The Cutest Things You´ve Ever Seen, Punta Arenas, Chile

There are several colonies of magellenic penguins near Punta Arenas, our southernmost stop in Patagonia, and just across the Straits of Magellen from Tierra del Fuego. We took a trip out to see this colony, of about 500 breeding pairs of penguins. They are the funniest things you have ever seen, and they are tolerant of your presence within a few feet.

Here is a family portrait--the chick is in the middle. The chick looks big because it has fluffy land feathers, and the adults have sleek water feathers. A close-up of an adult penguin outside its burrow. They walk in from the ocean and make burrow-like nests in the grassy hillocks nearby. They return to the same burrows and with the same mates every year.

Two penguins in their native habitat. We heard them making calls, where they would throw back their necks and make a noise very similar to a donkey braying. They also made clucks and warbley, more bird-like noises. But it is still hard to accept that they are actually birds.

A line of penguins heads inland to the colony, from the nearby sound. They looked ridiculous all in a row on their little path. I think they think they look quite diginified, however.

Michael gets up close and personal with the penguins. Quite an experience.

Torres del Paine -- Life on the track

The "grand circuit" around Torres del Paine National Park in Chile is often listed as one of the top hikes in the world, so we were full of expectations and trepidation -- we had high expectations for seeing something quite amazing, and were trepidatious because ¨What if the weather is bad? What if we didn´t pack enough food / clothes / duct tape for a nine-day trip?" and other such questions which plague the mind leading up to a big trip like this. Once we hit the trail, though, all of those issues melted away and it became about just that day´s hike: when are we going to eat lunch, what will camp be like, etc. The big stuff was in our favor too: We had the winds, but they lessened to almost nothing by the end of the trip; we had rain, snow and hail, but the sun was dominant and it felt like summer; the trail was crowded at times and more developed than we are used to, but we found solitude and felt lost in the immense landscape.

Torres del Paine (PIE-nay) translates into either ¨towers of light blue", which could refer to the bluish-tint of many of the glacially-fed lakes, or ¨Paine¨ was the name of an early Welsh explorer. No one seems to know. It´s not the ¨towers of pain," although it´s not hard for that association to keep popping into mind both while looking at the severity of some of the peaks and also while contemplating how many damn miles until camp!

Well, we weren´t disappointed in the trip and if there are treks even more scenic than this one somewhere in the world, I'd be surprised.

So, on to the pictures. We´ll start with some pix of ¨life on the track¨ (as trails are often called down here):


Rosemary sorts out our food as we pack. We measured exactly how much we thought we´d eat each day, but knew we had a little wiggle room because we could buy food at the refugios, if necessary. Somehow, we managed to do all this packing, measuring, sorting and stressing out and still be talking to each other at the end. Just barely. We managed to still be packing at midnight...


Getting off the shuttle van with our heavy packs and ready to go. We knew right away that we weren´t going to be alone on this hike!


On our second night, I´m already trying to dispense with the cooking and just eat right through the bag. A bad sign.



Seron was the name of our campsite on our second night. Cute place set among daisy meadows; oh, and there was also some strange dead-bull thing on the wall, but that didn´t really take away from the ambiance.

They had a scale at Camp Seron, so of course we had to know how much we were trucking around. I had about 50 pounds and Rosemary had 42 -- we were actually pretty happy with that given the length of the trip. Rosemary adds--I actually thought my pack felt lighter than this, so was quite weary to know the true weight. Note: This is not the recommended way to carry a pack.


Camp Paso: RM refuses to leave the warmth of the tent until Michael has the stove going and the hot tea waiting.


Camp Grey: About half-way through the trip, we entered the really popular part of the trail, with loads of people on shorter trips. It was a bit of a shock to go from camping with about 15 other tents around to camping in this sea of nylon.



IT REALLY DOES EXIST! We found the elusive Patagonia Tree, a native species that produces very well-made but really overpriced outdoor clothing. Rosemary was able to just pop out of the tent and pick some new fruit to wear that day!

Torres del Paine -- The Torres and the Meadows of the East Side

This section covers our side trip to see las Torres (for which the park is named), as well as our trek through the east side of the park (days 1 - 3 of our hike).

We approach the park under blessed conditions--here you see Las Torres (the towers) in the center, guarded by many other peaks, looking out over the dry, east side as we arrive by bus. We also saw flamingos in this lake! Our first day was to a camp just below Las Torres, where we spent New Year´s Eve. On New Year´s Day we awoke to mist and drizzle--not too surprising in this land of changeable weather. We hiked up to the lookout point and were happy just to see the Torres out, even in the mist. As it turned out, this was one of only two nights of rain (and the second was sleet...just below Jon Garner Pass...so I´m not sure it counts, but that is getting to the west side and is Michael´s tale to tell.)

