It's your plate..

Something I brought back from Chile..

Everyone has their own plate in life, and it's yours to do whatever you want with it. Nobody can take that away.

Thought that was cool.

-from Manuel

Why do old ladies perm their hair?

So today my friend Karen and I went on a little adventure. But, we've pondered this question. Wondering if when we're old and gray (well, gray with a blue hint) will we be calling each other up to go to our weekly beauty appointments to perfect our curls?

I don't believe this will ever be the case for me. I shall resist - no matter how frail my hair is. Surely curling it won't help.

Karen, however is a lost cause as her hair is curly already. Although she is working to grow it long as I (apparently) told her STARTING OUT with short-n-curly hair would just be bad.

Fitting enough, Karen was on her way to Boulder for a hair appt - by people who know how to perfect those curls. (this is me joking a little)

I heard the opportunity to play in Boulder - with Karen - and so our adventure was set.

Our plan was to head down, she gets beautified, I check out REI - and see if they have the crampons I've been interested in, and then we meet back up and run.

Karen and I like motivating each other.

Well, I've been trying to make progress at home, and working towards school. It's easy for me to jump onto physical activities and adventures. Sticking to my guns and plans and being dedicated to career progress, etc takes more discipline.

Well, I woke up this morning (early), my mind racing with progress I want to make, feeling I really should finish my home projects and school research and bypass playing in Boulder.

Dropped the Mazda off for repairs - biked home. Felt nice. Happy the Mazda is soon to be back to life!

Called Karen to say I thought I'd better stay home, but would still run. Could hear her voice sink.

Immediately got off the phone and thought "what did I just do?" We weren't planning to leave till noon. Plenty of time to make progress at home. My options. Be at home - alone - working on projects. OR, work on stuff in the morning, head out for a playday adventure. And still have time in the evening to make progress. Option #2 it was.

We had a great day and it was well worth it. We ran up to the Mallory cave near NCAR and got to help an older (but spunky) lady get up there - it's a rock scramble and many younger people were balking. The woman was so excited when she got back down and exhilarated, Karen and I both thought she'd go sign up for a triathlon or some other crazy adventure when she got home. She was so pumped, I thought she might beat us back down the trail, running on adrenaline.

So, we had a fun day. Responsibilities are still there, but play is important. And I think Karen and I are gonna still be egging each other on when we're old `n gray. Now it's just a question of curls...

Moab May 7-11!

It's that time of year again, and Moab is calling! :) Really looking forward to it. Heading out May 7, returning May 11. I love camping out there (and biking), and this year it's a big crew. Contemplating desserts and salsa!

If anyone is interested in joining, let me know. The more the merrier :)

Progress at home

A little update from home. Today was day 6 (I think) of shed and fence work, and almost completed taking down the privacy fence. Shed work I completed over the weekend. Yeah! Had to get up my nerve to take out the circular saw to cut the roof into smaller pieces I could move (with roofing material, supports, and plywood, it was heavy). Circular saws really scare me. I always fear I'm going to hit something and it's going to kick back and get out of control and something bad happening. But all went well. The shed was a messy, huge job, but I'm super glad it's gone.

Today dismantled the other 1/2 of the privacy fence, taking down all boards (and removing nails for moving) and cross supports. Now just have posts to pull and a big (2nd) trip to the dump. Everything is already loaded into the trailer - one of the great, multi-use benefits of horse trailers.

The cool part is with the fence down things look much more open, which I like.

My house isn't clean, but made good progress outside. Pups got to help.

Feeling - a little tired.

Little Digger

One more story/tidbit - have a crash story from this week - a good one.

Enjoying the daylight after work, and warm weather after our little snow. Feeling good Tuesday, decided to do a quick little ride up at the Backbone. Coming down from the mesa, thinking about organizing group rides, happy I was making good progress over the rocks. Starting thinking about a guy at work who'd recently crashed badly on his road bike (he's OK) - thought about sending him a funny little message saying mtn biking is SO much safer!

