Hello everyone,

After our amazing week in the Cochamó valley, we had to realign our expectations for the next couple of days since everyday can’t involve breathtaking hikes. After leaving Cochamó, we made our way to the big city of Osorno to get our truck serviced. With all of our driving, we had hit the 15,000-mile mark and just needed the routine maintenance done. Luckily there was a Toyota dealership in Osorno that happily serviced our foreign car. Due to not being able to make an appointment beforehand, we were forced to wait all day in Osorno but they were able to fit our car in at the end of the day and then we were off to our next destination, Huilo Huilo biological reserve.

We had heard many things about the Huilo Huilo biological reserve and not all of them were the most positive. Some people told us how magical of a place it was and it was such a unique experience while others told us it is like a kitschy roadside attraction that wasn’t worth the drive to. We weighed all these opinions and decided to give Huilo Huilo a shot since it was on our way north. The website for Huilo Huilo is something else in itself. It is a beautiful website that shows the very unique architecture of the hotels amongst beautiful forests and waterfalls. On their site, we found 4-5 hikes to waterfalls that looked to be worth doing; from this, we budgeted 3 days there. We knew it would be a little more built-up than we were used to but once we got there we just had to laugh.

Huilo Huilo is a privately-owned reserve and it showed right away. All the hikes we wanted to do were only about a mile to two miles each and were situated right off the main road into the town. The waterfalls at the ends of the hikes were very pretty but they were more of viewpoints than hikes. We ended up doing 3 of the hikes on the first day we arrived since they were so short. On the following day, we walked around the famous hotels and these hotels were really cool! They had very unique architecture that made them blend into the natural forest. The main hotel was even built in the shape of a beehive with a waterfall trickling down from the top and plants growing all over it. We really enjoyed this part of Huilo Huilo but since the hikes were so short, we finished all that we wanted to do in about a day, so on our second day there, we decided to keep moving on to Conguillio National Park. Huilo Huilo will be a very memorable part of our trip because of how unique it was. It wasn’t our favorite hiking destination, but we just had to laugh at how different it was from the other natural places we visited.

After our kitschy day in Huilo Huilo, we were very excited to get back into a national park. Conguillio National Park initially didn’t make our list of places to visit, but after doing more in-depth research, I learned this park is considered a hidden gem and we agree! This park is known well by locals but not by international tourists. The park is mainly centered around a huge volcano with most of the park being composed of the various lava fields from this volcano. The landscapes felt very moonlike, and as a lover of geology, I was in heaven! While Nikki enjoys geology for my sake, the real draw for her was one of the best short hikes in Chile, the Sierra Nevada Trail. This short 7 km trail took us to three separate overlooks of stunning lakes and magnificent views of the volcano. The hike was spectacular and made our list of our favorite hikes on the trip so far!

Another reason we loved this park was because we got to camp on shore of a lake we could swim in! Nikki absolutely loved hiking all day then being able to come back to the truck for a swim and a beer on the sand. On our second day we did a much different style hike that started on the lava fields and just went straight up the side of the volcano to the top of a parasite cone. This was a hot and hard hike. We had no shade all day and the trail was very steep on loose volcanic rock but the view at the top was great! We could see 5 separate volcanos and amazing views of the volcanic valleys. We loved our 2 days in Conguillio National Park, but we had to continue on to Mendoza.

It was right about this time that the coronavirus was picking up steam around the world and we were starting to wonder how it would affect us. We contemplated not going back into Argentina due to the fear of getting stuck there. Mendoza was our last planned destination in Argentina and therefore we would have much preferred to get stuck in Chile if it came to that. Eventually we decided to risk it and cross the border for 3 days in Mendoza with the thought that if the borders would close, we would be given a 24 hour notice beforehand and therefore could make it back to Chile. At the border was the first time we saw any impact of Covid-19. The day before, Argentina stopped all flights from the US and when immigration saw our passports, he didn’t know what to do. In Spanish I explained to him that we had been in Argentina and Chile for 4 months and showed him all our stamps. Once he knew that, he was much more relaxed, but he still had to make a phone call to let us in. Once in Argentina we continued to drive north toward Mendoza, but we had one stop on the way.

Our iOverlander app told us about a place called the witches caves and we thought that could be a cool stop. We were lucky enough to arrive at the caves and get the last two spots on the last tour of the day. It was a 2-hour caving tour through this huge cave system that involved crawling through small gaps and climbing ladders into different chambers. The inside of the cave was beautiful due to the numerous stalactites and stalagmites. The cave gets its name from a very creepy rock feature that resembles the face of a witch. We really enjoyed our small caving experience and it was a great stop on our way to Mendoza.

