from natales...

with love. or rather, in natales loving everything :)  another documentation blog, don't get too excited - read the stuff from trek 1 or 2 if you're lookin for the good posts... today our to do list included: 1) maybe shop for a few souvenirs 2) get snacks for upcoming travel days  3) and actually I can't think of anything else... but I'm stream of conciousness writing so you get to hear that rather than me just delete #3 when I realize I have nothing to put there.  unlike our last 2-item to do list, this one didn't explode into 18 time consuming tasks, which was oh-so-nice and allowed us to really enjoy our last day in this city we adore so much... we had a prolonged discussion about hiking vs. trekking vs. backpacking (resolved with transition into a conversation about star trek and if they had what could be defined as pack animals on the show... yes?), at hostel b-fast, which was especially a misnomer this morn when we ate it extra slow... or truthfully ate it fast, just for a long time. we were in the company of a couple new yorkers; they are a funny duo that I believe we deciphered to be just friends...? the girl, alex, seemed pretty normal - a software engineer in her early 30s... the guy, sam, was an odd-ish ball about the same age. he brought his retainer container to breakfast and set it on the table next to pete (poor pete), and later told us several fish jokes... we'll see if torres chews him up and spits him out; he didn't exactly strike us as the 'roughin' it' type, and we will be the first to admit that torres del paine was far more difficult than we had expected...  unable to eat another grain of cereal, we brought our coffee to the hostel common area and put on the princess bride, which attracted quite a crowd. it was a lovely lazy morning until the sunshine outside finally seemed to outlast the showers and we ventured to the souvenir shops scattered around town.  unlike ecuador, where $100 usd got me enough souvenirs to fill all my luggage, and supply me with plenty gifts for family and friends, chile is spendy and $100 usd will get you a scarf and a penguin statue and that is about it. so don't get too excited back home, this will not be reminiscent of my returns from places like ecuador or tanzania or the philippines... someday I'll have the mullah to splurge on the extravagant gifts in places like this, but until then we are mostly settling for what we hope will be some frameable photos fromour treks...  other than souvenir shop and taking some epic jumping photos, we pretty much just walked the town and hung out with rocky. he was in the rock fetching mood as usual and I found some good ones to throw for him... unfortunately, when we entered the brewery in town to ask if they bottle beer to go, he stood faithfully outside the door and we took long enough that he dropped his rock... I say unfortunately because it wedged on the rock walkway leading up to the door and when we went to leave he had literally created a door stopper and we couldn't get out. embarrassing. especially because to everyone else it looked like we just didn't know how to work the door... we finally coaxed him to pick up his rock - pretty sure he thought the whole ordeal was an awesome game - and made a note to be wary of the size of rocks we throw for rocky...  our big event today was dinner. seems we have heard about the steaks down here since we arrived and one restaurant in particular was at the top of everyone's list. without fail, anyone who told us about it would hold up their hand when they said, the steaks are this thick! and their fingers would be a good three inches apart... yes. please. (I promise someday I will return to my vegetarian ways but until then I am making up for 12 years without meat). at this restaurant you order the steaks and I'm fairly certain the chef walks out back, kills one of their cows, slices off a big chunk, and carries it inside to cook... for certain we watched him fetched our slabs of meat and put them on his grill moments after we ordered them. when they made it to our table they were indeed this thick!! (I'm holding up my hand with my thumb and forefinger at least 3 inches apart). over 3/4 pound of the tenderest (most tender?) steak I have ever tasted... wow mmmm mmm.  after that our vacay... or lives... or both... were pretty much complete.  it is our last night at erratic rock and we are so sad to go. the erratic rock family was crowded around the tv this evening watching zorro, fire ablaze in the quaint little stove that heats the place, really making it feel like fall here. pete and I joined while we enjoyed some ice cream :) I finally mastered how to keep the showers a constant temp here and feel like we should maybe stay longer just so I can use this skill more... but it is back to the real world (or the work world, we should call it, because it is definitely real out here), come monday and we would call in sick for a few weeks more if we thought we could get away with it but that probably wouldn't fly... erratic rock is ready to hire us on as staff though, which would mean free room and board and as much pizza as we can eat (clearly they don't realize how much pizza we can eat); so we will def keep them in mind if we ever decide to quit our day jobs ;) time for bed now, tomo is the start of too many travel days and we have to rest up...       

day VI - farewell fitz roy

it is kind of an annoying story but we are returning today instead of thursday to puerto natales because the bus system here runs so that you can make it from el calafate to puerto natales in one day only on mondays, wednesdays & fridays, and so, rather than spend another day in el calafate (which we feel we have exhausted) we will be coming home wednesday (because our schedule... and our food supply... does not allow us to stay until friday). kind of a bummer but honestly this park is not huge and though we would love to spend more time here we have seen most everything in these past days... 

but talk about a commute! the plan is to hop a 730 am bus to el calafate, which will get us there just in time to catch the 11 am bus to puerto natales, 5 hours away - and that doesn't include the time we waste at the border crossing back into chile (let's hope that goes smoothly... at least we won't have any food to stress about being confiscated). we are hopeful we'll make it back to puerto natales at a reasonable hour to grab dinner, unpack a little and make ourselves presentable to the semi-real world (because really, I don't think puerto natales can pass as the actual real world)... 

lets see how this unfolds...

  the wind was as wild as ever last night and the one tent that
      was set up so nicely next to ours yesterday had all but
      self-destructed in the night. poles were strewn around it and
      tent shrapnel was everywhere - we hoped the owner wasn't
      inside, suffocating under the collapsed vinyl. our tent, on
      the other hand, had braved the storm unscathed per usual.
      thanks big agnes. 
    

