We've updated our Google Map with our trip through Chile. Now when you click on the locations, if we have a photo album for that area, you'll see a link to it, just click on the picture! Check it out below! (If the subject line made a certain song pop into your head you're not alone).
View South America in a larger map
~Suzanne
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Update on our trip
Hey everyone! It's been a long time since we posted and we apologize for that. We really haven't felt like being in the mood for it (perhaps we're getting a bit homesick?) and we have been traveling rather quickly as of late. A quick overview of our trip since our last posting. (Hopefully not too long).
Valdivia: We've posted on Valdivia but you haven't seen the pictures. You have to watch a video we took of the sea lions!
Volcano: I tried to climb the volcano and got very close to the summit but the wind was blowing the wrong way and all the sulfur fumes were blowing down our side of the volcano and since we didn't want to die, we had to turn back. It was rather disappointing but it was a pretty fun hike, using crampons and pretty much going straight up the cone on a glacier. :)
Pucon: Overall impression of Pucon was that it was very nice. We kind of lucked out being there at that time since everyone was scared of the volcano erupting from the earthquake (which it did in 1960) we kind of had the town to ourselves. This included almost the whole hostel, and the best site for hot springs which we did as a night trip. As we sat under the stars in nice steamy water (that didn't smell like sulfur) we were glad we took the risk and went there. Pictures from Pucon and Puerto Varas:
Santiago:
After checking with some fellow travelers who where going to Santiago ahead of us, we determined that the way to Santiago was quite safe after all so we bought a bus ticket and headed north to the capital. We stayed at a refurbished palace called Casa Rosa (pink house) which was quite nice architecturally but a bit noisy since it seemed to be a party hostel. While in Santiago we did some touristy things but a lot was still closed from the earthquake. The highlight of Satiago was definitely meeting up with the parents of Suzanne's close friend Beatriz. Suzanne and I get along very well with older people and her parents were no exception. Their lives are amazing. Rodolfo, the dad, had as a commanding officer Pinochet (of dictatorial fame) and told us amazing stories about how he was involved in some pretty big events in Chile's history. Magda, the mom is an amazing woman who started ballet class at 50 and now teaches ballet herself. It was pretty humbling to watch her teach and be so obviously more flexible than someone half her age! The other highlight of Santiago was going to the pre-columbian art museum which houses a large collection of fully intact artifacts from all of central and southern America.
Vina del mar and Valparaiso:
Since Suzanne was still a little bit concerned about aftershocks and tsunamis and I was a bit concerned about our schedule, we decided to take a tour of the two cities rather than go there for a couple of days. We took a day-long tour of both cities and enjoyed them very much. I got to play on the beach and we ate some great sea-food at a cool restaurant. Over lunch we ate with a lady from a girl from Switzerland who I loved talking to because Texas was at the top of her list of places to go next. It was awesome. We also met this other couple from Canada who seem to have been traveling their whole life. We found out the secret to being able to continuously do long vacations for the rest of your life is to not have kids and live in a country (like Canada or Europe) that gives you more vacation days. So I guess that makes this trip extra special for us. :)
Mendoza:
We then crossed the border again to Mendoza, Argentina. It is very close to Santiago and is known for its wine. The local specialty is the Malbec. Next time you're in a wine store, get a Malbec from Mendoza and think of us! The highlight of this area was the wine and bike tour we took of the wine country. It was a beautiful day and we rented some bikes and rode around a circuit where we got to visit many wineries (bodegas they call them) as well as a winery/museum. At the museum we actually got to see some freshly picked grapes get trucked in and begin the process of becoming wine. It was very cool. Also on the tour we met a fellow American named Mike who joined us for the tour and we had a very nice time with him. He must have enjoyed our company as well because he bought us lunch! :)
La Serena and beyond:
After a overnight bus trip back to Chile, we are in the beach town of La Serena which is also known for its astronomical observatories. We're kind of in a rush to get north to Peru so we're only staying here one night (2 days). Over the next two days we'll pretty much be on a bus or waiting for one constantly which won't be fun but our destination is supposed to be great. Arequipa Peru is known as the “White city” for its white stone buildings and its Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations are supposed to be one of the best in South America. Hence the reason for the rush up there by Sunday, which is Palm Sunday. We're planning on staying there the whole week to experience the festival and Easter.