The next day we continued north but when we stopped at a gas station and used the Wi-Fi, our whole plans changed. We had gotten the warning that Argentina and Chile were closing their borders to everyone except for residence in the next 24 hours. We immediately knew we had to try and get back into Chile as fast as we could. The nearest border crossing was still 6 hours to the north, just west of Mendoza. In that gas station we made the decision that we would have to skip Mendoza for now. We were so bummed because we didn’t even get to try any wine in Mendoza, but we knew we did not want to be stuck there. For the next 6 hours we drove straight to the border, but we at least got to drive through all the wineries in southern Mendoza on our way. We crossed the border at 8 pm and we just made it since the border closed at 10 pm. When we finally drove onto the Chilean side, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief that we made it and didn’t get stuck. At this point we still had the intention of staying in Chile and waiting out the virus in some small beach town. We even had a plan the next day to hike to a glacier, but when we woke the next day more bad news hit.

We woke up to news from the State Department telling all US citizens to come home now if they don’t want to be stuck in another country indefinitely. This scared us, so instead of hiking we drove to a town an hour north of Santiago to get some Wi-Fi. We saw all the news of the virus spreading in the US and the news that every country in South America was closing its borders in the next couple of days. We also talked with both our families about our options and the risks of staying in Chile. Eventually everyone agreed that it was best for us to come home. Nikki and I knew this was the correct decision but neither one of us wanted to say it out loud. We had spent so much time and effort on planning this trip that we felt absolutely sick thinking that it could be done. But the risk of being stuck in Chile indefinitely was too much and we chose to come home. We booked a flight home for the next day and found an overlanding company that could watch our truck. We both cried when we finally left our truck and made our way to the airport. It was a very sad day for us, but we still have hope we can return to Chile and at least finish a little more of the trip before we have to send the truck home and officially end the trip. So, for now, Nikki and I are safely back in Colorado and waiting out all this craziness, but every day we think about getting back to our truck and continuing the trip.

So now the date is May 22, 2020 and we have been back in Colorado for about 2 months. I was waiting to post this last blog until we had good news that we were heading back to Chile, but due to the circumstances of COVID-19 Nikki and I made the hard decision that our trip is officially done. With Brazil being a huge hotspot now, many countries in South America are being very conservative and keeping their borders closed. We just don’t think it will be feasible to travel in South America for the next couple of months. So now we are working to get our truck shipped back to us and we are settling into life in Fort Collins. We are extremely sad we had to make this decision, but we do have some other fun news. Since we have these 3 months at home and we had already decided we wanted to get a dog sometime in the next 3 years, we have decided to try and adopt a dog! We ran through all of the scenarios and we believe having these 3 full months to train a puppy seems like a great opportunity that we will never have again. I am hoping our next blog will be about a new puppy, but we will have to wait and see!

We both fought off tears as we dropped my parents off at the airport and drove away to our next destination, but we were so happy to have spent an amazing week with them. We were also very excited for our next destination, Cochamó Valley. The Cochamó valley is called the Yosemite of the South because huge granite domes surround the isolated valley which makes it a mecca for climbers and hikers. We had booked our campsite a month in advance due to the limited space in this valley. We had booked 4 nights in the valley in order to do all the amazing hikes we had researched. This valley ended up being one of our absolute favorite places we visited. Only National Park Patagonia could contend with this pristine area.

From the Pucón airport, we drove 4 hours south to the small village of Cochamó, but on our way we drove though quaint farmlands and past the astounding Osorno volcano. This volcano is about as picturesque as a volcano can get. It raises out of nowhere and touches the clouds with its snow covered peak. The view of this volcano while being surrounded by farmlands was quite a sight.

The village of Cochamó was a very peaceful place situated on a fiord with access to the Pacific Ocean. We gathered all our supplies here, packed up our backpacks for the next 5 days and had a very peaceful nights sleep. The next day we drove the short 10 minutes to the trailhead and started an unforgettable week. The only way to access the valley is by foot or by horse. Many people hire horses to bring supplies in, but we decided to carry all our own gear in. Many climbers stay in the valley for a month or more at a time, so for them, hiring a horse sounds reasonable. The hike into the valley was a 6-hour hike along a very beaten up horse path. The constant use of horses had left deep muddy ruts in the trail. Some of these ruts had turned into canyons! At times we walked through narrow alleyways only wide enough for one person with sides that reached up to 10 feet tall. It almost became like an obstacle course when a horse passed by and we had to scramble out of these horse-made canyons. The trail passed through thick forests and eventually opened up to the immaculate valley.

