Hello to everyone and Happy Holidays!! I'm now back in the US after a two week trip at the southern most tip of the world, otherwise knows as Patagonia, Chile! I've mentioned before that I was taking this trip. There was a lot of planning that went into it, but also at the same time there was no planning. We got down to Punta Arenas and literally had no idea what we were going to do. So we sat down in the airport at six in the morning with our guide books trying to make a decision as what to do. In the end we decided to take the ferry to Tierra del Fuego to a little town called Porvenir...in hopes of finally arriving at Ushuaia in Argentina. We got a taxi, got on the ferry, saw dolphins of the ferry (so cool), and finally arrived in the tiny town of Porvenir where nothing happens. This is all on Sunday by the way.
We check into a hostel that was a little expensive for the quality of the place... I thought it was going to blow over. All of us layed down on the bed and napped since our flight was a 3 am so we had hardly gotten any sleep. Amelie (Am-a-lee) decided to get up and try to find white gas for our stove and a way to Ushuaia. We about an hour later Amelie bursts back into the room saying if we don't leave in a half an hour to catch the ferry we would be stuck there until Tuesday because the ferry doesn't run on Mondays! Apparently she found out from someone there was no way to Ushuaia from Porvenir. We would have to go back to Punta Arenas to get on a bus. So we hustled our way out the door to try to get to the ferry in time.... we missed it by literally 2 minutes! So we ended up being stranded in this tiny town for two days. We slept a lot and watched movies, which I think was a good decision because we needed the sleep and we had decided to do the 10 day backpacking trip in National Park Torres del Paine!
So on Tuesday we began our trip up to northern Patagonia which took about 5 hours in total. We arrived in Puerto Natales (a beautiful town with gorgeous mountains and a port the can take you pretty much wherever you want to go in Patagonia all the way up to Puerto Montt. We were going to take a bus the next day to the park, which was 2 hours away. We got a hostel with really nice, comfortable beds, and the sweetest owner or duena of the hostel. Did some errands and were basically on our way the next day to Torres del Paine! However a quick story: Amelie and I found white gas for our stove and then needed to figure out how to use the dang thing before we started this crazy adventure... so we decided to try it out on the hostel's deck. Well we really had no idea what we were doing so the gas kind of overflowed onto the deck. When we lighted the stove, we also lighted the deck on fire!! Amelie and I are practically screaming trying to get the gas bottle away from the flames so that it wouldn't blow up, while I was trying to stamp out the flames.... Needless to say there are some scorch marks on the hostel's deck!
Ok so then we were off on our adventure to Torres del Paine! Paying to get into the park was incredulous for foreigners! For foreigners it was $3o dollars and for Chileans is was only $8! Luckily Straten and I had a Chilean ID from living in Chile for 5 months so we only had to pay the $8, but Amelie and Taylor had to unfortunately pay the $30. Such a crazy price difference! So we get into the park and up to where we're suppose to start hiking. We were originally going to camp at the bottom of the trail and then start the trek the next days since it was six pm when we got into the park. Well we got to the bottom and were told we had to pay $8 per person to camp! So we made the decision to start hiking at six pm! In Patagonia right now there is around 16 hours of daylight since it's almost summer. So the sun doesn't go down until around 10 pm which was when we would eventually arrive at the camp site. I wrote in my journal everyday during our ten day back packing trip so that I wouldn't forget anything. So here is what I wrote:
Day one:
First day on the Circuit and my feet hurt! I'm carrying a lot of weight and I'm not use to being on my feet this much and we only hiked for 4 hours today! The weather was beautiful with only a slight breeze! God I hope it's like this all 9 days! Gosh 9 days we're hiking! Dad you'd be proud! Amelie's feet are in a lot pain because of her boots! I really hope it gets better! Tomorrow we're hiking for six hours in around two hour increments. It's amazing to be outside camping! I love it! This is where my heart is! I'm excited what these next 9 days hold for us! God keep us safe! Day one check! See you tomorrow!
Day two:
Day two completed! Six hrs on the map really turned into 8 hrs. We slept in which was great even though I didn't actually sleep in and didn't sleep much last night because the dogs at the camp were barking all night, which was kind of scaring me.... we have to watch out for pumas down here. Anyway the feet were feeling a little better in the morning so I put on my cotton socks (bad idea, should have listened to my father's voice in my head) and we were off around 10:30 am. The weather was great and really sunny. We have to be carful down here because there's a hole in the ozone right over Patagonia. We walked, made up stories, sang songs, and took little breaks. Amelie's feet were really hurting with horrible blisters. We had to go over a small pass but took awhile going up because we're out of shape and I took the tent today, which added a lot of weight. We walked and once we got the top of the pass.... BAM! There were the most amazing mountains, which we walked towards for the next six hours! So beautiful! The wind was pretty crazy, but God that view was amazing! So we continued to walk... got passed by a huge group that we later learned payed $1700 to have porters to basically haul everything for them! Can you believe that? That's not backpacking if you ask me! So we kept walking and me feet started to hurt really bad just from the weight and walking so long. Amelie and I made a pact that we wouldn't cry until at least day 3. I tried really really hard and definitely came close, but it didn't happen. It was a really hard last stretch into camp. I was limping pretty bad and could definitely feel the blisters on my feet. We made it around the last bind and BAM! Again new view of a lake, glaciers, and Heaven! (Our camping spot!)
