TreknMike

Click here for a link to a handful of pictures (OK, about 100 pics), which were whittled down from 4,800 to choose from! The pictures haven’t been touched up. (Thanks Terry and Robert for sharing pics.)

My friend, Terry, and I trekked in 3 main areas of southern Patagonia (the Southern tip of South America) from March 3 to March 27:

1. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
2. Torres del Paine, Chile
3. Los Glaciares (Mount Fitz Roy), Argentina

It was all hiking/backpacking and traveling. Traveling is not easy as you’re always on the go, but Terry made it look easy. I’m going to start calling Terry, “The Organizer.”

There were a lot of good memories. Highlights include:

• Making new friends
• Ascending John Gardner Pass in Torres del Paine and looking down on the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
• Watching the alpenglow on Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre during sunrise

The Beginning

On March 3 and 4 we traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina on American Airlines (thanks Marek for taking good care of us). The only glitch of the entire trip happened when we landed. My duffle bag with all my trekking gear was missing! Thankfully AA found it less than 2 hours later, which is puzzling because the next AA flight wasn’t due to arrive until the following morning.

We had an excellent lunch consisting of milanesa c/ fritas (breaded steak and french fries). This was my first of many breaded steaks and fries on this trip. Best fries I’ve had – can’t stand fries at home. Dinnertime was after 8 pm each night. Most South American’s eat dinner well after 9 pm. I liked the fact that it was light outside at 9:30 pm.

We made friends with Ezequiel and Diana who run the Extremo Sur Hostel. This hostel rocks, and I highly recommend people stay here.

Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

On March 5 we flew to Ushuaia, Argentina; the most southern city in the world. Ushuaia is located on Tierra del Fuego; the largest South American Island. The flight out of Buenos Aires was interesting. We were dropped off at Terminal A, but had to return to Terminal B to check our baggage before returning to Terminal A to board the plane.

We met a lot of people from all over the world in Ushuaia while staying at the Hostel Cruz del Sur. This was a noisy little hostel and there was no point trying to sleep before 1 a.m., but it was lots of fun. Robert from Germany became a good friend and he joined Terry and me for the duration of our trip after leaving Ushuaia. Robert knows how to chill. On one occasion, I asked him why he is always smiling and without hesitation he said, “Because I’m happy.” And there was Claudia, also from Germany finishing up medical school; Nicole from Seattle, and on and on. I thought I was doing good taking 3 to 4 weeks of vacation until I learned from everybody else I met (100′s of people) that they were all taking 6 months to 1-year off. Most were solo and traveling around the world. I was impressed. The interesting thing is that we would keep bumping into the same people throughout the trek.

March 6 was our first hike and it sure did feel good to get out. We had a taxi drop us off at, we thought, the Arroyo Grande trailhead. After 45 minutes of hiking and route finding, we figured out that the taxi driver dropped us off too early. No problem, we just hiked a little longer. And we were never lost, just momentarily disoriented. We hiked along the Arroyo Grande River to Laguna de los Tempanos ( a lake fed by Glacier Vinciguerra). We then made a high traverse (love the views) over to Laguna Encantada (‘Enchanted Lake.’) before returning along the Arroyo Grande. I saw my first peat bog and peat drying operation. We had 3 friendly dogs follow us for the entire hike and ended with the same 3 dogs in tow and 3 horses leading us down the road. Had another breaded steak and fries for dinner – I was hooked.

On March 7 we hiked the Cerro Guanaco trail in Tierra del Fuego National Park (Hike No. 4). The trail starts at Lago Roca (Roca Lake) and climbs to the summit of Cerro Guanaco. The views of the Chilean and Argentinean mountain ranges and islands from the summit were outstanding. It was cloudy when we started out and we were hiking in clouds for a while. But, like every other hike on this trip, the clouds opened up for us to offer great views. And, yes, I had breaded steak and fries for dinner, but also sampled a pizza. The pizza was excellent. From here on out, it was beaded steak and pizza.

Torres del Paine, Chile

On March 8 we took a 16-hour bus/ferry ride to Puerto Natales, Chile. The roads were a combination of pavement and gravel. The main highway consisted of two 10-foot wide lanes with no shoulders. The bus driver had to pull far to the right and slow down for oncoming traffic to pass. Frequent stops were made in the middle of the road to run out and pick up hub caps, talk to driver’s coming in the opposite direction, and who knows what else? We ferried across the Straits of Magellan accompanied by dolphins. I saw my first of many wild guanacos (the largest member of the llama family). The smooth steppe to the east of the Andes was beautiful desert land that reminded me of the Great Basin desert in Nevada. I drank my first “real” mate compliments of the bus driver’s helper. Mate is a strong Paraguayan tea served in a calabash (pot of vegetable origin) and drank through a bombilla (metal straw). Mate is Argentina’s national drink. Once somebody offers you mate, it is considered rude to not drink it all. We stayed at Patagonia Adventure Hostel in Puerto Natales – a nice place with excellent staff and the best continental breakfasts around.

