No More Hiking!

Safe and sound and back in Punta Arenas. We're going to take some time to mend our poor, tired bodies and will have more time and energy to post updates tomorrow.

Paine

Just a couple more days in Torres. It's been great. Brooke has been torturing me non-stop with stretch goals like: let's hike 20 miles with no breakfast and ramen for lunch. I have learned the joys of NSAIDS. I would not have made it this far without a waking stick. Or Brooke, for that matter. I'd still be asleep a few campsites back. Anyway now that we're on the high traffic part of the circuit, we have taken advantage of the simple pleasures like available food, hot showers, and box wine. We even had some days where we only hiked 7.5 miles! Sunrise was incredible again this morning, but yet again the good shots are on my camera. Will post from Santiago April 1.

Day 5. Hike through Paso John Gardner and to Campamento Grey. We woke up at 5am and actually managed to eat a hot breakfast (meals-ready-to-eat version of breakfast scramble) and pack up camp in time to leave at 6:30 am. With our headlamps we faced many (at times ankle-deep) muddy trails, thanks to last night's rain, and vicious tree roots that tried to trip us up at every turn. Luckily, we managed to survive until we found ourselves on some very familiar 14er terrain: exposed boulder fields and scree. Unfortunately for us, we started ascending a little too early when we were supposed to descend first into a valley. Upon learning of our error, we carefully made our way back down to the trail. Luckily, we didn't lose much time as we gave ourselves so much cushion by waking up early that morning. We were in high spirits as we re-ascended to Paso John Gardner, which would take us to our first real view of the biggest glacier of Torres Del Paine. The magnanimous mass of ice, Glacier Grey, poured forth through a series of jutting mountains. It greeted us at the top of the pass with a full rainbow. That made the whole morning more than worth it! At this point, we were at a high point--literally and figuratively--but the day was far from over. After some pictures, we plunged into the Patagonian forests, whose trees were already changing colors at the higher altitudes as summer gave way to fall. The burnt red and orange turned to green as we found ourselves descending more and more into tree cover, and after some time arrived at the first "Campamento" for some celebration and lunch. We then headed on to segment 2, which involved some rather tricky wrangling of a wire rope to cross a cascading river and crossing two bridges soaring over additional rivers. Adrian didn't tell me until after that he was afraid of heights--I'm glad I didn't try to join him on the bridge, as I'm sure he would not have appreciated my extra movements! Finally, after arriving at our campsite (Refugio Grey), we ate some dinner and taught a Dutch couple we met earlier on the trail how to play Euchre. 

Day 1. Landed in Santiago. Adrian tired. EVOC archery equipment bags are large and numerous, clogging our supply route for backpacks. I hope we make it out. 

Landed in Punta Arenas. Food and a bottle of Syrah at Brocolino. How do you say "bill" in Spanish again? La cuenta! That's right--thanks Adrian 😊

Day 3. We got into Puerto Natales early yesterday afternoon  and then took a bus to get to Torres campsite before sunset. Sunset was beautiful. Sunrise was even more so. I guilted Adrian into a 20 mile hike (which, to our delighted surprise, also offered 3200 vertical feet). To summarize: pain. But the views were absolutely splendid and on more than one occasion took my breath away (or was it the exhaustion?). We got to our campsite at the foot of a glacier -- apparently the "small one" -- with chunks of it floating down the river. Unfortunately with rivers come mosquitos which were a major buzzkill. Not that I'm able to rest, we have some boxed wine (bought at our campsite) to down tonight. MAKE SURE TO PERMETHRIN EVERY TENT FROM NOW ON! Especially the creases.

Day 4. Woke up just before the crack of 10am, with barley enough time to sneak in a hot shower. It was a welcome relief to my tired joints and muscles, and just what I needed for the shorter hike today. First, Adrian and I took some pictures at the "beach" area of the lake that the glacier fed into. Then, we conquered some steep uphill before plunging into the forest. Unfortunately, the maps here are not very accurate, and our hike was a good 1.5 miles longer (8 total) than originally thought. I am glad we didn't know that at the beginning, because the ascent required at the end of the hike to get to our campsite was something I would have dreaded beforehand. To our pleasant surprise, however, we were greeted with yet another glacier right at the end--even closer than the previous one. With our spirits buoyed, we settled down for the night at Los Perros. We were asleep by 8pm because we had big plans for our third day trekking.