      our alarm was set for about 5:15 (arguably the earliest we
      have had to wake up this entire trip) and we went about
      packing up camp by headlamp and the light from the half moon.
      the stars were still bright, forecasting another sunny day in
      paradise. we had given ourselves plenty of time to pack up
      the tent in the wind, which always proves a bit more
      difficult; and to boil water we would bring along for
      breakfast at the bus station. plus we kinda wanted to sneak
      away in the cover of dark, just to avoid any awkward
      encounters with the campsite owners, (even though they were
      so accommodating of the other vagabonds who commandeered a
      campsite last night and there would have been no
      issue)...
   

      the walk through town to the bus station took all but 15
      minutes, this village - as I would more accurately call it -
      is so tiny there is really just a single main street with a
      second pseudo-main street branching off and that is about it.
      either way we felt perfectly safe strolling through town in
      the dark with all of our valuables on us. nice contrast to
      the huge city of quito in ecuador where I hardly felt safe
      walking around empty handed in the daylight...
   

      breakfast was mochas and nutty blueberry oatmeal with
      honey (in true girls gone homeless fashion - reference a
      9 day camping trip I took with em and miranda one spring
      break where each morning we shared a pot of oatmeal and every
      day we added another ingredient)... this was our best oatmeal
      yet and we enjoyed it sitting in the bus station waiting for
      our early morning ride out of dodge...

back in puerto natales we are happy to be home at erratic rock and 

soooo excited for a shower!! gotta do some unpacking now so enjoy the blog posts

from the week and do not forget to jump back to the post from day 3 of our first trek - 

i just posted the rest of the blog from that ex-stream day :)

day V - vagabonds

this morning we woke to frigid temperatures; I could tell by
      my cold nose - the only thing not covered by my 20 degree
      mummy bag. we did our best to add layers while still snug in
      our sleeping bags then braved the exposure, climbing out of
      our tent to be greeted by an almost deserted campsite
      and yet another gorgeous day.
   

      somehow up before the other three tents in the campsite, we
      made breakfast, savoring the warmth of our oatmeal medley
      & mochas, as the sun did its best to warm the air.
   

      after breakfast we set off in pursuit of the glaciar view we
      had opted against yesterday afternoon when the winds were as
      unwelcoming as they had been. were we in for a treat this
      morning... we knew the day was calm but we never suspected we
      would climb the ridge and our view of the lake would reveal
      water so glassy you could turn on your head and convince
      yourself you're still upright. all of the icebergs that had
      been pushed to one shore by the winds the day prior were now
      spread about the lake, floating freely in the tranquil water.
      near the edges of the lake a thin sheet of surface water had
      frozen, ice crystals splayed out in all directions - how cold
      had it been last night? ...we took advantage of the mountains
      and the mirror imagine reflection, save for the occasional
      iceberg. we had it all to ourselves and we couldn't stop
      remarking on our luck.
   

      once we had exhausted all photos and were threatening to use
      up the rest of our camera batteries, we agreed it best to
      continued with the hike along the rim of the lake toward the
      far end where the glacier flowed. just as we were leaving we
      heard the most unusual noise - a light breeze had started,
      evidenced only by subtle ripples on the lake's surface. this
      wind must have pushed one of the icebergs abbutting the top
      layer of ice just enough that it set a chain reaction going
      and we could hear the snap crackle pop of the ice breaking at
      weak points along the surface. it was wild because it would
      start where the wind hit and then you could hear it travel
      along the shallow water breaking up the ice that was
      meticulously interlaced when it froze during the still night.
      the noise would travel along the shore from left to right
      then right to left, invisible but we couldn't tear our eyes
      away... it was so interesting in contrast to the tink clink
      of the small icebergs or the deep rumble of the massive ones
      yesterday in the strong wind.
   

      ok, nuff of this descriptive stuff... our hike to the view of
      the glacier was epic as expected. glaciers are so cool and on
      our list of things to learn more about after this
      trip...
   

      once back in camp, with the whole place to ourselves at that
      point, we were highly disappointed to have to leave. april
      definitely marks the end of camping season for most here...
      which is fortunate for us because no one is around, and we
      would definitely consider april prime camping time as we
      can't complain about a thing this trek... even the cold means
      clear skies, which make for very sunny and extra beautiful
      days and from what we hear, 5 straight days of sunshine is
      pretty much unheard of here... so basically our picking up
      random trash in the parks has clearly earned us some
      seriously good karma points that we happen to be cashing in
      on immediately. how lovely :)
   

      somewhat reluctantly we made the trek back to el chaltén. we
      arrived in the afternoon, stopped for a coffee and some
      naranja bread (which we enjoyed sitting outside in the sun -
      ok I guess this place isn't so bad), did some souvenir
      shopping with argentinian pesos we needed to get rid of
      before leaving the country tomorrow, used up the last of our
      pesos on pastries from the local paneria, and finally set out
      to find our destination - the one free campsite in
      town.
   

      at the info booth we were disappointed to learn campamento
      confluencia no longer exists - thanks a ton lonely planet.
      instead we were informed our options include one of two
      campsites in town or a campsite about an hour's hike up the
      trail we hiked in on the first day...
   

      we set off to compare prices of the two in town and to find
      out if either would take usd or visa, as we had so wisely
      spent the reminder of our peso cash on souvenirs and sweets -
      yet again we acknowledge the brilliance of our travel
      priorities; dulce de leche then where we will be sleeping for
      the night.
   

      the first was kind of an overgrown side yard with tents
      pitched haphazardly and on hills - how nice. we sent pete in
      with two goals: bargain us a deal and find out how we can
      pay. he returned some time later appearing quite pleased with
      himself, he relayed to me his convo with the campsite owner
      and the gist of it was we could have a campsite for 30 pesos
      (about $6)... I waited... nothing. how can we pay for it? I
      asked pete. oh right, kinda forgot to ask that part... in his
      defense our spanish is pretty rough around the edges and
      communicating even one question, not to mention understanding
      the answer, is a feat, so we let it go and decided to check
      out the other place before returning to ask about the
      logistics of payment... maybe the other place will be better?
   

