Chile

While camping in Chalten we met some Swiss cyclists who told us about a rather labourious crossing from Chile to Argentina that involved two ferries and a day of trekking. It sounded pretty cool to me, and I was able to talk Eden into it. To make things more challenging, we decided to skip one of the ferries and use the money we saved on pizza and beer in town. What a great idea!

Late in the season the ferry only leaves once a week, so we were forced to stay in Chalten a few extra days before catching a bus to Lago Desierto 37km away. That day we hiked 25km with EVERYTHING up and down the side of the lake to reach a remote Argentine border post where we camped for the night. The following day we packed everything up and trekked a further 30 odd km to the Chilean border post and camped at a very isolated estancia (farm). The following day we caught the ferry to the small town (500 peeps) of Villa O´Higgins. This town was founded in the late 60s by the Chilean government by rounding up all the people in the area and creating a town on the frontier to strengthen their territorial claim to the area. Because of border disputes, the crossing has only recently become popular. Last year 1500 took it and this year just over 3000.

Villa O´Higgins was pleasant enough and we did another short trek up the Rio Mosco and stayed at a free refugio with some Swiss friends we had met earlier.

Back in town we were unlucky and the bus out of town was full. This was not good, and in a place at the end of the Carretera Austral (southern highway), there isn´t much traffic. Nevertheless, we tried hitching out of town for two days before a guy offered to drive us 80 of the 90km to the ferry. Not wanting to wait two more days we took the ride but then using GPS and a road map, were disappointed to find out he had only dropped us about 45km from town. Oops! So we spent the next 6hrs walking along the road, followed by circling Andean Condors... not very optimistic for us, perhaps? Before just before the final 20km a friendly couple picked us up and we hopped in the back of their truck with a load of firewood to ride to the ferry to catch the last sailing of the day.

Talking to them on the ferry they offered to drive us all the way to Cochrane about 200km away. Awesome.

On Feb 27 we hopped a bus to Puerto Natales to prepare for our 8 to 10-day trek in Torres del Paine National Park. The ¨circuit¨, which circumnavigates most of the park, is considered one of the premier treks in the MUNDO. The entire park was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve and is home to guanaco, rhea, huemul (endangered Patagonian deer), puma, and condors. The landscape varies from Patagonian steppe, mature beech forest, hanging glaciers, the massive 17-km long Glaciar Grey, and several milky-blue lakes and rivers, as well as the three famed 3000 m high towers of granite that give the park it´s name

This 150-km long trek was the longest that we had ever attempted so we had to ration our food carefully. On a typical day we each ate 40g of oatmeal with jam for breakfast, 50g of raisins, 100g of peanuts, 2 granola bars, 40g of cheese, and 45g of chocolate for lunch and snacks, and 100g of pasta for dinner.

Hoping to include a few long side trips with the circuit, and thanks to long daylight hours, we decided to hike further each day so we wouldn´t run out of food. We left the park on the 7th day, tired and stinky.

On Feb 25 we boarded a 10+ hour bus to Punta Arenas and spent a couple of days exploring the port town. It was once a very important city during the wool boom of the late 1800s and still maintains approximately 150 buildings from that era. The city was once quite grand, and while experiencing some renewal, its glory days are past.