March 9 was spent in Puerto Natales prepping for our backpacking trip. Robert taught me some German cuss words. They’re not offensive words, just some arbitrary words run together that don’t make any sense, but these are the words that Robert’s Grandfather rattled off when he was upset. They sound like, “kritz-boogle-beagle-birnbom-unt-hollaschtown.” Translation is “cross-back-dog?-pear tree-and-dark berry bush (blueberry).” Both nights in town the wind just howled. Patagonia is known for its wind and the region is referred to as the “roaring 40′s” (meaning Patagonia is located roughly 40 degrees south latitude). I was starting to think about the upcoming nights we would be spending camping outside in it. Combined with the high winds, we were very concerned about the weather forecast, which was expected to be “unseasonably cold and windy.” We were in the area during what feels like our September/October months.

Weather forecast be damned! March 10 found us on an early morning bus to Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) National Park to begin hiking the Circuit Trek and the Little Circuit, or “W.” The Circuit Trek is considered one of the best 30 treks in the world and is roughly 60 miles long. The trek is normally completed in 8 days.

We started hiking the circuit from Hosteria Las Torres in a counterclockwise direction – counterclockwise offers much more dramatic views. We were hit with 50 mph winds crossing a pass above Lago (lake) Paine. The wind ripped my sunglasses from my head and sent them flying. We camped the 1st night at an abandoned encampment (Campamento Coiron) just west of Lago Paine (illegally to find out). Worst mosquitoes ever. The little buggers had mouths bigger than bears and when they hit the tent wall at night, it sounded like falling rain.

We continued hiking the 2nd day past Refugio Dickson – awesome lake and mountain views, but killer mosquitoes flourished – to Campamento Los Perros. We got a little wet from light rain today and we were able to dry out inside a community tent were a fire was going. We met a nice girl from Israel here, Ortal, Bruce from Idaho, George and Ingrid from Holland, and many more.

The 3rd day was the highlight hiking over John Gardner Pass to Refugio Grey. What a site looking down on the great Southern Patagonia Ice Cap (Glacier Grey) from the pass! The ice cap is 225 miles long and up to 10 miles wide. It runs north south between the Pacific Ocean and the front range of the Andes. Many glaciers drain from it including Glacier Grey, which drains into Lago Grey (were the refugio is located). George and Ingrid have been together for 11 years now, and George popped the question on John Gardner Pass. He picked a beautiful place to propose. Who knows, maybe I’m off to Holland soon to attend a wedding? It was another perfect day for us. We were worried the ice field would be hidden by severe weather, but the storm let up for us. Did I say it was windy? The wind blows hard in Patagonia. I’ll never forget the wind and all the lenticular clouds.

On day 4 we hiked to Campamento Italiano, set up camp, and continued hiking a leg of the “W” up Rio del Frances valley to Campamento Britanico and back. This was a long day – another “easy” day. We could here avalanches tumbling from Glacier Frances high up on the mountain. There were great views of knife-edged peaks at the head of the valley.

Day 5 was, yes, another “easy” hiking day, but it was all Robert’s fault! Terry and I beat Robert by 10 minutes to Campamento Las Torres, up the second leg of the “W.” We dropped our packs, pulled the tent out, took off our boots, and were kicking back when Robert arrived and said loudly, with conviction, in his German accent, “Terry, Mike, what are you guys doing here. The next camp is only 1.5 hours up the valley. Why did you stop here (our planned camp!)?” Now this is the same guy who was telling us all along “you guys are killing me” (from all the “easy” hikes). Terry and I were humbled; nobody has ever asked us to keep going! A German couple camped next to where we were setting up the tent were busting up at the scene. Once we got over the psychological hurdle of thinking we were done for the day, we loaded up, put on our boots, and took off to Campamento Torres. After setting up camp, Terry and I got even with Robert and dragged his butt up the moraine to the Torres del Paine viewpoint. There was a beautiful glacier lake below the Paine Massif.

The highlights of Torres del Paine National Park were definitely coming over John Gardner Pass and the 2 legs of the “W.” I didn’t see a lot of wildlife. There was a good-sized woodpecker, lots of guanacos at the park entrance, nandus (smaller versions of the ostrich) outside the park, a Patagonian fox, and a few condors.

On the last day, we completed the Circuit Trek and “W” and returned to Hosteria Las Torres. We caught a bus back to Puerto Natales, got cleaned up, and went out for pork chops and lamb (I gave the steak a rest for one night). After dinner, we walked to the pizza joint next-door and ordering 2 large pizzas. And I was still hungry! Like the fries, pizza is awesome down here.

On March 16, we just hung around Puerto Natales. We had our clothes washed this one and only time on this trip and kicked back in a good coffee shop (El Living) reviewing our pictures to date. There wasn’t too much to do because everything was closed on Sunday.

Los Glaciares (Mount Fitzroy), Argentina

On March 17, we took a 6 to 7-hour bus ride to El Calafate, Argentina. The wind was really moving here and kicking up a lot of dirt. Not my favorite stop. We stayed at the American del Sur Hostel, which was OK.