Our second day was spent traversing the side slopes of the Patagonian steppe. Here the Rio Paine comes into view...and in the valley the start of the many fields of daisies, meadows, and fine views of the milky, glacial fed river.

A close-up encounter with another Patagonia local--a very curious and friendly horse. We were an hour from camp at 8:30 at night, and we so wanted to throw our packs onto the horses and let someone else bear our heavy loads. Instead we trudged onward, but our spirts were lifted by our meeting.

Typical east side vegetation--puffy looking clumps of light green bushes. Don´t be fooled--the plants of the dry east side are frequently spiny, and must be very tough to put up with the dry and very windy conditions. The little speck in the background is Michael cresting this little pass. On the other side awaited awesome views of Lago Paine and many peaks, but we were also assaulted by massive wind gusts here, as if Patagnoia was saying,¨"You want to see these views! You are going to work for it!!" If you have ever had the snot and spit blown from your nose and mouth, if you have walked on the side of a slope leaning downhill and not fallen over because the wind held you up, if you have almost suffocated on your own breathe until you learned to hold your hand over your mouth so that you could breathe out...then you will understand what the wind of Patagonia is like. And don´t forget about the spiney plants--you´d better make sure you are not near a cluster of that when the wind knocks you off your feet...

Our third night´s camp lies in the valley below... a welcome sight after another long day. This camp sits on Lago Dickenson, with the Hielo Sur (southern continental ice field) beginning just in the valley to the right. The next day we would turn left up the Valle de los Perros (Valley of the Dogs, so named because a sheep herder´s dogs once drowned in its turbulent waters) and leave the meadows and dry east side vegetation behind.

Torres del Paine -- John Garner Pass and the Grey Glacier

Days 4-7 took us into the heart of the park with the much anticipated crossing of John Garner Pass. We knew that it would be the highest point on the trek and that it could be a formidable obstacle if the weather was bad. At the very least, we were told to expect winds so strong that we wouldn´t be able to stay there for long.

The night before crossing the pass, we went to bed listening to hail and ice hit the tent and watching the trees bend in the wind. But we kept telling ourselves to trust what we had learned about the weather in Patagonia: it changes all the time, and if it´s hailing tonight, that means it will be sunny tomorrow. Well, not sure if we were delusional or lucky, but we awoke to sunny, calm skies. The winds at the pass were strong, but not so much that we couldn´t enjoy it for awhile. And there was much to enjoy, as we got our long awaited view to the Grey Glacier, a 15-mile long valley glacier that spills down from the massive ice field. On to it:


Rosemary enjoys the sun on our way up to the pass.


My feet are actually off the ground as I get my first look down the other side of the pass. Glacier Grey looks like a white lake in the background. We are so happy to be at the pass on such a day! We are lucky.


The view of the Grey Glacier from below the pass. It may be hard to get a sense of the scale, but it is about 2.5 miles across and about eight miles to where it disappears into the mountains to the right. The peaks across the valley are about 6 - 7,000 feet.

A long-awaited photo!




One of the most memorable moments of the entire trip to Patagonia will be our excursion down to the edge of the glacier. There wasn´t really a trail, but we thought we saw an easy way down and scrambled to the side of it. I don´t want to sound too corny here, but I really had a feeling of entering some forbidden, sacred world as I approached the edge of the glacier. We´ve spent time on glaciers before and know their risks and power, but this was a whole different story. The Grey Glacier is so large that it finally made clear to me how glaciers truly carve the landscape, creating everything from what we were seeing to our home Skagit Valley to the Great Lakes and so many other areas of the world. Looking under the side of this glacier and seeing where the ice met the ground felt like looking back in time, at one of the most elemental processes that have shaped our planet. Rosemary stayed up high for awhile and got this shot of tiny me, in orange, at the edge.


The polished blue ice at the bottom of the glacier.


Rosemary standing on relatively brand new terra firma and touching the dirty edge of the Grey.



We hiked along the glacier from about its mid-point to past its end. Here´s where it calves off into Grey Lake.

Torres del Paine -- Los Cuernos and Valle de Frances

Our last 3 days completed the grand circuit and took us back to the south and east of the park. You could say we had saved the best for last, but in a park as varied as this one, how do you compare massive glaciers to turquoise lakes and Los Cuernos? In any event, this side of the park is by far the busiest, as well as the most accessible, and Los Cuernos, which means "the horns", are definitively this park´s signature vista.


Our first views of the sparkling waters of turquoise Lago Pehoe (pay-ho-EY), with the famed Cuernos behind, nearly dropped us to our knees with the beauty and brilliance of it. This was also my 35th birthday--being in a place I have dreamed about, with my partner, was quite a birthday gift. I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

Heading up Valle de Frances, a steep side valley reknowned for its hanging glaciers and close-up views of the Cuernos, as well as a hidden amphitheater of other granitic peaks and towers. This is looking down the valley, back at Lago Pehoe. Other lakes are also becoming visible beyond.

