Patagonia

Patagonia.

The team!

A word with so many connotations. An expensive, outdoorsy, some times fratty brand. A symbol of the great outdoors that has been marketed to the masses. A place that I had always dreamt of seeing in the back of my mind, but a place so far away that it almost seemed imaginary, not unlike Neverland or Atlantis. A place where, as Erin put it, "plans became memories."

A couple of months ago when I met up with Erin in Bolivia for our spring break, she mentioned something about visiting Patagonia after her program. Though I was practically green with envy that she´d be able to make that journey, I brushed the thought aside, thinking that it would never be feasible for me. However, she had successfully planted the bug in my head and after weeks upon weeks of researching different travel alternatives, I finally found a way to go.

After finding a travel buddy (Dan, who I had met in Arequipa a couple of weeks before) to make the long journey with, tickets were booked and it was finally official.

We left Cusco on December 30th and took a 16 hour bus to Tacna, Peru, where we found a taxi that was willing to take us over the border into Arica, Chile. From there, we took a plane to Santiago, met up with Erin and her friend Sam, and bought Cinnabon to celebrate my 21st birthday. Yeah, I guess you could say I go pretty hard. From there we hopped on another airplane to Punta Arenas, and after a full 48 hours of travelling, we arrived in Patagonia.

The beach in Punta Arenas, Chile

So, I don´t know if you´ve heard or not, but apparently the further from the equator you get the colder it is? Who knew. We stepped out of the airport into a cold, wet wind that I had been completely unprepared for. But hey, I wouldn’t be my father’s daughter if I didn’t have at least three different layers of non-cotton clothing readily available, so I layered up and we set off to search for all of the sustenance we would need for the next five days on the trail.

En route to the supermercado, we passed by the main plaza where a big bronze man sits atop a pedestal in the center of the square. His toe (legend has it) possesses mystical powers, and so if trekkers find it within themselves to kiss said toe, their journeys will go smoothly. Not wanting to mess with the powers of the universe, we all took turns giving the toe a little smooch, and then continued on our way.

So, I’m pretty sure that when I go back to the states I’m going to take one look at the price of things, and go curl up in a little ball and stay there. Possibly forever. The world outside of Peru is really damn expensive! For the past four months I’ve been living in a place where an expensive meal out at a restaurant costs 20 soles, or the equivalent of $6. A fifteen minute taxi ride will cost you 4 soles, or $1.30. You can go to the market and buy a cute sweater made out of genuine alpaca (lies, but whatever) and leave a mere $10 poorer.

And now, I was standing in a Chilean grocery store looking around me and realizing that I am likely now the stingiest person on earth. I’ve been so so spoiled.

But anyway, we bought our groceries which consisted of lots of rice and beans, trail mix, tons of

Pricey, but SO delicious

chocolate (Erin and I made sure of it), oatmeal, and some ravioli, which was probably one of the smarter purchases we have ever made, and then made our way to the bus station to head to Puerto Natales. Fun fact: (disclaimer, I learned this from Erin’s blog so she gets full credit) Puerto Natales just so happens to be the Southernmost town in the world! How cool is that!?

We found a hostel, rented a stove and whatnot, and passed the fudge out.

The next day we finally began our journey. We began our 67km trek on the East end of the W trail, and began to make our way up to camapamento Torres, where we would be able to camp for free. On the way we encountered some casual 100kph winds while hiking along the side of a cliff face, and we may or may not have grabbed a tree and hung out for a while because it legitimately felt like we were going to be blown away (backpacking packs have a convenient sail-like effect), but no biggy.

We eventually made it to our campsite safe and sound, set up the tent, and began our ascent to the lake directly beneath the Torres del Paine, which are what the park is famous for. By the time we got there it was snowing, but the upside was that there was nobody else up there, so we did some sneaky rock hopping and went and sat at the edge of the lake, took some pictures, and soaked it all in.

The lake beneath Torres del Paine

Also, possibly the coolest part of the entire trip and something that never failed to make me happy: you can drink out of the lakes and rivers! And so I did, pretty much every chance I got, and let me tell you, glacial lake water is probably one of the more scrumptious things you’ll ever taste.

Once we had gulped down a few sips of the water, we headed back down to cook dinner (rice and beans) and then went to sleep.

The next day we awoke at a bright and early 9am, and didn’t get out of camp until around 11. But here’s another fun fact for ya: Patagonia is so far south that in the summer (which is right now) it doesn’t get dark until 10 or 11 at night! So we casually made our way back down the valley on our way to Campamento los Cuernos.

En route we ran into some DUers who had been studying abroad in Chile which was WAY cool and reminded me once more of how small this crazy world is.

At one point between Erin’s constant questions about everyone’s lives and our neverending chats about what kinds of foods we’re going to indulge in when we get back to the states, we came across a rescue party carrying a man out. Apparently he had put his foot down right between two rocks right as a big gust of wind came, and he fell over and fractured his tibia. He was going to be okay, but he wouldn’t be hiking for quite some time. Needless to say, we were a bit more cautious after that.