Other thoughts:
Our Spanish is getting slightly better but its still pretty slow going. On the bus last night we watched a movie and I was able to better separate the words that were being said, so instead of a jumble of sounds I at least hear words, some of which I know! I think this is good progress and I hope it continues.
We're preparing ourselves for a second culture shock on entering Peru. Chile and Argentina are very safe and well-developed and they have given us a fantastic first two months of our adventure, but we're about to leave that and enter the third world for sure. Peru and Bolivia are much poorer and the warnings from our guide books about fake taxis who like to rob you and not to go out at night are giving us a little bit of anxiety. However we also know the rewards of these other countries will be great so we're taking the plunge gladly.
If someone puts your name on the State department list of missing persons from the earthquake, the State department will look for you! They didn't find us until about 2 weeks after the earthquake but it was heartening to know that they were looking! So after unknowingly being on the missing person's list from the earthquake I am glad to report that we are alive and well!
Ok, that's it for me. Another long one but its been awhile right? Suzanne continues to generate great posts in her head so expect another from her soon (once I can push her to write it down!).
~Mike
Valdivia: We've posted on Valdivia but you haven't seen the pictures. You have to watch a video we took of the sea lions!
Volcano: I tried to climb the volcano and got very close to the summit but the wind was blowing the wrong way and all the sulfur fumes were blowing down our side of the volcano and since we didn't want to die, we had to turn back. It was rather disappointing but it was a pretty fun hike, using crampons and pretty much going straight up the cone on a glacier. :)
Pucon: Overall impression of Pucon was that it was very nice. We kind of lucked out being there at that time since everyone was scared of the volcano erupting from the earthquake (which it did in 1960) we kind of had the town to ourselves. This included almost the whole hostel, and the best site for hot springs which we did as a night trip. As we sat under the stars in nice steamy water (that didn't smell like sulfur) we were glad we took the risk and went there. Pictures from Pucon and Puerto Varas:
Santiago:
After checking with some fellow travelers who where going to Santiago ahead of us, we determined that the way to Santiago was quite safe after all so we bought a bus ticket and headed north to the capital. We stayed at a refurbished palace called Casa Rosa (pink house) which was quite nice architecturally but a bit noisy since it seemed to be a party hostel. While in Santiago we did some touristy things but a lot was still closed from the earthquake. The highlight of Satiago was definitely meeting up with the parents of Suzanne's close friend Beatriz. Suzanne and I get along very well with older people and her parents were no exception. Their lives are amazing. Rodolfo, the dad, had as a commanding officer Pinochet (of dictatorial fame) and told us amazing stories about how he was involved in some pretty big events in Chile's history. Magda, the mom is an amazing woman who started ballet class at 50 and now teaches ballet herself. It was pretty humbling to watch her teach and be so obviously more flexible than someone half her age! The other highlight of Santiago was going to the pre-columbian art museum which houses a large collection of fully intact artifacts from all of central and southern America.
Vina del mar and Valparaiso:
Since Suzanne was still a little bit concerned about aftershocks and tsunamis and I was a bit concerned about our schedule, we decided to take a tour of the two cities rather than go there for a couple of days. We took a day-long tour of both cities and enjoyed them very much. I got to play on the beach and we ate some great sea-food at a cool restaurant. Over lunch we ate with a lady from a girl from Switzerland who I loved talking to because Texas was at the top of her list of places to go next. It was awesome. We also met this other couple from Canada who seem to have been traveling their whole life. We found out the secret to being able to continuously do long vacations for the rest of your life is to not have kids and live in a country (like Canada or Europe) that gives you more vacation days. So I guess that makes this trip extra special for us. :)
Mendoza:
We then crossed the border again to Mendoza, Argentina. It is very close to Santiago and is known for its wine. The local specialty is the Malbec. Next time you're in a wine store, get a Malbec from Mendoza and think of us! The highlight of this area was the wine and bike tour we took of the wine country. It was a beautiful day and we rented some bikes and rode around a circuit where we got to visit many wineries (bodegas they call them) as well as a winery/museum. At the museum we actually got to see some freshly picked grapes get trucked in and begin the process of becoming wine. It was very cool. Also on the tour we met a fellow American named Mike who joined us for the tour and we had a very nice time with him. He must have enjoyed our company as well because he bought us lunch! :)
La Serena and beyond:
After a overnight bus trip back to Chile, we are in the beach town of La Serena which is also known for its astronomical observatories. We're kind of in a rush to get north to Peru so we're only staying here one night (2 days). Over the next two days we'll pretty much be on a bus or waiting for one constantly which won't be fun but our destination is supposed to be great. Arequipa Peru is known as the “White city” for its white stone buildings and its Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations are supposed to be one of the best in South America. Hence the reason for the rush up there by Sunday, which is Palm Sunday. We're planning on staying there the whole week to experience the festival and Easter.