      the second campsite was further from the bus station but
      bigger and... empty. except for a single tent with no campers
      to be found. the area was much nicer and I took a liking to a
      foal running around the yard who literally rolled on his back
      to let me pat his belly while pete was inside asking about
      prices and other such important questions ;) ...but turns out
      no one was in the building where signs from the street had
      pointed us to camping administration, so we decided to wait a
      awhile. it was later than siesta time but you never know
      around here...
   

      we weighed our options and ended up making dinner in the good
      company of the foal before setting up camp... finally we
      could stall no longer and it was nearning dusk so we set up
      our tent next to the other, readied ourselves for bed and
      climbed snugly into our tent, just as the sun was setting and
      brilliant oranges and pinks lit up the sky - is there no end
      to the beauty here?!
   

      not 5 minutes after zipping ourselves in we heard a car pull
      up and voices... people wanting to camp here too, speaking
      with what sounded like the owner, who had appeared from
      who-knows-where. the gist of what we understood is that this
      campsite is now closed for the winter (maybe they should take
      their sign down), but that the people who had just arrived
      could stay for the night. we spent the next
      I-don't-know-how-long trying to be very quiet so we didn't
      have to deal with whoever owns this campsite, as we watched
      silhouettes of people walk past and flashlights shine at our
      tent (I wrote this with my head in my sleeping bag to keep
      the light from my cell phone screen hidden - Pete's tent is
      very sheer). we were thankful for the wind, which was howling
      and rustling the tent, blending with any sounds we made as we
      finished getting out sleeping bags and situating ourselves.
      we were tucked so safely in our tent, unintentional
      trespassers and somehow bumming a free campsite by sheer
      luck...
    

day IV - iceberg! dead ahead!!

the wind was howling again and i zipped my fleece up, trying to keep my body heat from escaping. the clouds were blowing in over the mountains ahead and creating interesting patterns in the sky. they capped the mountain peak like the characteristic cloud mount hood is named for and I missed home, just for a second :) 

the lake below the glacier-covered mountains was grey and wild, with huge waves and spray thrown about by the wind. behind a barricade of icebergs piled against the lake shore, the water was calmer and occasional gusts would paint designs across the otherwise smooth surface. as we made our way to the water's edge I could hear the tink clink of the tiny melted remnants of glacier pieces broken off, pushed against each other by the wind- it was the most lovely wind chime sound, like ice in a glass only more delicate. and in the background was the rumble of friction between the massive icebergs as the waves shoved them against each other, battling for their place in the lineup...

we are camping at campamento de agostini near lago torre, the iceberg-filled lake I am describing. the campsite is along the roaring murky white waters of the river that drains lago torre. we are set in the shadow of now unfamiliar mountain peaks, as we have spent the day hiking and are a distance from our beloved fitz roy. but these mountains and glaciers are just as impressive and the valley we will sleep in is all shades of fall minus a section of leafless dead trees that lend their own unique beauty to the area. 

get ready for my parenthesis-laden writing:

camp is set (we're ready to enter a contest for most efficient tent set up time), and we just finished dinner, earlier than usual... likely because lunch was not big (just a partially moldy flatbread - yes, we ate it anyway - with pb[thanks em!!]&j ), but memorable just the same as it was enjoyed by the edge of this blue-green lake (all the lakes here are so different in color and I cannot decide which is my favorite), that we may or may not have taken a quick dip in (which I think violates all rules of the park and keeping the water clean so don't tell anyone!!). but seriously, how could we not?! oh that's right, one toe in and you realize the water here is so cold it hurts - literally. 

now I sit sipping my fireball-spiked manzanilla con miel tea (straight from Ecuador and best in the world) and enjoying the satiety from cheesy salmon couscous - what did I tell you? we eat well :) Pete is off taking photos and hopefully not deciding to climb anything too dangerous... it will be an early night, which means we might actually wake at a reasonable hour given our 10 hour sleeping minimum we've been sticking to as much as possible this trip. 

quick addition: this eve offered us the most entertaining clouds, swirling and changing shape before our eyes as they rolled over the mountain peaks that make up our view from camp. we sat and enjoyed the show, wasted some time taking comical jumping photos over the mountain tops, and finally retreated to our campsite only to realize the sky was glowing pink in the other direction. the setting sun had mostly neglected the clouds we watched but in the distance the other direction it was coloring them neon pink, which reflected off the river and turned it from icy grey-blue to pinkish. this place is unreal... 

day III - happy easter (again) ;)

we slept like logs, but hopefully weren't sawing them, as campamento poincenot was pretty packed last night and we wouldn't want to keep our neighbors up. 

before breakfast we took a quick jaunt back to a couple of ponds we had passed on our hike in the day before. our hope was to capture the mountains' reflection in the glassy water during the calm morning - but a constant light breeze foiled our photo op so we settled for semi-ripply reflection photos. we're not complaining. the morning was already bright and sunny, but oh so cold and crisp. I kept looking longingly toward the line of sunlight making its way slowly down the hillside to my right as the sun rose over the mountain range to my left. the frozen earth was crispy below our feet and the plants, frosted white, made for stark contrast with the reds an yellows that are more vibrant here than anywhere else we've seen in Patagonia. 

breakfast was delish as ever. we make our morning mochas better than any starbucks barista and today oatmeal/granola porridge was spiced up with a little honey. life is good.  

we began our day thinking we had two destinations: a steep hike to an even more in your face view of fitz roy and gang (if that's even possible), and then a hike to lago de los tres, which we heard was mind-blowingly beautiful. we followed sparse signs and ended up on the steep track that seemed to lead right to the base of fitz roy. the hillsides surrounding us were ablaze with red and orange bushes and we paused only to fill water bottles from the glacial stream pouring down along the trail... and maybe to climb a few cool rocks. 

at the top the beauty was unfathomable. seriously, mind. blown. and we sat and ate favorite backpacking lunch meal: salami and cheese and crackers, while we took it all in. 

