Our Wedding Website Engagement in the Canaries, 11-2002 Southern Bolivia, 12-2000 Torotoro Bolivia, 12-1999 Costa Rica, 06-1999
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Patagonia is an odd combination of extreme geographical features, ranging
from rugged mountain peaks covered in giant glaciers like those seen in
Alaska, to Norway-caliber fjords, to desert canyons that are as dry and
red as those seen in Arizona or Utah. It was more undeveloped than
I had imagined - in total we drove over 1000km of dirt roads without passing
many other travelers. The following is an account of the two weeks
that we spent in southern Chile Patagonia (and later the Bahamas), enjoy!
Torres
Del Paine National Park
Punta Arenas to Torres del Paine, December 26th
After a good but jet-lagged night's sleep in Punta Arenas we were rested
and ready to start our Patagonia honeymoon. We rented a car from Hertz
and started our drive north on Highway 9 to Torres del Paine National Park,
where we intended to do a multi-day hike. We stopped in Puerto Natales,
a small but busy town about 90 minutes outside the park, where we bought
groceries and stove fuel, and signed up for a kayak trip that would take
us (after our hike) from Torres del Paine back to Puerto Natales via the
Rio Serrano. As we entered the Torres del Paine park we saw many
Huanaco (a llama-looking animal) and Nandu (an ostrich-looking animal)
alongside the dirt road. We made camp in a park campground just south
of the Hosteria Pehoe Hotel, and planned our hiking route over dinner.
Note that our stove required white gas which was nearly impossible to find
- only one hardware store in Puerto Natales carried white gas, as butane
and propane are the standard. This appears to be true for most of
the world except North America.
Hike into Valle Frances, December 27
We got up early, drove to the Pudeto boat dock, and parked the car.
We boarded the boat for a quick forty-five minute ride northwest across
the lake to Lago Pehoe campground. We hiked east to the base of Frenchman's
valley, crossed the major river descending from the valley, and headed
north up the valley on its east side. The scenery was impressive,
with the large Glacier Frances always in view to the left (west) side of
the valley, and occasional glimpses up to the Cuernos "Horns" del Paine
just to the right (east) side of the valley. There were a few dozen
people hanging around at Campground Italiano at the base of Frenchman's
valley, but we only passed an occasional day hiker as we ascended the valley.
We found even better views of the Cuernos, and saw a rare type of deer
(as identified and described later in a park brochure). We arrived at Britanico
campground in the late afternoon, setup camp, and collected firewood.
It was a large campground but there were only two other tents there that
night - one family who we did not talk to, and a single guy from Colorado
who was on a several month tour of the area. A few images from the
day:
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Campo Britanico to Hosteria Las Torres Camping, December
28
We hiked back down the valley to Campground Italiano, then started
east around the bottom of the middle "W" section. The hiking was
relatively flat, with good views of the lakes to the south and the Cuernos
to the north. Surprisingly we did not cross any people after leaving
Brtianico camp in the morning. After four hours we crossed Cuernos
campground, and then continued hiking east. We reached the campground
next to Hosteria Las Torres at dusk. The campground was crowded but
large enough to have plenty of space, including room for grazing horses
to wander around the tent sites. It was an amusing combination.
Cecilia was starting to fell sick so we ate a quick dinner and went to
bed early.
Valle Ascencio, December 29
Cecilia woke up feeling worse, so we caught a shuttle back down to
the main road at Guarderia Laguna Amarga, and then caught a bus back to
our car at the Pudeto boat landing. We drove over to the fancy Hosteria
Pehoe Hotel and checked into a room. Cecilia hit the bed hard
and proceeded to sleep for the next four hours. I took the car and
drove all the way back to Hosteria Las Torres, where I left the car and
headed with a day pack up the Ascencio valley. I was determined to
get as close as possible to the Campamento Japones, but I did not expect
to make it as far as I did. I practically ran the whole way, passed
the Campamento Japones, and after two hours and 5000 feet of elevation
(the last 30 minutes a boulder scramble) I reached the lake at the base
of the Torres del Paine. There were plenty of people on the trail
and in the valley - it was by far the #1 highlight of the park. I
took a few pictures, ate a quick couple of snacks, and headed back down
the trail. After four hours total I was back at the car, proud of
my achievement.