Other thoughts:
Our Spanish is getting slightly better but its still pretty slow going. On the bus last night we watched a movie and I was able to better separate the words that were being said, so instead of a jumble of sounds I at least hear words, some of which I know! I think this is good progress and I hope it continues.
We're preparing ourselves for a second culture shock on entering Peru. Chile and Argentina are very safe and well-developed and they have given us a fantastic first two months of our adventure, but we're about to leave that and enter the third world for sure. Peru and Bolivia are much poorer and the warnings from our guide books about fake taxis who like to rob you and not to go out at night are giving us a little bit of anxiety. However we also know the rewards of these other countries will be great so we're taking the plunge gladly.
If someone puts your name on the State department list of missing persons from the earthquake, the State department will look for you! They didn't find us until about 2 weeks after the earthquake but it was heartening to know that they were looking! So after unknowingly being on the missing person's list from the earthquake I am glad to report that we are alive and well!
Ok, that's it for me. Another long one but its been awhile right? Suzanne continues to generate great posts in her head so expect another from her soon (once I can push her to write it down!).
~Mike
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Still safe and sound (mind excluded)
Hey everyone,
As you may have heard there was news of another earthquake today in Chile, a rather large aftershock. We didn't actually feel it but a guide we were talking to said he noticed some swaying of some street signs as evidence. Needless to say, we're just fine.
Quick update on what we've been up to:
1) Turns out we did get sick from the Crudo. After several watery days, we went to the pharmacy and got some antibiotics to kill the evil bacteria inside.
2) Tomorrow I will be climbing the volcano that's right near here (in Pucon). Some (like Suzanne) may question the soundness of doing so seeing as the government just recently opened the path up today and that there was a large aftershock just hours ago, but I say Bah! I want to see some bubbling lava! Plus the fact you get to slide down on your buns on the way down. Giant slide = awesome.
~Mike
As you may have heard there was news of another earthquake today in Chile, a rather large aftershock. We didn't actually feel it but a guide we were talking to said he noticed some swaying of some street signs as evidence. Needless to say, we're just fine.
Quick update on what we've been up to:
1) Turns out we did get sick from the Crudo. After several watery days, we went to the pharmacy and got some antibiotics to kill the evil bacteria inside.
2) Tomorrow I will be climbing the volcano that's right near here (in Pucon). Some (like Suzanne) may question the soundness of doing so seeing as the government just recently opened the path up today and that there was a large aftershock just hours ago, but I say Bah! I want to see some bubbling lava! Plus the fact you get to slide down on your buns on the way down. Giant slide = awesome.
~Mike
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Crudo!
Yesterday Suzanne and I arrived in Valdivia Chile which is known for being a big university town as well as the center of Germania since they set up a colony here way back. The town is very nice, everything you expect a university town to be, nice plazas, plenty of restaurants and bars, and lots of universities. Since its also got a heavy German influence, we got to go to a brewery which is known to produce some of the best beer on the continent. We duly decided to check out this fantastic claim and caught some transportation to the brewery which is right outside town. Luckily for this town, which would have to suffer withering reviews otherwise, the claims seem to be correct (sorry El Bolson).
We arrived at the cerveceria and immediately saw “la columna” a giant 2.5 liter column of delicious goodness. My interest in such a thing is obvious but Suzanne told me that there was no way she could drink her share of that and that I would be left to do it all by myself. I reluctantly agreed and compromised by taking a picture of some more hearty souls.
After the obligatory sample platter and first drink we decided some appetizers would be in order.
Since we were planning on eating dinner there (German food of course) we just went for the cheapest appetizer on the menu which had a name “crudo” that we didn't know the translation for. So we order it and then we found out what it translates to, “raw”. What we had ordered was a half-sandwich of raw beef! Yum!
Extra large image of Crudo for your enjoyment!
