We started this adventure in August of this year (2009). The plan is to spend the first 6 weeks in Spain, and after a brief interlude back in the U.S., spend October - mid December in South America. Read our posts to find out more.
After our wonderful hike in Torres del Paine, we crossed the border to the Argentinean side of Patagonia and went to El Calafate, which is a jumping off point for outdoor adventures for Glacier National Park. Just one hour from town is the Perito Moreno Glacier. When we got there the weather wasn't the best, to say the least! Here's a look:
This is a view of the glacier from the visitor's center:
(Many thanks to Wikipedia for the great photo!)The park is great because you can view the glacier from a peninsula opposite it on boardwalks that have benches to stop and watch.
The weather cleared up for a while and we were able to take some better photos.
Here's one side of the glacier, you can see a boat to give you a perspective how big the glacier is:
The glacier is huge- 19 miles long and averages 3 miles wide. It's almost 100 square miles in all, and it's also 558 feet deep!
Not only is it huge, but it's incredibly beautiful. Here's a close up of the glacier ice. Photos really don't do it justice. The variety and intensity of the shades of blue are breathtaking. Looking into the cracks of the glacier reminded me gazing into a campfire with its glowing colors at the heart.
Looking at the glacier is superb as it is, but another wonder is to see and hear it move. Most of the glaciers in Patagonia are receding, but this is one of 3 that's advancing. Perito Moreno is constantly moving and big chunks of the glacier calve into the Argentina River below, creating a loud thundering noise and huge waves.
Sometimes the glacier advances to the land and forms a dam. The pressure builds up and eventually breaks through. It ruptures every 4 to 5 years. We only saw pieces fall, but someone caught the rupture from 2006 on video:
Wow!
We didn't see any calving of that grandeur, but we did see quite a few chunks crash into the river in the 4 hours we were there.
Here's a picture of the same area from the video when we were there. It ruptured again last year, but you can see that the glacier has moved quite a bit since the was taken in 2006.
The word "awesome" is often overused but you can't help but feeling in awe watching the Perito Moreno glacier.
When you have a dream to do something, it helps to make a dreamboard with images of what you want. For over a year prior to our trip, we described to each other where we were going to be seated on the plane on the way to Spain and South America and how we would feel. We've also had a picture of a backpacking tour of Patagonia (the southern part of Chile and Argentina) that we've looked at many times daily. (Some of you might have seen it yourselves on a pit stop at our place.) Alas, our dreams were realized. We sat in the plane seats we visualized, and here we were in Patagonia! The first stop on our backpacking adventure was Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.
We made the necessary preparations in Puerto Natales (the nearest town to the park): We rented a tent, bought a bus ticket to the entrance to the park, and prepared our meals. Chad is a huge fan of peanut butter and jelly, and he was so excited to find peanut butter at the supermarket that he went a bit overboard with the sandwiches he prepared:
Yes, those are ALL PB&J sandwiches! Needless to say, we ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly and too much bread and cheese (since we didn't take a camping stove).
We planned to hike the "W," which is the shape of the route, in either four or five days, depending on how we felt. Our route was from east to west (3 - 2 - 1).
We started with a hike to the most famous vista in the park, los Torres (the towers), on the first day. It was a day of hiking uphill. Chad made a video as we climbed up the trail.
The background noise is the wind, which was a constant companion through our tour of Patagonia. On our last day, in fact, we felt gusts up to 40mph.
In the park there are refugios (shelters), like the one in the picture below, located at various points along the trails. The rooms in the refugios are bunk style and are booked months in advance. They also have hot meals and refreshments, which is most welcome for hikers coming off the sometimes windy and cold trail.
We didn't like the rigid schedule that months of forward planning would require, so we chose the mostly free tent campsites where we could eat our petrified peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ("Yummmmmm" ~ Chad)
These are the famous "Torres".
We were rewarded with this amazing vista after our final climb.
We found a comfy rock, chilled, and soaked in the splendor. We stayed until the sun set over the top of the peaks. We were practically the last ones there - in total silence in our sanctuary.
After sunset we walked back down to our campsite, ate dinner of leftover pizza (oh yeah!), and fell asleep early.
Day 2 was a little chilly starting off. Kari "mountain woman" Carson, her nickname for the trip by Chad, is shown here crossing one of the many streams in the park.
Day 2 was more relaxed, flat hiking than Day 1. The park is filled with gorgous glacier lakes. Some are the turquoise-blue (typically closer to the glaciers), some are jade-green, and others, like the one below, are crystal clear and create perfect reflections of the mountains and skies above.
