In the riverbed below you could see the remains of bridges long since destroyed as yet another reminder for how unforgiving the weather can be in Patagonia. Once again we felt lucky that we have only had occasional mist, never even enough to keep a rainjacket on for more than a few minutes at a time. On the other side of the river we climbed over a fence and past a few old vehicles including a very old firetruck. Suddenly we were in the parking lot of a large hosteria and people seemed to be everywhere. We knew we were staying at the Ecocamp, but where was it? This all seemed a bit overwhelming with many different people and buildings with people taking care of the grounds and such. A rather large outdoor Christmas tree was adorned with ornaments and it was all feeling rather crowded suddenly. Fortunately we walked straight through the property only stopping quickly at a small store outbuilding. A few drivers asked if we needed a ride and Craig and I wondered if we did; we had no idea where we were going at this point. We continued on through the paddocks where Cristian seemed to know everyone and waved hello. Finally Cristian told us it was another 10 minute walk to the Ecocamp. We continued past a small campground where many tents looked like they had been sitting there for months. After crossing one final stream we were suddenly at the Ecocamp, our home for the next two nights. Immediately we felt like we were home. We met the hostess, Paulina. She showed us to our "domo" (ecologically friendly geodesic dome shaped tent), which was #7. The Ecocamp consists of a grouping of white domed tents scattered around the grounds. Each domo sits on top of raised decking and there are walkways between all of them. There is a large domo off to one side where there is a dining room, living room and a kitchen. In the center is a wooden structure where the bathrooms reside. As we entered our domo we realized how thick the walls to the tent are. They are not simple canvas walls but rather multiple layers consisting of at least one thick layer of insulation. There were a few windows in each tent looking out onto the grounds as well as one looking toward the sky. The tent contained two fully made up twin beds, each stocked with very warm blankets. There was also a small table on which was a booklet describing the workings of the Ecocamp. There was no electricity in the individual tents although a battery lamp was available if you asked for it. We each had our headlamps and felt we would be fine using those. Although we were ready for a nice shower we realized our big packs had not arrived yet, and neither had our toiletry duffels. We decided to take a walk around the grounds and get a feel for what the bathrooms were like. Soon afterwards our bags arrived and we headed off to the bathrooms to take showers. It was nice removing our hiking boots and getting into our sandals again. The bathrooms were very nice, with composting toilets, two showers, and two sinks. The walls were tastefully decorated with Patagonian artwork and photographs. There was even biodegrabable soap at the sink and in the shower as well as incense available in case it was wanted. There was plenty of hot water although we wanted to make it quick since the whole point of the Ecocamp is to use minimal resources and yet still provide a very comfortable place to stay. After our refreshing showers, we headed to the refugio next door so that Craig could buy a grande bottle of Austral beer, and I could buy a grande bottle of Fanta. We took our drinks and headed back to Ecocamp. We went into the living/dining tent. It was a large tent with dining tables and chairs, couches, and a wood stove. The kitchen was there as well. As the tents were called "domos", and this one was much larger than the rest, we took to calling it the "majordomo", a play on the name of email listservers. We're such geeks. We wanted to sit on the comfy couches, but it was too hot to sit near the wood stove, so we sat at one of the dining tables instead. One of the tables in front of the kitchen area had hot water for tea and coffee, as well as cookies. We ended up eating quite a few cookies and just when we were starting to feel guilty about not leaving many for the rest of the gang, a new plate appeared. While we ate some cookies, I wrote in the journal and Craig looked through some maps and brochures. Various people from the other group arrived, wandered in, chatted, and sat for a while. The heat from the wood stove got to be too much, even though we weren't sitting right next to it. Paulina opened the door flap. Occasionally a breeze blew through, but all in all it was much more comfortable. Juan, Jane, and Richard arrived after having seen