i'm writing this post on april 1st, 2014. yep, over a year after this trip actually took place in feb/march of 2013. better late than never seems to be words i live by far too often. i wrote "patagonia (part 1)"
here, which covered our travel to get into torres del paine, along with our hike the first day. here we go to continue-
day two
the lake walk. we left our refugio that we had stayed at the past two nights with our backpacks full, and continued on our path. there were some hills to climb, but compared to the first day's hike, today was much more manageable.
11 week baby bump shot
a pretty epic lunch spot. will brought two mre meal from kabul that we split on these flat rocks overlooking the lake.
needing a candy break
glaciers at the top of the mountain made for many fun little streams to walk across.
our refugio that night was in one of the most beautiful settings as you can see from the picture above. the lodge wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was nestled up at the base of the mountain, with lush greens surrounding it. it was just what you'd want when staying literally in the middle of no where. we got our tiny mess kit out and made some food and hot chocolate out on the deck. that evening we lucked out and got our own room for the four of us. the tiny room had a double bunk bed on one side, and a triple on the other side. tanner and i took the double, and kristen and will being the cuties they are shared one twin bed leaving the top two bunks open. tanner also swears he woke up in the middle of the night to will sneaking candy out of one of the bags.
day three
we woke up to rain the next morning. which is not exactly what you want to wake up to knowing you are going to have another hard hike ahead of you. we were supposed to hike the middle section of the "w" this day. we got on our warm clothes with our rain gear, and headed out while munching on some granola bars.
mid-chew of my morning saltines as we headed out for the day
morning break to have a rock skipping competition
lunch break. that little stove was a life saver. we had some mashed potatoes (thanks again rei) and some much needed hot chocolate. it was still raining at this point, and we picked a spot for lunch that was right next to a beautiful raging river. it was also right after this that we started to hike up the middle of the 'w' to get to the glacier, when we started questioning if that was a good idea. it was raining so everything was obviously wet, and it was so cloudy that you couldn't see much anyways. we did hike up for a bit though, got to a look out point where we were able to see the enourmous glacier, and then turned around to head back, cutting at least 3 hours off our hike (which was music to my ears... though im not sure everyone else shared my secret joy). im not sure where our pictures are of the glacier, but will try to add them once i find them.
later in the afternoon it luckily stopped raining
at this point we could see our next, and final, refugio off in the distance. it was quite the glorious site at the end a day of hiking. it was by far the nicest refugio we stayed at which made it a nice last night in the park. i think after those three days of straight hiking my body went into shut down mode. so pretty much from the second we got to the refugio to when we got on the boat the next day i didn't leave my bed very often.
day 4
i opted out of our last day of hiking. as you can see from the above map, the last day was just like the first, where you hike to a specific point and then turn around and come back the way you came. so since i needed a break, i stayed at the refugio with all the bags while the others speed hiked up to see the glacier.
after they returned we got on a little ferry that took us back over to the other side of the hike where we started. the clouds parted and it turned into a beautiful day.
waiting for the ferry. our refugio is in the background.
view from the ferry.
after the ferry we took a bus that brought us back to our first refugio where we left our car. will and i were passed out in that crazy hot bus.
our trusted steed.
from here we drove back to puerto natales to return the items we rented and we stopped by the grocery store really quick. it was an eventful car ride where we decided to take a short cut on a dirt road which made things nice and bumpy, we passed a uni-cycler in the middle of no where, and unfortunately killed an armadillo on our way. from there we hurried on to el calafate to the hostel type place we were staying for the night. we arrived late, but were all hungry so after dropping off our bags we went to walk around to find a place to eat.
day five
the next morning we woke up early and drove to perito moreno glacier. we made it in perfect timing to get right on the ferry (that only leaves every hour), we were lucky enough to see some glacier fall off into the water, drove straight to drop off our car and to the airport. we were cutting close on time, and after some confusion with the airlines we made our flight to head back up to buenos aires.
perito moreno glacier facts according to kristen's facebook page -
This glacier is 97 sq miles of ice, greatest depth reaching 2,297 feet, it's one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is not retreating. It's one of 48 glaciers that make up the icefields of southern Patagonia (3rd largest water reservoir of glacier in the world behind the artic and greenland). It's 19 miles in length.
this may be my favorite picture of my handsome husband
patagonia was such a once in a life time event. it was so fun to spend that much time with people you love with no distractions. it was nice to unplug for a while. we were surrounded by beauty, but that also made us realize how beautiful our own country is (and that maybe we should spend more time exploring places closer by!). i will always have an appreciation for pringles, oranges, kitkats, starburst, will snoring jokes, and people proudly exclaiming "america!" (which will and tanner did often). this was quite an adventure that i'm so glad i had.