next we headed down to the aqua blue lake to play and take photos and build waterside kerans we hope will stay forever. we know they won't. the weather in this region is as unpredictable as all of Patagonia and we couldn't believe our luck to have another day of sun and warmth.  in fact, there was hardly a breeze up top and we took advantage of the reflection just as we had hoped to capture it this morning. 

we spent all afternoon relaxing in the sun enjoying mother nature's company. before leaving we took a quick peek at another lake nearby with waterfalls cascading down into it from the glacier. this one was, i dont know how, even bluer than the first!! we made haste down the trail until we came to the fork where we believed our next hike would take us to lago de los tres, but that sign pointed to where we had just come from and eventually, with the help of lonely planet's incorrect map & the parque's incorrect map, we eventually pieced together that we had actually spent the day at lago de los tres... feeling a little embarrassed by our poor directional skills we set off on the second side hike, which we had, at this point, determined would actually be to a glaciar called piedras.

that hike was epic but I'm sure I'm boring you a little (or a lot) with all of my redundant descriptors so I'll cut to the chase and say we climbed through an insane boulder field to get a better look at the glacier and paused only to watch a big chunk break off and come crashing down. then we decided to head back to camp because we were but ants in this valley of monstrous boulders and we didn't want to be squished ants when the vibrations from glacier chunks falling off send a boulder rolling. 

dinner was salami noodle soup and it was AMAZING!! actually we really haven't had a bad, or even mediocre, meal out here. so either Pete and I are world class wilderness chefs, or more likely we are always starving and easily satisfied with the camping meals we create. 

the campsite was almost deserted this evening. we played frisbee and chased these giant raptors around camp trying to get close up photos. they totally scope out the sites for scraps left behind, which is odd only because we are accustomed to crows and camp robbers back home and these massive birds of prey have talons that could rip out your eyeballs - but yeah, we chased 'em around to get a photo just the same :) 

in accordance with our perfectly beautiful day we enjoyed another clear night and spent a considerable amount of time staring up at the stars waiting for the shooting kind and searching for satellites. it was another perfect day (and night) in paradise...

day II - fitz roy

our morning was uneventful so I'm jumping to the good stuff... we caught the bus to el chatén and could do nothing more than watch out the window eagerly during the 3 hour drive as the mountains grew closer. there were glaciers visible off to the left and crazy hill contours to the right. ahead of us was the 180 view of snowy mountain peaks. this place is unreal! 

the park's visitor center, where we are forced to stop & learn the rules of the parque nacional los glaciares, is rich with climbing info for those travelers set on summiting the seemingly endless peaks here. for us non-climbers (sigh) the gist of the rules are: be a good human being, respect the pure glacial waters, and keep the captain planet mentality goin' strong so this place will be epic forever. this park straddles the hielo sur, which is the largest ice cap outside of the earth's polar regions. pretty cool (literally ;) ...and it is just this gem of a place that feel so uncommercialized (is that even a word?) given the insane beauty and magnitude of the geographic features here. 

we were dropped off just across the small bridge that marks the start of town. we read that el chaltén has a population of only 900 but that it gets over 100,000 visitors a year. again we are really appreciating that it is nearing the off season for winter - meaning crowds are far less overwhelming, not to mention the fall colors here are exploding!! when you take those two advantages of the end of march/beginning of april and couple it with the fact that the weather has been pristine, we're pretty much in heaven... and seriously, the view is what I'd imagine many would want from heaven.

we walked across town in a matter of minutes stopping only to get one last essential item - ice cream! (hello, do you know us?) ...our 8km hike was interrupted by way too many photos (but when you see them you'll understand - how could we resist not capturing this scenery?!), and a quick convo with our buddies will and johnny from the first trek (reference:  cali guys sitting at the bottom of the ladder who told us to wait til we see the next one), who were also staying at erratic rock when we were there most recently... Patagonia is a small small world. and we set up camp among friends as well: Justin, Jeff and the gang were already set up for the night... we promise, we're not stalking them. 

the beauty of the hike in was way more than I can describe with words and I know our photos won't do it justice so start saving your vacation days and some dinero and I promise you won't regret a trip down here. this place is magical. and the vibrant colors this time of year make it all that more breathtaking. fitz roy was in our faces the whole hike with sun beams projecting between the peaks from the setting sol behind. 

we have got our tent set up slash dinner routine down to an art and despite getting into camp around dusk we were fed and prepped for bed completely by 10:30, giving ourselves just a little time to stare up at the starry night sky - orion's belt in one direction, the southern cross in the other and the bright milky way connecting the two. 

fitz roy and all his buddy mountains were glowing bright, lit up the moon which sat below and behind the forest surrounding our camp. it was like a spotlight on the mountain peaks so we could enjoy them as much as night as we did during the day. I love you Patagonia!! 

day I - great friday

I'm disclaimering this one like yesterday's to say that it is a little dull and might warrant skipping, as I wrote it mostly for our record rather than reader entertainment... sorry! :)

up early with the gang for last minute preparations. we headed downstairs for family breakfast at 7 sharp and gorged ourselves on the usual smorgasbord in the hopes of satiety until 2:30 when our bus is scheduled to arrive in el calafate. I love family breakfast at the hostel. familiar faces of those we met during our first trek who just happened to be staying at erratic rock too. awesome staff making delish omelettes  and newbies getting to know everyone while sharing their stories. 

aside: as I'm blogging this we are on the bus to el calafate... and the most massive condor just flew right over the bus. from a distance they are difficult to distinguish from our run-of-the-mill turkey vultures back home but when you see them closer their size is almost unfathomable!! what a tremendous wingspan. they look big enough to pick me up and carry me away with ease...

we caught the 8:30 overpriced bus to el calafate in Argentina (Argentinian buses are sooo much more expensive than in chile and downright absurd compared to the buses in Ecuador). but heck, why not get another stamp on the passport while we're down here? the boarder seemed like hardly a 20 minute drive from our hostel... pretty easy to drive cross country down here at the bottom of south america. 