a puma on the hiking trail. They were justifiably very excited. It turns out that the puma seems to have been hanging out near the trail right in the area where we went to climb the small hill to see Cristian's lookout. We wondered if we were closer to the puma than we ever imagined. This led Craig and I to reflect on the fact that we hadn't really seen much wildlife at all. We had of course seen the ñandús and penguins in Punta Arenas, but here in Torres del Paine, we had seen a few birds and a couple of hares. While relaxing we talked to Kate about Tom Waits for a while. We had just gone to see him in Vancouver and again in Berlin and Kate was pretty knowledgable about Tom and wanted to hear a little about the show. Then Cristian, Rodrigo, and Juan had us all sit in the couch area as they served us pisco sours and some appetizers (salami, some other salami-like meat which the package claimed was called "Boston salami", guacamole, crackers, and turkey. We laughed at the Boston salami. It reminded us of our trip to New Zealand two years ago when we saw a "Boston bun" in the grocery store, and it was like nothing we had ever seen in Boston. Juan kept refilling everyone's pisco sours. I think that all in all I had at least 3, maybe 4. We talked about various things while the drinks flowed, the laughter started, and the munchies were consumed. We even talked politics for a while. Then Rodrigo and Juan showed us tomorrow's itinerary on the map and explained what was in store for us. The hike would be in three segments. The first third would be uphill getting into the valley. The second third would basically be following that valley through some wooded areas. The final third would be a steep hike up the moraine. The destination was a lookout point at which you could see the Torres across a lake. Rodrigo had a great postcard that showed the final stage of the hike and it really gave us a feel for our destination. It looked rather difficult but it also looked like it was going to be an amazing day, and we were all pretty excited about it. Dinner was served around 8:00. At first we wondered why we hadn't been seated with the other group. While they were at a very large table, Craig and I were seated off at a smaller table with Cristian. We found out that this would be our last dinner with Cristian. He would be leaving soon after tomorrow's hike because he had to help his family brand cattle at their estancia. So we were happy to have him to ourselves for our last meal. We were served a chicken-based soup as an appetizer. Then we were served chicken which was carefully balanced on a mound of rice. It looked very professional, and I took a picture of it with my camera, trying out the fancy new "cuisine" setting. For dessert we had banana "torres" with a caramel tasting substance, possibly peanut butter, raisins, etc. We had red wine and Cristian kept filling our glasses. The group was all very chatty and we all were having a great time and enjoying the beautiful Ecocamp. The quality of the meal seemed perfect at this place. We were surrounded by nature, and yet the food was far from basic. It turned out that today was Steven's 40th birthday, and the chef brought a birthday cake to the big table. We all sang happy birthday and I got some pictures of Steve blowing out the candle. The chef cut the cake into exactly enough pieces for the large group. Oh well, we were hoping to join in as we had all become one large group but Leta, Kate, and Nell shared some of their pieces with us, which was very nice of them. The cake was more like an apple pie than a cake, actually. It had been baked in a loaf pan and was served garnished with wildflowers. After dinner we sat on the couches chatting by candlelight. The sun didn't really go down until about 10:00 or so and it was still somewhat light when we went to bed at around 11. We could have easily stayed awake later but we knew tomorrow would be a big day and we should force ourselves into bed to get some sleep. Although it was a little chilly when we first got into our domo by flashlight, we were soon very warm and secure in our twin beds. There were fleece sheets, heavy wool blankets, and a sheepskin at the foot of the bed. The weight of the blankets was very pleasant and we felt like we were back in the womb. We started getting a bit giggly as we were falling asleep making jokes about our womb beds and then, the windmills. As you would expect at an ecocamp there were windmills that helped generate power. The thing is, every once in a while the very strong gusts of wind would cause them to howl. We could hear them sporadically throughout the night, sounding like a T Rex. It was quite startling in the very quiet Patagonian night.

