Wind

We got our first taste of the big bad Patagonia wind today, on our trek to Laguna Torre. Coming up over the final mounds of boulders upon the glacial lake that was our destination it suddenly picked up something fierce and we spent lunch hunkered behind a makeshift wall of stones we found stacked there, munching on avocado and cheese sandwhiches and watching a bird repeatedly attempt to fly against it, to absolutely no avail. In his introduction to Chatwins In Patagonia, Nicholas Shakespeare notes this:

You know you are in Patagonia when you see rodados patagonicos, the basalt pebbles left behind by glaciers, and the jarilla, the low bush that is its dominant flora. Patagonia may also be described by its climate. The wind that blows with terrible force from October to March - in Chatwins expression, [stripping men raw] - made Antoine de Saint-Exuperys plane fly backwards instead of forward.

But my favorite excerpt from the book is Chatwins own which reading again now that I am here sums up this place perfectly. It is from a letter to his wife that he wrote while here in 1976:

On no previous journey am I conscious of having done more. Patagonia is as I expected but more so, inspiring violent bouts of love and hate. Physically it is magnificent, a series of graded steps or barricas which are the cliff lines of prehistoric seas and unusually full of fossilised oyster shells... In the east, you suddenly confront the great wall of the cordillera with bright turquoise lakes (some are milky white and others a pale jade green) with unbelievable colors to the rocks. Sometimes it seems that the Almightly has been playing at making Napolitan ice cream.

Now that we have tasted of this wind, Staci Jon and I feel a little less naive about what potentially (most likely, inevitably) awaits in Torre del Paine. Also, having hiked a 15 miles to Fitz Roy then 9 miles to Laguna Torre the next day, we feel we have built up some good physical stamina. So there are no illusions here and we like to believe being in El Chalten has helped us get a bit more mentally prepared. But today, we will be sitting on buses all day making our way back to Puerto Natales and looking forward to the rest.

Patagonia - Day 1 - 4

Coming upon the end of Day 4 in Patagonia. In El Chalten to be exact, where we just spent the day on our very first trek to Glacieres Los Tres to see the most spectacular, most highly recommended view of Mount Fitz Roy.

We had very good weather, the first very sunny, aprx 60 degree day. Set out at 9:30 am for the trailhead straight from our little backpacking hostel, La Rancho Grande. Perfect T shirt weather. Words cannot describe how spectacular it is here, the granite, snowcapped peaks, the rapidly changing vistas from lakes to glaciers to desert scrub, the wide open, most expansive skies I have ever seen, the amazing scents of earth and wind, then everything together the most intense, most spectacular of combinations. I am taking loads of pictures, trying hoping to convey what it is I am seeing, even Macchu Piccu not this intense, not this consistently heart pacingly exhilirating.

Tomorrow we do another recommended day hike, to Mount Torre. Days here so long, the sunlight lasts till about 9 pm so no worries about running out of time. But it adds to the trippiness of the ageless landscape. The sun so bright, the sky so blue at such unexpected times and you are on a perpetual sun-induced high, despite any physical exertion and fatigue. Coupled by the mental trippiness of so much expansivenss of space all around. So it is like jetlag on acid (yes, like I know).

So yes so far, Staci Jon and I are having an amazing time. And today she had a pretty special birthday with the Fitz Roy trek. We are dorming it at the hostel and she has the top bunk, sweet girl. And today twas was so nice to get out. Been sitting on our asses (mostly) since meeting on our flight from Santiago because Patagonia bus rides are so very long: first Punta Arenas - Puerto Natales (4 hours), then Puerto Natales - El Calafate (aprx 6 hrs plus Chile/Argentinia border control), then El Calafate - El Chalten (about 3 hours). We were so excited to wake up today, don our fabulous pleated hiking pants, and actually TREK. Friday, we head at last to Torres del Paine and will stay at refugios along the way + 1 night tent camping. Supposed to be one of the most spectular hikes in the world, we are praying praying the weather will be kind to us. El Chalten a good omen so far.

Love love love (and happiness) from Patagonia, Karen
(Tuesday, 11/24 10:16 pm)