As I was driving back to the hotel I realized that we were very low
on gas. I drove past the hotel and continued 20km further down to
Administracion, where gas was marked on the map. I inquired with
a few guides in broken Spanish and was told that there was no gas.
I drove back to the hotel, tired and worried that we did not have enough
gas to get out of the park. After consultation with Cecilia, who
was now feeling revived, we decided that we would inquire further at the
same camp the next morning with the aid of her Spanish and better charm.
We had dinner that night in the hotel restaurant with a spectacular view
of the clear peaks. We went to bed early - now I was not feeling
well. It was then that we deduced that we had caught a cold virus
from the guy sitting next to us on the flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas
- he had been coughing and blowing his nose the whole trip. At one
point he had even asked the stewardess for aspirin!
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Failed Kayak Trip, December 30
We woke up early, drove down to Administracion, and again were told
that there was no gas. We had booked a guided kayaking trip with
Onas Patagonia in Puerto Natales before starting our hike, and planned
to do the two-day kayak trip and then drive north to Argentina. We
were at the Administracion ranger station by 8am, as per Onas' instructions.
We waited until almost 9am and the guiding service did not show up.
We found someone who told us that they represented Onas, and they drove
us 8km to a rafting launch point, also the planned start of our kayak trip.
After another forty-five minutes of confusion we were told that Onas had
sub-contracted the trip to another company, as they always do because Onas
has no actual kayak guides, that there had been a planning mixup, and that
Onas did not have a subcontracted guide available. One of the senior
subcontractor guides then decided to offer us a different trip pooled together
with another group of two people - after reviewing the new route, we reluctantly
agreed. We were driven an hour to the southern end of Lago Grey,
the put-in of the new trip, where we found two guys from Texas waiting
and ready. But to the guide's surprise there were not enough kayaks
for all of us - he had left the kayaks there a few days previous, and he
had incorrectly assumed that they would still be there. After even
more apologies he said that he had no other options, which we would not
have accepted anyway, and the Onas driver took us all the way back to our
car. We were smart enough to ask the driver for more gas, and she
gave us free tank with no charge. The gas and a great view of icebergs
floating in the Lago Grey were the only highlights of a very frustrating
morning. Cecilia, once back in France, spent numerous phone calls trying
to get our money back. Three months later after numerous promises and guarantees
we got a fraction of the original fee back.
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Glacier Pedito Moreno, December 31
We woke up and decided to spend the day touring the area around El
Calafate, notable to see Pedito Moreno - a giant hanging glacier that dams
up a junction between two large lakes. We drove west for 40 km, then
entered the national park, and drove another 30km of dirt roads to the
glacier. We walked down to the waterside and gazed at the giant hanging
glacier - it was as high as 100 meters in certain spots. Occasionally
a huge chunk would calve off and fall into the lake with a thunderous rumble
and splash. The lower sections of the boardwalk had been permanently
blocked off to protect tourists from being injured by flying ice debris
and particles. We went back to the car and drove to the dock of a
boat touring company on the shore of the northern lake. We took a
one-hour tour of the lake including up-close views of the hanging glacier
- it was impressive. We then drove back to El Calafate where we spent
New Year's eve at La Tablita the best steakhouse in town. It
was excellent. And we discovered a wine that both Cecilia and I loved
- Terrazas. There were no pubs or clubs open in town - we assumed
was that everyone was with their family that night, so we spent midnight
on the main town street gazing at the numerous fireworks being shot from
people's homes. The street dogs were in a total panic over all of
the noise, which the most memorable part of the night. Images from
the day:
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Los Glaciares National Park
Three years ago Cecilia and I climbed
Mount Baker with the help of a mountain guide that we hired from the
American Alpine Institute (AAI). At the end of the trip we received
complimentary AAI t-shirts. Unlike most t-shirts that I have collected
over the years, this one fit me very well even after being washed numerous
times. In fact I have probably worn the t-shirt more than any other
item of non-work clothing over the past three years. On the front
of the shirt is the profile of three tower-like summits capped by ice and
surrounded by glacier. Quite impressive to say the least, and I also
assumed quite fictitious. But when Cecilia and I arrived in Los Glaciares
National Park in southern Patagonia, after driving for four hours on dusty
dirt roads, we were greeted by a panoramic view of Cerro Torre - three
spectacular tower-like peaks that very closely resembled those on my shirt.