Hike to the Torres

Jan 07, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
We woke up at 6:15 and climbed out of our domo. Come to find out that Evan had seen a puma on the Ecocamp grounds at 6 o'clock. We wandered around the grounds a little bit but it seemed that once again we were too late for a puma sighting. Cristian wanted to get an early start so that we would get to our hiking destination before most of the crowds. We had a clear view of the Torres in the sunlight from Ecocamp, and we hoped that in the highly changeable weather of Patagonia, the clear skies would hold out until we got to our destination. Cristian had told us that afternoon clouds will likely block a nice view of the Torres so an early start had many benefits. We went to the "majordomo" for breakfast at 7. As we entered the tent we felt a little bit guilty as all the same staff were waiting on our every need, just as they had the night before. Although they are doing what they do, we couldn't help but feel it was a bit of a drag for them to plan their day off our schedule rather than the other way around. They go to bed later than we do, they wake up before we do...we hoped they at least had time for a siesta during the afternoon. In no time at all they had brought out all the makings for breakfast. We had cereal, bread, peanut butter, eggs, fruit salad, and apple juice. Meanwhile they brought out all the supplies for making our lunches too. We have become very fond of the little sandwiches we made for hiking. The bread was different than we were used to at home and we knew this would be our last day making our little packed lunches. We were getting very used to the day to day routine of hiking in Patagonia and today was the last full day. We finished packing our lunches and caught a ride to the Hosteria las Torres. Although it is a short walk from Ecocamp to the trailhead, Cristian felt it was better to save the 30 minutes or so and get going right away. From there we started our hike at 8:00. The first third of the hike was pretty steep getting us up into the valley, as Rodrigo and Juan had warned us. The uphill hike was constant and there was almost no protection from the dangerous sunshine. It was amazing how much the sun beats down at such an early time. There were a few scattered trees along the hike where we could take a quick break to drink some water, but overall there was nothing. The trail wasn't very crowded but we were not alone either. As we made our way up the slope, the trail was wide open and exposed a beautiful view downhill toward the lake. The land here is so big and enveloping that it really takes a decent amount of hiking to arrive at those sights that seem rather close by. After about an hour we had made the initial ascent into the valley. We were right on schedule according to our plan. This was a relief to us as we were in a sort of auto-pilot mode just placing one foot in front of the other making our way up the incline. Arriving at the "peak" we felt it wasn't nearly as difficult as we had prepared ourselves for. The second third was a lot of up and down undulating terrain in the valley. At one point we got to a section that was very windswept and exposed. The wind was strong enough that we needed to be careful not to be blown off the side of the mountain. It looked like a volcanic lunar landscape. There were very small gray and black stones in a vast landslide across the trail. The valley we were now hiking in was a perfect conduit to funnel the wind and it was blowing very hard in our faces. After another half hour, we reached the Refugio Chilenos. We didn't cross the river to the refugio and instead chose to press onward. After that the trail wound through some wooded areas generally following the river through the valley. The variety of landscapes was quite remarkable and the beautiful weather made it all very enjoyable all around. Vast landscapes surrounded us and the trail was very comfortable to walk on. Where bridges would be helpful, they were there. At one point there was a rather steep spot and there was a rope making it much easier, and less dangerous to navigate. After about an hour, we rounded the corner revealing a nice view of a moraine avalanche crossing the path. At this location was a wooden sign instructing us how to proceed. Straight ahead, only 5 minutes away, was Campamento Torres, a campground nestled in the valley. To the left was the start of the final ascent to the Torres. The sign claimed it would take 45 minutes to get to the lookout. Craig and I drank a little water and looked upwards thinking, we would be up there in 45 minutes? That seemed awfully ambitious. We could recall the discussion around the wood stove last night. Rodrigo showed us a postcard that gave a great view of what lay ahead. We knew from past experience in the park, things definitely are farther away than they appear. These didn't appear very close either. Looking up the moraine we could see that large rock looming overhead. Rodrigo had told us that rock is the size of a school bus and yet, from here, it looked rather insignificant. We had a quick snack, drank a little more water, and decided to begin the final ascent. There was a very well marked trail through the rather disorientating maze of crumbled rock. Small orange spray paint dots were placed along the trail attempting to keep all the hikers in a set pathway. Not all of the trail was climbing rock over rock though. Very often we were winding back and forth