The 3 of us rented a car to drive to the Perito Moreno Glacier on March 18, Argentina’s biggest tourist attraction. The glacier was cool. You could hear it cracking and see ice falling into the lake. We found ourselves looking at the glacier for hours. The glacier made spending time in El Calafate better. Every time somebody said it was chilly, we said, “No, this is Argentina.” I know it’s bad, no comments please.

On March 19 we were off on a 4-hour bus ride to El Chalten – the starting point for hikes in Los Glaciares National Park. We were told that if you don’t like to walk, don’t come to El Chalten ’cause there is nothing else to do! Well, we had no problem with that. We were there to see the soaring granite peaks of Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre that rise up from the steppe to the east. Fitz Roy and Torre are notorious for being hidden behind clouds and, upon arrival, we couldn’t see the peaks. We were told they had been hidden for the last week. Clouds and bad weather have been known to obscure the peaks for months at a time. We stayed at the Rancho Grande Hostel, which was a bit too large and crowded for us.

The next morning we hiked in the rain to the De Agostini campsite near Lago Torre for a view of Cerro Torre. Mice plagued people in camp; the little suckers would eat through tent walls to reach food. The granite outcrop of Cerro Torre remained hidden by clouds all day. We hiked by Laguna Hija and Laguna Madre where we saw only short glimpses through the clouds of portions of Mount Fitz Roy. We hiked by Laguna Capri, played ‘air guitar’ with our trekking poles, and returned to the hostel. I found the best chocolate and coffee shop in town – La Chocolateria. The dark chocolate-ginger candy was very good. I’m pretty sure I had beef or pizza for dinner.

March 21 was a day to remember. We started hiking in pitch black at 7 a.m. We hiked about an hour to a prime spot to see Monte Fitz Roy. What a mountain high – friends and me alone in the quite of the morning watching the sunrise on Monte Fitzroy and Cerro Torre and the alpenglow that colored the peaks pink and red! There was hardly a cloud in the sky. This was the “icing on the cake,” as Terry would say. We had accomplished all we set out to do. We even had 2 weather days built in to the trip that we didn’t need. We continued hiking up to Laguna de los Tres above the “climber’s only” camp. We then hiked in the opposite direction from yesterday, past Laguna Madre and Laguna Hija to see Cerro Torre. Then we returned to the hostel for beef and pizza. I was hurting this day, the “last” hiking day. Downhill seems to be problematic for me anymore. Today it was shin splints in my right leg that was caused by running down the mountain from Lago de los Tres to the climber’s camp.

March 22 was a “rest” day. We stayed in El Chalten, hung out at La Chocolateria, and took a short 1 km hike to a waterfall located northwest of town. I was hobbling along. We realized that Ushuaia would have been a better place to end the trip. We had a good dinner (beef) with friends – 2 girls from Ireland, Mike from Scotland ( a funny, funny guy), Terry, Robert, and me.

With one more “weather” day to kill, Terry and Robert hiked up to Loma del Pliegue Turnbado on March 23. I didn’t join them ’cause my shin splints were bad. I did a little shopping, hung out at La Chocolateria, and later went out to dinner with friends – 2 girls from New York, John from Pennsylvania, Caroline from Washington DC, Stephen from Germany, Terry, Robert, and me. I switched it up tonight and had pasta for the first time since February.

March 24 was a travel day, taking the 4-hour bus ride back to El Calafate right after lunch. Terry and I said goodbye to Robert, which was tough to do since we got to know him very well, and we jelled into a real team. We’ll meet again, and I’m looking forward to showing Robert around California and Utah.

The End

We flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires on March 25 and returned late to one of our favorite hostels, Extremo Sur Hostel. The taxi driver was making up for all the slow moving bus trips throughout our stay (buses never went over 40 mph, even on paved roads). The taxi driver was crazy, driving 80 mph through city streets during the 30-minute ride through Buenos Aires from the airport to our hostel. Trust me, I know what driving 70 mph feels like, and he was definitely driving faster. I was a little concerned, but Terry said this is nothing compared to other countries he has visited.

Terry wasn’t feeling well and spent the next day, our last day before catching a 7:30 p.m. flight home, in bed. Terry talked me into taking the subway to Palermo (an attractive suburb), something that he had wanted to do. Our hostel was located in the San Telmo, the oldest barrio. The subway ride was an experience. The subway was packed with people. It felt like a sauna inside and the only air you got was from the windows that were down while the subway was moving. It was intimidating to ride at first because there were so many subway lines and I couldn’t read the language or figure out the system. But I got it. I was on full alert trying to figure out how to transfer from the C-line to the D-line. I spent the day walking and returned to the hostel just in time to pack and catch a taxi to the airport. Terry was still not well, but the day in bed did him well. Ezequiel and Diana at Extremo Sur Hostel let him rest all day, even though checkout time was before lunch.

It took 30 hours of travel time from Buenos Aires to home. My butt, legs, and back were sore from the long flights. My stomach was a little upset the last day of the trek and I haven’t had steak or pizza since. My shin splints bothered me for 2 weeks after the trip. I look at it as positive suffering!

Next on the life list… Nepal?

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