The huge granite domes towered over the green valley while a crystal-clear river ran through it. There were four different campgrounds in the valley and some of them required crossing the river on a self-powered cable car! We found our campground and set up our tent in a green field with an amazing view of the granite domes. We had also planned out or next 3 days in the valley. Each day we would get up, make a quick breakfast and then do a long day hike before returning to our tent to make dinner and relax during the evenings. During our research of this area, we learned the hikes from this valley were relatively short, about 5-8 miles, but extremely strenuous with up to 4,000 feet of elevation gain. We also knew the most well-known hike involved using climbing ropes that are bolted into the rock to pull yourself up steep sections. We were both excited and a bit nervous for these hikes.

Our first hike was Sendero Trinidad which lead up one of the valley sides and ended at a lagoon. The majority of this hike was absolutely exhausting. The trail climbed through the thick forest, but the elevation gain was killer. The steepness combined with the humidity in the forest forced us to stop and rest multiple times along the way. About ¾ of the way up, we reached the base of one of the granite domes and were in awe of its size and shape. The whole mountain was one huge piece of granite that used to be the lava chamber of a volcano that slowly cooled to form the granite. The granite wall in front of us curled up like a halfpipe and even extended to an overhang above us. We could see why this is a climber’s paradise.

We kept on trudging along the trail and were so happy to finally arrive at the lagoon. We were so hot and tired that the idea of a cool swim was very enticing. We quickly stripped down to our underwear and went for an amazing swim. The lagoon was fed by snow melt, so the water was pretty frigid, but our quick swim felt so nice! We then relaxed on the shore and had our lunch before heading back down.

On the way down, we stumbled across a hidden swimming hole fed by a little steam. On the way up we had not seen it because it was obscured by two boulders, but on the way down we found a way under these boulders and found an amazing sight. The small swimming hole was completely hidden from the trail and had a stunning view over the valley. To make it even more perfect, the pool was fed by a small waterfall! Even though we had already swum once today, we could not pass up this opportunity. So once again we stripped down and lounged in the water. This hidden gem made this hike one of our favorite hikes ever!

The following day was a much more relaxed day. Just a 10-minute walk from our campsite was a waterfall that made a natural waterslide. It was even named the toboggan waterfall. We packed a lunch and planned to relax the whole day by this waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful, and many people were there enjoying it. There were two areas where people could climb up and slide down into the clear but cold pool below. We rode the slide 5 or 6 times before relaxing on the rocks and reading for most of the afternoon. It was a well-deserved rest day because the next day was our big hiking day.

Our last full day in the valley, we chose to hike the most well-known and infamous trail, Sendero Arcoiris. This trail really was an obstacle course. The trail was so steep, that we had to use our hands multiple times to climb over huge tree roots and boulders. We were a bit nervous about the sections with the climbing ropes and we said we could easily turn around if we didn’t feel comfortable. The two main rope sections were pretty intense but neither one of use felt uncomfortable with our safety. We were confident in our abilities to pull ourselves up the rocks. The trail was 9 miles in total with 4,500 feet of elevation gain but the views at the end were worth it! The trail ended at the top of one of the granite domes and provided a stunning 360-degree view of the valley. From this height, we could even see the Osorno volcano in the distance! At the top we had a great lunch while enjoying the views.

The way down was a bit scarier than the way up due to the roped sections. It is much less nerve wracking to pull yourself up a rope than to use the rope to descend. Being afraid of heights, my heartrate spiked at these sections, but Nikki was very supportive and helpful as I slowly inched my way down the rock wall. I was very glad when we finished both of the scary sections and I could relax again. We both could breathe a sigh of relief that we had concurred this extreme hike without getting hurt.

We absolutely loved the Cochamó valley and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see a beautiful and remote area of Chile. While the hikes in the area are strenuous and a bit fear-inducing, the unique views made this area one of our top 2 places in all of Chile and Argentina.

Our first visitors arrived! I will always remember driving up to the tiny airport just outside of Pucón and seeing my parents standing there waving to us. It felt so surreal to be able to share our South American experience with my parents. Once we had picked up my parents, the drive to Pucón flew by because we had so much to talk about. Everyone was beaming being back together. We were so excited to show them exactly how we had been living for the last 4 months and we were eager to hear their news from back home.

We had rented a small house on a hill just outside of Pucón and when we got there, we were amazed by both the house and the view. Being up on the hill, we had a spectacular view of Villarrica lake, and the house had a huge balcony to sit and enjoy it. Once we were all settled in the house, everyone was tired from the day of travel. Nikki and I made a typical dinner of vegan lentil Bolognese while my parents relaxed on the balcony enjoying the sunset with a cold beer.

