Day 51 - 56 Torres del Paine

 

Day 51 - Travel from El Calafate to Puerto Natales and Torres Del Paine.

4:45 am came early. We packed our bags last night, so we quickly got dressed, loaded our last minutes items in our bag, left our extras at the front desk, ate breakfast before our 5:30 bus pick up. It took another hour to pick up other El Calafate passengers. The bus is pretty basic, no frills kind of transportation. There really is nothing between these cities in Patagonia, just sheep, cattle, and horse ranches.

It took forever to get through Argentina customs and Chile customs with a bus of 38 people. The agencies were about ten minutes apart on a gravel road through more ranches. We finally got to Puerto Natales at 12:30. We quickly got our hotel and transportation vouchers at Fantastico Sur. We bought a duffle bag to leave some gear at one of the camps on the third day of our hike; only $21 USD which wasn't too bad. We will see on day three if it was necessary or not. Fantastico recommended it, so not a huge loss if unnecessary. The rep recommended a restaurant close by but I walked us to the purple number five instead of the maroon number 5. Luckily for me, the random restaurant made Kristen an awesome vegetarian sandwich. In fact she wants to eat there again in five days on our way back to El Calafate. I dodged a bullet on that one. My pizza was so so. We walked passed the hostel we reserved for our return trip and despite good online reviews it wasn't on a well maintained street in town. We decided to walk in and cancel it and find something else on our return. We had to walk about eight blocks to the train station and all of them seemed to deteriorate as we got closer to the bus station. It is obvious that:

1) only a few people in town benefit financially from the tourists as most streets and buildings are run down

2) being a heavy backpacking town, the tourist money is not abundant. Hence why many accommodations are hostels and not hotels.

We finally boarded our bus to Torres del Paine at 2:30 pm and arrived at about 5:00 pm. The hotel area is very comfortable, but rustic at the same time. We are happy to have a private bathroom for our first two nights. That wont be true at our next two accommodations. We walked around the grounds a bit and made sure we understood our hike for the morning.

There are many hiking trails in Torres del Paine, with the most famous being the W (think of the W like this "l_l_l") Trek which is four days and four nights and the path is in the shape of a W. It was fun to finally see the light bulb come on when Kristen recognized the "W" on 2D schematic of the park today. We are staying two nights at Los Torres Hotel in the lower right corner of the W. Our first hike will be up and back on the right arm of the W. We will stay again at Los Torres. Our second day of hiking will take us to the middle of the W where we will stay at Los Cuernos. Our third day of hiking will take us up the middle of the W and back down to the lower left arm where we will stay at Paine Grande. The forth day of hiking is up the left arm and back down before we cruise back to the bus pick up point.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the best view of the huge granite towers! Hoping for good weather. Day 1 and 3 are supposed to be the hardest.

We have all meals included on the hike since we are in the middle of no where. The dinner tonight was fantastic. A great buffet of all sorts of salads, meats, side dishes, and our top desert so far (like a warm chocolate lava cake, but with dulce de leche instead of chocolate). Yes, I had two. The best part of dinner was that all of the horses were let out to graze on the hotel grounds. We literally had gorgeous horses right outside our dinner window. How cool is it that the horses just coexist at the hotel and eat the grass on the grounds. Multiple times people came and went and they were not bothered. We are excited for our meals tomorrow as we have high expectations after dinner.

We tried to use their satellite internet to book a hotel for our return back to Puerto Natales, but it was painfully slow. Kristen isn't feel well, so she went to bed about 945. I packed for tomorrow's hike and was able to finish today's blog before bed. Yes, I have both my iPhone and ipad going on the W trek. I just couldn't trust leaving it at the hotel in El Calafate. Plus, I have my waterproof cases on them both and take my iPhone on all hikes. It comes in handy when it is too rainy for the good camera. It also does awesome panoramic photos.

Despite being a long travel day, the day went by extremely fast for me. It is amazing how much time it takes to catch up on blogs, take a nap, and read GQ (I find them to have the best articles. I fly through the first half, but the end articles are usually well done on random cool topics).

Day 52 - Hike to base lookout of Torres del Paine

What a great nights sleep. We both found it difficult to wake up this morning despite a good nights sleep. We had everything ready so we were five minutes early to 7 am breakfast. The breakfast as a whole was disappointing since we had such high hopes from a delicious dinner. It amazes me how salt can ruin food just as easy as it enhances it. They did have good juices and some delicious cinnamon roles despite no icing.

We left the hotel at 7:50 expecting to be gone for a long day. The trail map scheduled us to take 3.5 hours to Camp Torres and then an hour ascend to a lake at the base of Torre Sur, Central, and Norte. Having been in a bus all day yesterday, we were excited to get out and see the park today. The trail was exposed for 80% of the hike which ultimately took us about 1.75 hrs. The trail itself was a shared horse trail for the first 45 minutes which wasn't the best way to a spend the morning, hoping horse poop. However, this part of the trail looked over the wide open valley which I prefer to being in the woods. The ascend to the base was much harder than expected after we blazed through the bulk of the hike. We had to walk through a lot of moraine and some of it was up a steep hill. It was impossible to take big steps as it was like walking in sand and you just slipped back down hill.

The view of the granite towers over a perfectly calm and reflecting lake was amazing. We spent about 45 minutes watching a small cloud pass through so we could capture all of the towers in the perfect sun. We had the best possible weather today. The temperature about 65 with very little clouds and a direct and warm sun. I spent all but the first ten minutes in shorts and a tshirt. Kristen in pants and a tshirt. What was perfect was the lack of wind. Just two days ago they had 45 mph winds and today we had less than 5 mph! We got lucky. We planned to have lunch at the lake, but it was only 10:30. After taking multiple pictures and taking in the reflection of the towers, we descended back down.

We were told by the guide in El Chalten that we should go further down the trail to the Japanese Camp to see views of the backside of the mountain. We got back to Camp Torres and asked the ranger where to pick up the trail after we failed to find it. He explained that it was restricted to those who registered with the park office and proved that they had mountain experience. We were bummed as we were ahead of schedule and the weather was just perfect. Oh well. We took the same trail back and stopped to have lunch at the Refugio El Chileno where we had great clear views of the tips of the towers. We ultilmately made it back to Los Cerros our hotel for the evening at about 2:00, five hours early.

I want to find out how they estimate the times for the different trails. Even though I like to be ahead of schedule and enjoy the down time, it stinks when you plan your day according to the scheduled hiking times. We met a few other people on the trail who also complained that the trail times were off, so it's not like we are super hikers setting records.

We planned multiple options for tomorrow if our scheduled 5 hour hike takes only 2-3 hrs. We typically hike 3 miles in an hour with fairly flat terrain and tomorrow's hike is 6 miles with minimal elevation. We will wait to see how the weather is and how we feel. Having seen the weather change rather quickly, we want to take advantage of any good clear and calm weather.

Overall, the towers were beautiful to see. What made them cool was the calm lake at the base which gave an amazing reflection. The high banks of rocks at the lake made for various viewing points and helped us feel more secluded. The lake wasn't as clear as other lakes in the area as there is only a small river flowing out of it and minimal water melting into it. Despite it not being clear, the lack of water movement made for a smooth glass reflection of the towers. It is the second best hike we have been on with Fitz Roy still more impressive (having a glacier helps).

We spent the afternoon resting up. We both washed our stinky hiking clothes in the bathroom, so we could hang them out to dry. Now that I have the blog caught up, I will most likely nap while reading GQ while taking in the mountain views!

We finished the afternoon playing cards in the lounge area where we met a family of Michigan fans. We ended up taking a picture, which I think is priceless as he naturally held up the number two. Glad he knows his place.

The dinner doesn't open until 7:30, but we were one of the first in. It amazes me how other countries eat dinner so late. We asked our guide Pedro (in El Chalten) about this and he said most families eat late then go straight to bed, sometimes watching a TV show in between. We packed our bags as we hike tomorrow morning to our next accommodation, Cabins Los Cuernos.

Day 53 - Hike to Cabins Los Cuernos

We woke up this morning to a bright sky outside of our window which we were excited to get to our next destination (Cabins Los Cuernos) to potentially hike part of our 3rd day's route to campamento Britanico in the French Valley. We got dressed and walked to breakfast. As we walked through the main lodge, we looked outside to see the most boldly colored rainbow either of us have ever seen. We rain back to the room to get the camera and rain outside. The rainbow was starting to dissipate, but it was still gorgeous.

We had a nice conversation with a South African man for about 10 minutes. He explained how crazy the economic divide is between the few million whites vs the 50-70 millions blacks living in South Africa. They don't actually know how many blacks live there since the borders of South Africa are not monitored and are open for others to come in "illegally." He is the third South African we have met from Johannesburg on this a trip. They all explained how horrific some of the crimes are and how life is not take seriously in much of the culture there. Very sad. However, he talked about when he travels back home to it, there is just something crazy and chaotic that he loves. How he lives this technological and mobile world in the suburbs and he can drive an hour and be with "lions and indigenous people who have never even seen a computer."