Day 5. Hike through Paso John Gardner and to Campamento Grey. Glaciers! drama! High altitude! More to come.

Day 6. Easy day--hike to Campamento Paine and the first non-camp food we've had. Yum! Also the first big views of the Torres and Cuernos Del Paine. More to come.

Picture Dump

Tonight:

First morning:

High spirits:

Typical Chilean bridge building

Very early start:

Payoff:

Thankfully more stable:

Just crossed some rapid waters and survived:

The better pictures are on my camera, can't upload yet! Should be able to by this week's end. 

Punta Arenas

We had a couple nice nights here before heading out to Puerto Natales. Our first night, we dined at Brocolino. I had a lamb dish and Brooke had shrimp speared with asparagus. We split a syrah from Concha y Toro. Muy delicioso!

Last night we went to La Luna. I got a steak frites dish while Brooke got some sort of fish. We had our first pisco sours and some beer brewed right here in Punta Arenas.

Radio Silence

Going to hike through Parque Nacional Torres del Paine for the next seven days and no h guarantees about internet access. We'll update as we are able. Should get some good pictures if the weather cooperates.

Thanks Colorado!

Thanks for waiting until after we left to blizzard so hard you closed down the airport and cancelled thousands of flights. I hope everyone's ok and still has power. Stay safe!

No Penguins

Our penguin colony tour through the Magellan Strait got cancelled due to weather. Turns out it's windy here. Who knew? So we checked out the cemetery instead!

And here's the famous Magellan statue:

Sunset In Punta Arenas

After 21 hours of travel, we were finally able to get some much needed food and rest in Punta Arenas. We also spent some time stretching our legs as we walked to the shore of the Pacific and had some time to watch the sun go down. Tomorrow we venture through the Strait of Magellan and get some prime penguin viewing! Adrian has also been practicing his Spanish and is conversing well with the locals, who only speak to us in the native language! 

-Brooke

South

Punta Arenas

Long travel day, but we made it!

Itinerary

March 21 - 05:18 PM Depart From Denver
March 22 - 08:40 AM Arrive In Santiago

LAYOVER - After we touch down we'll have just a few hours to get through customs and get our bags checked for our flight further south.

March 22 ~11:55 AM Depart From Santiago
March 22 - 04:15 PM Arrive In Punta Arenas

NATURE - Penguins! We will begin on March 23 with a day trip through the Strait of Magellan to Isla Magdalena and Isla Marta, which are home to about 120,000 penguins during breeding season. The season ends by the beginning of April, so the baby penguins will be growing up fast!

We travel to Puerto Natales on March 24, and we should be able to start hiking a 7-8 day loop through Torres del Paine.

April 01 04:55 PM - Depart From Punta Arenas
April 01 11:20 PM - Arrive In Santiago

CULTURE - We will have a few days to check out the cities of Santiago and Valparaiso. Brooke especially looks forward to exploring some vineyards at the end of harvest season!

April 06 - 03:10 PM Depart From Santiago
April 06 - 05:00 PM Arrive In Lima

CULTURE - We will have almost a full day to see the city before moving on.

April 07 - 03:00 PM Depart From Lima
April 07 - 04:25 PM Arrive In Cuzco

NATURE & CULTURE - We will spend five days trekking to Macchu Picchu via Salkantay (an "alternative" Inca Trail), with one day at the end to spend in the Cuzco area.

April 14 - 08:45 AM Depart From Cuzco
April 14 - 10:05 AM Arrive In Lima

LAYOVER - Not sure if we'll leave the airport.

April 14 - 09:30 PM Depart From Lima
April 14 - 11:20 PM Arrive In Iquitos

NATURE - We will spend a few days seeing the Peruvian Amazon.

April 19 - 05:00 AM Depart From Iquitos
April 19 - 06:45 AM Arrive In Lima

CULTURE - We'll have a couple more days to spend in SA before heading home. Nothing planned yet.

April 21 - 12:34 AM Depart From Lima
April 21 - 10:34 AM Arrive In Denver