The next day, we started our week together off with a bang! We drove to Villarrica national park for a moderate day of hiking. The area around Pucon is considered to be part of the lake district of Chile but it is also known for its volcanoes! The main attraction is the Villarrica volcano, which is the 2^nd most active volcano in South America with the most recent eruption being 2008. Our first day of hiking lead us through a beautiful pine forest and out onto the lava fields of Villarrica. The landscape of hiking on a volcano is very different than anything we get back in Colorado. The trees just abruptly end and are replaced by a huge expanse of black volcanic basalt. Imagine hiking on fields of Coco puffs with a huge volcano looming above. It was spectacular. We followed the trail to the ice fields at the base of the volcano. We were even able to walk up onto the glacier! It was a great start to our week! We knew later in the week we would attempt a climb to the top of the volcano, so this smaller hike was a great starting place!

The next couple of days involved some smaller hikes to waterfalls but our next big attraction were the hot springs around Pucon. Due to the volcanic activity, there are numerous hot springs located around Pucon. We knew that one of the days would be cooler with a chance of rain, so we chose that day to go to the hot springs. The one we chose had 3 beautiful pools with the perfect temperature water to just relax the day away.

The next day was our big day. On the day of tour, we had to get up at 5 am to start the hike. The early start ensures the ice on the volcano is still hard by the time we get to it. The start of the hike was very similar to the end of our first day’s hike. We hiked for a couple of hours on loose volcanic rock before we hit the ice. This was the part that people were both excited and nervous for. We stopped to put on our crampons and get out our ice picks. Nikki and I were both excited to climb on the ice, but my mom and dad were also a bit nervous. My dad had torn his achilles tendon in June and had been working really hard with a physical therapist in order to be able to hike with us and this was his first big test. My mom was also nervous due to her fear of heights. The crampons held well on the ice, but the hike did begin to get steeper. Another hour passed and we stopped for a break but as soon as we stopped and looked backed down the valley, the vertigo set in. Everyone felt a little uneasy, but it was evident my mom was not having fun. We were so proud of her to have made it this far. We knew this was out of her comfort zone. She then decided, she didn’t want to continue, and we supported her decision. She after our break, she made her way down with one of the guides while the three of us continued up. The hike up continued for another 2 hours but finally we reached the summit and were able to look into the caldera of the volcano. But before we were allowed to reach the summit, we were instructed to put on our gas masks to protect us from the volcanic fumes. Once we peered into the caldera, we were very happy to have the masks. The sulfuric smell hit us, and our throats seized up trying to halt the wave of fumes. The top of the volcano was an otherworldly place. All the rock was covered in this yellow-green coating which had been deposited by the sulfur fumes. The whole area felt very hostile, like nothing living was supposed to be there. We had hoped to see lava when we peered into the volcano but unfortunately, the lava rises and is only visible in the winter months. After exploring the summit for 10 minutes, we were instructed to leave in order to limit our exposure to the fumes. Even with the gas masks, everyone was starting to feel a bit sick and we were happy to leave. We were also excited to descend the volcano because we knew it involved sledding down!

The descent was the most fun part of the hike! We were given special pants and a small plastic sled to slide down the grooved trails. The trail down looked like an Olympic bobsled track with tall walls and winding turns. One by one we sat ourselves in the track and started to slide down the volcano using our ice picks as a break. The hike that took us 4 hours up only took 15 minutes of sledding to go down, but those 15 minutes were a blast. At every bank and corner of the track, I found myself smiling and laughing with enjoyment. It was hard to believe we were sledding down the side of an active volcano. Nikki and I both agreed that this hike belonged on our list of top 5 hikes we have ever done, and we will never forget it!

On our last day with my parents, we elected for a much calmer day. We went to the shores of lake Villarrica for a relaxing day on the beach. The black volcanic sand of the beach was amazing to lie on and rest. For the whole day we relaxed, played games, swam and ate all the different types of food the beach vendors brought along. We had everything from homemade empanadas to chocolate covered strawberries. We all decided that is it hard to beat lounging on a beach while people bring you chocolate covered strawberries.

The following day was a much more somber day as we packed up and drove my parents back to the airport. We had such an amazing week with them and were so grateful to be able to share some our trip with them. It was a very special and unique trip that we will always cherish. Once we dropped them off at the airport, we immediately started our drive back down south for our next adventure location, Cochamó Valley, the Yosemite of the South.

Hi everyone!