By the time we settled up our hotel bill, we didn't hit the trail until 8:30. The rain was really only misting off and on, so it wasn't too bad. We were scheduled for a 4 hour hike along Lake Nordenskjold for much of our 11 km hike. We expected a boring hike, but it was surprisingly pleasant. It was rolling enough to keep the path interesting with various rivers to cross with hills and bends to explorer. At the same point, we didn't climb much elevation which we were ok with since we had all of our supplies with us for the entire five days vs just our simple day pack. Thus our load was probably 10-15 lbs heavier. All in all, the wind and rain came and went, but did not make the hike miserable.

We have been enjoying getting on the trail early as the W is very popular. By getting up early, we do not have to cross too many hikers which gets a bit annoying to stop and step aside, plus it slows you down. We didn't really see anyone until the last half our what ended up to be a 2.5 hour hike.

We arrived at 11, but thankfully, a cabin was open for us to check into early. We just made it to our cabin when the downpour started. Wow did we get lucky. It down poured for about three hours straight. We were able to eat lunch in the lodge and played a few games of cards. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out in our little cabin.

This Refugio has eight separate cabins that is basically a small little hut with one electric outlet and a nice wood burning stove. The Refugio provides all of the wood, kindling, and matches and even starts the fire for you. We just had to maintain it.

There was a small break in rain that we were able to walk around for or about ten minutes, but eventually we had to take shelter from the rain. The later the evening went on, the windier it got. The Refugio was packed at dinner. Many hikers were trying to dry their belongings out in the two fires in the lodge. We were so lucky to be in one of the 8 cabins where we had some privacy and a personal fire to dry out any wet clothes.

The wind has gotten pretty bad here to where Kristen is convinced our cabin is going blow off its stilts. At dinner a couple said they saw a man's tent fly into the air and they didn't see it come down! We can't imagine what it must be like to be in a tent right now. Cold, possibly wet, and a bit nervous for such high winds.

Despite the little hiking we were actually able to do today, I really enjoyed the day. We had a nice hike and were able to make progress through the W, but it was more enjoyable to be locked in a cabin with Kristen where we could just relax. It felt like a part time job to keep the fire going and the smoke out of our cabin. We played all sorts of card games tonight where she beats me 75% of the time no matter which game we play.

Additionally, I learned that no one had ever called Kristen a turd. I don't remember exactly why I used that word, but when I did she gave me this look like I was speaking in a foreign language. She confirmed that she had never heard anyone being referred to as a turd. I was shocked. She reminded me that maybe it was a central Illinois thing. I'm now on a mission to find out if other areas of the country call mischievous children, turds.

The eight cabins share a bathroom and showers. We planned to take a shower tonight as towels were available here (we are told they aren't at the next stop). Kristen eventually did shower, but warned me against it as the water was either freezing or scorching. So I sit here unshowered for the day which isn't too bad. I'm just not sure how I will smell come another 36 - 48 hours.

I am expecting it to be a long and rough night as the winds are pretty strong and they shake the cabin every now and again.Time to find out...

Day 54 - French Valley Hike

Long and rough night it was. The gusts of winds really did not stop until about five o'clock. Every five to ten minutes a wind would come through that shook the cabin. Many of them I woke up because of the sound the gusts made when it hit the cabin. Others, because Kristen would hit me as it woke and scared her. We both got up at three to put a new log on the fire which kept us pretty warm in the cabin. It was the only time we have been able to see stars since coming to South America. I wish I wasn't as exhausted so I could have enjoyed them more.

Our alarm went off at 7:00 and it really didn't feel like we slept. We packed our bags and headed down to 7:30 breakfast. This Refugio has been unique as breakfast is passed out to everyone sitting at the tables. Everyone eats at once. We had a very typical breakfast: coffee, OJ, toast, jam, corn flake cereal, and eggs. It was an ok start to the day. We grabbed our sacked lunches and headed out for our longest scheduled day of hiking.

It was very hard for me to get moving this morning on trail due to lack of sleep and having all of our gear in our packs. We made a relatively flat hour hike to Camp Italiano where we were able to drop off some of our belongings. We forgot our duffel bag in El Calafate, so we luckily bought one for twenty bucks in Puerto Natales. We put our shower supplies, extra clothes, sandals, and some extra food in the bag, locked it up and left it outside the ranger station. I was kind of hoping for a more secure drop off system, everyone simply dropped their bags off here. Buying this bag ended up being a great idea. I can't imagine how I would have hiked today if I had all of the extra weight on my back.

We left Camp Italiano with a bit of energy since our packs were now lighter. The two hours through the French Valley was a bit tough for me. I had absolutely no energy and could not get moving. The views on the hike were nice as we were in a valley between two different mountains with glaciers hanging on them. Additionally, we followed a beautiful bluish river most of the way up hill. We were surprised how dry the trail was since we had gotten so much rain. There were spots of puddles that we had to avoid, but you really saw the extra water in the creeks as it became more difficult to step on dry rocks.

The lookout was pretty amazing here as it took us to the end of the valley and it felt as if you were inside a huge horseshoe. The mountain range wrapped around the valley providing 270 degrees of mountains with huge granite peaks. As you looked down the horseshoe you could see the river run down the valley and into Lake Nordenskjold. We spent about ten minutes eating lunch and taking pictures. We had about two minutes of the lookout to ourselves. The wind was pretty strong which caused cold temperatures.

The two hours back down to camp Italiano was a bit easier as it was mostly down hill. The rocks and rivers slowed us down despite being downhill. After 16.5 kilometers (10 miles), we made it back to Camp Italiano pretty spent. We stopped for a food and bathroom break for about ten minutes. We stretched and reloaded our packs as they were not stolen while in the French Valley. We tried to lift our spirits for our 7.5 kilometer (4.5 miles) journey to Paine Grande where we were staying tonight. It was a bit difficult as we now had our heavy packs on and we were both tired. My knees were pretty achy after the two hour descend. Kristen was pretty terrible as her sinus congestion has gotten worse and gone into her lungs.

The first 2/3 of the hike went great as it was relatively flat and we were able to trot fairly easily. The weather slowly started to get windier, but it wasn't too bad as we were happy to have sun through the French Valley. However, the last 2.5 kilometers was brutal. We walked straight into what was now probably 25 miles per hour constant wind. We went over multiple hills expecting the lodge to be at the bottom of each one to only disappointment. Upon check in, the receptionist took a look at us and said, "is the weather turning bad?" It wasn't funny at the time, but we were extremely thankful to be in the warm lodge especially since it was starting to sprinkle.

We got a small room with a bunk bed in it. Kristen lite up with a big smile when they said it included a towel! The simple things in life. We didn't think we were going to be able to shower since we hadn't brought our own towel. The shower was amazing. We were both extremely tired after our roughly 15 mile hike today. I was extremely sore, but felt somewhat better after a stretch. I just need to rest the knees. Kristen got some hot tea to try and keep her sinuses in check. We watched miserable hiker after hiker come in from what was now pouring down rain. Some of them did not light up when getting to the lodge as they had to figure out how too put up their tents in 40 mph wind and rain. Many folks had no business hiking as they did not have the proper gear. Some in yoga pants with a poncho. This is Patagonia people.

We played cards and had a drink until dinner which as served at 7:00 pm. The dinner was spectacular. Not sure if we were just hungry or what. I would pay $20 at any restaurant to have the risotto again.

We were up in our room by 7:45 as we wanted to get some sleep. The heater in the room wouldn't turn on, so I asked at the front desk about it. They said it wasn't working today. What! All of the wet and cold hikers who paid to be warm were without heat. He offered to bring two additional comforters to our room which I agreed.

We both feel asleep quickly until a knock on the door at 10:00. Two hours late the comforts arrived. Not sure if this was the curse or not, but Kristen really couldn't go back to sleep after the knock. She was coughing and blowing her knows and having trouble breathing with her sinus congestion moving into her lungs. I got her a couple glasses of hot water that only worked for a little bit and halls and phenylephrine didn't work much either. One of the neighbors even offered sleeping medication. We both had another rough night.

Day 55 - Glacier Grey and return to El Calafate

The alarm went off at 6:00, but we were both exhausted and had no interest in hiking in the rain. At 7:00, we decided to get up as the sun had finally came out. After two nights of little sleep, we didn't move fast and weren't in the best of moods. We had a very similar breakfast as yesterday and decided to try and hike our last leg before catching the catamaran back across the lake to bus out of the park.

Luckily, we were able to leave the duffel bag of non essential items. The hike was brutal for me as I just had no energy. No rain, but a strong 20 mph head wind. Most of the hike was spent head down making sure I didn't break an ankle on rocks. We ultimately made it to the Lago Grey lookout about 2/3 of the way up the trail. The lookout had such strong winds, it took everything I had to stay upright to get one picture. We decided to head back and catch the earlier catamaran instead of the late one. We were able to get a few good pictures of the glacier and the beautiful blue icebergs at another lookout. We made it back to the lodge after about 3 hours of hiking.