We got settled in and I'm a whole new woman with a clean face and feet, stretched legs, bandaged feet, and a warm sleeping bag! So yes heaven for now! Tomorrow is only 4 hours but the next day is a killer 8 hours trudging through snow I hear! The pass is suppose to be just a horrible part. Once we pass that I know I'll be able to survive this trip! Amelie and I finished today with a high five that we made it and without crying! haha I'm really sore but it feels great to lay down. The other things we made up up is that we're 4 hobbits bringing the right to Mordor, which is where we started. We as a group make a ring shape out of our hands. It's pretty cute. I'm super excited for this trip now! The experience that we get everyday together is beautiful and unforgetable!
Day three:
Day three done and the feet are still hurting. But not I have a shin splint forming. It hurts really badly and just shows how out of shape I am! Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we were in the forest fo rmost of the day. We could see the white capped mountains and the Glacier los Perros which was beautiful and really windy. It's so peaceful walking through the forest despite the feet hurting really badly. Amelie and I were buddies today just chatting to keep our mind off our feet. Good memories. Tomorrow we have our hardest day with 6 hrs but probably around 9 hrs because our packs are so heavy. I'm nervous about my shin and getting over the pass in a reasonable time. I'm tired and my shoulders hurt from carrying my pack, but I just have to remind myself what I'm walking by or what I'm looking at. I may never be able to look at it again! Patagonia is beautiful! We have a great group that makes this whole experience that much better. I have my parents voice in my head this whole trip about what to do here and what to wear this day! It's pretty hilarious! Si se puede (you can do it) is my new thought for this trip!
Day Four
Dear Dad,
Today I didn't stop thinking about you and what a wonderful job you did taking care of your daughter! Today was hard. We walked a six hour stretch and it took us 8 hrs and 19 minutes because our feet hurt so bad and most of it was weeding through mud or soft snow. Amelie and I actually slid on our butts for a while on the other side of the pass. Kind of dangerous but super fun! :) It took us a long time to get to the top of the pass like I said it would. But amn the top of the pass was amazing because it was a whole new view and of the biggest glacier I've ever seen! There were just miles and miles of ice! You would have loved looking out seeing all this ice and then just amazing mountains that surround the glacier! It was absolutely breathtaking, literally and physically because it was so windy at the top. But today I was thinking you the whole way for sending me those gatters and for coating my boots because it was a wet day! Everyone else was hurting pretty bad in the wet shoe department. You would have killed Straten because he's been doing all this in his tennis shoes and today he put plastic bags on his feet to keep his socks dry! Craziness! And he doesn't have blisters! So jealous! Mine are getting a lot better, but my feet just get tired from walking so much over so many different types of terrain with a heavy backpack! But I'm getting use to it! Today felt good! So thank you daddy for taking car of your little girl because I wouldn't have made it alive today! Love you!
MG
P.S. More and more I'm beginning to feel like a true mountain girl and after this 9 day trek I think I'll officially be a mountain girl!
Day Five:
Yesterday we hiked a fairly easy route compared to the day before. It was still pretty hard in some spots because we had a lot of stairs to climb and going down hill was hard on the blisters. Yes there are stairs, not super nice, but planks built into the hillside. There are also flushing toilets at the campsites we're staying at! Anyway the hike was beautiful! We hiked along Glacier Grey all day long. The boys went ahead to camp so they could drop off their stuff and hike back to meet up and take our stuff! What nice boys! It was amazing! So Amelie and I took our time and at lunch we sun bathed by this stream coming out of snow and the Glacier in view! It was the most amazing lunch break! We got to the Refugio Grey (our campsite), set up camp, and Amelie got re-bandaged on her feet by one of the workers at the camp... Nicolas will forever be remembered as part of our Torres experience! Meeting Nicolas led to a free pisco sour and then to vino (wine) out by the lake that had icebergs in it, to finally a room to sleep in for the night! It was awesome! The stars were amazing and I learned what the southern cross constellation looks like (we obviously never get to see it since it's the southern cross). I got some amazing pictures during the day.