We are still doing well and wanted to give people a quick update! After leaving Cerro Castillo, we continued north on a long drive day to restock our supplies in the local capital of Coyhaique before driving north to the Queluat National Park where we had planned one short day hike to the hanging glacier. During the Cerro Castillo hike, I had caught a mild cold that Nikki had a few days earlier, I guess that is to be expected when we live in such a small space together J, and Nikki was starting to feel a bit run down. We may have been pushing ourselves a little too hard over the past month hiking just about every day. We decided that maybe we should take a couple more down days in between our hikes to let our bodies rejuvenate. When we arrived at Quelaut National Park, I was run down from hiking with a cold so instead of going on our planned hike, we found a cute hot springs to relax for the day. The warm volcanic waters eased our aching muscles and it was a good change of pace from hiking every day. Feeling rejuvenated, we headed north to our next destination, Futaleufu, which ended up being more fun to say than to visit.

Unfortunately, when we arrived in Futaleufu it was evident that Nikki had caught our first real sickness of the trip. She had caught some bug that made her very nauseous and just not in a hiking mood. Seeing as I was still recovering from my cold and Nikki had this new bug, we did not feel like hiking, but the great thing about this trip is that we have total control over each day to do what we want! So instead of pushing ourselves again, we found a beautiful spot by the river to relax for a couple of days.

After two days, we were both feeling much better and wanted to get back in the mountains, so we continued north to Pumalin Park, another private park owned by the Tompson Conservation. Pumalin Park felt like a very different place to the normal Patagonian mountains we were used to. This area of Chile receives much more rain and therefore the park felt and looked much more like a traditional rainforest. Here we did some wonderful hikes through the thick and verdant forests to amazing waterfalls, black volcanic beaches and to the top of a still steaming volcanic crater. It was great to be back on the trail! Another interesting aspect of Pumalín Park was in order to continue heading north in Chile from here, we had to put our truck on a ferry and take a 5-hour ferry ride! Being on the water and able to see the huge expanse of forest was another excellent viewpoint of the park. Leaving Pumalin Park behind, we were both excited because our next adventure was to pick up Colter’s parents from the airport and head to Pucón, the adventure capital of southern Chile, for a wonderful week together!

Cerro Castillo

Welcome back! We hope everyone is doing well! We are here to report back from our four-day backpacking trek to Cerro Castillo.

Just north of Rio Tranquillo is one of the hidden backpacking gems of Chile. Cerro Castillo has the views to rival the most iconic hikes in Patagonia including Torres del Paine and Fitzroy, but without the crowds. This 4 to 5-day backpacking trek is widely known among the locals and attracts the more experienced international backpackers. We heard from everyone, all the way from Torres del Paine, just wait for Cerro Castillo. We had high hopes for this trip, and it did not disappoint.

Coming from the south, we actually arrived at the ending point of the hike, Villa Cerro Castillo. The hike is not a loop and instead connects two small towns together. The traditional route starts in Las Horquetas, 28 miles north of Villa Castillo, passes through the Cerro Castillo national park and finished in Villa Cerro Castillo. Our first hurdle of this trip involved finding a place to keep our truck for the 4 days and finding a way to the trailhead. We quickly realized that crime was basically non-existent in this quaint mountain town, but we found an established campground that looks after people’s cars while they hike. We were also told by this campground that a bus could take us to the trailhead at 8:00 am the next morning. This was perfect! We thought we had everything under control.

The next morning, laden with our backpacking packs, we walked to the bus stop in the center of town. We arrived at 7:00 am just to make sure we would not miss the bus. As we waited, many other backpackers joined us on the main road, but they were not waiting for the bus, they were hitchhiking to a variety of places. 8:00 rolled around with no sign of a bus. Soon enough it was 8:30 and still no bus. We then decided to try our hand at hitchhiking. We had seen hundreds of hitchhikers so far and had read that it is a safe and reasonable way to get around in southern Chile. For about an hour we try to look as charming as we can with our thumbs pointing to the sky but to no avail. We are losing hope as another hitchhiking couple approaches us and asks where we are going and how long we have been waiting. They say they will go just up the road from us, so that we have the first chance at the oncoming cars. It wasn’t 10 minutes later that this couple managed to snag a ride. It was incredible! They must have had much more experience than we did. I could see them talking with the driver and then miraculously, he waved to me and shouted for us to join them! This couple kindly shared their ride with us and all four of us piled into cab and bed of the pickup truck.