As I reflect on the bus from the park to Puerto Natales, I have many mixed feelings about Torres del Paine. Kristen and I talked along the hike on the most ideal direction and stops along the "W" trek and I ultimately don't think there is an ideal as it doesn't exist. You have to get lucky to make it enjoyable. We were extremely lucky to have had proper gear to keep us dry, warm, and protected from the wind. We stayed in the nicest available lodging and sometimes that meant just a room with a bunk bed. We had plenty of warm food and cold beer and wine when we wanted. We had sunshine on three of the four days. And still Patagonia kicked my butt. I have absolutely no idea how people camped and enjoyed it. The wind, rain and cold had to be miserable. And this provided true by their looks. More times than not, the campers looked exhausted and some pissed at the world. And I am a sure I looked that way at parts of the journey. Additionally, the cold, wind, and rain is bound to get most people sick. I had a runny nose most of the time we hiked. Kirsten is in much better shape than me but she was restricted with horrible sinus congestion and a runny nose. Her cough sounds like she could have pneumonia.

I would not recommend hiking the W for most people. The weather will be bad during part of your hike. It is just not possible for good weather on all four days. It will be cold, windy, and rainy. It is so expensive and takes so much time to get here. The granite peaks are phenomenal to see, but I am just not sure it is worth it compared to some of the hiking available in the US.

I would only recommend the W to someone who was going to be down here anyways and has time available to hike only when the weather is somewhat favorable. When the clouds are overhead or the wind is so strong it just isn't even possible to see the peaks, so it can be a waste of time. Additionally, you must have proper gear. I would not recommend camping unless you like to be tested mentally and physically when on vacation. There is nothing relaxing and fun camping in Patagonia. Additionally, you should be in very good shape. I was on the edge of not being in good enough shape. If you aren't in shape, you are really risking your health. The last day, I was soo exhausted that I slipped twice. Luckily, I didn't fracture a wrist or ankle or hurt my knees.

We saw so many people who appeared to have just one day decided to add the trek to their vacation. They had not researched or realized that Torres del Paine is not for day recreational hikers. They were much slower hikers which meant that they spent more time in the cold wind and they were not able to avoid the rain like we did. Additionally, most people were limping around the lodge on our last night from exhaustion and sore feet or legs.

I would recommend the park to someone who had time to come into the park and stay at the Los Torres Hotel for a couple of days worth of hiking. But once again, I wouldn't fly here to just do the park. I would add it to another part of South America.

Kristen did enjoy the park much more than I did. She enjoyed being able to hike deep into the park and not have to do day hikes from the same hotel. If you enjoy this much more than day hikes to and from the same place, you may enjoy Torres more than I did.

Ultimately, we were unable to catch the last bus to El Calafate, so we had to sleep in Puerto Natales. We continue to be amazed at how little English is spoken in some of these tourist towns. Luckily, Kristen's Spanish gets us by.

Here is a list of what I had with me on my day hikes (extra stuff at the hotel).

This is what I wore starting most hikes

• Goretex wind and rain proof hat
• Sunglasses with a croakie
• Merino wool tshirt
• Merino or smart wool long sleeve shirt
• Goretex wind and rain proof light weight jacket with hood
• Non cotton hiking pants (can zipper into shorts if needed)
• Non cotton underware
• Light weight hiking belt
• Smart wool or merino wool socks
• Hiking boots
• Thin gloves
• In my pockets: waterproof/shockproof iPhone, good kleenexes, Chapstick, wallet with money and photo of passport.

Here is what was in my hiking bag:

• 3 liter camelback bladder
• Waterproof pants that can fit over my hiking pants
• Warmer waterproof gloves
• Stocking hat
• Ski mask
• 800 down North Face winter jacket
• Camera in a waterproof bag
• Waterproof bag that went over my hiking bag
• First aide kit
• Food in plastic bag
• Sunblock
• Waterproof bag for map

The only thing I wish I had, but didn't was a good pocket knife. Kristen got a thorn in her finger in El Chalten and luckily the park ranger was right there and we were able to use his tweezers.

Day 56 - travel to El Calafate

We both got decent sleep last night which was very important to our health and attitude. We are both feeling better and are glad that we have nothing scheduled today but bus travel, laundry, and rest.

It takes forever to travel from Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate, Argentina. We endured this in reverse a few days ago, but it is not any faster this time either. The only way we found to get to and from was by bus, which contains 40-50 people. We have to stop in customs to exit and then again in customs to enter. We spent over an hour trying to get into Argentina as they had trouble validating the US reciprocity fees. Getting this many people through all of the stops is brutal. Thank goodness I brought my ipad to blog and read magazines. Not sure too many hikers hike Torres with an iPad. The amount of time wasted getting to the Torres is another reason I hesitate to recommend a visit here.

I had to stop blogging on the bus as the journey tourney extremely worrisome as the bus driver struggled to keep the bus on the road, let along in our lane. At one point he pulled over and hammer and drilled into one of the tires. No communication as to the problem. The winds were strong, but nothing we haven't had already. There had to be something wrong with the bus as it could move side to side and everyone was gripping the handrails. The four hour bus ride turned into eight. One of the more stressful transportations ever. We really reflected on the fact that we review hotels, restaurants, and attractions before we book. This is easy as there are websites that make this easy. However. we really have not found a way to review safety and experiences on different buses, taxis, airlines, etc... At the end of the the day, this group is where mistakes can be catastrophic, not a loud night in a hotel or a poor dinner experience.

We never felt better to finally step foot in El Calafate. It also felt nice checking into a hotel that we had already stayed. It gave us some sort of familiarity which we both found nice.

I showered and shaved, so we could take our clothes to the lavanderia (laundry mat) where we had three loads of laundry done in two hours for $20. When we give laundry out for cleaning, Kristen has always itemized every item so we can ensure we get everything back. We did this just like in the past. After bringing the laundry back to the hotel, we had everything except one par of her workout pants. We went back to the laundry mat and the lady denied us giving three pairs of pants. She got her boss involved who got his boss involved. After about thirty minutes the head boss was only willing to give us money for one of the loads (~$7). We were both a bit pissed as we wanted our 135 pesos back at minimum. However, it didn't matter what we wanted, because they weren't willing to do more than 45 pesos. The boss said it was our word vs theirs. We argued many different points, but they spoke broken English which made it much more frustrating.

Lesson learned is that we will make an itemized list in front of them and check it upon checkout. Even though we had an itemized list, the boss wouldn't trust that we filled it out correctly or we didn't keep one pair of pants in our room. We ultimately have clean clothes now, but one workout pants less. :(

While Kristen packed, I went to the rec room to play some pool. There was an eight year old Spanish boy playing foosball entertaining himself. Once I started playing, he decided to try and communicate with me in Spanish. What ultimately happened was he would point at a ball and I would try and hit it in the pocket. I don't think he understood that I had no idea what he was saying. Every now and again I would throw out a Spanish word that I knew. After two games, I said buenos noche and went to find Kristen. An interesting experience. Despite having no means of verbal communication, we were able to play a game of pool together. Simple pointing and body language was good enough.

We spent the remainder of the evening drinking Malbec at the bar and playing cards. Kristen continues to beat me in every type of card game.

On to Mendoza tomorrow where we will spend Christmas.

For pictures click here

 

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Day 46 - 50 Patagonia

Day 46 - Travel Day

Today was a sad day for me as our cruise was over. Still excited for the upcoming parts of our trip, but I was enjoying the exploration of the waterways of Patagonia and I was really enjoying meeting the other people on the cruise and getting to know them. Kristen on the other hand was excited to get off the ship as the waters have been a bit rough for a few days. After exchanging contact information with the Italian and Swiss couple and the journalists, we disembarked from Via Australis.

We put our feet on solid grounds at 9:30 am and our flight to El Calafate wasn't schedule to leave until 1:00 pm. Our tour company arranged for a guide to take us to the airport, but first we went on a 2 hour city driving tour of Ushuaia.

Our very first stop was to the camera shop as our camera would not autofocus. We were both pretty bummed about it as the thought of loosing our good camera was depressing. As I described the problem to the worker, our guide noticed that the switch on our lens was on "M" instead of "A". I switched it to "A" standing for autofocus and bam it worked like a charm. I would say that it was the most embarrassed I was for sometime, but reality is it was the most embarrassed I was since attempting to sing YMCA at bingo night less than 48 hours earlier. Either way embarrassing. Sometimes a potential complex problem has a simple solution. We both assumed the wind and rain was the cause, but we somehow slipped the switch. Lesson learned!

We spent the rest of two hours taking in the views of Ushuaia, which is a gorgeous town on a hill. We learned a lot about why it was a town and it's significance to Argentina, a way to secure the Beagle Channel. Many of the roads were rocky, hilly, and winding, so not the most ideal two hours after four days on a boat,but it is what it is. We hope to one day come back to Ushuaia before visiting Antarctica.

The airport in Ushuaia was architecturally interesting. I hadn't been in an airport with such a steep slope in the roof, but makes sense with all of the snow the region gets. Our flight left on time at 1:00.

The flight was uneventful until the pilot announced our landing when all of the sudden we spent 15 minutes being thrown around by the wind. I am not usually affected by the motion, but this was unpleasant. Poor Kristen can't catch a break. Thank goodness she left on the scopolamine patch.

The wind in El Calafate was crazy. It wasn't quite Cape Horn wind, but it was howling and whistling loud. Our driver loaded our bags and we settled in for what turned out to be a very windy three hour car ride to El Chalten. Multiple times Kristen informed me that she was worried for our safety and that based on her calculations, our tall van was wider than our base and we were at risk of being blown over. When she asked the driver, he confirmed that many tourists vehicles do get in a wreck on this road, but his record was clean. That didn't quite calm Kristen's worries, but not sure it was possible. Once again, the wind was strong enough that even I was a bit car sick.