Well, 2 seconds after that, I hit a rock wrong - on an easy section and it knocked me off balance and to the right. Went to put my foot down but happened to be riding beside a 2ft drop followed by a steep embankment. No foot spot. Flipped upside down and landed ~10ft down onto rocks and then rolled. I stopped and pretty quickly started feeling nauseous from the impact. I just laid there for 10-15 minutes, weakly saying "help" a couple times. Mostly to make me feel better. Pretty sure nobody was out still. There were only a couple cars at the lot when I started. Pretty sure I hadn't broken anything. Took my watch off b/c I was afraid my right wrist might start swelling, and I wasn't sure if I'd pass out. Thinking it woulda been nice if I'd grabbed my cell phone. Thought I was hearing air come out of my tires - wondering how in the heck I'd pump them back up, but it was just my head making sounds.

Eventually my body started feeling better. Got up. Things seemed ok. Knowing I'd be sore. Bike was upside down but intact. Actually rode my bike back down w/o too much difficulty. Had planned to go to the grocery store after riding, so did that.

By the time I was done shopping, pretty much had no use of my right arm or hand. Smacked the tendon or ligament on my right arm so hard, couldn't bend it very far. Thumb couldn't move either - hurt too much. Had to turn the ignition with my left hand and also use it to operate the stick shift driving home. Get home and it took a while to do critters and put groceries away. Couldn't get out of my clothes. Decided I really LIKED wearing what I was wearing :)

Called mom for a little sympathy :) Now I'm better matched to her - she recently fell off a horse injuring her thumb. And my boss, who just came out of knee surgery after hitting a tree skiing - with me (although we weren't actually together at the time). I think I'm actually in better shape than both. Have some nice color on my hand. Fingers on my other hand are also a little sore. And knee and arm and back where I rolled and hit rocks, but the rolling part really saved me.

Thinking it would be smart to start carrying a cell phone and/or telling someone where I'm riding if I go alone. But all is well. That's my story! Hopefully I won't have too many more of those.

An update from home!

Been home for almost two weeks now - it's crazy how fast the time flies by. Seems surely I packed in more activities while I was away, but not having to work makes it easier.

Have gotten some of my writing up - I'd like to complete it. For a memory and to share.

Enjoyed getting together with my neighbors for dinner and picture/story sharing. That was lots of fun. They are great neighbors and friends. Also had fun at my friend Karen's place. Enjoyed seeing her and Jeremy and Val. Having a great dinner, shared more pics and stories, and I decided to bake a cherry and strawberry pie! Turned out yummy. Been in the mood to bake. The freedom to cook for myself again!

Today I have off work for Good Friday - I didn't even KNOW it was Easter until this week. Last year over Easter I was out in Washington visiting my friend Dylan, and also my mom and relatives, and my friend Lauren in Canada. Would enjoy another trip out that way - such a beautiful place.

Four solid days of work was a bit of a shocker after being off for a month! Days 1-2 - good. Working on a cool project with good people. Day 3 really felt like work. The pups were noticeably worried too. They'd had me home with lots of attention for a week, and suddenly I was gone again.

Pups and I today are gonna finish dismantling the shed out back. The shed is mostly gone - only the roof is left. Spent parts of 3 days last week doing the big job. Privacy fence is next which the wind helped take down last night.

Trying to use my energy to make good progress. Some things in the pursuit - Spanish classes (a desire - hopefully this summer or else fall), working with my vet neighbor this summer volunteering at her clinic. This sounds like a go. May start as early as next month on my Wednesdays off!

Will likely try my hand playing ultimate frisbee this spring. Gonna sign up - we'll see if I make it onto a team.

Thinking about school and finances - how to make that all work. Taking some steps in that direction.

Was great seeing my brothers out here in Colorado. Rare I get to see and play with both at once! So, that was great :) I have to say I've got great siblings and family :) Smile again.