Day seven:
It is day 7! I've been camping and walking for 7 days! And boy can I feel it! Yesterday was really hard for me because I tweeked my knee a little bit so it really hurt to walk. We were just going to walk to about six hours, but the day turned into a ten hour day because we didn't want to pay at the campsite and it was only another 2 hours to the next free campsite... so we huffed it. We had another amazing lunch break with sun bathing while looking at incredible mountains and glaciers. It really was a beautiful day despite how much pain I was in when we finally arrived at camp at 10 pm! I just climbed in the tent and went to sleep without even brushing my teeth!
Now I'm sitting on a rock looking at more beautiful mountains surprise surprise! I'm in shorts and the sun is out! My knee still hurts, but I made it all the way up here which is about 3 hrs. Still have to make the trek back down the hill. Life is pretty good right now! In 7 days I'll be back in the US! We're all really excited to head back but at the same time really sad. We're mostly excited to eat good food!
Day Eight:
Day 8 is finished and we're at our final campsite for two nights! It's also the first time I've gotten a shower in 9 days! Record! The shower was good but wasn't super hot like I wanted. Boy do I feel wonderful now! Though a shower in a day will still be needed because there are layers of dirt on my body! Haha Today we walked from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. The terrain wasn't bad. Everything is pretty simple after the day we went over the pass and day six! We saw the famous Cuernos (or Horns) of Torres del Paine! Some amazing geological formations in Chile! It was also amazing because we got up early so the trail was pretty empty this morning which was really pleasant! We were practically alone of the other side of the mountains and now there are tons of people doing the "W" trail. Sometimes I have to wait 5-10 minutes to let everyone pass! Definitely not use to that in Colorado. Today was also the first day the sun didn't shine the whole day! This is amazing because we just figured that the weather was going to be horrible so we prepared for the worst and got amazing weather! I hope tomorrow is good and clear because we're doing out last hike (without packs!) up to the Torres (Towers), which is about 4.5 hours scrambling up hill! I don't know if I'll make it because my knee is really bad after today. I'm super worried about it because I need to go back and start training for ultimate frisbee!
Day Ten:
Today we're leaving for civilization! 10 days we've been out here! Yesterday it was a climb! I was nervous about my knee, but I would've been really upset if I didn't make it all the way to the top! The Torres are crazy and beautiful and just tower over you (no pun intended)! We really lucked out yesterday and hit a perfect window to see all three towers! I guess you rarely see all three because there are always clouds around them! We seriously lucked out on weather this trip! It's been beautiful everyday! We got sprinkled on a little bit trying to race the storm down the mountain. The down was really hard on the body to the point that the back of my knee started hurting because I was hyperextending it! Not good. But WE'RE DONE!!! We brought the "ring" to Mordor or the Towers! and we successfully finished the circuit and the W! A total of 56 miles of hiking! I'm so proud of us! Amelie has been hurting since day one and me since day two and we still hiked everyday with heavy packs! So awesome! We're true mountain girls now! I'm so happy the boys were here because they did all the cooking and little by little took more and more of our stuff to lighten the load for us, which helped tremendously! Now today we just have to hike 1.5 hrs on a road to get to the bus and then back to civilization! We've been talking about how much food we're about to eat tonight! I can't wait! Plus we get a bed to sleep in!
Well we did eat a ton of food that night and Puerto Natales is known for sea food so we ate a lot of king crab! Soooo yummy! We slept really well and just chilled in bed the next day while watching Toy Story 2 in spanish! We went to a chocolate factory called Patagonia Dulce which was amazing chocolate cake and hot chocolate! We ate amazing pizza and walked down to the water even though walking was really hurting me because my shin was definitely acting up again. I was getting really tired of my legs hurting me. Then Taylor and Amelie left that night to catch their plane in Punta Arenas, while Straten and I stayed another night because the laundry wasn't done and boy did we need clean clothes bad!
Straten and I finished up the trip in Punta Arenas just chilling, drinking wine, and sitting around because nothing was open because of the Chilean elections. We got on the plane in the morning and I began my very long trip home to the motherland! We had an amazing trip and I'll never forget it! The views we saw and the emotions we felt will be stamped in my brain for years to come!
GOOD BYE CHILE!!! I'LL MISS YOU!! YOU'LL ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE IN MY HEART!
Ferry to Porvenir over the Magellan Straight
Starting the trek!!
Swing at campsite #1
Day two!
At the top of the pass!!!
Getting over the pass: day four!
I want to stay here forever, until the sky falls down on me!
Lunch in one of the most beautiful spots in the world!
Last stretch on day six
Guanacos (part of the lama family)
Cuernos del Paine
The Amelie's in front of the Torres del Paine!
The dinner we pigged out on! King Crab and I get along great!