After three hours of windy driving, we arrived safely to El Chalten and to our hotel Los Cerros. The hotel was great and we were excited to be here despite wind gusts of 50 mph. We met our guide for the day and checked email where we learned that we were able to secure our apartment in Portland (more to come on this)! Dinner was included at the hotel and was once again over the top, but delicious. The wind let down some, but we might be in for a long night of window shaking and wind howling. Hopefully tomorrow will bring calm winds and clear skies.

 

 

Day 47 - Las Torres

We woke up at 6:00 am to steady rain and wind, so we delayed our hike from 8 to 9. Our hotel made a "box lunch" for us (not actually in a box, but came in a hiking bag that we transferred to our hiking packs). Our guide was well experienced in the area as he had been rock climbing and guiding here for over ten years. Even though we are fairly experienced hikers, we wanted to hire a guide for a few reasons:

1) we did not know the area. Even though we knew the paths would be well marked, we had no idea what kind of animals or dangers were in the area.

2) the weather turns here very quickly and we wanted the experience of a local in case of problems

3) it gives us a way to meet a local who lives here and knows the area. We enjoy learning about how the locals live and it is a nice way to spend 18 hours of hiking.

4) we get to learn about the area: the different hills, wildlife, plants, history, etc.

We continue to be amazed at how smart the guides are. It is rare that they do not answer a question. I know they don't make up much as they have all answered at one point that they do not know.

The hike started out with sun, so took off a layer. Twenty minutes later the wind and rain picked up, so we put on our rain gear. An hour later, the wind really picked up so we had to eat lunch at the campsite instead of the glacier. Luckily at lunch though the sun came out and we were able to escape the wind. About an hour after lunch, we discussed taking off our rain gear as the sun was shinning and it was getting warm. Within ten minutes, more rain! The last 30 minutes was dry before mild rain as we walked into our hotel. Within minutes of being back, high winds and down poor. It has been that way for the last five hours or so. We were lucky to avoid the strong rain. Lesson here is that they are not joking with the expression "if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes." Because of the weather, we did not get to use our nice camera for pictures. We both reflected today that we were lucky to have good gear. Despite the various weather conditions we were also dressed appropriately. It was annoying to always be switching layers, but at least we were dry and warm!

As for the hike itself, here was the tour description of our the day:

After breakfast, you will start a full day of hiking a Patagonian classic: Mt. Torre, famous for its beauty but also for its climbing difficulty. This is the pinnacle of trekking Patagonia. Every year, countless expeditions attempt to reach the summit, but only a few succeed. After a half hour of hiking, you reach the viewpoint of the Fitz Roy River and Margarita waterfall. Continue for another 30 minutes until you reach the Mirador del Cerro Torre, a lookout facing the Cerro Torre and Adelas ranges. From this point, the trail descends into the valley. The trail ends on the shores of Laguna Torre, offering a stunning view of Mt. Torre surrounded by the Egger and Standhard spires and the Adelas range as a backdrop together with the glacier Torre. You will have time to enjoy the view, eat lunch, and rest before returning on the same trail to the town of El Chalten.

Hiking Details: 12 miles / Elevation gain: 1200 ft /Average time: 7 hours

We did not get to see the summit of Mt. Torre as the clouds of rain were rolling in. However, we were able to see glacier Torre and Laguna Torre. Despite the highest wind at the Laguna, we were able to enjoy it. It still does not get old seeing glaciers, especially glaciers that go into the water, seen below in our video.

 

At lunch we got to enjoy mate (a tea like drink with caffeine slightly less than coffee) a traditional herbal drink. At learned that the host prepares the dry mate herbs and pours in the hot water. He/she then passesto one guest, they drink all of the liquid before passing back to host. The host pours in more water and passes to the next guest. This goes on for all guests, before the host takes their turn. It continues until someone says "Thank You" symbolizing they had enough. Mate is meant to be enjoyed when relaxing or socializing. They rarely take it to go. There is a special stray that prevents the herbs from going up the stray. It took us about three sips to finish your turn. It tasted like a green tea and was fun to try. I think it would be fun to try this with friends in the states instead of beer or wine. However, our culture does not really accept sharing of one stray.

We took in the culture by participating in an afternoon siesta after the hike. Despite the heavy wind and rain, we decided to try the area brewery as they were supposed to have good food and beer. We put back on our rain gear and walked the quarter mile to dinner. It was not a let down as Kristen enjoyed a huge salad and me a meat empanada and locro (Argentinian stew). It was neat to eat dinner at a small brewery where everyone there was eating in their rain gear after a day of playing outside hiking. It is interesting to see people from all over the world in one small brewery. Additionally, it was interesting to see a small brewpub in a small Argentina town that had an extra gluten free menu.

The local heladoria (where they make ice cream) was on our block, so we stopped in to try a few flavors. Delicious.

We spent the rest of the evening preparing for our long day of hiking to Mt. Fitz Roy and in a few days to Torres del Paine.

We also switched our room from twin beds to a queen. We thought we had been getting twins beds here and on the cruise since we have different last names. We were trying to respect the tradional Catholic culture, but it turns out the tour company noted us for twins. Not sure how that happened. The receptionist came and asked up if ewe wanted one GED after the housekeeper cleaned our room and noticed the beds pushed together.

Kristen and I tried to stay awake to maybe catch some stars, but at 1130 Kristen fell asleep as I was talking to her. Lol. It is crazy that you still get some light at 1100 pm and need to wait until after midnight to catch stars. We were both excited to be at the end of the world to experience some amazing stars. However we have not had one night with the opportunity since the Milford Sound.

Day 48 - Fitz Roy

We both had trouble waking up this morning, but we made it to 700 am breakfast. It feels a bit wrong to eat cookies for breakfast, but they seem to pass here as granola cookies. We both have scrambled eggs with a variety of fruit and for me cookies. We also have gotten used to toast with a slice of cheese. There is no peanut butter to be found here.

We started the day off with a 40 minute van ride with eight other people along the river. I think I fell asleep through most of the pretty drive. We were lucky today to have great weather.

Here was the tour description of our day:

Today's segment of trekking Patagonia includes a full-day hike to the Laguna Capri base camp (Fitz Roy base camp). The hike towards Fitz Roy features spectacular views of the massif. The peak was sacred and venerated by local Tehuelche groups who believed the mists enshrouding it were volcanic ash, calling it Chalten (God of Smoke). You will begin hiking south from El Pilar, passing Laguna Piedras Blancas on the way to Laguna de los Tres, at the base of Mt. Fitz Roy. Three glaciers drain into this emerald lagoon with majestic Mt. Fitz Roy towering above. Stop en route for lunch and then resume the hike to Laguna Capri, where the image of Mt. Fitz Roy is reflected. You'll enjoy spectacular views of the sweeping Patagonian steppe and Fitz Roy, highlights of any Patagonia tour. After a full day of hiking, return to Los Cerros hotel for a good meal and night's sleep.

The weather for this hike was spectacular. We had some spitting rain and some strong winds early, but by the time we summited to Laguna de los Tres it was warm with perfect skies. Laguna de los Torres was unbelievable. To see such beautiful water with a glacier dumping into it with huge granite peaks towering above, PRICELESS. This backdrop has to be the most beautiful setting I have ever seen in person.

The water was so perfect, you could drink it. I really wanted to swim in it, but the glacier makes it pretty cold. Plus, it wouldn't be drinkable then. I finally gave in and drank some glacial water. Some of the most refreshing water I've ever drank. It was different from the water we drank in the Milford Sound. It is has been very hard for us to drink the water despite all sorts of references saying it is ok. There really isn't much livestock or other ways to contaminate the water source especially high in the mountain, but it just feels wrong to drink it. We had lunch at the lake and it was hard to leave even after about 30 minutes of relaxing. However, we knew there was 7 miles back to town and we had one other lake to see.

Laguna Sucia, the "dirty lake", was also spectacular. It wasn't quite as impressive as the first lake since we were looking down on it. An awesome perspective for sure, but there was something about being at the water/glacier level at lunch. They call it the "dirty lake" as it is much more cloudy than Laguna de los Torres since it has much more moraine it in from the glaciers.

Our guide shocked us when we started to come down. He asked if we felt adventurous and like climbing. Of course, we were both high on life right now after summiting to Laguna de Los Torres, and were up for anything. I actually think I could have gotten Kristen to skydive had he asked us. Anyways, we decided to go off trail down the mountain to avoid the same fairly crowded paths back. This was soo much fun. We carefully went from rock to rock down the side of the mountain. We would not have done this for sure on our own. You couldn't actually since you would have no idea where to go. Having a guide who knew this like his personal back yard was so worth the extra money.

We spent about an hour or so hoping from rock to rock making our own path. My go pro camera was out of battery again, so I was only able to capture some of the experience. We just loved being off path taking in the Patagonia scenery like we were the first to touch many of these rocks. That is what it felt like. We played a game keeping track of negative points if you moved a rock when you stepped on them. I ultimately "lost" so I had to buy ice cream later in town. He challenged Kristen to step like a puma, light weight on each step, by using our pulls to take much of the weight off the actual rocks. This technique was sometimes easy while others impossible. I think I slide three times to Kristen's two.