Surprisingly, it was actually quite good! I figure its just like sushi, and if you get it before bacteria start growing, you're good to go. Our stomachs seemed a bit upset after we got back to our room that night but we made it through with no problems. Yay crudo!
 |
| From Crudo |
We arrived at the cerveceria and immediately saw “la columna” a giant 2.5 liter column of delicious goodness. My interest in such a thing is obvious but Suzanne told me that there was no way she could drink her share of that and that I would be left to do it all by myself. I reluctantly agreed and compromised by taking a picture of some more hearty souls.
 |
| From Crudo |
After the obligatory sample platter and first drink we decided some appetizers would be in order.
 |
| From Crudo |
Since we were planning on eating dinner there (German food of course) we just went for the cheapest appetizer on the menu which had a name “crudo” that we didn't know the translation for. So we order it and then we found out what it translates to, “raw”. What we had ordered was a half-sandwich of raw beef! Yum!
 |
| From Crudo |
 |
| From Crudo |
Surprisingly, it was actually quite good! I figure its just like sushi, and if you get it before bacteria start growing, you're good to go. Our stomachs seemed a bit upset after we got back to our room that night but we made it through with no problems. Yay crudo!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunrise, flights and adventures
Flight up to Puerto Montt
Today we took a flight up from Punta Arenas Chile to Puerto Montt at the southern tip of the Chilean Lakes district. The flight was cheaper than the 36 hour bus ride we could have taken (and so much easier) but it was hard to wake up for the 6 am departure, especially when you're used to sleeping in till 9 am every day. :) The flight was beautiful though. We saw all of the chilean patagonia from the air and also a beautiful sunrise! Glaciers look so much like rivers when seen from 40,000 feet up. The highlight though was seeing Mount Fitz Roy (see our pictures of Chalten) from the air and seeing how it really stood out from all the peaks around it. We were too tired to take pictures (plus they're never good from a plane window unless of course you're jumping out of the plane like my brothers Luke and Thomas did. :) Still trying to figure out what to do next...
~Mike
Sunrise at Torres del Paine
The word sunrise has always had a romantic connotation for me. If I closed my eyes and pictured a sunrise it would be on a beach at dawn. Two silhouettes watching as the sun effortlessly rises before their eyes slowly and casts its light on the water. Perhaps this is why I was so easily convinced of the need to be at the mirador of Torres del Paine at sunrise even though we had already hiked up to the same location one day earlier. The guidebooks recommended it and Michael was eager to document the promised beauty. How romantic it would be to share such a moment.
As I lay there in the tent at 5AM, I began to question whether or not the mission would be worth it. I strained to listen for a furious wind or rain that would force us to abandon the mission and get more sleep. Michael had mentioned the night before that he could always go by himself. However, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing he would be bouldering up there by himself. So I placed my shoes on my feet and turned on my headlamp determined to give it a chance. I was surprised at how dark it was as our small beams of light showed us only part of the trail. Together we proceeded with extreme care. As I was thinking about how crazy we must be to climb in the dark I noticed other headlamps on the pilgrimage to watch the sun illuminate the granite towers. The first light of morning helped our progress and confirmed that clouds would not ruin the view. We hoped that we would make it to the top before the sun rose over the hills. I was hopeful that the trip wouldn't be in vain as we climbed upwards. Finally at the top it was a great relief to sit and enjoy the surroundings as we waited for the sunrise. We had made it in time and our effort was about to pay off. As the towers began to change colors to shades of orange and red before our eyes it was a beautiful scene. The journey had been worth it to arrive at this moment together.
As for my romantic visions of watching the sunrise together I had not fully considered the journey before arriving at that moment. The journey to the sunrise turned out to be more like a romance than romantic. For some people love arrives effortlessly and they are simply in the right place at the right time. The miracle unfolds right before their eyes like a sunrise on the beach. For others there is considerable effort. The journey begins with both parties looking at the conditions weighing the probability for success in the end. Throughout the journey you wonder if you or the other person is going to get hurt. Will the journey be worth it? Hope helps to sustain forward progress as you wonder if you are crazy. What if one of you turns back? If you do in fact reach the top together then it comes down to fate. How romantic it is when the timing is just right and the magic begins – the sunrise at Torres del Paine.