Looking forward to re-starting dance. My class this week was canceled. Enjoyed a nice run up at HT instead.

OK, pups and I are off to shed work and playing with the horses! Take care :)

Bluebirds in Colorado

I've gotten a chance to get out onto the trails a few times since I've been back home - enjoying that. Something a little unique is I've been seeing tons of bluebirds out on the trails. Was trail running at Horsetooth Mountain Park and saw a flock of 50-70 bluebirds. I've never seen more than 1-2 together at once. Pretty cool. Over the weekend saw more nearby on the Ginny trail. Wonder if this is typical springtime migration or unique this year?

Had an awesome run after work Monday night with the snow. The sun was starting to set, but still up. Near the top of Horsetooth Mountain. Colorful skies. Snow covered trees, and a slight breeze blew and the pine trees were suddenly in a mist of snow.

The cool things one gets to see :)

Backpacking the AGT

A little more..

My favorite part of my trip south was meeting the people in Chile and Argentina and the personal connections. I loved the mountains and glaciers and variety of terrain, but it was really that mixed with the people that made it a pretty awesome trip, and one I enjoyed a lot.

The 8 day Aysen Glacier Trail (AGT) backpacking trip was the outing I loved most. We headed in by boat from the little "town" of Puerto Bertrand. Four of us went on the backpacking venture, and since I was the only formal client, it turned out being more like a friend backpacking trip than a guided tour which was pretty cool. It was Yoani (main guide for the AGT), Manuel, Andres (friend interested in the area - his first time on this route), and me. Three Chilean guys and me. Not bad :)

-- Andres, Me, Manuel, Yoani, Jonathan --

The boat ride to the start of our journey was awesome. Blue water, views of glacier capped mountains, waterfalls all around. Could it be better?

Turned the corner, heading towards a valley marking the start of our journey. The home of a cattle rancher, Ramon. We had to cross Ramon's property to access the trail. Spent some time visiting with Ramon, seeing some super cute little kids dragging this huge canoe across the lawn - helped them out, dogs, met Ramon's son-in-law Ektar.

Everything is so personal in Chile. This I really loved. Even at the fancy hotel I stayed at in Coyhaique, met the owner and people who worked there and felt like family. Different from the states.

Shortly we are off on our venture. Packs are fairly heavy. Mine, I come to learn is light compared to the guides'. Mine weighed in around 35-40lbs I think. Their's were significantly heavier as they carried all the food (but didn't have to carry their sleeping bags).

We ate REALLY well on the backpacking trip. Chicken, beef, fruits, veggies, chocolate. The meats were vacuum sealed before our trip (I asked) to keep it fresh. Dry foods - some - were already stashed at the camp sites.

Because of the location of the route, it's been largely untraveled and untouched. Both ends require travel across private property and water, so logistically it's hard to get there.

On day one, my boots were biting into my heals a bit, as they were fairly new and suddenly being used with a heavy pack, climbing and descending steep terrain. I smartly (thanks to Andres) taped up right away before blisters began - stayed taped for day #2, and then I was good to go. These same pair of boots now have very little tread left - says something I think! :) Need tougher tread.

I loved the variety in terrain - mountains, and glaciers, and grasslands, and dense, moist forests, sand dunes and beach, river... it contained it all.

Had ample time to practice my Spanish and three guys to practice on. The language barrier was somewhat challenging and proved a separator. One of the tougher things for me. Most stories on this trip were told in Spanish, and I wanted to be a part. By the end of the 8 days I'd have to say (proudly) I could at least make out the jist of conversations. Good progress considering I started off knowing next to no Spanish. I brought my Spanish dictionary along, and spent a fair bit of time writing down words and trying to translate my thoughts.

