Torres del Paine

Before I left Ushuaia, I checked out one last museum dedicated to the Indigenous of this region - the Yamana. It was the last place to be settled by humanity as it took them awhile to populate down from the Bering Strait Land Bridge 12,000 years ago.

Argentina is similiar to the States in geography, ancestors, and the manner in which the native populations were dealt with. Chile had a much more difficult time with the Mapuche Indians (similiar to the ferocious holdout of the Seminole in Florida State of the United States of North America.)

There are memorials to the Malvinas War throughout Argentina. Not a smart war (are any?) started by Argentina´s dictatorship at the time. England was powerfully armed to take on the Soviets and the islands are lonely pieces of land with not much more value than the sheep that graze there.

So it was back across the Strait of Magellan with the local motor-homes and sheep...

From here it was on to Punta Arenas, Chile. Did I mention it is windy down in Tierra del Fuego?

A statue of Magellan in the city center. There is a lot of European history scattered around the cone of South America from the expeditions launched to discover a route to Asia and from commerce before the Panama Canal opened.

The flags of the southern states in Chile and Argentina incorporate the Southern Cross... the rest is seagulls and ocean waves. Sort of a milestone moment when I first got a look at them.

Then it was up to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for trekking in Torres del Paine National Park. A very impressive massif on first approach.

I bussed in with gear for a week long trek circumambulating it. It would remind me of the pilgrimage that Hindus, Buddists, and Jains make around the Mount Kailash massif in Tibet. ¨A holy ritual that will bring good fortune¨

Seems this sign and mountains just go together.

So this is the starting point.

Hiking in with clear weather.

Just a river. Of some significance since reading the book ¨Siddartha¨ by Herman Hesse.

Grafitti on the wall of a camp shelter. My sentiments exactly.

Never can get away from civilization completely.

Calafate berries. Edible. Though they say if you it eat some you´re destined to return to Tierra del Fuego again. I ate plenty.

Just more pics...

I enjoy the contrast between the macro and the micro (and the turquoise water and contrast of color and shapes of plant life.)

First time I saw this flower I thought an insect had come by and eaten all but one of the petals.

A neat glacier here. What looks like a cloud near the top is actually snow being blown off the glacier by the strong winds.

Tents for serious climbers.

There are refugios strung along the trail selling/renting camping supplies or with beds to sleep in. Very expensive! They are also the official camping areas. Hence the tents scattered around.

The canyon up to the base of the towers.

It rained the morning I went up to see the towers.

It continued to rain all day as I hiked from here to the next refugio. When I arrived, I was soaked except for what my raincoat covered. The trails are not especially well maintained either. I was hiking through rain-swollen creeks with water up to my knees.

Also, the trekking guru in Puerto Natales had recommended against a pack raincover: ¨packs are made to carry things, not for keeping things dry. Put your stuff in trash bags instead.¨ My pack absorbed an awful lot of water/weight. The trashbags weren´t so effective either. I climbed into my tent, ate some hot food, and then did my best to stay dry in my damp gear until morning. (I always hid my feeble tent under trees out of the rain and wind.) This was morning....

I was really happy to see the sun! Notice the fresh snow on the mountaintops in back. The place looked like a yard sale as everyone dried out from the previous day´s rain.

The silver lining was that there was no rain the rest of the trip. In fact it was spectacularly clear. It had rained itself out. The fields were covered in these white flowers that seemed like snow/dew.

This is a group of very novice Chilean trekkers. Comical in appearance. All sorts of unneccesary things hanging from their packs and hands. The best was the gas lantern carried by the guy in back. A gas lantern, in a Tierra del Fuego summer, when it gets dusky for the 5 hours a day they call night.

So most people (95%) don´t hike around the mountains. They do a bit of trail on the front half only. They miss this refugio on the back side (the little house with green roof in the middle of the peninsula.) Absolutely incredible views here!

The best is this ghostly looking mountain in the background - covered in glaciers and shrouded in heavy low clouds that blow through at a quick pace.

Horses and mountains.

It was a slog up to the final pass. Horribly maintained trail with mud up over the boots. You earn your views here.

A huge river of ice on the other side. The biggest glacier I had seen yet.

The trail then follows the edge of the glacier down to where it empties into a lake below.

Sitting here for a bit I could listen and watch as huge chunks of ice broke off and crashed into the water. The rumble would echo up the glacier. Sounded like thunder.

The upside on the edge of the glacier offered good views.

The trail was chutes and ladders in several places.

At the final refugio there were these hugh red-headed woodpeckers. Tame but not a zoo. Don´t know if there is too much difference there.

Here I am on my way out.

The valley was still flooded from the rainstorm that had occured days before. The one that had nearly drowned me.

Just a small village out in the middle of empty (people empty) on the road to the National Park.