across a small stream and we were dodging in and out of trees as we stayed to one edge of the moraine. Here we started to come across more hikers. The steep incline meant there were many people at various fitness levels stopping when they needed to. Very often we were able to round a corner and take a breather while saying "hola" to those that we passed, or who were passing us. We actually gained confidence seeing these people as it made us feel we were in better shape and were handling the hike pretty well. Cristian can do this hike in no time (probably with his eyes closed), but for me it was a little challenging and I just needed to keep a nice pace and keep moving along. Craig seemed to be inspired by the majestic location and probably could have also bounded up this final section pretty quickly, but he waited for me very often. He would move quickly ahead but then wait for me to catch up. I think he was trying his best to keep me from getting overwhelmed and to help me to just take it all one small section at a time. Once near the large rock Craig could no longer contain himself and bounded up the final section. He even climbed on top of the huge rock looking down at me and waving me along. I have no idea where he got the burst of energy to make the extra climb, but clearly his adrenaline was pumping furiously at this point and I was happy to be not too far behind. Cristian kept calling out to me, encouraging me to press on. He had a tough love sort of way about him, but it worked to keep me motivated. After a short final climb, we managed to get to the top at about 11:45. Looking at my watch I realized we did that final ascent in about an hour. Despite the sign saying 45 minutes, we felt a real sense of accomplishment arriving in an hour. As we turned toward the Torres, the view was phenomenal. We were standing at the top of the moraine avalanche and looking across a glacial lake at the three towers. The lake had that odd blue/green/gray hue resulting from all the glacial silt suspended in the water. As the towers loomed overhead, the clouds playing with the sky made an exciting backdrop. Although the sky wasn't as clear as it had been in the early morning, it looked like we were just in time to have some rather breathtaking views before more serious clouds would roll in. At one point a shaft of light came beaming through the clouds and lit up a section of the middle tower. Cristian managed to get a photo of Craig and I standing in front of the scene, but in this ever changing environment it was hard to truly capture the breathtaking views all around us. Although the lake seemed rather small, Cristian informed us that it was at least another 4 hours of hiking to work your way around the lake and get yourself to the actual base of the towers. He said it was also rather dangerous as there were many glaciers in the area that would need to be crossed. From our vantage point it didn't look like it was very far at all but we knew how deceiving this landscape could be. Only a few other hikers were up at the top, and there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and feel as if we were the only ones in such a lovely place. We had our own little spot nestled on a large rock. Cristian claimed that it was his rock. We broke out our lunches and had to add a little bit of clothing. The winds up here were pretty significant and suddenly our bodies were aware of the chilly air around us. We added our windbreaker coats to preserve our body heat. As we sat on top we noticed the clouds were definitely getting more dense and we knew that Cristian was right. Getting an early start and keeping moving was a good idea and we felt lucky to have the terrific views we had. Soon after we were settled, Evan showed up. He was the first of his group to make it. They had left about an hour after us, and he had run the second third of the hike (he and Megan are triathletes). Steven showed up next. It was a little chilly at the top so we decided to put our hats and gloves on. Looking down the trail on the moraine we could see many hikers making their way to the top. As the top seemed to be getting more and more crowded, we decided to move on and let the newcomers enjoy "Cristian's rock". We headed back down, and met the rest of the group on the moraine (except for Jane, who it turns out had decided to stay back at Ecocamp for a day of pampering). On the hike back down, we passed a lot more people. Craig was very concerned with his knee going down the moraine. He was wearing support on both knees, and hadn't had any problems at all today. He hoped all would be ok and it wouldn't make the return to Ecocamp harder than it needed to be. We made good time working our way down the rocks but I found that Craig and Cristian seem to have no problem stepping from rock to rock while heading steeply downhill with confidence. On the other hand, I felt a bit more apprehensive and took more time making my way along. This is definitely a case where one misstep could make you miserable. As a whole I am gaining much more confidence with this sort of hiking and I'm sure with more experience and more repetition I will be able to improve a lot. In what seemed no time we were back at the base of the moraine and heading into the woods. One last look up the rock slide revealed a very overcast sky that blocked much of the Torres from the viewers. We thought about all the people still hiking up, and how our timing had been perfect. Hikes like this are really fantastic