With the strong winds of the area, amazing varieties of cloud formations are created. We took pictures of a few of our favorites.
"The Flying Dragon"
"The Thoughts of a Mountain"
Day 2 was also our first sighting of the other famous peaks, "Los Cuernos" or "The Horns". Chad is translating the name for everyone below:
This was another view of the Horns we skirted all day. They look different from every angle.
The Horns again, with the setting sun hitting them from the west.
Day three was our climb up the middle of "The W", if you're keeping track on our map above. This part of the trail was called "Valle del Frances" or Valley of the French. Chad was looking for all of the French people along the way, but all we saw were a few Germans and a couple of Americans. Go figure.
This picture below was at the start of the climb. The peak is called Paine Grande, and the white parts are big glaciers that thundered the entire night before as ice and snow crashed down the mountain in avalanches. It was a thrilling sound and sight.
The wind in this valley was particularly strong. Do you have a guess as to which direction the wind blows from?? Poor little trees.
In this video you can get an even better feel for the wind in the valley:
At the top of the valley we had more stunning views, this time of the back side of the Torres we saw yesterday.
We also got to walk in snow. Here's Chad's big snow shoes, oops ... I mean feet, while taking a rest.
Hiking back down the Valley of the French
19 Mile Day! Day 3 turned out to be a lot longer than we orignally planned. By the end of the day we had hiked about 19 miles (we still can't explain why we kept walking)! Much of the 2nd half of the day was in drizzling, soaking rain as well. We left in the morning at 8AM and arrived at Refugio Grey - near the Glacier in the picture below - at 8:30 p.m.! Our feet and bodies were sore!
We ate a well earned hot meal at the refugio, and returned to our tent to crash.
Glacier Grey and Lake Gray - the site of our night 3 campsite.
Thanksgiving Day and the Feast of the Fox:
We're showing you the picture below to give you a little idea of some of the food we lugged around in our packs all over Torres Del Paine. We knew that we'd be celebrating Thanksgiving Day somewhere in the park, so since we couldn't haul a turkey around - the dried sausage and cheese was the next best luxury. You also of course remember our multitude of PB&J sandwiches, along with bags of trail mix, granola bars, and our prize possession: a big milk chocalate bar.
We were prepared for our Thanksgiving feast ... but our friend the fox had other plans during the eve of Thanksgiving ...
After our long 19 mile day 3 hike, we were tired and made a camping cardinal sin - we left our food outside the tent. Even so, we did leave it in Kari's backpacked, zipped and sealed.
When we awoke Thanksgiving morning Kari went outside to check on our things and discovered our backback was MISSING. She searched all over the camp site, asked other campers, but it was no where to be found. We couldn't imagine someone else stealing and having to haul it out of the wilderness.
Then we saw a glint of plastic in the woods. We followed trails of the carnage and discovered Kari's backpack - neatly unzipped - with every single bit of the food eaten (including our beloved chocolate!)
We were devastated of course, but we were relieved that Kari's bag apparently hadn't been damaged. The ranger at the campsite told us that a fox, appropriately called el ZORRO in Spanish, had been the culprit. I bought the cheapest thing I could find at the camp store - more bread and cheese, alas. Kari chewed her slightly stale bread with a sad look on her face ;)
As we packed and prepared to leave, Kari learned that the sly Zorro did leave his mark. He chewed threw one of Kari's backback straps. As this is crucial for carrying a 25 lb pack (or lighter without the food now), we wouldn't get far like that. The ranger lent us a needle and thread, and Kari stiched up her strap as well as possible.
As we walked out and left the park that day, we looked for a fat fox napping under a tree somewhere, recovering from the Thanksgiving feast of lifetime, but we only had beautiful views of glaciers, peaks, and lakes, along with a strong Patagonian tail wind to send us on our way.
In one of our very first conversations we talked about traveling from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, so after spending a month and a half in Peru, we headed to south. To save a week of travel, which the trip would have been by bus, we flew to Punta Arenas, Chile. Punta Arenas felt like an old west frontier town. Located on the stormy Strait of Magellan, the town's small, rectangular buildings huddle together and hold on for dear life to save themselves from huge gusts of wind coming from the west across the Pacific Ocean. As you'd expect in this kind of environment, the people seemed to be independent and hard-working. The food, like hot, steamy seafood chowders, is warming and comforting. It reminded us a lot of Alaska.
