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Published: April 5th 2005
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so we have been a bit lax on updating our little bog. we have been traveling all over and have found little time to sit down and write up whats been happening south of the equator but today from Bariloche we felt was finally time to tell you what has been happening.
we got into bariloche last night at about 9pm then I sat down to watch the ncaa championship game. I am an avid illini fan and had to witness a wonderful season come to a disappointing end as my team was defeated in a hard fought game. we watched the game with a couple of new friends we had mad from england and Australia. it made for a lot of interesting questions as none of them had much a grasp of the game. by then end I had them all standing up nervously and cheering for illinois. bariloche is a beautiful little mountain town in northwestern Argentina, it is surrounded by lakes and incredible forests. tomorrow we are planning to do 60km bike ride into one of the national parks.
prior to getting into bariloche we spent 4 days on a cruise from puerto natales (really far
southern chile) up through majestic fjords, fantastic mountains, and some rough open seas. our trip was on a boat with about 140 other passengers that appeals to those who are traveling on a budget. it was once a freight ship that has been converted into a passenger vessel while still carrying a bit of cargo. it was a great trip filled with card playing, lots of chatting, wondering around the captains bridge asking questions, searching for wildlife in the sea, drinking boxed wine, a bit of bingo, and a lot motion sickness. neither I nor alana had to much trouble with the motion but it got quite bad on a couple sections. at one point we were traveling with 18 ft swells. that will make just about any boat move.
before heading on the cruise we spent 6 glorious days walking through parque nacional torres del paine, an amazing park in Patagonia, Chile. We did a common circuit called the W, since the trails loosely take this shape. We walked it like you would trace it from right to left. Each day gave us new unknown weather, breath-pausing vistas, new sore muscles, new friends and many fond new memories.
From the jagged mountain ranges, to the clouds that speed through the air, to the blue glow of many glaciers we would encounter and the bright blue of the lakes they created, and on to the forest that seems eerie but would be our only shelter from the wind that blows so cold and so strong it almost blew me off the mountains several times.
We started hiking up (and I do mean up) the 9.5 kilometers to the Torres del Paine campground. The Torres are three amazing peaks that rise up over 2500 meters over a glacial lake. The namesake of this park, their shape and stature are unique. They are like three upside-down sugarcones, for mountains, they are striking and angular. But we would come to know that most of the mountains in this park have jagged shapes, with obelisks, or cones, or other sharp figures along the top that make them some of the most interesting climbs in the world. After setting up camp we walked along the bright blue river near the camp site. We were lucky to get a quick clear view of the orange of the Torres as the sun was setting. The peaks
of these giants are usually in the clouds, and this was the only time that we would see them close up (despite our efforts the next morning to watch the sun rise over the Torres, since there was no real sunrise, just clouds and rain).
We spent a few hours in the tent that next morning. Mostly cursing the rain and trying to motivate enough to fight through it in hopes of sun farther down the valley to our next camping spot. We eventually left, already half soaked, and headed down the mountain. We had a long 20 kilometers ahead of us. Two hours in, the sun fought through the clouds and drenched us in warmth and dryness for the first time in a day. We scurried along, and as we crossed over the mountain the gigantic bright blue of Lago Nordenskjold glistened in the sun. We followed the lake for most of the day. It was surreal. The green around us on the mountain side, the blue below us, snow capped mountains in the distance, and Ben asking "are we in the sound of music?" We picniced above the lake, and made it to the Refugio (more like a
mini hotel) in about 5 hours total. This place knows how to cater to wary travelers. And we were happy to run into a women working there who went to Cornell, and knew a lot about the park. We splurged on a bottle of Coke and a hot shower. Then we spent the rest of the night playing cards, talking to two guys from Spain who have trekked just about everywhere, and two Brits who have read just about everything on trekking just about anywhere. We went to bed by the brilliantly bright light of a full moon.
We woke up to some sun and more fast moving clouds. Today we would head a little more west and north to complete the first half of the W.
Valley de Frances was the next spike in the W. it is possibly one of the most beautiful surroundings we have ever witnessed. the valley is created by one side being a massive mountain that looks a bit like the Matterhorn complete with glaciers hanging off, and wind swilling clouds dusting the jagged peaks. we had good timing on our trip as we got to witness a small avalanche that left one side
of the mountain in pluming snow.
the other side of the valley was flanked by the impressive cerro torres....this area is one composed of numerous peaks of dark granite followed by a tan colored sandstone looking sheer face. rocks seem sort of flipped upside down in comparison to those in the states.
as if the valley were not ´t impressive enough, the whole hike was next to a ice blue river, a by-product of the melting glacial ice.
the next day we had a long walk out to grey glacier. our campground was right on the lake that the glacier rests upon. it was amazing to sit at our site and watch ice-bergs float by. the next day we had our first overhead view of the glacier. it is a strange landscape similar to that of a lunar landscape. the ice field is massive and seems to go on for ever....we actually later found out that it is the third largest ice field in the world!!
finally on the last day we sadly walked out got on a ferry to exit the park and head back into civilization.
finally back in puerto natales we spent the day doing laundry, finding stuff to bring on the boat, and looking for places to get some books.
now that we are in bariloche we plan to do a bit more hiking and then head up to mendoza (yum, wine country) and then onto salta, and finally bolivia.
as always we are having a great time and miss you all.
ben and alana
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