~Suzanne
Today we took a flight up from Punta Arenas Chile to Puerto Montt at the southern tip of the Chilean Lakes district. The flight was cheaper than the 36 hour bus ride we could have taken (and so much easier) but it was hard to wake up for the 6 am departure, especially when you're used to sleeping in till 9 am every day. :) The flight was beautiful though. We saw all of the chilean patagonia from the air and also a beautiful sunrise! Glaciers look so much like rivers when seen from 40,000 feet up. The highlight though was seeing Mount Fitz Roy (see our pictures of Chalten) from the air and seeing how it really stood out from all the peaks around it. We were too tired to take pictures (plus they're never good from a plane window unless of course you're jumping out of the plane like my brothers Luke and Thomas did. :) Still trying to figure out what to do next...
~Mike
Sunrise at Torres del Paine
The word sunrise has always had a romantic connotation for me. If I closed my eyes and pictured a sunrise it would be on a beach at dawn. Two silhouettes watching as the sun effortlessly rises before their eyes slowly and casts its light on the water. Perhaps this is why I was so easily convinced of the need to be at the mirador of Torres del Paine at sunrise even though we had already hiked up to the same location one day earlier. The guidebooks recommended it and Michael was eager to document the promised beauty. How romantic it would be to share such a moment.
As I lay there in the tent at 5AM, I began to question whether or not the mission would be worth it. I strained to listen for a furious wind or rain that would force us to abandon the mission and get more sleep. Michael had mentioned the night before that he could always go by himself. However, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing he would be bouldering up there by himself. So I placed my shoes on my feet and turned on my headlamp determined to give it a chance. I was surprised at how dark it was as our small beams of light showed us only part of the trail. Together we proceeded with extreme care. As I was thinking about how crazy we must be to climb in the dark I noticed other headlamps on the pilgrimage to watch the sun illuminate the granite towers. The first light of morning helped our progress and confirmed that clouds would not ruin the view. We hoped that we would make it to the top before the sun rose over the hills. I was hopeful that the trip wouldn't be in vain as we climbed upwards. Finally at the top it was a great relief to sit and enjoy the surroundings as we waited for the sunrise. We had made it in time and our effort was about to pay off. As the towers began to change colors to shades of orange and red before our eyes it was a beautiful scene. The journey had been worth it to arrive at this moment together.
As for my romantic visions of watching the sunrise together I had not fully considered the journey before arriving at that moment. The journey to the sunrise turned out to be more like a romance than romantic. For some people love arrives effortlessly and they are simply in the right place at the right time. The miracle unfolds right before their eyes like a sunrise on the beach. For others there is considerable effort. The journey begins with both parties looking at the conditions weighing the probability for success in the end. Throughout the journey you wonder if you or the other person is going to get hurt. Will the journey be worth it? Hope helps to sustain forward progress as you wonder if you are crazy. What if one of you turns back? If you do in fact reach the top together then it comes down to fate. How romantic it is when the timing is just right and the magic begins – the sunrise at Torres del Paine.
~Suzanne
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Torres Del Paine
Well, we're alive and much to the relief of our family and friends (and us) we were not in the earthquake zone in the north of Chile. We didn't even know about the earthquake until the 28th (Sunday) of February and we were in a campsite with no real communication to the outside world, so all we heard were rumors of a 9.0 earthquake striking Santiago. Images of Hati and the devastation caused there came to our minds and we hoped the same thing had not happened in Santiago. Our friend Beatrice has parents that live in Santiago and we also hoped that they were ok. In the end it seems like the damage is extensive but not crippling to this small developed country, or at least I hope so, and the country has ample reserves from the copper boom from the past years to help pay for reconstruction. Needless to say, this is likely to have an impact on our travel plans. We were planning on going north from here (Puerto Natales) to Puerto Montt and from there up through the main populated region of Chile including Santiago. Now we're not really sure. Should we keep to our schedule? Surely the tourist industry has been hit hard and not going would exacerbate the problem, but if we do go, what would we really do? Suzanne had an idea of helping out with relief efforts, which is a possibility, but I'm not sure how we would do this, so we'll need to do some research and see if we can. In the meantime we can tell everyone about our time at Torres del Paine.