DU in Patagonia!!!

That night we arrived at the camp and decided girls would be on tent duty, guys on dinner duty. Erin and I wandered around camp for a while, found what seemed to be the very last tent site available, and pitched tent in a mildly questionable manner. Some ropes tied to sage brushes were involved, and we were somewhat concerned that the tent might blow away while we ate dinner, but we put our packs in it and hoped for the best.

We ate dinner, hung out with some students from Oregon that we met along the way who

attempted to teach us an Argentinian card game called Truco, and called it a night. We returned to our tent to find that it was still there! Truly great news.

The third day was spent hiking up the “butt crack” of the W trail, which despite the less than flattering name, happens to be one of the most beautiful parts of the trail.

Avalanche!

We left our packs at Campamento Italiano, and headed up the trail feeling as light as a feather. One of the cooler highlights along the way was a glacier across the valley from us. While we were setting up back at camp, we kept hearing these really loud noises that sounded like thunder, but it didn’t really make sense. Once we crested the hill and saw the glacier, everything became clear. Every once in a while, a giant hunk of snow would fall off of the glacier above and tumble down the cliff, sort of creating a miniature avalanche. From how far away we were, it didn’t look like all that much snow, but it must have been a massive amount based on how loud the cracks were. Pretty cool to witness.

We continued meandering up the valley, through some beautiful forests that we all agreed were straight out of The Lord of the Rings, and finally arrived at the mirador at the top of the valley. I really wish I was a more patient photographer, because a panorama of that place would have been incredible. It was like we were standing on top of the last piece of food left in a bowl, except in this case the walls of the bowl were incredible towers of rock that plunged out of the ground straight up into the sky caging us in.

Glacier Grey

We stayed up there for a bit and took some classic “Patagonia clothing in Patagonia the place” pictures but then the sky started to pelt down freezing cold rain drops at an alarming rate, so we got our behinds out of there.

The next day marked the last leg of our trip. We hiked 18.6km from Campamiento Italiano to Refugio Grey, which is situated right next to a massive glacier.

Though the whole day was full of spectacular views, the one moment that stuck in our minds the most was when we came up over a hill and were able to set eyes on the glacier for the first time. It looked like it was oozing out from the mountains behind it into the brilliantly blue glacial lake in front of it. You could clearly see all of the cracks and fissures, and I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be inside of one of those blue chambers. I mean, I’d freeze my butt off in about 12 seconds, but in the meantime it would look pretty cool I’d imagine. Scattered in front of the glacier were various ice bergs floating in the lake that had separated from their mother ship sometime in the recent past.  The color “ice blue” makes a lot more sense now after seeing those

icebergs suspended in the frigid water.

Killin it in the kitchen. 

After we set up camp we then went to the mirador where we could get the best possible view of the glacier, where we hung out until nearly 11pm.

After we had had our fill of glacier gazing, we went back to camp, had some hot chocolate, and hit the hay ready for a great night sleep. Too bad the wind had other plans for us. The gusts were so strong the entire night that the tent kept half-way collapsing in on itself and hitting us in the face/scaring us to death. Truly a miracle that nothing broke and we didn’t just blow away into the glacial abyss.

When morning finally came, we packed up and headed back the direction we came to catch the ferry out at the bottom of the valley, successfully having hiked the W Trail in Patagonia. No broken legs, no broken tent poles, and everyone’s minds were more or less intact. I’d call that a win.

That night Dan and I sadly parted ways with Erin and Sam, and met up with our Oregon friends for some more Truco and some Argentinian mate in a very cool hostel in Puerto Natales. In the morning we caught the bus back to Punta Arenas, where our flight would leave from the morning after. We hung out, binged on some internet, and went to the coast to chill with some penguins. Overall a pretty solid day.

The next morning we headed to the airport to begin our journey back to Cusco, which included two

planes and a 16 hour bus ride. Not the most ideal way to travel, but definitely the cheapest.

And so here I am! Back in Cusco, after taking the trip of my life to Patagonia for my 21^st birthday. I’m sitting in my house, and feeling extraordinarily lucky to have been given such an insane opportunity.

After all that whirlwind of a trip, I have a day and a half left in Cusco to say my goodbyes and do all of the last minute things that I want to do. After 4 months in this place, leaving is nearly unimaginable. I’ve done so much, and do feel that I fully took advantage of this experience, but there’s so much more that I never had a chance to do and it’s a weird feeling.

Leaving here feels very final. I left New York to go to school in Colorado, and I left Colorado to come here, but this is so much different. Those chapters remain open. I can still go home and visit my friends and family in New York, I’ll still be going to the University of Denver next quarter, but it’s not so easy to hop on a plane and visit Peru. This is a chapter that in a matter of days, I have to say adios to forever. And I’ve never experienced such finality relating to such a large chunk of my life before. I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Thanks for a great trip!

But all I can really do is get out there and take advantage of the time I have left with these wonderful people in this unbelievable country. So goodbye for now. Keep your eyes out for a super (and when I say super, I mean super) emotional blog post coming soon…