on their own and a view is not always mandatory in order to enjoy them, but we felt so fortunate. We had basically finished up our Patagonia hiking, where the weather is notorious, and always had what we thought was fantastic weather for the circumstance at hand. We were prepared for much worse weather and were blessed with nice weather, nice temperatures, and incredible views for almost all of our days in the park. As we turned into the woods, Cristian met up with a friend and was chatting away. We decided to go ahead knowing that Cristian would catch up easily, regardless of the distance we would cover. Continuing down the trail, through the woods, we quickly recognized all the different sights we saw just a few hours ago. It's funny how you really feel like the hike goes by so much faster once you have been over the ground previously. We saw all the beautiful flowers we had passed, the section of large trees that were knocked over, all the roots sticking up from the ground trying to catch unsuspecting hikers. It all seemed to go by so quickly. Sure enough, Cristian came running up the trail behind us saying that we didn't make it that far ahead and thanked us for letting him chat with his friend. We had to laugh as we were thinking we had actually covered a pretty good distance. When we got to the short steep climb where a rope was installed for assistance, Cristian got a bit nervous with me as apparently I was using the rope a little more than I should. He pointed out how you should never trust a pre-existing rope and only use it to help, always thinking it could let go at any moment, and to make sure you never fully are relying on it. As we continued down the trail, passing many more hikers, we came to a small section where the water coming from the glaciers above would run across the trail. The small stream ran right through a mossy section of rock creating a great curtain of water along the edge of the trail. It was a nice place to fill the water bottles or simply to run some cold water on your face. Soon we were back down to the river's edge and approaching the Refugio Chilenos. As we approached we could see all sorts of hikers around the building and since we had water, had food, and didn't need a restroom, we decided once again to just continue on and not make the detour over to the site. From there the trail starts to ascend the side of the valley, away from the river, and makes its way to the ridge. Here the wind was incredible. We seriously had to be careful to not lose our footing and fall over. The trail was high above the valley and river below and falling off the trail would be very dangerous. Once or twice we actually delayed moving a foot, waiting to make sure we were stable first. The wind at our backs was shoving us up the trail, and we could see other hikers coming toward us walking into this wind. It was somewhat amusing seeing people round a corner becoming exposed to the wind and looking a bit frazzled as they passed by. We were very glad to have the wind at our backs at this point and we were also well aware that the wind was hardly this strong as we were coming this way earlier. Back at the volcanic lunar landscape, the wind howling, we really felt that our surroundings were from another world. What an amazing day we had and what an amazing hike this really had been. Before long, we were back at the top of the ridge, looking down at the final descent out of the valley. We knew that we had covered this section of the hike in an hour earlier this morning, but we also had gravity helping us out this time. The sun was really beating down on the backs of our heads and shoulders, and we were fortunate to have decent hats that helped protect us. Craig was a little concerned about the back of his neck, but it didn't seem to be as burned as he felt it was. As we got down to the bottom we passed a family that was hiking up. There was a young girl with the family who was so red. She looked completely sunburned and we wondered where the family was possibly going. Were they just walking around the area or were they actually hiking? Either way, the girl was in no situation to be hiking. Cristian gave the parents a quick warning about how burned she was and even offered to give them some sun protection, but the parents didn't seem to be concerned at all and they just kept hiking. Exposure in Patagonia is not something to take lightly. Not only will this girl have a terrible sunburn, she is likely to cause her skin serious harm. I crossed the bridge at the bottom of the hike. When I got to the other side, Craig and Cristian were busily picking and eating berries from the calafate bushes. Unlike some of the berries that we had encountered during the past few days, these were perfectly ripe and yummy. We made our way through the hosteria grounds. It took us about 3 and a half hours to get back to the hosteria. We stopped at the gift shop and bought maps of the region, a magnet, some postcards, and some ice cream (Craig got a vanilla strawberry sundae and I got a cookie sandwich). They accepted credit cards, so we decided to use ours in an attempt to hang on to some of the harder to come by cash. It appeared easy enough but then took on a life of its own. Well, the woman running the shop had to lock the shop and accompany Craig to the hotel's reception desk in order to get them to run the card. Craig tried to back down and give her cash after all, but the woman insisted it was no problem and that he should