Torres del Paine is considered to be the most famous national park in South America. It is a nature-lover's dream come true. The main feature is a (relatively) small set of peaks independent of the Andes mountain range made of granite and sedimentary rock that shoot directly out of the earth like a massive cathedral. Since its relatively small, you can actually hike around the peaks and up the valleys to get up close and see these peaks up close. This is what we did. We rented camping equipment and bought some food and began a five day backpacking adventure around the spires. Day 1 we got up early and hopped on a bus to the park and began our hike up the first valley where you can best see the Torres or towers. We'll let the pictures describe them. The first day's hike was very difficult. We had not been backpacking since the Conundrum trip a couple of years ago and that was only a couple of days and our packs seemed really heavy! It also didn't help that the national park doesn't seem to really believe in switch-backs or anything so the hike up the valley was pretty much straight up the valley! We eventually made it up to our campsite, which was very close to the mirador (viewpoint) of the torres. I had read that it is very special if you can see the torres at sunrise, especially a red sunrise so our goal was to get close and hike up the last 450 meters (bouldering this time) to the mirador. But since you never know what the weather is going to give you we decided to do the hike up there on our first day as well since the weather was looking ok. So we hiked up that mountain twice, once on day 1 (but thankfully without our packs) and again on day 2 (this time in the dark before sunrise). We were very blessed though in that both times the weather worked out fine and we got to see the torres in all their glory. I also got some good sunrise shots!
So day 2 started out with a difficult hike without packs and then we headed for a very long hike to the next campsite. This day wasn't as difficult with elevation climbs as the day before but it was about twice as long! We didn't get to the next campsite until 6 pm (with a wakeup time of 5:30am!) so we were very very tired. Along the hike though we did get a good view of the Cuernos peaks which are much more massive than the torres. It was also very windy. At one point we took the sleeping pads off our packs and hand-carried them because they were catching the wind and were almost knocking us down!
Day 3 started with us sleeping late in our tent from exhaustion from the day before. We then headed up valle frances to a campsite at the base of the valley. We went ahead and set up our tents and then without our packs we hiked up the valley for some amazing views of the cuernos, torres and surrounding mountainscapes that were just truly spectacular! There are glaciers everywhere along the valley and on the way down we got to see one amazing sight. One of the glaciers near the top of the mountain suddenly burst out a huge waterfall of ice and water covering the rocks below. Then as quickly as it started it stopped, but we got to watch the effect of all that water all the way down the mountain as the normal waterfalls (which were everywhere) swelled to twice their size for a couple of minutes and then returned to normal. I took a panoramic video of the whole valley so hopefully it can convey what we saw, but I'm afraid it will fall short. It's hard to capture the massiveness of these mountain on a video or a picture (though of course we took plenty of attempts).
That night, after eating our hot-dogs and rice casserole, Suzanne got sick in the middle of the night and (in her words) between her being “trapped” in her mummy sleeping bag and being unable to open the tent, she was unable to direct the result of this sickness outside the tent and thus sprayed it all over the inside. Needless to say, I was awake in a moment. Why is it always hot dogs? We did our best to clean it up and tried to go back to sleep. The next morning she still wasn't feeling well so we decided to do only an 8 km hike to the next campsite instead of the planned 18 km. We would then have access to running water and do a thorough cleaning of our sleeping bags and tent. So poor sick Suzanne had to strap on her pack again and endure another hike but she was a trooper and we made it in 3 hours. We set up camp and cleaned everything up and got it all dried (thanks to a sunny afternoon) and had a relaxing evening. The next day we hopped on a boat and headed back to civilization.
Overall it was an exhilarating and exciting adventure and we both really enjoyed it. Suzanne was great! This is not exactly her thing but she did it for me and I think she's got quite a bit of “I did Torres del PAINe with you, so you can do this for me” stored up for use later, but I think it was all worth it. :) We're next going back to Punta Arenas to hopefully catch a flight to Puerto Montt in the Chilean Lakes District, assuming the flights are working in the country by then. Some other observations:
You should really have a good idea of your meals and only bring that food, especially when you can buy food (albeit expensive) at some of the campsites. We brought a full 1 and ½ day's food extra and we definitely noticed the weight. Other things you don't need: cards, dried milk.
I would love to come back and do an even longer hike (there's a full circuit around the peaks) and when I told Suzanne of this, she suggested it would be a great adventure with my brothers (i.e. Not her).
~Mike
ps. Pictures are uploading but they're a bit slow so check back in a day or so from this posting.