The drivers of the truck were an older couple who were just on their way to the airport to pick up their son who was visiting them for a week. They were so kind to pick us up and wanted to know all about our trip and what we thought of Chile. We chatted with them for the entire ride practicing our Spanish. Only 25 minutes later, we had arrived at the trailhead and said goodbye to our courteous chauffeurs. We were ready to hike!

The first day of the hike was a constant but gentle uphill climb. We wound our way through pastures of cows along a stream that lead into the national park. We had to cross a decent sized river 3 times, which involved talking our boots off and wading across, but we were never worried of the current. The campground for the night was situated along the silvery Rio Turbio and just below the first mountain pass.

The next morning, we woke early to tackle the steep climb to the pass. We wanted to finish the pass before noon and before any possible storm could pass though. The hike up was tremendously steep with our full packs but we made it to the snow-covered saddle for a well-deserved snack break. The way down was not much easier. The steep loose gravel descent required our full attention, but we took breaks to admire the beautiful valley below us. We camped in this valley between the two passes of the trip. With one pass down, the following day we would attempt the pass over the titular Cerro Castillo, Castle Peak.

We knew this pass would be our hardest day and the weather forecast called for a possible storm, so we started early in the morning. Although this pass was just as steep and even longer than the first one, the scenery made it worth it. During the whole ascent, we were awed by the view of Cerro Castillo and the emerald lake below it. We reached the summit with time to spare for a totally gratifying lunch overlooking many valleys and mountain peaks. At the end of our lunch break, the wind picked up and turned to a howl. It was clear we had overstayed our welcome atop the barren saddle. We quickly descended into the last valley of the trail and made our way to our last campsite. We setup camp just in time too because not long after, the storm arrived. The rain started around 6:00 pm and lasted till the early hours of the next morning. Our tent held strong with only a couple of drops falling on us, but we battled an ever-growing puddle near our tent. We were forced to wake up every few hours to bail out this encroaching puddle, but we prevailed! The morning broke and we had saved all our equipment from being flooded!

Our last day included one last climb to an optional, but beautiful glacial lake before the long hike back to Villa Cerro Castillo. The last lake was worth fighting the rain for. Once again, we were treated with a cloudy blue lake surrounded by huge granite spires. We could only stay at the lake momentarily because we had a long way back down. The hike down descended the valley with amazing views the whole way. It was a great way to the trek because we didn’t have to focus on the trail and instead could enjoy being in such a wild place. The last stretch of the hike consisted of a 7 km walk along a dirt road back into town, which sounds like a pain after finishing a long hike, but it was actually very pleasant as it gave us a tour of the stunning ranches in the area.

We absolutely loved this hike and would recommend it to anyone looking for a backpacking trek a little more off the typical touristy Patagonia trail. It was a hard 4 days though with a total distance of around 45 miles in 4 days. We arrived back at our little home and took a well-deserved shower before continuing on our journey north.

Hello everyone!

We are still alive! Yes, I know these blogs have almost stopped all together, but don’t worry, we are still doing well, and it has been the lack of Wi-Fi and abundance of cool things to do and see that have hampered the blog frequency. I have a lot to cover since our last blog, but I will separate them out to make it easier to read.

I believe on our last blog we had just finished hiking in El Chalten and were heading north in Argentina. Our next destination was Patagonia National Park in Chile. We crossed back in Chile through the town of Chile Chico and proceeded along one of the prettiest drives we have ever seen! We had just entered the lake district of Chile and were mesmerized by the abundance, size and colors of the lakes! Our scenic drive took us along a winding dirt road hugging the cliffs around Lago Buenos Aires. While we had to pay attention to the road, it was hard not to take in the beautiful scenery around us. Therefore, in order to fully take it all in, we made multiple stops along the way to enjoy the picturesque lake.

The scenic drive lasted for most of the day and eventually took us to Patagonia National Park. This park is special because it is the newest national park in Patagonia. The late Douglas Tompkins, the founder of the North Face outdoor brand, and his wife, Kris Tompkins, had previously owned all of this land along with a couple other surrounding areas with the goal of conserving the natural area. In 2019 the Tompkins Conservation officially gifted all this land to the Chilean government, and it was designated a national park. Kris continues to be the CEO of the Tompkins Conservation and continues their dream of preserving this amazing area.

Our short time in this park was unforgettable and it quickly became our favorite place of the trip to date. Since this park is so new and off the beaten track, very few visitors make it to the park, but the infrastructure of the park is amazing! The welcome center was astoundingly beautiful and contained a state-of-the-art museum of the area that easily could have been at home in Washington DC. It was very clear that much love and money has been invested in this park, but we can see why. The natural area took our breath away with the vast swaths of grasslands bordered by towering snowcapped peaks and interspersed with vibrant blue lagoons.