follow her. Craig said it was a madhouse in the hotel lobby. There were people trying to catch busses and looking for cabs, others looking for information, others checking in. Some were making phone calls and others were working in a small office behind the main reception desk area. Craig said he tried to call it all off and pay cash, but the woman was on a mission and again insisted it was no problem. There were probably close to a dozen different employees running around trying to take care of all the different needs of the guests. I stayed outside with Cristian and Craig didn't emerge for 15 minutes. Even then, he wasn't done. He just needed his passport number. So he went back inside and finished up. Craig said that eventually the woman managed to get one of the office workers to handle the purchase and write up the credit card receipt. Craig came out of the lobby looking quite frazzled and laughing at the whole situation. We put our bags into the back of a pickup truck and were driven back to Ecocamp at 4:00. We said our goodbyes to Cristian in case the opportunity didn't present itself again. He gave us some evaluation forms and asked us if we would please fill them out and seal the envelopes when done. It all felt so formal and we had nothing but good things to say about Cristian. We got a final picture of the three of us in the shirts that we had consistently worn through the hiking trip. We had a lot of laughs about the clothing and that photo made us all have one last laugh together. Craig wanted to buy a beer after a great day of hiking so we went to the refugio next door to get one. Once again he got himself a room-temperature grande Austral and really enjoyed that first sip. We sat on the nice wood walkways between the domos and filled out the evaluation forms. We said our final goodbyes to Cristian again and handed in the forms. Craig and I were feeling our typical sadness after saying goodbye to our new friend, so we thought a nice shower would help us feel better. We went into the "majordomo" and had cookies and tea. We had cocktail hour, but it didn't quite seem the same without Cristian. Rodrigo and Juan served crackers, guacamole, meats, and pisco sours. The rest of the group would be doing two short hikes tomorrow (we would be leaving early in the morning to catch our flight to Puerto Montt), so Rodrigo went over the next day's itinerary with them. They would be doing hikes to see cave painting and guanacos. We were invited to sit with the rest of the group for dinner tonight and we were very thankful. We definitely felt a little sad as we had lost Cristian earlier tonight, and now we felt a little left out since the rest of the group was planning their final day of hiking in Patagonia. We had become rather friendly with the group over the past few days and were already feeling a bit sad to leave. Even though we still had a couple more weeks of vacation ahead of us, this felt like the end of an era. It is always difficult saying bye to those people you meet and share time with while traveling. We sat at the long table and it became quite breezy outside. At times the domo door flap would open and the wind blowing in was quite cold. It was amazing how well the domo kept the heat in, but it couldn't compete with the wind. It seemed the flap had a problem with its zipper, and the staff managed to get it fixed so it could seal properly. With that minor setback repaired, dinner was brought to the table. We had a delicious tomato-based soup as an appetizer. Craig had red wine and I had white. Word on the street was that dinner would be salmon, and sure enough, the rest of the group was all served a tremendous looking salmon dinner. Everyone was quite excited about the meal and Craig and I patiently waited for ours to arrive as we were served last. As the plates came to the table we were very surprised to see that we were given some meatballs that were like little meat loaves. The meal was actually very good but I think Craig was rather disappointed. He was really looking forward to the salmon dinner, especially after seeing it arrive at every other place setting at the table. By this time a few of the others at the table had already eaten what they wanted, and some of them donated some fish to Craig. It was in a nice cream sauce and was served with spinach. For dessert, we got variations on a theme. Craig and I each had two strawberries and a raisin. Evan had seven small strawberries and a peanut. We all had a lot of laughs regarding the varying meals and desserts and it was a nice way to end the day. We chatted for a while and one of the employees took our passports to have photocopies made. She told us that she would give them back to us in the morning. A few of the group snuck out and we were unable to say goodbye to them. We hoped that we would get a chance in the morning since we would be leaving pretty early. Because of this we decided to say our goodnights and we headed to our domo. As we got settled into our beds we were glad that the wind had died down. Maybe the windmill wouldn't startle us awake as it had last night. In the middle of the night (around 3 a.m.) Craig woke up to the sound of someone opening the zipper on the tent. He assumed it was me leaving the tent for a bathroom mission since he couldn't see me laying in my bed. After a short time he still never heard me come back and began to get a bit worried. I was there the whole time, though. He must have heard someone else opening their tent.

