Torres Del Paine National Park

DAY 1:

After two bus rides totalling 4 hours we arrived at the gate of the park. Like morons we started walking down the road only to have everyone else jump in a van that took them to the trail head. Amie was fighting a terrible cold. We made it to our first lodge and then Amie slept while I went on to hike the peak. That night we eneded up having Christmas Eve dinner with about 45 other people in the lodge including a fellow co-worker I ran into and a couple from Redwood city. Lots of Germans and French here.

DAY 2:

Hiked down the mountain and checked into the nice hotel at the park, thank god because Amie was sick and we did not have a reservation yet. We were going to have to camp in the rain with no tent so we jumped on the available hotel room. We did a day hike or two and then just relaxed. Had a wonderfull Christmas dinner while it rained outside. Amie started to recover from her cold but staying in the nice lodge that night came with a price to pay the next day......

DAY 3:

In order to make it to the next lodge and get back on track we needed to hike the entire length of the park. After 8.5 hours and 15.5 miles with full packs we made it to the next lodge. The weather was perfect for the hike (actually really mild) and we had views of the most amazing mountain lakes all day, some were the color of milk-of-magnesia from the glacial run off. You can drink from all the streams and rivers they are so clean and cold, some tools (mostly paranoid americans were filtering their water. Hello - what are you filtering out of the mointain stream) Dave says the park looks similar to the Tetons. Pictures to follow.......at some point.

DAY 4:

The next morning we hiked to the glacier. Amie didn´t bring her hat, gloves or extra sweater so she had to borrow mine (I got blamed for this, I didn´t realize I had to tell her to take such things to a glacier!) We had lunch on a beach at a lake with icebergs floating by, it was really other worldly. The weather was crazy this day, so windy I thought I was going to get blown over. Ah summer in Patagonia.

DAY 5:

We kind of wussed out and decided to take the catamaran to the park exit rather than hike 5 hours to get there. Good thing too, since it was windy, raining and really cold, the mountains even got a new dusting of snow. The boat ride out was really cool we saw pink flamingos, swans and condors! It also came with the standard llama looking things all over the place. Dave really wanted to see the mighty Puma - no such luck.

We made it back to Punta Arenas for a nice dinner. Dave had beaver, no joking, Im serious...... I had a lovely grass-fed fillet of beef. Read Omnivores Dillema, my new favorite book, and you can read why that is significant.

DAY 6:

Off to Buenos Aires today to meet Dave´s dad and his wife Linda. We are going to also hook up with a guy I went to High School with while we are there, such a small world.

Punta Arenas

Well nothing in life ever goes quite as planned. We missed a connection in Santiago so we spend a day there hanging out. Our cab driver Victor was a fantastic tour guide and took us around the city center and out to lunch. Santiago is a huge City and when viewed from the top of the central Castillo, it looks a lot like LA.

We sat in a little restaunt and had beers and civeche. Amie had some really nice soup but neither of us was really hungry but we felt like we had to eat since Victor took us there. The park in the middle of the city reminded me a lot of the park in Nice, France. Right in the middle of town was this large hil and all around it were parks and a trails. In fact, now that I think about it, it was a lot like the hill that Coit Tower is on in San Franicisco.

Finally, we made it to Punta Arenas at amout midnight (8 hours late) and the sun had just set. It is amazing to be so far south. The days are so long. Right now it is 5pm and it looks like noon.

When we arrived last night it was too late to do anything so we went right to bed. However the cab at first took us to a closed and run down building before we realized we were in the wrong place. After re-loading the cab we made a few blocks detour to the correct location.

Today we wondered around and visited the cemetary. Some of the crypts have been there for hundreds of years and were from familes of all sorts of backgrounds. Lots of slovic people here.

Today we learned that ski-ball is universal, arcade across the street from our hotel. Could world peace be far behind.

12 Hours To Go

Well we leave the house at 9:30 tomorrow to go to SFO (then to Miami to Santiago to Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas - woosh). It was a frantic day of packing and cleaning and getting everything ready. I think we are set.

Dave reviewed my packing since my back-pack was bigger than his. After only a small fight over how many running outfits I actually needed to bring, I managed to pair down to the basics I think. So please excuse the photos where it looks like I am wearing the same thing everyday, I probably am......

Warmth is my priority (not style) for our first 10 days in Southern Chile. The weather forecast for Punta Arenas & Puerto Natales is 40's to 60's. Rain, wind, sun, hail, are all expected - a pretty typical summer down there from what I have read.

We decided to dedicate the trip to my Dad. He died when he was 32, which is how old I am now. Pretty scary fact, but it makes me even more glad that we decided to take this trip. You just never know.

ENGAGEMENT

Big News, Mike has proposed to Meghan (that's my little sister for anyone that doesn't know)! Congratulations to them. We wish you all the best. Good luck wedding planning......

Business Class Rules. If Amie is passed out when we get there from the Ambien and can't move I'm going to be upset.

7 DAYS AND COUNTING

We leave next Wednesday the 20th. We are just starting to pack things up. We did some damage at REI for our essential foul weather gear for the Torres Del Paine National park in southern Chile.

Good news, we found out yesterday that we were bumped to FIRST CLASS for the Miami to Santiago portion of the trip. A big cushy seat + an Ambien = a happy flight.