I dug the shirt out of my bag, and immediately realized that after three
years of wearing the shirt almost every week I had never noticed the "Cerro
Torre" inscription in the lower right corner of the picture.
Calafate - Laguna Torre, January 1
We left Calafate and started the 200km drive to Chalten, the launching
spot to hike around the Mt. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The drive to Chalten
were bumpy but straight dirt roads. After one flat tire and a near
offroad maneuver by Cecilia, we arrived a Chalten by noon. We packed our
back-packs, ate lunch, and started our hike to Laguna Torre. We arrived
at Campamento Base de Agosini about one hour before sunset and were rewarded
with a breathtaking view of Cerro Torre. At camp we found about a dozen
tents and strewn climbing gear - it was obvious that climbers had been
camping for several weeks to attempt the very technically hard Cerro Torre
summit. A few images from the day:
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Laguna Torre - Lago de Los Tres, January 2
After a hearty oatmeal breakfast we made our way towards Camping Rio
Blanco passing through Laguna Madre and Laguna Hija. At Rio Blanco
we left our gear and went up the rocky trail to Lago de los Tres with a
light back-pack. At the top we were met with a great view of Mt.
Fitz Roy, almost as good of a view of Cerro Torre the day previous. After
spending an hour of watching condors soaring through the valley below,
we made our way down to the camp at Rio Blanco.
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Lago de los Tres - Calafate, January 3
We hiked back to the car in Chalten , picked up our flat tire that
we had left to be repaired before our hike, and drove 200km back to El
Calafate. In El Calafate we decided to treat us to a nice 3-star
hotel. We found Quijote Hotel, which was a bit expensive but well worth
the comfort, with hot strong shower and a great breakfast the following
morning.
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Santiago, January 6
We met Ale early in the morning and walked to the top of Cerro Santa
Lucia, where I started to feel a bit sick (stomach). I guess that
I had eaten too much pastel de pollo the night previous. We visited
the Palacio de la Moneda (the Chilean equivalent of the U.S. Whitehouse),
and then went to the Central Market to eat a Paila Marina (seafood
stew). My stomach had still not recovered, so I was only able to
watch (not participate) as Cecilia and Ale enjoyed their stews. We
walked through the center of Santiago for a few more hours until Cecilia
started to feel sick and we had to rush back to Ale's apartment (nearest
toilet). At least I was no longer alone in my suffering. Cecilia
concluded that it must have been due to the strawberries in the Borgoña
the night previous. In the afternoon Hernan and his wife Margarita
took us back to the Santiago airport. On the way to the airport we
were barely able to see the outline of Aconcagua, the highest mountain
in South America. The dust in the air made it almost impossible to
see, even though it is just outside the city. We were running a bit
late and there was a very long line for international flights. We were
delayed even more because the airport security found our camping stove
and refused to let us check-in unless we forfeited the stove. I had
aired out the stove and fuel canister the night before, but they
enforced a super-strict no stove rule. After thirty minutes of heated
debate over the stove we realized that it was a losing battle and that
we were about to miss our flight, so we let them confiscate it. We
were pretty bummed since the stove had been a wedding gift from Doug, Maria,
and Amy, and it was brand new before the trip.
Nassau Island, Bahamas
Bahamas, January 7 - 11
The next five days were spent running, eating, spending money at the
casino and getting a nice tan. Great way to finish off a honeymoon!
A few images from the last days:
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