Departure from Punta Arenas

Jan 08, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Smith
We woke up at 5:30. The sun was casting a rosy glow on the mountains, and the clouds were orangey red. We packed up our stuff, went to the bathroom, etc., and at 6:30 we headed into the large domo for breakfast. We had fruit cocktail, cereal, bread with peanut butter, and orange juice. While we were eating breakfast one of the staff brough our passports back and we felt a sense of relief. That is one of those things when travelling. You just don't want to end up forgetting your documents anywhere, as losing them would be a nightmare. At 7:10, we collected all of our bags, and they were loaded into a van. We hopped into the van and took a long quiet ride to Puerto Natales initially on dirt roads. Some of the bridges were very narrow and we could see some rather large busses parked in a lot nearby. We wondered if they couldn't cross the bridge and unloaded into smaller vehicles instead. After a short ride we passed by a small town, which I believe was actually a border crossing into Argentina. It was just far enough away that we couldn't be sure though. By this time we were on a paved roadway and making good time toward Puerto Natales. Once there we stopped at the Cascada offices to sign the guest book and use the bathroom. It was just a small office with a few computers and a very nice woman behind one of them. There were various maps adorning the walls and pieces of literature discussing all the exciting things to do in the area. Despite having a great time in Patagonia, the weather was just so perfect that we had wished we had more time to spend here. We have a feeling that we came at the perfect time and could have easily kept ourselves busy here for many more days, if not weeks. By 9:20, we were at the bus station for our 9:30 bus to Punta Arenas. There was a couple in our assigned seats (1 and 2, on the left side of the bus) so we sat in 3 and 4, the front seats on the right. I slept through most of the ride, but according to Craig it was a strange wasteland of a ride. There was absolutely nothing to see. You'd approach a house or store once in a great while, only to find that it looked abandoned and had broken windows. There were occasional cars on the side of the road that looked as though they might have been abandoned. It was a highway, but you barely ever passed a car going in the opposite direction. Many times he saw a single car in the distance driving an intersecting dirt road but they would soon disappear over the landscape. Craig wished he could have slept on the bus but he just sat staring at the very uneventful scenery as it passed by. The bus dropped us off at the airport and we checked in. We were very early for our flight, so we attempted to get onto an earlier one, but had no luck. We had a lot of time to spare. We browsed through some of the shops and ended up in a small internet boutique. We sat at one of the many workstations and sent a quick update email to some firends and family back home. With very little else to do we decided to go sit in the Aeropuerto Punta Arenas Restaurant. We were given a huge menu, but they seemed not to have anything that we tried to order. I wanted king crab ravioli, or, as a second choice, king crab soup. They didn't have either, and told me that they only had king crab omelette or cold king crab. I didn't feel like either of those, so I tried to order steak in pepper sauce. We were told they had no beef. What on this extensive menu could we actually order? We asked the waiter for a recommendation, and he mentioned the scallops in cheese. Figuring this was probably the extent of what they offered, we ordered it, along with a side order of cheese empanadas. The waiter delivered the scallops, but not the empanadas. We asked about them and were told it would be another 5-10 minutes. Time went on, and he came and cleared the table. He asked if we wanted anything else. Again we asked for the empanadas. He apologized and sped off. Eventually he brought them over to our table. When he was not within ear-shot, Craig made a great Spanish pun. He stated that "apparently we had ordered empanadas with the emphasis on the 'nada'". We both got a real good laugh over that one! Our flight wasn't until 4:55, so we sat at gate 3 waiting. A woman directly across from us was reading the novel "Murder With Puffins". What was with this book? We had seen someone reading it on our flight to Guatemala last May. Craig and I have a thing for puffins, so we always seem to notice it. We had a good flight, complete with free beer, toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, a fruit tart, etc. All of a sudden Craig had a panicked look on his face as he realized that he must have left his hat at the gate in the Punta Arenas airport. It was on top of his carry on bag but must have fallen under the chair and he didn't notice it as he left. He was very sad as he had become very attached to it during such a great week of hiking. Not only did he realize he lost it, but suddenly the thought of the Patagonian sun on his bare head scared him. This was a rather unfortunate realization and I know Craig was rather upset with himself for being so careless with his hat.

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