One of the cool things about passing people on the trail was was seeing all sorts of people from many countries and of various ages. Patagonia has always and continues to attract people of all levels of fitness from all over the world. We passed people in what appeared to be their 70s taking their time and hiking along the valleys taking in the views. There were many other people doing exactly like we were doing. Additionally, there were people camping and spending days in the park, hiking peak to peak. Furthermore, there are people here with high fitness and adventure climbing up the various rock faces. Pretty cool that all of these different people with different goals can be together in very small town in the middle of no where. I wish I could watch the climbers as I find it difficult to image climbing these high peaks.

We stopped to take many different pictures along the trek home. We were both pretty sweating as the sun was warm today. We ultimately hiked 23 kilometers back to town where I bought beer and ice cream for the three of us. Pedro told us about how he volunteers for mountain rescue and a few stories from this. He says he goes out about five times a year. They have special back boards that allow two rescue workers to wear the board like a back pack, one in the front and the other in the back. We were also shocked to hear that they don't go out just to get bodies, but only when there is a chance of rescuing someone (search and recover). The family has to pay to get the body out from someone who fell and died. I guess I understand as it is dangerous to carry someone on your back as you hike down a mountain.

The ice cream at the heladoria was phenomenal and I don't say that about just anything. After saying our good byes to Pedro, we made it back to the hotel to shower before heading out to do laundry. At this point it was 6:30, but the laundry place did our two loads for $80 pesos or about $13 USD and they were done at 8:30! We bought our bus tickets from El Calafate to puerto Natales in two days. We were able to get a 5:30 am bus that should arrive at 1300 for a 1430 departure into Torres del Paine where we start our hike for five days. We went to eat dinner at the local winery, but the chef was off today to watch a soccer match. Sucks for us, but kind of cool that the place is that local and he surely deserved a day off. We ended up eating dinner at the hotel. Kristen enjoyed her salad and I enjoyed lamb ravioli. Lamb is what Argentina is known for and I have had two great and different lamb dinners. People warned us that it would be difficult for vegetarians here in Argentina. Kristen hasn't found it that difficult as she has had some of the best meals on this trip.

We were pretty tired and went to bed "early" at 1030. I say that because it is still fairly light out at this hour.

Day 49 - hike and to El Calafate

Early rise this morning at 6:00 to get breakfast at 6:30 and out the door hiking at 6:45. We had a transfer to El Calafate at 3:00 and we wanted to summit one of the hikes Pedro thought we would like. We decided to hike Loma del Pliegue Tumbado which he estimated would take us seven hours. It was a bit chilly and windy when we started, but the weather seemed to get better the past two days at about 930 or 1000. About an hour into the hike, the wind became very gusty making us stop a few times after almost being pushed over. However, we continued on into the forest where we were blocked from the wind. We started to come out of the woods at the top of the hill and Kristen almost flew right back into me. We quickly ducked behind a tree. She yelled what I thought was "there is a hole down here" where I pulled her closer into me, however, she yelled "put your pole down here" as she was off balance. Luckily we were stable and quickly sat down with our backs to the wind and last remaining tree. We waited about ten minutes until we decided to go back into the woods down the hill for some protection. We sat here for another 15 minutes, but we started to get cold. I didn't appear that the wind was letting up. We were only a few hundred meters from the lookout, but we knew it could be dangerous. Our guide told us yesterday that it might be too windy once we came out of trees and he was right. We ultimately decided to return to town. Ironically, yesterday we discussed how it stinks to always have to hike to the "saddle" before then summiting each day and how we wanted to start doing that and camping the night so we could see more summits. Today we hiked to the saddle and didn't even get to see one summit! Oh well, you win some and loose some. We questioned ourselves all the way down, but we were reconfirmed of our right decision at the bottom when it was still very gusty and raining.

The weather in Patagonia truly does change all of the time. We felt very fortunate to have such an amazing day of hiking with beautiful skies yesterday. It made two days hiking in various levels of wind and rain worth it. The hiking here is awesome, but does come with some dangers as the gust of winds can be forceful as we had some 50 mph. That was also reconfirmed on our walk through town as we passed a gentleman with a new cast on his arm that Kristen confirmed was wrist fracture. Pedro said it was the most common injury as the wind gusts knock people over.

We ate our boxed lunch at the hotel. I absolutely loved my chicken sandwich. It was made with the best tasting white bread, tomatoes, chicken, cheese and some type of mayonnaise. After three straight days, I would love to eat it for lunch for the next week. Kristen felt the same for her vegetable sandwich.

We loved El Chalten as it was a small, but friendly village with multiple trails leaving from the town itself. Amazing hiking without having to drive each day. I highly recommend Los Cerros as we loved our stay here. The one frustration we continue to have is the lack of decent internet. They had internet at the hotel, but it was painfully slow to where many websites timed out. Life is much easier when you can quickly solve a problem on the internet.

We moved our transfer from 3:00 to 1:00 to get into El Calafate earlier. We both slept during the 2.5 hour ride.

El Calafate is much bigger than El Chalten. Luckily our hotel is two blocks off the main road. We unloaded our bags and headed for the Glacierium. Tomorrow we get to walk on the Perito Moreno glacier. And by walk, I mean trek for three hours with crampons! We read multiple reviews that said it was great to learn about how glaciers form and the regional glaciers before going onto Perito. And everyone was right. The museum was fantastic. We watched a well done 15 minute film on flying over glaciers. Despite having no audible, the video was stunning. A few days prior, I was telling Kristen how it would be cool to helicopter over the glaciers. They showed a 3D film, but it was only average as we had to close one eye the entire time to get the 3D effect. We spent another hour learning about how snow compacts into glacial ice over time. The time depends on the amount (weight) of he the snow, it's temperature, and it's elevation. We learned about where ice was across the world and how it all formed millions of years ago. We also learned how the shapes of the glaciers are formed, which we go to see in person the following day. Rocks act in two interesting ways. The small rocks melt the ice faster, so we saw the streams of water having small rocks (called moraine) in them. The bigger bolders actually keep the ice below them cooler than the surrounding ice, so you get what they call a table rock with a rock or boulder sitting on top of a small piece of ice.

One of the funniest parts of the museum was visiting their underground ice bars. We have had opportunities to visit these before, but they never seemed appropriate and always too touristy. However, it seemed like the perfect time to finally visit after seeing a glacier museum. It cost us an extra $200 pesos ($35 USD) for 25 minutes and open bar. It was a blast. They had upbeat US music playing and different colored lights reflecting different ice sculptors and the ice bar. We each had two ice glasses of beer in our 25 minutes as there was always a line. We didn't mind as we had just as much fun taking pictures and taking in the surrounding ice. Despite having an extra coat on, 25 minutes was an appropriate amount of time. 35 minutes would have probably been ideal, but we couldn't have last a full hour in there.

We headed back to town to dinner at La Tablita. Despite the roasting of the lambs at the entrance, we both enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant. Despite reviews saying it was expensive, we felt it reasonable. Where else can you order bottles of wine at a restaurant for $13? The food was presented well, but it was average. Kristen was a bit grossed out by the "traditional Argentinian lamb" as it came to the table with bones and all. I found it ok, but not better than Los Cerros in El Chalten.

We strolled through the grocery store for some snacks and headed back to rest up for our long day of ice trekking tomorrow.

Day 50 - Perito Moreno Glacier

Rise and shine this morning at 6:00 to get ready for a 7:00 departure to trek on the Perito Moreno Glacier (Big Hike). We ate breakfast at the hotel, grabbed our hotel provided lunches, and our already prepared day packs and boarded the bus at about 7:15. We picked up about thirty other people on the bus before our hour long bus ride to the Bajo de las Sombras port on the shore of Lake Argentino. Once we got into the park. We stopped for an hour viewing the glacier from across the water. It was windy and sprinkling a bit, so an hour was plenty. Because it was raining we got to see a rainbow over the glacier. It was awesome. Seeing the blue face of the glacier was nothing like the glaciers we saw on the cruise. The size of the face was huge. We were fortunate to see multiple pieces fall off into the water, some huge pieces. The magnitude of this glacier is something I can't describe. It was beneficial that we got to learn a lot about the glacier yesterday at the glacierium. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the fastest growing glaciers in the world which is why we were able to see some calving today.

Once we arrived to port from our viewing area, we took a quick ride across the lake to start our day of trekking. We had to walk about an hour until we finally arrived at the point at which we could step on the glacier. We wore a safety harness in case they had to pull us up from a crevasse and crampons. Crampons are metal spikes that make it possible to hike on ice. They go on the bottom of your boats and strap on them tight. They were surprisingly easy to use. The taught us how to walk up hill with our feet pointed out, down hill feet straight knees bent, and side ways with one foot pointed downhill. The key to success with crampons was to take small steps and keep your feet wide to avoid the spikes from tangling.