Pictures
Torres del Paine is considered to be the most famous national park in South America. It is a nature-lover's dream come true. The main feature is a (relatively) small set of peaks independent of the Andes mountain range made of granite and sedimentary rock that shoot directly out of the earth like a massive cathedral. Since its relatively small, you can actually hike around the peaks and up the valleys to get up close and see these peaks up close. This is what we did. We rented camping equipment and bought some food and began a five day backpacking adventure around the spires. Day 1 we got up early and hopped on a bus to the park and began our hike up the first valley where you can best see the Torres or towers. We'll let the pictures describe them. The first day's hike was very difficult. We had not been backpacking since the Conundrum trip a couple of years ago and that was only a couple of days and our packs seemed really heavy! It also didn't help that the national park doesn't seem to really believe in switch-backs or anything so the hike up the valley was pretty much straight up the valley! We eventually made it up to our campsite, which was very close to the mirador (viewpoint) of the torres. I had read that it is very special if you can see the torres at sunrise, especially a red sunrise so our goal was to get close and hike up the last 450 meters (bouldering this time) to the mirador. But since you never know what the weather is going to give you we decided to do the hike up there on our first day as well since the weather was looking ok. So we hiked up that mountain twice, once on day 1 (but thankfully without our packs) and again on day 2 (this time in the dark before sunrise). We were very blessed though in that both times the weather worked out fine and we got to see the torres in all their glory. I also got some good sunrise shots!
So day 2 started out with a difficult hike without packs and then we headed for a very long hike to the next campsite. This day wasn't as difficult with elevation climbs as the day before but it was about twice as long! We didn't get to the next campsite until 6 pm (with a wakeup time of 5:30am!) so we were very very tired. Along the hike though we did get a good view of the Cuernos peaks which are much more massive than the torres. It was also very windy. At one point we took the sleeping pads off our packs and hand-carried them because they were catching the wind and were almost knocking us down!
Day 3 started with us sleeping late in our tent from exhaustion from the day before. We then headed up valle frances to a campsite at the base of the valley. We went ahead and set up our tents and then without our packs we hiked up the valley for some amazing views of the cuernos, torres and surrounding mountainscapes that were just truly spectacular! There are glaciers everywhere along the valley and on the way down we got to see one amazing sight. One of the glaciers near the top of the mountain suddenly burst out a huge waterfall of ice and water covering the rocks below. Then as quickly as it started it stopped, but we got to watch the effect of all that water all the way down the mountain as the normal waterfalls (which were everywhere) swelled to twice their size for a couple of minutes and then returned to normal. I took a panoramic video of the whole valley so hopefully it can convey what we saw, but I'm afraid it will fall short. It's hard to capture the massiveness of these mountain on a video or a picture (though of course we took plenty of attempts).
That night, after eating our hot-dogs and rice casserole, Suzanne got sick in the middle of the night and (in her words) between her being “trapped” in her mummy sleeping bag and being unable to open the tent, she was unable to direct the result of this sickness outside the tent and thus sprayed it all over the inside. Needless to say, I was awake in a moment. Why is it always hot dogs? We did our best to clean it up and tried to go back to sleep. The next morning she still wasn't feeling well so we decided to do only an 8 km hike to the next campsite instead of the planned 18 km. We would then have access to running water and do a thorough cleaning of our sleeping bags and tent. So poor sick Suzanne had to strap on her pack again and endure another hike but she was a trooper and we made it in 3 hours. We set up camp and cleaned everything up and got it all dried (thanks to a sunny afternoon) and had a relaxing evening. The next day we hopped on a boat and headed back to civilization.
Overall it was an exhilarating and exciting adventure and we both really enjoyed it. Suzanne was great! This is not exactly her thing but she did it for me and I think she's got quite a bit of “I did Torres del PAINe with you, so you can do this for me” stored up for use later, but I think it was all worth it. :) We're next going back to Punta Arenas to hopefully catch a flight to Puerto Montt in the Chilean Lakes District, assuming the flights are working in the country by then. Some other observations:
You should really have a good idea of your meals and only bring that food, especially when you can buy food (albeit expensive) at some of the campsites. We brought a full 1 and ½ day's food extra and we definitely noticed the weight. Other things you don't need: cards, dried milk.
I would love to come back and do an even longer hike (there's a full circuit around the peaks) and when I told Suzanne of this, she suggested it would be a great adventure with my brothers (i.e. Not her).
~Mike
ps. Pictures are uploading but they're a bit slow so check back in a day or so from this posting.
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