at the border we waited in line; some border patrol guy took a paper I thought I was supposed to keep (hope he knows what he is doin); we gave away our passports to the bus driver including that important reciprocity fee document (that's enough to make me nervous); and finally, a couple passport stamps later we were on our way.

guess we lucked out with the border crossing once again as it applies to food. if you have kept up with earlier blogs you know that we purchased all of our food for our treks in the states. trader jo's is fueling us half a world away and literally as we shopped for salami & dried fruits & nuts & honey (among many other things) we researched (thank goodness for smart phones) chile's food restrictions and turns out you are definitely not allowed to bring meats, nuts, fruit or honey into the country. too late, we were through the checkout line and committed to risking it. we tried to forget the many online posts we saw about food being confiscated by airport customs. but turns out we got lucky and disinterested customs guys at 4am weren't bored or hungry enough to confiscate any of our food - amazing!! especially considering that we have talked with other americans who definitely had food taken at the airport. so this border crossing we hadn't thought much about the week's worth of food we were bringing across until after, when we were chatting with a guy from new mexico who has been down here a few months and was on the bus with us - he commented that it was the first border crossing by bus where they hasn't brought dogs on board to sniff out illegal food. whew!! the grocery stores here are pretty expensive and we are well equipped with all of our comforts-from-home food.. happy it all made it!

el calafate is about a 5 hour bus ride. par for the course we slept most of the way. when we were almost there I was looking out the window at the desert scenery when we came around a corner and bam! mountain range in the distance. again it was reminiscent of that part of the drive to bend where you have high desert grasslands and then three sisters, broken top, and bachelor in the distance to the right. but here, rather than the occasional mountain blip on the horizon, there was a continuous, massive, snow covered strip of mountains that seemed to stretch forever, with an icy blue lake sprawled out in the foreground.

the village of el calafate is small. the main strip is a tourist hub and completely designed for the travelers who pass through. gear shops are interspersed with souvenir stores between restaurants. and it looks all too americanized... or actually it really reminded me of whistler, just on a smaller scale - yeah, that nice!

the argentinian peso is 5 to a dollar, which is confusing coming from chile where it is 1(.000) chilean peso to 2 dollars. dinner menus boast prices in the $80 range ($16 usd for a steak dinner is great, but it is difficult to wrap my head around because we've been so in the habit of doubling the chilean peso price to convert to usd... and I love steak but I certainly wouldn't pay $160 for it ;). we hit up a bank for a couple bucks and headed to get ice cream. I wanted calafate flavor - calafate is a berry that looks similar to a blueberry  and is what the region is named for. I wasn't impressed with the sample and opted instead for various flavors of chocolate and dulce de leche. pretty darn good helado here when my standard is salt & straw ;) 

next we hunted for a place to stay. we were told at the tourist information stand that there were at least 4 campsites in town costing various prices of too-expensive-for-my-taste (especially when we spent the last week camping for free in torres del paine and there are hostels as cheap as the campsites in calafate). after some investigation we were really only able to hunt down one of the 4 campsites and so didn't have much choice and forked over the 80 pesos to stay there for the night. at least it felt safe, one of the other "campsites" looked like deserted trailer park junk yard meets texas chainsaw massacre... yeah, we didn't even ask about prices there.

our afternoon was how we had imagined we would spend our afternoons in torres del paine - tossing the frisbee around, listening to music, making dinner in the daylight and playing cards... none of this had really happened on our first trek because turns out when you're hiking 30km a day you don't have a whole lot of extra time or energy before you pass out for the night. 

tucked safely in bed for the night we chuckled as we fell asleep to cars driving by, dogs barking and the campsite generator running, when we were use to drifting off only to the sound of wind and rain... 

wednesday of rest

this is more documentation for us than an interesting blog entry... but I can guarantee at least my parents will read it, so it is being posted.

our original plan had been to come home from torres del paine yesterday and leave today for our next week-long trek. yeah... that didn't happen. 

after our pizza beer binge last night we got a slow start this morn and before we knew it the morning was afternoon and the most we had accomplished was sampling every item offered with the hostel breakfast, including but not limited to: cereal, yogurt, bread with dulce de leche, bread with honey, omelettes, and pretty terrible coffee. 

since this was an unplanned night at the hostel and they were totally booked with 3 on the waitlist before us, we weren't sure if we'd be crashing on the floor or a couch but julie (one of the staff from salem, or) had assured us that we are friends/family and they would figure something out. so we packed up the stinky explosion from the tdp trek and waited. turns out, luckily, two beds became available in one of the dorm style rooms - no floor for us!! 

once that was taken care of we contemplated our to do list for the day: 

-buy cheese.

-drop off/pick up laundry.

but as the day progressed our errands turned into this:

-dropping off the worst of our laundry to be washed for 4ish bucks a kilo... too bad we hit siesta time and had to wait til after 2:30 to drop it off, which meant a late night pick up.

-hand washing dry fit stuff we didn't want shrunk at the laundromat. one bucket + one hostel shower + detergent + trekking clothes = brown water... gross. and we won't even mention where we ended up hanging everything to dry, that was a full day task in and of itself.

-a trip to 3 different banks to try to get $$... chilean pesos disappear quickly!! and are apparently difficult to come by when random atms reject your card...

-purchasing pre-lunch snack of cookies while we searched the town for empanadas for lunch... real healthy ;) and clearly a priority when we are pressed for time.

-souvenir shopping... probably shouldn't have spent so much time  doing this today.

-a break for legit beers at the best (and only?) brewery in town - cerveza baguales (baguales means wild horses)... don't worry, be hoppy :) and we were. and our buddy (the chilean guy with the german girlfriend) from the W showed up - small world here in puerto natales. 

-another quick stop at the store for the essentials: more cookies and cheese. duh.