Michael, dwarfed by Los Cuernos.

The other peaks in this valley were awesome granitic spires and walls--we soaked in the views from this rocky viewpoint for hours, not knowing which way to look first or longest.




Our last day on the trek, and almost done with the final 12 mile leg that will complete our Circuito Grande--the Grand Circuit, as it is known, covering 123 km (about 74 miles). The park ranger called us "muy fuerte" (very strong!) for completing the circuit -- mainly because of the weight you have to carry in food, because the truth is the distances we hiked each day were neither long nor hard. The day of the most elevation gain was John Garner Pass, but that was only 2000 feet, and although the pass has a mystical reputation as the hardest day, it is more due to the potential winds. I think we can attest to this fact --the winds of Patagonia are what make or break you.

In any event, our last day was blessed with sun again, and only a light breeze. We were--dare I day it? -- hot! Behind us Lago Nordenskjold unfolds--or, as we called it, Lake Nor(mumble)(mumble). A happy day to complete a grand trek. For anyone who has ever picked up a pack and felt their spirits rise as they hiked, we think you should come see this magical place.

Torres del Paine -- Fauna

I can´t claim that these are any of our best photos, but wildlife is wiley like that--rarely standing still or visible at the perfect moment--though I would sit for hours on the bus, camera in hand, waiting for another guanaco to run gracefully past, as six had done before I got the camera out... But we have seen some really fun native fauna, so here are some pictures.

These are guanaco--a native, wild llama-like animal that lives on the plains of Patagonia, where it has a good view of any approaching cougars, its only natural predator. Guanacos struggled in some places, but they are doing really well in Torres del Paine National Park, and their healthy status is considered a success of the park. Sorry, this is really a picture of guanaco butts, but I took this from the window of a bus.Another bus shot, that unfortuantely cuts off the large female nandu (ostrich like bird, also very common on the Patagonian steppe.) But the gaggle of baby nandu were so cute, the entire bus let out a collective "aaahhh!"

Our favorite birds--a native ibis, known variously as the black-necked, black-faced, or buff-necked ibis. We learned to recognize their goose like "honk", which is what alerted me to their presence in this field of daisies. Did you know that Patagonia also has a native parakeet, and native flamingos? Talk about a strange juxtaposition--you are standing looking at a glacier when a flock of parakeets wheels past making their characteristic squaks that I associate very clearly with the tropics. Never mind seeing the pink flamingos... which in the States live only in Florida and further south where it is warmer!

Fox! This was an amazing sighting, and only the dark hour (probably 10:00 at night here) kept me from getting a good shot, as this cagey fox was circling the camp for about 30 minutes, even boldly dropping in to pee a territory marker on a tree within camp. Here Mr. Fox was sitting..scratching, yawning...at the edge of camp...probably waiting for a handout. This is a native Patagonian fox (or southern red fox). Foxes are great, and it was fun to observe one for so long!

Happy goose! This very common goose was walking around another camp with her adorable gaggle of fluffy chicks, while the male goose (which is white) stood alertly near by.

On another random fauna note, Patagonia has no bears, and indeed no predators larger than the cougar. I guess they never made it down here!

Here is our last wildlife sighting of the trek--a very calm and relaxed hueml, which is a small native deer that is actually endangered, so we were lucky to see one. I am not sure how deer go about becoming endangered, but I guess it happens.

Torres del Paine -- Flores 4

Here are some of my favorite flora images from Torres del Paine. We crossed through a multitude of different habitats, from riverine meadows to dry steppes to moist lenga forests (dominate forest type of native beech).

The daisy meadows of the east side of the park were simply astonishing. When we looked out over the fields in the morning light, it looked like a shimmering white lake, the daisies grow so thickly. They were introduced by Europeans (a loooong time ago, I would imagine, given that Europeans came to farm these areas centuries ago, and the daisies are doing really, really well).

Topa-topa, a very common, and cheerful, native. This diminutive version was growing in soil newly exposed by Glacier Grey...perhaps an early colonizer?

One of three native orchids that we saw. This one grew in the shady lenga forests, and was very prolific. It´s name in Spanish is palomita, but for some reason in English it is called the dog orchid. There were no dogs about and I for one do not see the resemblance, so I will go with the Spanish name. The second orhid, called only the yellow orchid, also growing in moist and shady areas of the lenga forests.



Our favorite fern, called Pluma del Mar (which I believe translates as "pen of the sea"). This small fern grows only about 5 or 6 inches long at its maximum, and we saw very tiny versions of it growing high in nooks and crannies of some alpine areas.

A lovely member of the lily family, growing near one of our campsites.