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.
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