We had only budgeted two hiking days in the park because, due to its new-ness, it only has 7 designated trails. The two trails we chose were Lago Chico and the Lagoona Atlas trail. The first hike to Lago Chico gave us a glimpse of what Patagonia really looks like in its true natural setting. For the first time, we didn’t see a single other person during our whole hike! The views from this hike really must speak for themselves. We will always remember the view from the Douglas Tompkins viewpoint and the end of this hike.

The next day we got a very early start for the 16-mile Lagoona Atlas trail. This trail started with a brutal 5-mile climb to the top of a plateau. Once we reached the top, the trail meandered around 6 beautiful lakes and gave incredible view of the grasslands below and the snowcapped mountains surrounding us. We found ourselves smiling and laughing throughout the whole trail on just how stunning the area was. Even before we had finished the hike, we knew this was the hike of the trip so far and would be hard to beat. Our two days in Patagonia National Park were not enough but we had to continue north to our next destination of Rio Tranquillo.

Rio Tranquillo is known in Chile for two major attractions, the Marble Caves and the Exploradores glacier and these were the exact reasons why this small lake town made our list of must visit places. Since Buenos Aires, the Marble Caves had been pulling me toward them with all their geological beauty and uniqueness. The bedrock under Rio Tranquillo is completely made of pure marble and the azure lake has been carving the marble cliffs like a roman sculpture for thousands of years. The result is a multicolored masterpiece of caves, caverns and the marble chapel.

Our first day in Rio Tranquillo, we took a boat tour to these Instagram friendly caves. The tour took us in and around all the parts of the caves and I am pretty sure both of our jaws were on the floor the whole time. The colors of the marble shown so brightly against the blue water. The beauty also continued upwards as the white marble cliffs towered above us. Once again, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The following day we had booked a glacier trek on the Exploradores Glacier. We were also so excited for this hike because it involved hiking on the glacier using crampons! We had never hiked on solid ice before, so this would be a new experience for us. We were amazed as we hiked along the glacial moraines and learned about the physics and temporal nature of the glacier, all in Spanish of course. Once on the ice, we hiked along the endless dunes of ice and into dazzling ice caves. Our guide did a great job of teaching us about all the glacial features. Our favorites were the huge crevasses filled with water that look like Listerine! The color was such a pure blue, but completely clear which allowed us to look hundreds of feet down and see the intricate structure of the ice. Hiking on the glacier was very tiring but we absolutely loved every minute of it.

After finishing both of our excursions in Rio Tranquillo, we headed off for our next backpacking adventure, Cerro Castillo!

Hi everyone!

I know this is crazy to have two blog posts in a week, but we found ourselves with some wifi and wanted to share with you some of the best scenery we have ever seen! We have been in El Chalten for 5 days now and have experienced why this small town is a hiking and climbing mecca.

On our first day arriving in El Chalten we took the half day to work in a coffee shop and plan our excursions for the next couple of days. The day was also very cloudy and rainy so we couldn’t see any of the famous peaks. At the café, we overhead people talking about the rainy weather and complaining that every day the peaks have been covered with clouds. We were dismayed at this because all of the hikes we wanted to do involved viewpoints of Fitz Roy and the other surrounding peaks. I took a look at the forecast for the next week to see if we could get lucky and maybe have a one clear day. To my amazement, the follow two days looked perfect! They were both clear and warm, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We knew we had to take advantage of our luck and hike the following two days. We spent the rest of the day planning and preparing. We decided on a one-night backpacking trip that would allow us to see all the major sights in the park. The trip would start with a 10 km hike to the most famous viewpoint of Lago del los Tres and a view of Fitz Roy, the most famous mountain in Argentina. From there we would hike to a glacial viewpoint before camping. The next day we would traverse to the other side of the park to see Lago del Torre before heading back down. We knew it would be a long trip for 2 days, 30 miles total, but we wanted to make use of our two nice days before the rain came back.

The following day we started out at a decent time in the morning and made our way to the campsite. Our campsite was located at the intersection of the trail to Lago de los Tres and to the glacial viewpoint. We figured we could set up our camp and leave our big bags instead of lugging them up the steep ascent to Lago de los Tres. The hike started off well! We were feeling good and the clear day was finally showing the amazing scenery. We were surrounded by green hills and mountains and could see snowcapped mountains in the distant. The after about 2 km we were at the first viewpoint of the hike. This viewpoint looked out onto a beautiful river valley. We stopped here for a quick couple of pictures before continuing on. Not long after the viewpoint, we saw a large group of people gathered near a fallen tree taking pictures. We figured it must be some sort of animal and it was. Everyone was taking pictures of the native giant woodpecker. While we are not avid birders, this was still a pretty cool sight! They really were large woodpeckers with all black bodies and bright red heads. They reminded us of the cartoon woodpeckers!