-bus ticket purchase to el chaltén after 5pm when the lady recommended by erratic rock opened her store ...not like we were doing things last minute at all ;) finally got the buses we want sorted out and then find out it is 104.000 chilean pesos for Pete and I to bus from punta arenas to el calafate then from there to el chaltén and back. in usd that is like $208.00, prob a little more, so over $100 bucks each for us to get to Argentina and back... steep bus ticket prices!!

-pay the online reciprocity fee of $160.00 usd each to enter Argentina then figure out how to print the form we must bring with us. little fyi, we read the fees into countries like chile and argentina are determined for us citizens based on what the us charges their citizens to visit america... so really we have our homeland to blame for the expense.

-a dash to the bus station just before it closed at 9pm to trade over tickets ... almost didn't make it. 

-finding time to eat dinner... more pizza... don't judge us.

-a final shower to tide me over til a few days into april... showers here always take more time than expected because the water is either scalding hot or icy cold and Pete is the only one who has figured out how to get the water somewhere in between.

-oh and just the small task of packing for our next week of trekking...

so yeah, it turned out to be a busy day, and it really wasn't until 6pm that we actually started getting things done. oops. 

overall most of the day was restful, which we needed, and we ultimately did get everything sorted out before midnight. our sleepover was with lauren, a girl from new york who is between jobs and down here doing the circuit with a guide. and also a couple from germany doing the circuit as well. as a result everyone was deep in last minute preparations until late... finally in our bunk beds it was off to sleep while visions of fitz roy danced in our heads :) 

day 7 - pooped pups

the alarm went off at 5:50... I slept right through it.
      luckily it woke pete up and he in turn woke me up. we dressed
      quickly, packed extra layers, and took off with our small
      packs, trekking poles and headlamps. there was no hint of
      morning light, just the moon glowing faintly behind a few
      wispy clouds. we followed the reflection of trail markers,
      scanning above with our headlamps when the path was not
      obvious. we were in the center of a sparse trail of fellow
      headlamps, all headed for the same destination. it was a
      steep climb and the lights ahead looked far too high for the
      short distance away that they appeared. we scrambled clumsily
      over boulders and up a scree field, our depth perception
      thrown off by the dark. an hour later the trail ended. the
      hint of light from the sky, ever-warming behind us, was
      revealing the towers ahead, just barely visible at first
      approach, in the dim morning.
    

      we found a boulder where we could watch both the sunrise in
      one direction and the brightening towers in the other. our
      sweaty bodies were instantly chilled and we began piling on
      the layers we had lugged with us until we were comfortably
      indifferent to the cold.
    

      as the towers got brighter we moved to get a better view.
      before long they were glowing pink over the magical blue lake
      below. the fluffy clouds behind them brightened to an even
      more intense pink. we didn't want to leave but were forced to
      by the day's schedule - critically, making the 2pm bus back
      to puerto natales. yes, it is our final day in the park...
      sigh...
    

      we finally dragged ourselves away from the glowing rock
      spires and started our hike back to camp. we would have been
      faster going down and aided by daylight had we not been
      repeatedly looking back longingly at the ever brightening
      towers, reflecting the neon pink of the sunrise in the other
      direction. a condor flew low overhead and we felt like the
      park was bidding us farewell...
    

      back in camp we had a PR for packup + breakfast time and we
      were out of camp at 10am sharp as planned. figures the last
      day we finally get our routine sorted out. the hike to the
      hotel torres (where the shuttle leaves to the bus back to
      PN), was faster than expected thanks to mucho downhill
      trails. we passed tourists on horseback and friends from
      campgrounds past and day hikers from the fancy hotel who I
      think held their breath as they passed our
      7-days-without-a-shower bodies...
    

      as we had consumed literally our last crumb of food with
      breakfast (the only edible thing that made it back to the
      hostel with us was one pack of emergen-C and arguably our
      half used tube of travel toothpaste), we were hungry by the
      noon hour when we reached the bottom and we weren't the only
      ones. thankfully the park takes advantage of this and had a
      gazebo of food for sale set up next to the shuttle stop where
      the post-Patagonia trekkers hang out.
    

      2 packs of chocolate filled cream chocolate cookies and the
      very last two hotdogs (possibly the best of my life) later we
      were happy campers, literally. as we sat digesting and
      commenting on what we would do for the final 1h40min until
      the shuttle arrived, we made a split second decision to hike
      the remaining 7.5km road to the bus station. of the large
      group of fellow trekkers we found only one other foolish... I
      mean energetic enough, to hike with us. 
    

      the view looking back on the park was amazing and I regretted
      our decision to hike that last bit probably only during 5 of
      the 7.5km... honestly, I think the hot dog cookie combo
      fooled me into thinking I had more energy than I actually did
      and about 3 minutes into the hike I had burned through it all
      and was wanting to be back sitting in the grass waiting for
      the shuttle. too late, my pride was on the line now. we had
      to hustle, and thanks to a shortcut, just barely beat the
      shuttle to the buses. right before getting there, with an
      epic view of many snow-covered peaks ahead, we spotted a bunch
      of guanacos, including babies!! it was amazing! this was the
      closest we had seen them...
    

      with our bags safely under the bus we said goodbye to
      beautiful torres del paine as the bus sped toward puerto
      natales. out the window were more herds of guanacos, and
      oddly enough, a few flamingos in a lake we drove past... this
      place is so awesome. 
    

      our gear exploded in our room when we unpacked and we've got
      to admit, the smell isn't exactly what you would describe as
      pleasant. we fit right in until our showers. 10 layers of
      brown skin later and I am finally feeling back to my normal
      self. took more of the dirt from the park back with me than
      I'm thinkin is legal...
    

      dinner was pizza and beer at base camp pub - the last 2 he
      had ingredients for this night... how lucky are we?! we maued
      every last bite washed down by the local brew that was a
      fraction better than I remember chilean beer to be.
    

      our evening was perfect, spent by the bonfire out back with
      long lost friends and new ones... trisha played guitar,
      others took turns with the drum, we all sang along when we
      knew the words. I wish we didn't had to leave this fairy world
      so soon; it really is a little piece of neverland...