The mountains were beautiful. My favorite was a glacier encrusted mountain across from our 4th camp. I was finishing "Into Thin Air" on the backpacking trip, and tried to picture what the ice fields on Everest looked like. After seeing that mountain and the ice on it and hearing and feeling the boom and rumble of the glacier shifting, crushing rock and boulders in its path, I felt like I had an idea. I'd never seen something so ferocious and beautiful looking.

Ramon rode in on horseback and joined us at camp #2 and stayed the night. This was cool. He brought his two horses and his dog and Mate (Argentina tea that is packed into a small, round drinking cup/mug with a special filtering spoon and passed around and enjoyed in a group).

People in Patagonia eat lots of meat and potatoes or bread and not a lot of fruits or vegetables or grains, so they use Mate as a source of vitamins and as an aid to go to the bathroom. I wondered about the passing of germs, but I was told people don't really get sick down here.. It was a strong tasting tea that seemed to have a bit of caffeine.

A funny thing about this trip is that I went off caffeine mostly for this trip, and quickly was offered coffee and mate and so I was pretty much on caffeine the entire time. Ah well :)

We got to rock climb and boulder. There were a couple tricky rock traverses that we did with our full packs. Lots of story telling. The Chilean people seem to be excellent conversationalists. We didn't have radio or TV or any other distraction. So you talk and laugh.

Andres was an awesome story teller, and got his whole body into the story telling. He is a teacher at an outdoor guide school in Chile.

Things I learned - dogs are liked, but have a pretty tough life in Chile. Ranch dogs get whatever scraps are given and work hard. They are all very skinny. City dogs are plentiful. Most are strays. Most intact. Some are pets. Most are super friendly, but a little shy. I enjoyed seeing the dog interactions and which ones were friends with which. They knew where to wait to get meals.

Made friends with a few on my way. My favorite was a pup in the little Villa of O'Higgins. Met him one day, and the next I was laying down in the park reading, and he saw me and came bounding down the hill, landing happily in my lap. That was cool. We played for a bit and then he spotted his jack russel terrier friend, and was off on a new adventure playing.

That's the way things worked down there - an endless set of adventures. That's the way it seemed.

I enjoyed Yoani's serious, but smiling and joking and fun nature that came out on this trip. Apparently he rarely shows the joking, fun side around clients, but he told Manuel he felt like it was a friend trip, and not a guide trip. This I thought was cool. I appreciated his nice smile when things got challenging and he could tell I was putting in my best effort to keep up and make good progress - like crossing the ice field when it got rainy and slippery and we're navigating steep crevasses that were a mix of ice and rock and sand, and it was raining and we hadn't eaten because of the weather. He gave some nice smiles at my efforts, and I appreciated these.

I have to wonder a bit on other clients who come b/c surely I'm in better shape than most. But, from talking, it sounds like I was carrying a much heavier pack than most clients carry. So, this makes me feel better.

The mountain peaks and ridges were awesome. All were begging to be explored. I desperately wanted more days to explore. We were on a schedule - partly b/c of logistics. We were meeting folks at the other end by boat. We had one rest day with opportunity to explore. Our gear was all wet from crossing the ice field, including my boots, but I was determined to explore, so I set off wearing my tevas. I think I should make a new commercial for teva :) Crossing boulder fields, bushwacking and climbing up through raw, dense forests, to reach a ridge line I so badly wanted to explore. Didn't get as much time as I'd have liked, but it was fun nonetheless.

I almost convinced the guys to ration food and stay out more days - we had a satellite phone with us, so there was a way to communicate. But, didn't get total buy in. I know the guys wanted to. They'd never explored either.

Another time.

The peaks and terrain reminded me of so many areas. Parts looked like Colorado. Parts like WI. Parts like New Mexico. Parts like Arizona. All in one small area. Pretty unique.

At our 5th camp site (6th night), Ektar hiked in to meet us, bringing a slab of beef from Ramon's cattle (and bringing our boat!). That was our best meal. Had fresh guacamole, amazing meat, excellent burritos. Sleeping under the stars.