The weather changes drastically and fast in this part of the world. The first day we woke to rainy and windy weather. We ducked into a cafe for some sweets and to catch up on things back home (thanks to a decent WiFi connection). While we were there, it snowed and the temperature dropped. Then, just as we were about to leave, the sky cleared up for us and the sun came out. We took a short walk up to a overlook with a great view of the city and of the Magellan Strait. Before the building of the Panama Canal in the early 1900s, all ships traveled through this channel of water (about 1.2 miles wide at narrowest point) when crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of South America.
Here's a vista of Punta Arenas and the Magellan Straight on the horizon:
Conditions are harsh in Patagonia, so things that actually grow in the area flourish. We saw the biggest dandelions we've ever seen in our lives. These were the first of many we saw during the rest of our travels in Patagonia.
There wasn't a lot to do in the town. Our host at the hostel recommended we visit the cemetery. Yes, another cemetery on vacation! The cemetery was different than most in the U.S. It is very common for families to build mausoleums for their family's final resting place.
There are also very colorful vaults. Family members take flowers and decorate the outside of their loved one's vault.
Punta Arenas isn't a dead city. It is alive and kicking... literally! Check out these soccer fields next to the cemetery:
There was another, more lively tourist must-do outside the city of Punta Arenas... visit the Magellanic penguin colony. We were expecting to see penguins on the ice like in the movie March of the Penguins, but these were a different kind of penguin and there was no ice.
We got really close to the penguins, and in fact, some of the penguins cross the visitor trails on their way to the ocean.
It was so fun to watch them waddle around!
This one reminded Kari of an ultimate frisbee player who laid out to catch the disk. We couldn't find the disk, though, so it must have been resting.
There were many burrows in the area (about 20 per 100 square meters). An interesting thing about these penguins is that the males and females take turns incubating the eggs (on about 2 week shifts) while the other goes to find food. They have the same partner for their whole life (average is 25 years). Males return to the same burrow every year, and the female is able to find the male based on his call. Here's a picture of their burrow:
The penguins swim about 50 miles off the coast for their food, and the distance is increasing as climate changes are displacing fish populations. Here are some on the coast after dinner with their flock:
There were actually many other animals we saw at the reserve- rabbits, skunks and this flightless emu-like bird called a rhea. Chad had flashbacks of his days chasing emus around his family's farm! After a couple of days catching up with things in Punta Arenas, we took a five hour bus ride north to Puerto Natales, which was a jumping off point to Torres del Paine National Park.
Machu Picchu, the once lost mountain-top city of the Incas, is probably one of the most spectacular and most sought after tourist destinations in the world. When we first discussed visiting South America, visiting for ourselves was top on our list of things to do.
What you may not know is that there are multiple ways to get to Machu Picchu: 1) A comfy tourist train from Cuzco to a town just below Machu Piccu, where you take a bus up to the ruins. 2) A 4-day, nearly 40 kilometer hike over 12,000 ft mountain passes, past ruins, on the same stone paths taken by the Incas – arriving with a spectacular view of a sun-rise over Machu Picchu from the Sun-Gate (space fills up weeks or months in advance because limited numbers are allowed on the trail at one time) 3) Several alternative trails with beautiful scenery, all of which end near Machu Picchu, where you can take a bus up from town on your final morning.
When we read these options, #2 had adventure, Incan intrigue, and our names written all over it. We signed up right when we arrived in Peru – in early October – but the first available slot was November 14th!
History of Machu Picchu: First, a little background on Machu Picchu, in case you’re interested. It was built around 1462, but there is no conclusive story as to exactly what it was during the Incan times. It seems to have been abandoned even before the Spanish arrived in the mid 1500’s. It obviously had religious importance (stonework differs according to the type construction), and it may have been a sacred retreat for the elite of Incan society.
It sits atop the ridge of a mountain above the Urubamba river valley (approximately 8000 ft above sea level) and has more stairs spiraling up to a perch of a mountain peak above the complex. The entire Machu Picchu complex is a maze of residences, terraces, temples, and courtyards. It was a small city when in use, but it probably did not have enough farm land to support itself. Instead, some supplies where probably brought in from nearby villages and farms.
The city was not known to westerners (although local farmers nearby were aware of the ruins) until the early 1900’s. Although a few others claim earlier discovery dates, a Yale history professor named Hiram Bingham (a real life Indiana Jones!) brought the site international attention with an expedition there in 1911.
Our Journey on the Inca Trail:
Day 1: We began at a place name “Kilometer 82” – which refers to distances on the railroad track from Cusco to the town of Machu Picchu (also known as Aguas Calientes). Here is a picture of our group (about 26 people from all over world – including S. Africa, Argentina, Peru, U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, England, and Sweden.)
