ALIVE!! (take 2)

We survived our second trek, the famous "W" in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

And by survived, I mean barely survived. There was a nasty incident with getting very, very ill at one of the most distant points of the trail (apparently there's been a breakout of norovirus or some other similar nasty at all the campsites on trail for the past 2 weeks). However, Allison is a total champ who can hike 11 km--that's 4.5 hours!!--with a full pack to get back to civilization, even if she's been throwing up all night. We found out later that a group of 20 people had been evacuated the same night from the park to the hospital at Puerto Natales. (Wimps.)

However, most of the trek until the last day was beautiful weather, beautiful views, and wonderful hiking. We knew we were going to have a good time when we arrived at the park, got on the catamaran to get to our first trailhead, and were rewarded with this view:

Los Cuernos behind Lago Pehoé

4 January 2010

Picture(s) of the day: Glaciar Perito Moreno, one of the major glaciars feeding Lago Argentino.

While most glaciars in the world are receding, this glaciar is one of the few that is actually growing. It also is one of the fastest-moving in the world, advancing about 6 feet per day. We spent a few hours on walkways above the glaciar, watching huge pieces (i.e., the size of small buildings) of ice calve into the water.

3 January 2010

Picture of the day: a tree growing sideways after being permanently bent by the wind, on an estancia outside El Calafate.

Yes, it's seriously windy here.

2 January 2010

Picture of the day: Lago Argentino.

After hiking in El Chaltén, we returned to El Calafate, 220 kilometers southeast. Despite being a short bus ride away, the climate is completely different. While both places are quite windy, El Chaltén receives all the precipitation that falls on the Andes. El Calafate, on the other hand, is definitely in the desert-like Patagonian Steppes. It sits on Lago Argentino, the largest lake in the country. The lake is the same shade of turquoise as the water in the Florida Keys. (Not as warm, though--the color is due to the glacial melt!)

1 January 2010

Picture of the day: looking down into a glacial crevice.

Ice trekking

Because spending 3 days hauling around a 35-pound pack around the base of Fitz Roy didn't give us enough mountaineering cred, we decided to do an ice trek on our fourth day.

Obviously.

Our guide met us at the base camp at 10:00 am, and we spent the next 5 hours walking to a nearby glaciar, strapping on crampons, and walking around on the ice. It was (in Allison's opinion) totally terrifying, and also (in both of our opinions) very exhilarating.

Allison, climbing through a hole in the ice on the glaciar. Note the crampons on the feet.

We also got the chance to try our hand at ice climbing. Necessary equipment: crampons, 2 ice axes, and a good helmet. We're both actually pretty decent at it! Too bad there aren't more glaciars for us to climb in DC.

Jacob climbing the ice wall.

We then ended our day by going back to camp, packing up the tent, and hauling our gear 3 hours back to El Chaltén. After a quick shower, it was time for a fancy New Years Eve dinner, a bottle of wine, and too much champagne. I think we clearly earned it.

31 December 2009

Picture of the day: walking through the lenga forest.