Sorry it's been such a long time since we have last written. The majority if it since Pichilemu has been in the backcountry! We will do our best to catch you up to speed.
So after our Gato filled night in Pichilemu, we headed down to Puerto Montt. There, we caught a four day/three night ferry to Puerto Natales (the gateway city to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine). The ferry took us through the patagonian fjords of western Chile. We got ideal weather and got to see a side of Patagonia that most people don't get to see since the only way to access it is by boat. The fjords are incredibly beautiful with lush forests, mountains and hanging glaciers on both sides. It was hard to do anything but sit on the deck and watch the scenery.
The boat dropped us off in the small town of Puerto Natales where we hurriedly prepped for our trip into Torres del Paine. We packed nine days of food for ten days and took off for the mountains. We had originally planned on hiking the whole circuit, something like 90 kilometers, but upon arrival learned that a portion of the loop was closed. We already had the food so we decided to just do as much as possible. We got to hike all over the park and much to our delight the pass opened on our 9th day so we ran up and over it to complete the circuit. All said and done we managed 106 miles, a bit more than we planned. Time to move on!
Soon after Torres del Paine we bussed to Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan. There we took in some of the more historical aspects of Patagonia as well as a sweet trip out to see the penguin colonies. From there it was time to head north running through El Calafate to watch house sized pieces of ice calve off of the glacier Perito Moreno and up to El Chalten at the base of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The town itself sits in a beautiful river valley and acts as base camp for many mountaineering and climbing expeditions in the range. On Crystal's birthday we hiked in to the park and spent the afternoon sipping whiskey cocktails made with glacier ice while watching the clouds play peekaboo with Cerro Torre. Another day we hiked up to the base of Fitz Roy at 4am to watch the lightshow provided by the sunrise upon the towers.
After Fitz Roy, we caught a bus at 3:50 am to take a 25 hour ride to enter into our last Patagonian city/start of the Lakes District. A place called El Bolson. This place is known for three things: cervesas artesenal (microbrews), farms, and hippies. That being said, we are really enjoying our time here. It has been a while since we have been able to relax and do a whole lot of nothing. It's been a much needed break off our feet.
So that's where we are now and next stop will be Bariloche.
Our entire trip has been geared toward going south but now it's northward we go.
Until next time, Hasta luego!!
Again, sorry for the lack of photos. We promise to do a photo blog once we get home!!
So after our Gato filled night in Pichilemu, we headed down to Puerto Montt. There, we caught a four day/three night ferry to Puerto Natales (the gateway city to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine). The ferry took us through the patagonian fjords of western Chile. We got ideal weather and got to see a side of Patagonia that most people don't get to see since the only way to access it is by boat. The fjords are incredibly beautiful with lush forests, mountains and hanging glaciers on both sides. It was hard to do anything but sit on the deck and watch the scenery.
The boat dropped us off in the small town of Puerto Natales where we hurriedly prepped for our trip into Torres del Paine. We packed nine days of food for ten days and took off for the mountains. We had originally planned on hiking the whole circuit, something like 90 kilometers, but upon arrival learned that a portion of the loop was closed. We already had the food so we decided to just do as much as possible. We got to hike all over the park and much to our delight the pass opened on our 9th day so we ran up and over it to complete the circuit. All said and done we managed 106 miles, a bit more than we planned. Time to move on!
Soon after Torres del Paine we bussed to Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan. There we took in some of the more historical aspects of Patagonia as well as a sweet trip out to see the penguin colonies. From there it was time to head north running through El Calafate to watch house sized pieces of ice calve off of the glacier Perito Moreno and up to El Chalten at the base of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The town itself sits in a beautiful river valley and acts as base camp for many mountaineering and climbing expeditions in the range. On Crystal's birthday we hiked in to the park and spent the afternoon sipping whiskey cocktails made with glacier ice while watching the clouds play peekaboo with Cerro Torre. Another day we hiked up to the base of Fitz Roy at 4am to watch the lightshow provided by the sunrise upon the towers.
After Fitz Roy, we caught a bus at 3:50 am to take a 25 hour ride to enter into our last Patagonian city/start of the Lakes District. A place called El Bolson. This place is known for three things: cervesas artesenal (microbrews), farms, and hippies. That being said, we are really enjoying our time here. It has been a while since we have been able to relax and do a whole lot of nothing. It's been a much needed break off our feet.
So that's where we are now and next stop will be Bariloche.
Our entire trip has been geared toward going south but now it's northward we go.
Until next time, Hasta luego!!
Again, sorry for the lack of photos. We promise to do a photo blog once we get home!!
