Springtime in Chile

I really had no desire whatsoever to leave El Chalten. I had already pictured my cute little life in the quaint little town. Imagined my own little tin house with a yard full of dandy lions, thought about what the day to day existence would be like, and it all seemed pretty lovely to me. But I had friends on their way who were flying a very far distance to come visit me, and I was still a long long long way south from where the were arriving. So I packed my mochila yet again (the amount of things I can manage to fit into this backpack never ceases to amaze me), said goodbye to new friends, made a promise to those mountains that I would return again one day and hopped on the bus. 12 hours up the bumpy, dusty Ruta 40 brought me here...

sunset in Los Antiguos, Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina

"We come from the land of the Ice and Snow"

This place has something special, and it is felt immediately.

To all my Steamboat people; you know that wonderful feeling we all get coming over Rabbit Ears Pass when you haven't been home in a while and you catch that first glimpse down into the Valley? Well, I experienced a sensation very similar to this upon first arriving to El Chalten.  The little town of about 700 year round residents is nestled at the base of the most spectacular mountains I have ever witnessed. Driving in from El Calafate, you pass through the dry rolling, shrub covered hills of the estepa, leveling off into the flat valley floor following the snaking rivers that flow here with only a fraction of the force they carry when they are born from the glaciers. Green mountains begin to stack up on either side, layered with lines of sediment and rock, telling the story of this landscape when it was covered in ice and ocean. And then, in the distance, behind a veil of wispy swirling clouds, appear the towers. Butterflies fluttered in my heart and an limitless smile spread across my face. This could be the place..........

Perrito Moreno Glacier- El Calafate, Argentina

A glacier is not a sedentary thing; it is in fact alive in a constant battle of gravity being waged behind its icy blue walls. It creaks and groans like the wooden floor boards of a century old farm house. You hear 'snap, crackle, pop' and the eyes race frantically across the walls looking for the big chunk breaking free. It seems a little wrong to be waiting and wishing for such immense destruction but the first hunk you see fall brings about an excitement similar to that of the Jango tower falling, but multiplied by 1,000! The ice hisses and rumbles under the push and shove of it's own weight. The sound of gunshots firing from deep crevasses, cannons exploding in the distance and you know you've just missed a good one. 

Torres del Paine

the National Geographic boat! coming in to port, Puerto Natales, Chile

Land of Fire

I finally made it. It took several years but I have arrived, to el fin del mundo. Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego was our southerly destination goal for the first South American burro romp, but we didn't quite make it, we actually didn't even get close. So to say now that I have made it this far, all on my own, feels like quite the accomplishment in itself.