day 6 - bad hair day

we were thinking since the night before we fell asleep to clear skies and woke up to rain, that it would only make sense falling to sleep to rain last night would mean waking up to clear skies. no such luck... in fact, the rain had somehow managed to pick up overnight and the wind was unbelievable. neither of us slept well, the gusts kept waking us and I was sure the tent would be torn to shreds around us by morning. but somehow, when we woke in the morning, not only was the tent on one piece, but we were almost completely dry inside (to both our amazement and that of fellow campers - we keep seeing this couple with heavy accents on the trail and at campsites and they remarked when we saw them later that day that couldn't believe a tent that appears so thin could withstand those weather conditions - oh but it did! like a pro!)...

tired of the rain we sought shelter in the cooking shack and made breakfast, hoping the wet and wind would pass. nope. 

so we packed up the tent, our clothes we had left out in hopes of drying them, and the nearly-empty food bags along with everything else - all quite damp, which really adds to the weight. but as we started our long day to campamento torres the skies cleared and aside from the occasional light sprinkle we had a sunshiny day, that dried everything out far more than we had expected base on our rainy morning. 

we left the mountains behind for a while as we hiked along grey green lakes backed by grassy rolling hills. and maybe you've pieced together from the sprinkly sunny day I just described, but boy were we entertained by vivid rainbows all day!! we were also... I don't know if entertained is the correct word... kept on our toes? by the wind. 

the wind here is everything we expected based on the stories and then some. we had a tailwind for most of the morning, which literally feels like Patagonia is giving you a boost, especially up hills. but it can change direction in a second and it is hard to compensate with such weight on your back, so there was a time or two I was pushed right off the trail. I did have one incident where a particularly strong gust shoved me toward the steep downhill to the right of the trail. my foot stepped instinctively to the right to stop me from tipping over but there was no ground there and a second later I was seated, poles strewn about and one leg dangling over the edge with Pete holding to my pack for dear life. 

the reason the wind is extra peculiar here is partially because of the directions it blows. one moment you are being thrashed from the left and the next it is slamming into you from the right. the other odd thing is that it comes in these wildly powerful gusts that sneak up on you. it may be totally calm when you hear the trees rustling in the distance and as that noise gets closer and louder you brace and it overtakes you, forcing your steps and swirling your hair and beating cold against exploded skin and deafening to your ears until 36 seconds later the gust passes and it is quiet and calm and peaceful and you almost wonder if you just hallucinated the whole event. but then it happens again and you realize, it's just Patagonia. 

the wind was pretty much with us all day: when we stopped to rest on a beach all colors of tropical but far too cold to pass for hawaii. during a break we took for a photo op of the two of us, where the wind thought it funny to gust so hard we dominoed over, powerless against the weight of our packs (and right onto a thorny bush I might add - that was fun). and as we made our way up the valley to the campsite, where steep rock cliffs without railings (sorry mom) made it particularly interesting when the wind would blow so hard I was certain Patagonia was trying to do away with us. but turns out we've picked up enough trash that isn't ours here, and so Patagonia decided we were worth sparing. 

we made it to our destination 9 hours later (who knows how many km/miles - turns out the map can be unreliable as distances go and we did take a shortcut that I believe saved us a considerable amount of time).

it is crazy the different environments we passed through. we started at the base of mountains in the forest then moved to rolling rocky hills then to grassy fields and up steep cliffs back into a forest. felt like 5 different worlds in one day. 

we were short on snacks having only a few almonds and some dehydrated bananas for the day. fortunately that morning we had been gifted 4 bread rolls that made for quick carbs to get us through til our later dinner. Patagonia really pulls through when we're in need. 

dinner was our only dehydrated camping meal we had purchased from rei for this trip - mexican rice beans and chicken, which was soooo good!! for an appetizer. too bad that is all the food we had, so we proceeded to drink cups of tea until we felt full, which isn't necessarily the best idea right before bed when you barricade yourself in a tent at night...

our campsite was arguably our favorite of the trip (except on each given night we might say that about each campsite :) ...in was in this incredible forest right below the towers on the wall of this valley and just gorgeous. our tent was set between the gnarled trees in the soft dirt. and thank goodness after last night it was dry and breezy, meaning that everything dried out quickly as we set up camp for the night. we asleep as the moonlight danced between the branches and lit up our tent, so bright it almost seemed like daylight. an almost full moon on a clear night! we prayed for good weather the next morning, when we would hike up to the towers in the dark to watch the sun rise. :) sleep time!!

day 5 - off the radar

quick correction before I begin today's blog... yesterday we wished you happy easter, today we were informed easter is next sunday. awkward... just didn't want all y'all back home worried that we were going crazy in the forest. no jungle fever here, knock on wood, just the two of us way out of touch with the world, which we think is a good thing every now and again. and hey, we get two easter sundays this year! honestly, who doesn't love to double up the holiday celebrations? :) 

today is monday and we are oriented to person, place, time, and event... unlike yesterday. and guess what? we slept in, surprise surprise. kind of a trend of this trip, I think we are still on us time 4 hours earlier than here. 

we may have fallen asleep under clear skies but this is Patagonia and we awoke to a downpour. from the inside we could see mud splatter up the sides of the tent, but we were somehow still pretty dry - love this tent. 

breakfast was mochas and steal cut oats with seasonal fruit and granola oooorrr rather instant coffee & hot cocoa mix, a little on the watery side and oatmeal pancake batter slash trader joes granola with dried fruit all stirred into a bowl with hot agua. mmm good when you wake up starving, which we did. 

originally we thought we had overpacked food like we overpacked everything else for this trip, but now that we're just past the halfway point we are a little worried we might run out before the evening of the 27th - turns out Pete and I eat quite a bit. so we rationed our remaining meals and we should just get by, maybe a little more cranky than usual given that is often the consequence when we are inadequately fed. 

but when we are severely hypoglycemic, like we were last night when we stumbled into camp, our brains turn off entirely, which explains why Pete and I realized, soon after exiting our tent this morning, that we were in... how do you call it? a marsh. in last night's stupor we had picked the campsite the furthest downhill of all of the others, it was wide open! we should have questioned why, and maybe thought about what that would look like in the rain, because though we have been very fortunate with the weather thus far, it often rains at night here. it poured last night and our tent was floating, or sinking, in the swamp to prove it. so after breakfast we sought dryer ground and moved our entire camp in the midst of the persistent downpour that was this morning. 

it's cool though, don't feel bad for us, we are Oregonians and this is our natural habitat. right at home in the rain, we didn't think twice about donning our raincoats and heading for the mountain mirador 7.5km up from here. 