I loved sleeping outside under the stars. Being a part of the group. Awesome views of the southern cross and Orion. Seeing the bunny rabbit in the moon. Watching satellites fly across the sky.

We had quite the bushwacking adventure getting to the water from camp #5 to where the boat was stashed. There was no trail, and there were times we were 1-2 feet off the ground, suspended by prickery brush. My legs were so scratched up. I finally resorted to getting out my gators. We're wearing sandals to keep our boots dry. Getting into the water as needed. If was (literally) ice cold, and took only seconds to make your legs and feet ache with cold.

We're laughing though b/c it's so crazy.

My favorite night of this venture was camp #6 at the Sol de Mayo ranch. A ranch of working mountain gauchos. Beautiful horses. More hard-working dogs. We stayed in this tiny cabin. Taking showers in an outhouse with a water heater heated by wood. Our light was by candle.

I carried glacier ice in my gators so we could enjoy Bisquo Sour - a drink of Bisquo (grape made alcohol), lemons, sugar, egg, and ice. Manuel, in Santiago, is a bartender in addition to student.

We had goat for dinner - this part wasn't easy to eat. We'd passed the herd of goats on our way in.

Story telling, dinner, and singing and guitar music by Ektar. Ektar has an amazing voice, singing old ranching and funny songs in Spanish. Caught a little of it with my camera - sound only :) The table took up most of the cabin. Old bunk beds around. Wood burning stove. Out in the middle of the mountains. If I could repeat a moment, it would be that night. Morning was just as good, awakened to warm breakfast, and more singing and guitar by Ektar. Everybody around. If all days could start like this. I was the only female on this whole venture. It was unique.

From this ranch, headed out on the last day by horseback. The scenery was so beautiful, it felt like I was in a movie.

All I can say is that I felt super lucky.

We crossed the last river by barge and off to "civilization". The backpacking outing was definitely fun and memorable.

Getting there

How my trip played out and favorite parts.

Pictures are up on the link to the right - still need to label them. The Argentina pics are still upcoming - I've used my 100 MB quota, so they'll go up next month :)

Start of the trip..

Flew into Balmaceda Chile from Santiago. The flight between the two towns was amazingly beautiful. Had clear skies flying south with an endless view of mountains and lakes and dormant volcanoes.

The Balmaceda airport is super tiny. Took a shuttle van from Balmaceda to the nearest "bigger" town of Coyhaique Chile. And nope, wasn't riding on top of the bus with chickens and crying babies. It was actually fairly modern. Along the way pass little farm parcels and tiny little houses. I'm pretty much immediately in love.

Coyhaique was by far the fanciest (and biggest) town I was in the whole trip. Also one of the two places I was on paved roads :) It reminded me of a small-scale Boulder. About 40,000 people. Nice little downtown walking area with stores and restaurants and puppy dogs everywhere. I was amazed how "westernized" things were and how easy it was to get around. Everyone was super friendly. There were North Face stores and Patagonia stores, etc. Sporting equipment was key. People are dressed not so differently from here. Lots of happy kids and happy people and happy dogs everywhere. Lush open mountains in clear view (and walking distance). Fruit trees. Cute little houses. I stayed at a nice hotel here and met up with my main guide and travel partner, Manuel.

I've got a nice map that covers most of my ventures while I was down south.

From Coyhaique, traveled south with Manuel along the Sur (south/Hwy 7) highway for ~5 hours to a little (very little - 60 people) town of Puerta Bertrand. We did some grocery shopping in Coyhaique before we left, gearing up for our 8 day backpacking trip.

The drive south was lots of fun and beautiful. First heading out of town, noticed the burned trees, done to create more grazing land for the cattle and sheep. We were on paved roads for a short bit and then transitioned to dirt and gravel, of which I was on for most of the duration of my trip. People in Chile drive amazingly fast on the dirt roads, and they are windy and narrow. I loved the street signs marking inclines and declines in the road.