Being on a glacier was magnificent. Who would have ever thought it was possible and why would you want to do such a thing? But it was awesome. We hiked for three hours up and down varies glacier hills and embankments. We saw huge drop offs caused by rivers and lakes, all on the glacier. The water and moraine melt the ice causing streams which further cause bigger drop offs, holes, and mounds. We both were shocked at the moraine which made the glaciers look like the end of your drive way when the snowplow comes through, dirty looking snow. It is soil and rocks that are blown from the mountainside from the high winds. By the end of the day, the moraine (and sun) had melted the ice just enough to where is sunk in the ice about a half inch. This left beautiful looking white ice in the afternoon.

The real treat was when we got to see deeper into the ice which is where the true amazing blue colors are. This some caused by the higher compressed molecules in the "older" ice. You got to see blue where the water had eroded the top layer of ice. The blue colors was just beautiful to see.

The one hard thing to comprehend was just how massive this ice field was. We saw it into the mountain side, but it was hard to imagine it running for hundreds of miles north to south. We took hundreds of pictures as each time you climbed a hill or mound, we saw something that made us go "wow, take a picture of that!" I had the perfect technique down for the camera as it was windy and sprinkled on and off. I had the camera around my neck and kept it between my down North Face jacket and my gore-tex wind breaker outer shell. This kept it accessible and protected from the elements. I simply unzipped my outer jacket, put my outer glove into my jacket and pulled out the camera for a quick snap.

You had to wear gloves on the ice even when the wind was calm, since it was so sharp and was a guarantee cut otherwise. Walking polls were not any help on the glacier as they aren't sharp enough to actually grip the ice. We luckily have the right gear as multiple layers was exactly what was needed. I ultimately had on four layers on top and two on the bottom with two gloves and a hat and gore-tex hood.

We ultimately had a blast walking on the ice. The excursion was only for people 18-55 as it is pretty physically demanding. They did have a mini-trekking for anyone not up for five hours of hiking. Because it was more limiting, the pace of the group was pretty good. We ultimately had some stragglers after lunch, but even my feet were ready to ditch the crampons and hit solid ground. I haven't put lot of thought into top ten experiences yet, but this will most likely be high on the list.

We ended up getting home at 6:30. We tried to get a load of laundry done, but everything was closing down, so we are hoping to wash one hiking outfit in our first hotel in Torres del Paine. We tried to catch pictures of the pink flamingos, but they were too deep into the marsh for a good glimpse. I got some pizza across the street from the hotel and added captions to our New Zealand pictures. I wanted to get that blog out since we had a decent connection for once. I need to get the pictures backed up in the cloud so I can delete them off my ipad so we can sort Patagonia pictures. This trip is the first time I really wish I had a 64 gb ipad.

We spent the rest of the night packing for our five day "W" hike through Torres del Paine. We leave at 5:30 am for a full day of bus hoping to get to the park. The hotels are spread out in the park and you hike from one to another. We won't get able to bring two bags each, so we have to bring the bare necessaries only. We left the other two backpacks and our now full duffel bag at the hotel in El Calafate in their locked storage. It makes us nervous to leave our stuff for five days, but we really have no choice and people do it all of the time. I ended up bringing my ipad and iPhone as I was haunted by them being stolen. Plus I have plenty of room in my hiking pack and they aren't that heavy. It also allows me to catch up on my blogs.

Kristen got to bed about 10:30 as I spent an extra 1.5 hours saving videos and pictures for the New Zealand blog.

Click the link below for pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/101721597279495771132/SouthernPatagonia?noredirect=1

 

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Day 40 - 45 Stella Australis Cruise

Day 40 - Fly ALL day

We got up at 5:30 this morning to catch our 9:15 flight. We were a bit nervous on catching a cab and getting to the airport on time. The traffic was horrible yesterday into the city. Ironically, we walked downstairs at 6:50 and there was a cab waiting at the entrance to the apartment complex. We flew to the airport as the city was not up yet.

We left our flight on time and had one stop over in Puerto Montt for 30 minutes. Everything was grand until we broke through the clouds in Punta Arenas. Nothing seemed abnormal until the pilot yanked the plane back up right as we were about 5 seconds from touching ground. He went straight back up above the clouds. After about 5 minutes (which felt like 30) he came on the over head and let us know that it was too windy and that we were going back to Puerto Montt. WHAT! Eventually we were told that the airport had been closed earlier in the AM, but was open when we left the airport. It was too windy to land and the pilot chose not to fly to a closer airport for some unknown reason.

So we flew 2 hrs from Santiago, then 2 hours from Puerto Montt, and now we are flying 2 more hrs back to Puerto Montt. We did not get any instructions until we deplaned in Puerto Montt. Here we learned that we would fly another 2 hours back to Santiago. After an hour layover, we took the flight back to Santiago and were put up in the Crown Plaza for the night. We were rebooked (along with 130 other people) on a direct flight at 8:50 am. We left the hotel in Santiago at 6:50 am and returned to another one at 9:00 pm. What a travel day. We most certainly should get double airline miles for this trip.

There were many interesting pieces during all of this. We did not buy a SIM card for my iPhone as we were waiting until we got to Argentina. The problem with the extra day was that our five day cruise to Ushuaia left at 5:00 pm, so we missed it. I had no cell phone to even call and rebook. During the layover, we met many people in the same boat. Luckily I was able to use one of their phones to get our agent with Southern Explorations back at the states to figure out a solution. When we landed in Santiago, I had an email with confirmation for the same cruise leaving two days later. We are going to spend one extra night in Punta Arenas after the night in Santiago. We will then skip our two days exploring Ushuaia as we have a flight the same morning our new cruise lands in Ushuaia. What a disaster. Not being able to land really changed our itinerary. Although we did get to eventually do the cruise, we were bummed to have to skip hiking at the southernmost city in the world. Additionally, we cruised on the older cruise ship. Lesson learned, give yourself more time in the port city when disembarking on the cruise.

With Puerto Montt not having any internet and me not having a cell phone, we got very lucky that there were English speaking tourists on the flight too and that they were willing to let us barrow their phone. We ended up meeting Gary from Albuquerque/DC who is trying to hike in Torres de Paine. We also met a couple (Richard and Kate) from the UK who have been living in Santiago for the past six months and were able to help translate the chaotic situation. I feel like I know them pretty well for only having met them less than 24 hours ago. There is also a group of US journalists who got rebooked on our flight and our cruise.

 

We took advantage of our wified Crown Plaza and found that the California Cantina played US sporting games. It is in the part of town that many expats live. We made our way to the bar since we couldn't get the game live on our iPads. Their Direct TV FOX channel was showing Transformers. However, they could stream it live via some random sports gambling website. So we got to watch it pixilated on a TV screen. There was one MSU fan there for the first half until he gave up on the constant breakage in internet coverage. Eventually another OSU fan made their way to the bar. We did have the privilege of listening to a few Michigan and SEC fans rooting against the buckeyes. We did enjoy experiencing the "local" scene with some local beer, and the best nachos you could possible eat at 2:00 am. The game itself, well, it sucked. No more comments needed on that front. We got to bed at 2:30 for a 5:00 am wake up call.

We are very thankful for the hospitality that LAN airlines has shown us. Despite their lack of frequent communication, their execution has been stellar. They fed us lunch, dinner, and breakfast, put us up in a hotel, shuttled us, and rebooked us all on the next flight. All of this for a domestic flight and due to weather. No airline in the US would have done this. Being a tourist with minimal Spanish, we were thankful. I can't imagine how frustrated tourists in the US get when they get our airline treatment. All of the hospitality for a weather (wind) problem.

I think I will buy a SIM card in every country moving forward.

Day 41 - Flight to Punta Arenas

Early rise this morning at 5:00 after going to bed at 3:00! We quickly got our luggage ready, ate breakfast, and left on the shuttle at 6:30. An uneventful shuttle and airport experience. Our direct flight (thank goodness) from Santiago to Punta Arenas was smooth getting us into Punta Arenas at about 12:30. The airport was very efficient and the luggage was out within minutes. We said goodbye to Richard, Kate, and Gary as we felt as if they were friends at this point. They were all leaving to go hiking in Torres del Paine.

We took a 10 minute cab ride to our hotel Cabo de Hornos which was beautiful. Thinking back, I actually don't think I took pictures of the solid rock first floor. And by solid, I mean floor to walls. You would think it would be a cold area, but the complimentary wood and decor made it feel warm and inviting. There were hide backed chairs in the bar area that were very unique.

We dropped our stuff off and went out exploring. Being Sunday, many shops and restaurants were closed. Our tripadvisor lead was close, so we ate at the corner Spanish styled restaurant. Since they were out of the meat empanadas, I ordered what Kristen ordered, a vegetable "omelette". Turns out that you have to specify egg as the default is a potato based omelette that I did not care for. Luckily the grilled potatoes for a side were delicious. Kristen ate her omelet and liked it. The best part of the lunch was that we sat next to an American couple who just got married and where three months into their 12 month vacation around the world. We talked about where and what we liked in SE Asia as they were heading their. They talked about their Antarctica 19 day trip that they just came back from. A very fun conversation, but they had to catch the bus so it only lasted about 15 minutes.

We then walked through the local grocery store. We both enjoy looking at what foods the locals buy. Many things the same, many things different. It is also an easy way to test some of your foreign language knowledge as things are well labeled. This part of the world is more about meat than about produce which was obvious in the store.