I don't know if this is possible but I felt like our hike was more beautiful than anything we've seen thus far... actually that is a silly statement, you can't compare the landscapes here, but all i know is, you just look up and the impact of the mountains practically knocks you over! (and if you're on the loose rocks we hiked on today, you actually will fall over)... 

today we had the insane snow covered peaks from last night to our left, too big and close to capture on your camera. every so often we would hear the crack of ice breaking loose and see the crash as it came cascading down the steep slopes. this seemed to happen often and we wondered if it was the unexpected warmth - there were these most bizarre breezes that would hit us as we hiked, best described as toasty, which meant total sensory conflict when we were surrounded by scenery that appeared arctic. but there are apparently 17 unique ecosystems in Patagonia and I feel like we've hiked through at least a dozen of them. waterfalls drained the glaciers above and there were so many I wondered how the ice didn't run out or the falls go dry - the water cycle in action!! 

to our right were our beacon twin peaks that had lured us to camp last evening. they are the oddest shades of dark red on top with a distinct line where the white/orange rock begins and lower still another line dividing the softer red of the base. cool. 

Justin, Jeff, and their crew (two girls from Germany with names I can't pronounce but they are very nice, and Marcus a guy from Germany, who have joined up to conquer the circuit together), caught up to us on our lunch break and the 7 of us set off together. 

it was glorious to hike without our big packs, especially after yesterday. I almost feel as though I was floating. we sped along the 7.5km of uphill on rocky, muddy poorly marked trails like it was a walk in the park - and by the way, if it were, best. park. ever. 

we went through forests with mangled trees and leaves just beginning to change to vibrant colors of orange and red. the trail followed the meandering river made from the confluence of the many waterfalls previously mentioned. it is this pale icy turquoise color that is difficult to describe but it makes the red in the trees seem even more dramatic. 

the view the other direction, to our backs as we hiked, was not to be outdone by everything to the left, right, and directly before us. the sky was clear out that way, making the lakes, which were various shades of blue, pop even more. and in the far distance there was a row of yet more snow covered peaks- is there no end to the beauty here?! 

at the top we were surrounded by mountains in every direction, the steep cliff faces jutting straight out of the ground before us. this was literally jaw dropping beauty and I kept catching little raindrops on my tongue, with my mouth hanging open in awe. we drank directly from the glacial stream, we took a group photo... or 7... we contemplated which of the peaks we could climb, but decided against it in the interest of making it back to camp for dinner, and finally, with much difficulty, we managed we drag ourselves away from this remote mountain paradise to hike back to the campground...

on our way back we got one more treat. Patagonia gifted us not one, but three! Magdalena's woodpeckers !! apparently rare in the area, and very elusive  we have read that few close-up photos exist of them. and somehow we stumbled upon practically a flock of these red-headed beauties just pecking away at the trees. they were right there!! we captured the best photos we could with our less-than-professional cameras and continued on our way.

finally back in camp we were 15km worth of hungry and as I mentioned before, a little scarce on food. but we had rationed our last two bags of ramen and our final tuna packet for tonight; carbo loading for tomo's big day.

when the ramen was almost ready I added in a few last minute spices as I usually do. we had cleverly packed some of the essentials in tic tac boxes to make them backpacking compatible: salt, chile (how appropriate), garlic pepper (invented for this trip... and maybe because we didn't have more tic tac boxes), and cinnamon. maybe you see where this is going but we did not end up labeling these containers, figuring smell would be adequate to differentiate them. well in the dark of the cooking shack, and the haste of getting dinner prepped, I somehow dumped a lot of what I thought was chile powder into our tuna noodle special. turned out it was cinnamon, which consequently made the meal extra special... all we could do was laugh.

clearly we had to eat it, we were almost out of food! but heavily cinnamoned chicken ramen with garlic pepper doesn't exactly sound appetizing. the lady cooking near us clearly overheard our mishap and was trying not to laugh into her own dinner as she eavesdropped while we sorted it out. knowing that we had been found out made me laugh even harder... ultimately we decided to go with it, and rather than stop with the cinnamon we proceeded to squirt packets of mayo and mustard into the concoction (what? we had carried it this far, and those were calories we weren't going to waste!)... I felt like I was 5 and making a potion or mud pie or something. and then came the taste test. turns out when you're pushing a dozen miles a day with 1/3 of your body weight on your back, bark tastes good- so cinnamon tuna ramen super special tastes frickin' delicious!! and we scarfed that dinner as though we had intentionally made it that way- which we might again in the future sometime :) 

too bad two packets of ramen was probably enough for Pete alone, but not for both of us, so we caved and ate the last day's lunch - pb&j tortilla, and it was oh so good!! not really feeling full, but finally noting the absence of hunger, we headed to bed- already excited for breakfast the next morning. really makes you appreciate always having plenty of food around, we are far more fortunate than we ever recognize. 

as i write this it is still raining, we would complain but the weather has been so perfect up until today, and we didn't mind the rain when we had only the day hike without packs planned for today. lets just hope we stay semi dry tonight. the tent has been sopping wet since last night and we aren't sure just how waterproof something so light and thin can actually be.