Classic Patagonia

I´m running out of adjectives to describe the beauty and awesome-ness of Patagonia... stunning, vast, and unique come to mind first.

The first 9 days of February were a whirlwind of non-stop fun and epic adventures. My friend, Sean, joined me for this classic Patagonia segment of my trip, and we traveled pretty well together. Our first stop was Torres del Paine which we did in style. Instead of backpacking with all our gear and camping, we stayed in a refugio, basically a dorm-style hostel (except not at hostel prices!) and we did two long day hikes from there.

The TDP is not only famous for its mountain peaks and glaciers, but also for the extremely variable weather and strong winds. There are even strong wind signs posted throughout the park. The fast-changing clouds and skies were simply amazing to witness. We got super lucky and had excellent hiking weather. Still had to battle the winds, but we didn´t have to camp in the rain at night and we got great views of the peaks. Our day hikes were each about 15 miles... long days (literally, there is daylight til 10pm!). Our first hike to the Grey glacier was definitely impressive being my first real glacier sighting... we got pretty close too. The trail was pretty much a gentle roller coaster. Our second hike was to the Valle de Frances and it was unexpectedly spectacular! Since it was a nice sunny warm day, the glacier was melting and causing impressive avalanches with thunderous sounds! As we approached the glacier, Sean thought he heard a plane at first, but nope, just the sound of nature! With the clear day, we were able to see all the mountain peaks as we climbed higher into the valley. Perfecto! With all the hype about the TDP being a backpacker highway, we were pleasantly surprised that we had several long stretches of trail just to ourselves. We split up a bit too so we could each enjoy some solitude in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

One very long day (10 hours!) of public transit later, we were back in El Calafate, and we re-connected with my friend, Ira, who I first met in my hostel in Buenos Aires (and we´ve been traveling together since). The next day was quite the first time experience for me, ice-trekking! We went to the famous Perito Moreno glacier in the Los Glaciers national park, It´s famous for its frequent rupturing and calving (when a bit of ice breaks off and becomes an iceberg). Every time we heard a crack, we quickly scanned the glacier surface to try and witness this impressive process of nature. After viewing the glacier from the boardwalks above, we took a ferry across the lake and started our hour-long hike to where we would walk onto the glacier. This hike was pretty miserable as it started raining hard in addition to the strong cold wind. We were all on the verge of wanting to cancel and hunker down in the tent structure instead of venturing out onto the ice. But soon after we got our crampons on, the rain slowed down and the sun came out. Life was good again! Walking on the ice with crampons was pretty easy and our guides were attentive, helpful, efficient hippies. The glacier dunes, crevasses, creeks, waterfalls, and caves were quite a sight to see!

The next day, the three of us bussed it to El Chalten, and I quickly fell in love with this quaint mountain town. The empanadas were out of this world! The best so far on my trip! In fact, all the food (and local beer) was delicious here with plenty of veggie options too. Again, we got lucky with the weather, and all 3 days there were sunny and clear with excellent views of Mt. FitzRoy. The locals said that was unusual so I was especially grateful to be there at that time. We split up on the first day, and my first hike was long and had an intense climb to get to the Laguna des los Tres, the lakes right below the massive Mt. FitzRoy. Well-worth the effort though! The scenery is something out of a movie or dream... snow-capped mountains, forests, blue lakes, clear rivers, chirping birds... you get the idea. El Chalten is awesome in that we can hike right from town, no dealing with transit or fees, and we can drink the tap water and fill up our bottles from the rivers. The water is that pure! Even better tasting than SF tap water! Our second hike, all together, was super fun with several rounds of 20 questions played and of course, the incredible scenery all around. It was a nice easy hike to Laguna Torre on a brilliantly warm day in Patagonia paradise!

Sean left on Wednesday, and several bus rides later, I´m now in Coyhaique in Chile. I decided to postpone my volunteer farm work for a week so I could travel with Ira up the famous Careterra Austral in Chile - apparently much more exciting than a long, bumpy bus ride on ruta 40 in Argentina. Our next stop is Puyuhuapi, near Parque Queulat, and we have our sights set on enjoying the hot springs that are in the area. We have bus tickets for tomorrow, and hopefully our bus will actually be there. We had our first ¨missed¨bus yesterday... the bus just never showed up! But we got where we needed to go. All part of the experience!

¨No regrets¨ is quickly becoming a theme on my trip. While I´m blowing through my budget faster than expected (and Patagonia is notorious for that! It should even out in Bolivia!), at least I won´t be saying, ¨I wish I had done that¨, instead, it´s a resounding, ¨wow, I did that and here´s my story¨.

Some pics from classic Patagonia:

Mountains and lakes in Torres del Paine

Glacier Grey

Crazy clouds in TDP

The Cuernos mtns on the way to Valle de Frances

Quickly melting glacier Frances

Perito Moreno glacier

Tall glacier!

With Ira and Sean - ice trekking on Perito Moreno

Ice cave

View of Mt. Fitzroy near El Chalten

At the top: Laguna des los Tres

looking towards Cerro Torre

With Sean at Laguna Torre