We walked to the highest hill in town to get a perspective of the area. This was the best attraction in Punta Arenas. We started to walk along the beach, but I was exhausted and only had a few hours left in me. We decided to head back to the hotel for our free welcome drink and dinner. Wine, spinach pizza, cookies, the best homemade chocolate ice cream, and a few games of cards was all I needed before hibernation. We both slept from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am. We needed the catch up from the two hours the night before. I was actually impressed with how well we managed for that little sleep.

Day 42 - Disembarkment on Via Australis

Finally, a day of Disembarkment! This is what we came to the end of the world for. We ate breakfast and kind of relaxed a bit until about 10:00. Kristen went to the gym and I ran some laundry to the lavenderia. 4,000 pesos for 2 kg (4 lbs) of clothes. I dropped off about 11:00 and we picked it up at 3:15 pm. Not bad service for the price!

We ate lunch at the grocery store where I got to try two different empanadas. They were not good as you buy them cold and heat them in the microwave. I will have to give them another try. Kristen was excited as they had a good selection of vegetable dishes, but both turned out to be poor also. I saved the lunch with some delicious chocolate ice cream. Thank god Kristen knows Spanish as it would be much more difficult to get things accomplished here. They speak very little English.

We tried to check into the cruise at 1:00, but we were not in the "system" since we switched cruises due to the delay. We showed them the confirmation, and the lady asked us to come back at 3:30 to give her time to process. She was not worried and tried to calm our fears of a problem. We tried to tour the local Astralis brewery, but it was closed for the day already! We showed back up at 3:30 to another, come back at 5:00. Now we were worried as check in was from 1:00-5:00! However, we came back at 5:00, and they had things processed! We were the last ones to check in.

The craziest part of the day was how we chose our time from 3:30-5:00. We had two leads on apartments in Portland that we decided to investigate. I was hesitant as I knew we would have to finalize one of them or it was a waste of time since we were going to be off internet for about a week. The internet service was poor, especially the wifi. However, there was a decent connection in their business office. I couldn't call on skype since I couldn't connect our iPads or iPhones. I remembered that google chat had a calling function. I logged in and downloaded the plug-in and bam, we had a telephone line. I loaded $10 into my account and Katherine answered at Kearny Place in the Pearl District of Portland. She confirmed that there was a two bed two bath available January 15th! She sent pictures and the link to apply online. Of course, today the link does not work! Damn! It is not 4:15 and we need to get moving. I called her back and she sent the application. We quickly filled them out and faxed them to the office at 4:45. While the faxes were going through, we ran across the street, checked in with the cruise to return to the business office to call Kearny Place back to confirm they received the fax. They had! We quickly called Kristen's mom to ask her to send in the application check (since the online system was down, there was no way to pay online). So, as long as our background goes through, we most likely will have a 4th floor 2 bed, 2 bath with a balcony right in the heart of Portland! We haven't toasted with champaign yet but hopefully I have an email right now confirming our arrangements! No way to check since we don't have wifi.

We boarded the cruise and we were the first room on the main floor. It is much bigger than I expected. The cruise ship is nice since it was built in 2004. It is the second newest in the fleet. We were supposed to be on the newest ship on our original cruise, but we try not to think of it. Most notably, the rooms had floor to ceiling windows for better viewing and a fitness gym. I think I was most disappointed about the windows and Kristen the gym. Turns out that neither would have been better as Kristen would have had trouble with the bigger windows and there was not way she could have ran on a treadmill in the seas we had.

We met a great Swiss couple at the welcome reception who have travelled all over the world. We enjoyed hearing about their adventures. We learned a lot of travel tips from them. It turned out that Franziska was in Cambodia weeks before us and she saw the temples in flooded waters. We were lucky to experience Cambodia when we did!

We met a couple from DC who are at our dinning room table assignment: he a professor in modern European history and her working in the satellite intelligent office. To say the least, I think we talked about everything we had in common in that one dinner.

On board we have 12 countries represented:

Germany, Argentina, Canada, Spain, US, France, Italy, Malyasia, UK, Singapore, Switzerland, and Chile.

Following dinner, we had drinks again at the expedition lecture and continued to chat with the Swiss couple until about 11 pm. It was cloudy out, so we could not star gaze tonight. It is amazing that at 11 pm, the sun still puts off a lot of light. It officially is setting at 10:30 pm and rising at 5:00 am.

Day 43 - 1st day of exploring

I woke up at 5:30 to bright skies. Since we left the curtains open it was easy to get up. I was excited to start the day, so I could not fall back asleep. I waited for the alarm to go off at 6:00 so I wouldn't wake Kristen. We were up for early riser coffee at 7:00. Most of the boat was still in their cabin, so it was very peaceful to walk about and take in the mountain views. I think we will make this routine the next few days.

We spent some time this morning chatting with the group of travel journalists. We both enjoy talking with them as they are our age and have very different but interesting stories.

We got to meet the other couple at our table this morning. They were from Luxembourg! How cool is that! He is a general surgeon and she a tax lawyer. We didn't get to talk long with them, but will get to know them more over the next few days. After a quick breakfast, we got dressed and disembarked to Ainsworth Bay. We were successful in getting in the group with the travel journalists (key as your first group is your group for the trip). We were excited to be able to converse more with them, they seem to be up to our speed in exploring, and we got the head guide to take us around! We got on board a Zodiac boat to take us to shore where we got to walk though the forrest to see life on the land. Where we landed was under the glacier less than 100 years ago. What is cool is that you can see the glacier in the distance and can imagine it being there. Additionally, you can see the various levels of growth in the plants as the glacier moved through the land. It was very interesting. Our guide explained how the plants have adapted over the years to be short and sturdy to be able to handle the high winds. There is minimal mammals in this area: a few birds, beavers, and mice. That's it.

One of the coolest parts of the hike was that I got to wear Google glasses. One of the journalists has apair for her tech business. One of only a 1,000 pairs. They were fun to play with and I am excited for the future of these.

After our trek, we came back to whiskey and hot chocolate. What an amazing combination. We were joined by a sleeping elephant seal! We had about an hour to kill before lunch, so we sat in the Yamana Lounge where there are 180 degrees of view from the front of the boat. I caught up on past blogs, Kristen some sudoku, and both some southern Patagonia views.

Later in the afternoon, we arrived at Tucker Islet to see the Magellenic penguins. The weather was pretty brutal in the afternoon: blowing wind and rain. It made for a true Patagonia experience as warm sunshine would not be reality in Patagonia. We were the second of three zodiac boats to go out. It was soo wet that I was not able to get our good camera out. I did get a few shots of various penguins with the Go Pro, but almost all have water drops on the them. I need to create a "windshield wiper" for them that is timed like a flash: press the button, quick swipe, and snap of a dry picture. The Go Pro works best for underwater movies when wet. We spent about 45 minutes freezing during this expedition and we were happy for it to be that short. The one interesting factoid is that the penguins main predator, the Skuas nests on the same small island literally a few meters away. The birds all nest and hangout in one pod, next to a pod of penguins. It puts a whole new meaning to "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer".

We came back on board to a pleasant happy hour. Having open bar on the ship is nice as we get to try all sorts of new drinks. We tried a Calafate Sour which is made with their local Calafate berry. It was similar to any fruity beach side drink you might have in the Caribbean. Additionally, we tried all of the three Astralis beers, a local lager that I didn't take a picture of, and later that night I tried a new scotch for me, Chivas Regal.

We attended a lecture on glaciology which was the one lecture I was the most excited about. It didn't go into great depth, but we learned how the snow at the snow tops eventually compacts and becomes a glacier. We also learned how they move forward or recede. If the glacier gets more snow than it looses in the "summer" then it grows. If it looses more than it gains, it receds. It forms the groves into the rock of the earth as it goes back and forth each year. The result is moraine, dark rocks that break off and which is the dark gravel that sits on top of the edges of the glaciers. It makes the glaciers look dirty. The blue in the glaciers is due to the color reflection from the sunlight. These were the three questions that I had going into the trip, and now they are answered!

Dinner was a bit salty, so I didn't care for it too much. After dinner I watched a National Geographic video on mammals in Patagonia as Kristen went to bed since the seas were rough. I ended up watching with the Luxembourg couple, who I find interesting to chat with. The video was actually amazing as it caught video of orcas catching seals and various birds catching their prey. After trying to catch various videos along this trip, it reminded me just how difficult and precious some of these photos and videos are. I can't imagine the amount of time is put in to catching such rare photos and videos.

After the video, I went to get a drink at the bar and walked into this:

Absolutely hilarious! I listened for the remainder of the song, but wanted to catch the tail end of the lecture on Charles Darwin that was not scheduled for all, but was there for the six journalists. The biggest thing I came away with was that Darwin spent two years in Patagonia vs a few weeks in the Galapagos. I find this ironic as he is associated more with the Galapagos than Patagonia. It was in Patagonia where he experienced and observed the most wildlife. It was is in the Galapagos where he put it all together and created his theories.