The first step of the journey was crossing the swinging bridge across the Urubamba river. Here’s Chad on the bridge:
Hiking the first day was pleasant and easy. I think they were getting us ready for the 2nd day, which would be a tough ascent of over 4000 feet to Dead Woman’s Pass (at 13,830 ft above sea level. It’s named not for actual deaths at the pass but because of its shape like the profile of a sleeping woman from a distance). Altitude sickness is always a big worry, so Kari and I had a plan to drink lots of water and to pace ourselves. (ok, this plan was for me *Chad*. Kari ran a marathon last year and understood how to take a long, tough trek slowly, step by step. I still have a race-horse instinct in me and need to be reigned in before burning out).
In our group there was at least one porter for each tourist, and these local men carried extremely heavy bags (over 60 lbs) ahead of us to set up camp and prepare our dinner (yes, this was luxury camping). We felt a bit guilty at first, but man was it nice! Plus, they earned good wages by helping us. Here’s a picture of the porters running (yes, with sandals on) to our camp for the first night:
Here's a picture of our tents, which they set up for us each afternoon before we arrived to camp:
Day 2: The second day began early, about 5:30 AM. Anytime in the last year when we climbed stairs or hills together, we always jokingly chanted to ourselves, “Machu Picchu, Maccu Picchu”. Chad was gung-ho and ready to make the accent:
It was fascinating to us that the stairs were the same stones placed there by the Incas. Here’s Chad climbing on the rocky Inca stairs to “Dead Woman’s Pass”:
Once we reached the top of the pass, we reveled at the amazing scenery, took some photos together and looked back down at the busy highway of people coming up towards us:
That night we again enjoyed our camp and meals from our amazing porters. The meals were delicious for being out on the trail. We had a “happy hour” with pop-corn and kool-aid, then dinner with soup, either chicken or fish, plus vegetables, potatoes, and rice.
Our group was lots of fun, and before and after dinner we sang songs and told stories. The leader of the singing was a Mexican-American man named Geraldo. He got everything started singing Mexican ballads. The Argentineans followed in force with their own songs. There were only three Americans, and after lots of pressure and haggling we sang our own songs – beginning with “Take Me Out to The Ball Game”.
The friendships we made on the trail with our group were special. The Argentineans particularly were very friendly, and we left the trip with several email addresses of residents of Buenos Aires insisting that we contact them to visit when we reach Buenos Aires. Here’s a picture of our group in the dinner tent: Day 3: Day 3’s hike didn’t climb as dramatically, but it was long with a couple of ups and lots of downs. The downs were actually tougher on us because they hurt our joints (Kari’s knee and Chad’s back).
We were rewarded with some spectacular scenery and Incan ruins during the day.
It was a lot of fun having 4 guides with us because they were able to describe the ruins and answer our questions. One temple had been a sanctuary for mummies of Inca rulers, important priests, and other key figures. They were a lot smaller than Chad, as he found out trying to squeeze into one:
The Incas created agricultural terraces out of necessity since the amount of farm land in the valleys was limited. Terraces allowed them to farm on hill sides without eroding away all of the dirt. The terraces were as impressive in terms of engineering as many of the buildings, because they also have withstood earthquakes and over 500 years of weather and wear. The terraces were everywhere in Inca territory, but these in particular where impressive.
Day 4: Final Ascent to Machu Picchu We got up extra early and hit the trail about 5:15. The walk from our campsite to the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu was still an hour or two. Here’s a picture as we began our last day’s hike:
We finally arrived about 7:00 in the morning at the Sun Gate. Kari and I snapped a picture with Machu Picchu in the background (I of course insisted on the Clemson Tiger Paw flag to show my true colors!)
We walked another hour from the Sun Gate to the actual ruins of Machu Picchu. Here are the proud travelers above the city:
Our guides gave us a detailed tour of the entire complex. Carlos, in the photo below, was particularly passionate and interesting. I’m sure no tour guide is 100% accurate with all of his explanations, but the fact that each guide has their own stories, passions, and opinions about the complex makes the tour even more interesting. Carlos in particular got heated talking about the “damn” Spaniards and their arrogance during the conquest. He was particularly proud of the culture of the Incas.
It’s sad to say, but we were so exhausted by the end of the official tour that we didn’t do a lot of exploring on our own. When the group disbursed, we found a comfortable rock with a view, and we collapsed and soaked in the ambience for a couple of hours. What a magical journey!
(Many thanks to Wikipedia for the great photo!)The park is great because you can view the glacier from a peninsula opposite it on boardwalks that have benches to stop and watch.