From the sighting of the woodpeckers, the trail became steeper and we could tell we were heading higher into the mountains. Rounding a curve, we gained our first glance of Fitz Roy in the distance and it was spectacular. The granite tower rose above the landscape so majestically. It was also framed by other heavily snow-covered peaks which shown brightly against the clear blue sky. For the rest of the hike, we were blessed with ever-increasing views of Fitz Roy as a marched toward its beauty.

As we arrived at Poincenot campground, we were again reminded just how popular and touristy this hike is. The small campground was covered in about 40-50 tents. It was hard to tell where one tent ended, and another began. The tents turned the small clearing into a sea of vibrantly reflective colors. The patchwork of colors was labeled with name brands. Patches of yellow were labeled North Face, while other areas of greens, reds, oranges and blue read Marmot, MSR, Coleman, Doite and REI. Being informed of this visual onslaught by our Swiss friends, we were told to push through the miniature multicolored mountains to a much less busy area just down the hill. Sure enough, we found a smaller section of the camp with much more secluded areas to pitch our tent. We found a nice flat spot where we could add our orange, Marmot-branded patch to the growing rainbow quilt.

With our camp set up and a small bag packed with our lunch supplies we continued the last 2 km climb to Lago de los Tres. These last 2 km were a struggle! We knew they would be steep but climbing 1200 feet of elevation in about 1.5 km was tough. All the while we were struggling up the mountain, everyone descending kept telling us, “Its worth it! Keep going! The view is one of the best in the world!” With this motivation, there was nothing stopping us. One step at a time, we arrived at the top and immediately were in awe. Lago de los Tres was a beautiful blue hue only made possible by the pure white glacier on its far bank. Deep snow and ice fields continued up the mountain side where Fitz Roy loomed above everything. For being such a sheer peak, Fitz Roy had a sort of calming characteristic to it. The colors of the rock were almost soothing and inviting. The whole scene had a very soft feel to it. I don’t think this sentiment is shared by the climbers who spent hours summiting Fitz Roy. To them, Fitz Roy must look a monster that can kill in an instant. But for us hikers, the view was relaxing.

We walked the last couple of meters to water’s edge where relaxed in the sun and ate our lunch. After lunch, we just laid down and took in the beauty of where we were. This was dangerous though because after working hard, eating a nice lunch and laying in the sun, we both drift to sleep for a short nap. We woke up about 20 minutes later feeling very refreshed and revigorated. Taking some last pictures, we packed up and headed back down the mountain to our camp.

The hike to the glacial viewpoint was an easy end to our day. A branching path from our campsite lead 2 km to the viewpoint, but unlike the 2 km to Lago de Los Tres, these 2 km were flat and made for a nice walk. The viewpoint was very pretty but paled in comparison to the view of Fitz Roy. We slept very soundly that night in our little tent. We went to bed early since we knew the next day was going to be very long.

The next morning, we woke up at 7, quickly ate a small breakfast and broke camp. The first 8 km of the second day were an easy stroll along two lakes. This section was the traverse across the park. We soon intersected the main train and turned onto the trail for Lago del Torre. This is the second most popular trail in the area and therefore we were once again greeted by large groups of tourists from around the world. After the intersection, we only hiked another 3 km to the lake. Thankfully, the elevation gain was very manageable for this lake. Similar to Lago de Los Tres, Lago del Torre is a glacial lake with beautiful mountains in the background. Instead of Fitz Roy in the background, this lake had one large tower protruding from the mountain range. We were once again so fortunate to have a clear day for this hike since we were able to see the top of the tower. Just as at the previous lake, we had a small lunch and relaxed at the lake for about 40 min. This time, we had a longer hike down, so we left earlier in the afternoon.

The hike back down to El Chalten was a beautiful 11 km hike through forests, along rivers and over Patagonian steppe. We thoroughly enjoyed the hike but at the end, our feet and bodies were sore and tired. We had hiked the full 30 miles in two days and were very proud of ourselves. Back at our camper, we unpacked and quickly ate a dinner of leftovers before falling asleep for a good night’s rest.

We are now working for a couple of days in El Chalten before heading back into Chile to Parque Nacional Patagonia for more hiking! As always, we hope everyone is doing well! We are thinking of you all and miss you!

Nikki and Colter