I spent the remainder of the evening at the karaoke show. Hilarious. I eventually got persuaded to participate so I made a joke of Pitbull's "Give Me Everything" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA". I didn't do them solo, so I can't take all of the credit. I found it amazing that folks from Singapore, Malaysia, France, Luxembourg, US, and Italy could all have a blast signing American music.

Day 44 - 2nd full day on cruise

Today we had early coffee and breakfast before our lecture on "Discovering Tierra del Fuego" and seeing the captains bridge. Both were interesting to hear about the history of the rugged territory at the "end of the world." We also learned that the most southern "town in the world" is Port Williams, which is a navy town in Chile and the most southern "city in the world" is Ushuaia in Argentina.

In my down time, I went to blog but ended up spending time with a few of the journalists on board. It was interesting to learn about their profession and the life of a freelance travel writer. On the surface it sounds like the perfect job, but like anything in life, there is pros and cons. They obviously get to see many amazing parts of the world, but lack stability at home and talk about the difficulty in maintaining relationships as they are on the road a lot.

We had a great lunch as we continued towards Pia Glacier. I was wrong about running out of things to talk about at lunch. I have enjoyed the various topics that we get to discuss at our meals. The upside to having an assigned seat for dinner is that you have no choice but to get to know the other four passengers with you. It forces us to converse with people we ordinarily wouldn't think we had things in common with. Additionally, it also allows you to learn about things you wouldn't normally discover. We got to learn more about health care in Germany and Luxembourg, academic life, and other places that people have visited in the world. One of the added bonuses to this cruise was meeting so many great people.

Additionally, before embarking at the pia glacier, we got to meet an Italian couple our age, Andrea and Francesca. Andrea also had a GroPro camera, but he had it attached to a pole that he could lengthen. I want to get one of these as I find the strap for the head is limiting. We ultimately ended up bonding well with this couple and spent many hours conversing with them over the next few days. He would take our pictures on many of the remaining excursions, so I have to give him credit for any good group shots. We did the same for many of their group shots.

Pia Glacier was absolutely amazing. Seeing my first glacier was breath taking. Seeing it in the distance as it went from mountain top to the bay (tidal glacier) was just as good as seeing it up close and seeing pieces of glacier (calving) fall into the water. We had soo much fun just watching ice. Sounds weird, but it was something I hadn't experienced before. I am even more excited for El Calafate when we will get to hike on a glacier. One of the added benefits of finishing an excursion is that the bar tender comes on land and serves hot chocolate with or without whiskey!

After returning from the glacier, we reserved a spot at the front of the ship on the top deck in preparation for Glacier Alley (Romanche, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands). Each glacier was named after different countries and the waiters brought various drinks and snacks around that represent that country. Our favorite (and probably most people's favorite) was Glacier Italy. We took turns taking photos of the Italian couple and the glaciers.

After dinner, we decided to play bingo with many of the passengers. Good drinks and company with the Italian and Luxembourg couple made it fun. Maybe too much fun for me. The rule that was established first was that anyone who yelled bingo, but ultimately proved to be incorrect had to sing a song in front of the group. I of course didn't think anyone would do that. How hard is following bingo? Well, I think that paints what comes next. Either I marked a wrong number or I was set up to fail while getting the group drinks. So when I excitedly yelled bingo, I quickly started to get nervous. What if I was off. Before I even got to the front of the room, the entire group was rooting for me to be wrong. It turns out that 10 was not called so I quickly had a microphone in hand and was pressured to sing a song. Now I can easily participate in karaoke where you get the lyrics up on the screen and the background music. However, a cappella is a whole other story. I hadn't prepare for this kind of pressure. I know so many songs, but without background music? I ultimately embarrassed myself by attempting to sing "YMCA." I have no idea why that song came into my head, but in hindsight, maybe I should have stuck to "99 bottles of beer on the wall." Or then again, really represented the US and went crazy to "Baby Got Back." Thinking back, that would have been a riot, "my anaconda don't want none..." Pretty sure Kristen is still proud she married me. I try not to bring it up as time heals.

Day 45 - 3rd full day Cape Horn

Our last full day on the cruise was full of hype. We were going to cruise to the "Tip of the World!" In the morning we disembarked to do a hike in Wulaia Bay where the Yaghan inhabitants used to live. This tribe currently has only one full blood person alive and she is in her 70s. This hike was unique as we got to divide into three groups, each one escalating in adventure.

Being cooped up on a ship for four days, we were all eager to get out and explore. The idea was for the fast and agile cruise members to get together and explore at a faster pace, ultimately seeing more. The pace of disembarking and waiting for everyone in all different abilities has been somewhat frustrating for the couple dozen or so "younger" cruisers. As it turned out, about 60 people (50% of people on board) thought they were agile enough to hike up the huge hill over downed trees and along various non-man made trails. The tour guides try to warn the few who really didn't belong on this excursion frustrating many and defeating the point. But utiltimately I couldn't be upset:

1) my wife is going to be that 60 year old who wants to prove she can keep up with any style of hike

2) I can't blame the cruise company for telling someone what they physically can and can't do

3) I enjoyed seeing some of the older cruise members keep up and see the enjoyment and accomplishment on their faces.

The views at the top of the hill over looked Wulaia Bay. There was a rainbow like glare off in the distant that made one of the islands look magical. I tried to capture it with my camera and filter. One of the things the guides did at the top was ask us to all take five minutes of silence to simply listen to the wind and nature. This was really cool. You got to hear birds and the wind in ways you rarely get to hear. We were on top of a big hill in total silence. It is amazing what you can hear when background and distraction noises are eliminated. Luckily no one got hurt on the way down the hill. In all fairness, the hike was more difficult than I expected as there were many camouflaged holes and big trees to climb over. We all managed to help each other out despite the vast differences in abilities. We again got to end the excursion with hot chocolate and whiskey, my new favorite concoction.

Upon returning to the boat, we got watch a documentary "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure" which highlighted an explorer and his crews adventures in trying to explorer Antartica. It is amazing how tough these explorers were. The seas were about as good as possible when we crossed and it was still windy and choppy. We have a state of the art exhibition boat with all necessary technology. These explorers had nothing but a wooden ship and had no idea what they were going to come across. Amazing to hear about their trials and tribulations.

We made our way to Cape Horn about 4:00 pm. The seas were very rough and the wind as hard as we had ever felt. We decided to explore the top deck and face the wind. The pictures won't even do it justice, but Kristen's video highlights it perfectly. This is by far my best video to date!

The wind was so fierce and you had to be very careful. There is one memory I will never forget despite not capturing it on photo or video. On the top deck, we turned the corner to be at the front of the boat and there was the 60+ old lady with arthritis in both knees holding on to the railing with both hands and howling in exhilaration. The smile on her face was priceless. I have no idea how she managed to get to the front without being blown over, but she was there and there was no happier person on the planet in that moment. She was truly living and I was so excited to have witnessed her living so much in that moment. We later asked her about it and she said she just fell in love with the power of the wind. It was something she had never experienced.

Somehow during the wind and the various picture taking on the top deck, our good camera stopped focusing. We were not able to use it on our disembarkment. We tried to dry it out as we figured it got wet, but nothing seemed to work. Very sad!

There was only a 50% chance the weather was going to be good enough to disembark. We all figured it was too windy, but the conditions on the beach were good enough for the zodiacs to land, so got to step foot on Cape Horn. We got in and out of the zodiac boat just fine as the beach was at the bottom of a cliff and well protected from the wind. We had to climb a bunch of stairs to get to the top! Wholly wind!

The wind at Cape Horn was the hardest wind I have ever felt. We slowly managed to get to the monument for a few pictures, but only after I caught Kristen from blowing away. The problem was you were prepared to walk slowly in what had to be 60 mph winds, but then a stronger gust would knock you off balance. Thankfully, I don't believe anyone got hurt. We were able to get a few pictures and video with my iPhone before the captain ultimately decided the conditions were unsafe and ordered all to get back on board. We were sad it was cut short, but thankful to have the opportunity to experience the winds!

The three other stories on Cape Horn:

1) there is a house on the island that each year, one Chilean family wins a lottery to stay there for a year. Kids are home schooled and they are on the island. I haven't gotten a chance to research what that must be like, but very interesting to contemplate: Living at the tip of the world by one of the worst feared seas. We didn't have a chance to go into the house, but did get to peak in the window. It looked like any other house, decorated for Christmas.

2) while waiting to go down the stairs to get in the zodiac boat, a sea lion came into the cove and decided to play and show off for the group. How cool. He (or she?) would jump out of the water all different ways and would dive behind the zodiac boats as we went back to sea. My go pro battery was dead so I didn't get to capture it and the iPhone was too risky to handle in the zodiac.

3) we learned that Cape Horn isn't truly a cape in definition as it is an island. A cape should be connected to the mainland continent.

Once we got back to the boat, we had a farewell dinner followed by a slideshow of pictures that different cruise members submitted. Earlier in the afternoon, I uploaded maybe a dozen or so pictures for the presentation. It was a cool idea as you got to see what other photos were captured. They are all going to be uploaded and shared via email. We spent the remainder of the night chatting about all sorts of topics with the Italian and Luxembourg couple. We really enjoyed hanging out with them that night as we were all in similar places in life and had a lot in common.

For pictures click here

For pictures click here

For pictures click here

 

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