Getting closer to Puerta Bertrand caught my first glimpses of the amazingly blue-green water. To me, looked like the color of anti-freeze or blue kool-aid. The unusual color is a product of silica dioxide that causes the light to reflect and refract in a way that we see that color.

One of the biggest assets to Patagonia, next to the vast mountains and beautiful wild land, is the huge supply of fresh, drinkable water. While I was in Chile and Argentina, I drank almost solely from the rivers, streams, waterfalls, and glaciers, without any filtering. This is pretty amazing. Makes the land and area rich. I brought my camel bak, but only used it once in Argentina. Beyond that simply carried a water bottle and filled up whenever the need hit. I was a little leery at first, being that this is a big no-no in CO, but there is no giardia in Patagonia, and the fresh water source is so large, and animal and people population so low, the water is largely uncontaminated.

Precipitation comes in from the Pacific ocean, deposits on the Andes mountains forming the glaciers and ice caps. With the added weight the ice and snow shifts downwards (inland) and eventually melts forming the rivers and streams.

How I ended up in Patagonia

I've debated how best to share the experiences on my trip to Chile and Argentina. I really had a great trip and am so happy I went. Am glad to be home all the same :)

I was driven to go by a desire to see parts of the world I couldn't picture and hadn't experienced. Feeling isolated in my little world in CO. I wanted to see South America or Central America. Didn't have a clear destination. All would be new. Wanted to see and experience how others lived. See parts of the world different from here. Expand my horizons and view of the world. Grow.

My friend Carl and I spent one night searching locations on the internet. Our main search criteria was adventure, outdoors, and South/Central America. We happened on many sites. When I saw pictures of Patagonia, the mountains, and awesome adventures possible, I was drawn. From that, perused the various sites on the area. Happened upon the site for Patagonia Adventure Expeditions. By far had the best information on the area, climate, people, and culture.

Several months went by between that time and when I actually took the action to contact Jonathan at PAEX. Had hopes of traveling with my friends Karen and Jeremy, but it ended up it'd just be me. Jonathan agreed to do the adventure anyway, even though I'd be the ONLY client. Another couple who would have been joining my trip had to re-schedule.

In retrospect this turned out to be a good thing I thing. Made my trip really unique. I never was lonely on my adventure. Was with people the entire time. There were challenges for sure. And, I got to experience a new place on this planet, way down south :) And feel connected to the people there. Satisfied my immediate desire to see something beyond the US and will provide good preparation for future travels.

I will travel back down in the future and look forward to experiencing places beyond. And hope to see those I met on my travels again in the future :)

My experiences are going to be written as a series of posts. Enjoy! :)

A little update

Here´s a little update from the Southern hemisphere :) Hope all is well in CO and WI.

I´m keeping a written journal of my trip. Computer access or technology of any sort has been hard to come by! We´ve been travelling by foot and horse and van and boat. Trekked into Argentina by foot with our extra gear coming via horse. Horse with gear arrived 10 min before the boat crossing the lake (once daily) was scheduled to leave. A little tight. Thought we´d have to hike back or camp overnight. People here have been wonderful. Really loved Chile. Towns super small. Almost all dirt roads since I´ve been here. Actually the only paved roads I´ve been on were from the airport in Balmaceda to Coyhaique Chile and a little ways towards Puerta Bertrand. I´ve gotten to drive crazy fasy on dirt roads - thanks to Manual letting me take for the helm for some fun. Folks in Chile drive really fast on the dirt roads.

Have tons of pics. Hopìng I´ll have enough camera memory. Getting filled up.

Look forward to talking to folks when I get back. Will need to figure out a good way to share.

Have over 800 pics plus video!

And the adventures aren´t over :)

Heading out onto the pampas of Argnetina today. Will be driving for about 5-6 hrs. Then heading back into the Andes of Argentina for some more camping and mtn hiking.

Hope all is well back home. Take care! :)