Sunday, January 30, 2011

El Fin Del Mundo...

Whew... Finally caught up on the back-log of blog posts. 

After Torres del Paine, we headed back to Puerto Natales for hot showers, good food, fresh laundry, and a lazy day in town (of course, Amy ran 10 miles also). 

The next morning, we hopped on a 12-hour bus (sorry Fongs, no Cama class available this time) to head south.  Our bus crossed the Magellan Strait on a ferry, which was escorted by playful Commerson´s Dolphins the whole way across.  We also crossed into Argentina for the first time, and eventually reached Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world, which embraces it´s title as 'El Fin Del Mundo' - the end of the earth. 

Tomorrow, we will cross the Beagle channel (back into Chile) for Isla de Navarino, for the tiny Chilean town of Puerto Williams (which has an even stronger claim as el fin del mundo... but don´t tell the Ushuaians that).  We´ll be setting off on a 5 day trek of Dientes de Navarino (the teeth of Navarino, named for the tooth-like spires of rock that form the mountain chain), which is known as the southern-most trek in the world. 

Back in a week... Until then... Abrazos...

Bahamas Moments...

As we hope you can tell from our blog posts, we´re having just incredible fun and adventure... and we count ourselves so lucky to be able to do what we´re doing.  But we´d be lying if we said we didn´t have our down moments on occasion. 

For instance, on our first day/night of hiking in Huerquehue, carrying far too much weight, as daylight faded, and the campsite was still not within reach... Or, when camping in Torres del Paine, after 12 consecutive hours of torrential rain, huddled up in our tent, damp and cold from the day, and not quite able to get rid of the chill... Or, when Amy´s mystery allergic reaction returned... the one that makes her hands puff up like a blowfish, itch like crazy, feel like they´re on fire, and turn all red and splotchy...

We´ve taken to calling these our ´Bahamas Moments´, as in ´why couldn´t we have gone on a normal honeymoon like a normal couple... we could be sipping margaritas on the beach right now!´

But like we said... those moments are few and far between, and they pass quickly:)

Day 6 in Torres Del Paine... Our Favorite Day

(Direct from our Hiking Journal) Dia 6:  Los Perros to Las Guardas

Clear excitement in the air when we woke... everybody up early, including me.  Dave was surprised to see my eyes open when he woke up.  THE PASS WAS WAITING!  As we packed up camp I spotted a fox(!), who seemed to be making his morning rounds.  We named him and other fox we may meet Magellan, not to be confused with the dogs we meet, which are all named Frijoles. 

As we started our trek, we were sure the theme for the day would be MUD... lots of it... no way around it... the kind you lose your shoe in if they´re not tied on tight.  Dave was well-equipped with his mucklucks (that´s 'amy language´for gaiters)... Amy´s were tucked away safely in her pack. 

The second choice for the theme of the day was ´Revenge of the Tortoise´.  We´ve learned we don´t hike so fast.  Every day, we get a nice early start, only to be passed on the trail by the same packs of los chicos (chilean twenty-somethings) who only wake up long after we´ve hit the trails.  But, while we may not be fast on the flats, we can climb with the best of 'em!  Between all the climbing and our love of the mud (which other hikers seemed to be afraid of for some reason), we were flying past people on our way up to the pass. 

As we cleared the tree line, the wind picked up... a LOT!  Precipitation was in the air.  It seemed a lot like snow, but it was a little early to tell... and it had been sunny and 65 degrees minutes before.  Appropriately, Dave got out his raincoat... Amy´s remained safely tucked away in her pack.  Not a great place for it, as we rapidly approached theme #3:  A FREAK SNOWSTORM!  The wind and driving snow really picked up, literally blowing the snow up the mountain as we went through the pass and over the top.  Blizzard like conditions.  Dave used his clydesdale frame to lead the charge into the wind and up the pass... and a solo Chilean hiker we overtook was smart enough to hop aboard the clydesdale train and ride up behind us safely to the top.


On our way down, in moments when the wind would die down, the snow continued to fall in a winter wonderland (even though it´s summer).  Through the snow, we got our first views of GLACIER GREY!  Most people just see the foot of the glacier... but on the circuito grande trek you approach it from above and it keeps you company all the rest of the day and into the next as you descend.  This thing is HUGE... we have no real way to gauge just how far across or how wide or how tall it is, but it was HUGE!  I think it might be bigger than Rhode Island (apologies to Mike Beegan, future senator from that great state for any perceived slight).  we later read in our book that the glacier is 12 miles long and 200 meters thick... like we said, HUGE!.  It´s a huge sea of ice but it´s not smooth, oh no, it´s got great texture to it, with all of it´s deep crevasses of bright blue.  Just stunning.  It seems to just pour out of the mountains in every direction (actually, that´s exactly what it does).


We continued to descend alongside the glacier -- LOVING it, along with the feeling of just being in the groove... that beautiful point in a backpacking trip when your boots feel good, your pack feels light, and you feel like you could just walk for hours and hours... (which is good, because that´s pretty much what you do).  Along the way, we had to climb up and down some ladders (suspiciously suspeded from rocks) in order to cross some deep canyons.  Who knows who hung these ladders, or what their engineering credentials might have been?  There were places for bolts... but not bolts.  We later read in our trekking book that these ladders sometimes get washed out by flash floods... that did not inspire any greater level of confidence, but fortunately, by then, we were done with those.  Oh, and we saw a woodpecker, named him woody and saw him fly away with his love.  Love birds:).  Spent the night at quiet and wet Las Guardas.  Free! was a plus, but not so well maintained, a minus.  But we liked it all the same, as we were 1 of just 5 tents. 

Side note:  Potato soup for dinner, no matter how delicious and satisfying at the time, is not enough calories for refueling in the long run.

Ochos Huevos... and other Patagonian Indulgences

This post is a special shout-out to the Fongs, who have requested more tales of extravagance, Patagonia-style... and whom we think of fondly whenever we treat ourselves.  When in doubt, we just tell ourselves we´re spending the Fong´s gift and making them proud... So, let us tell you about a few of our favorite indulgences...

1.  Traveling by bus to Pucon, Full Cama style:  The bus system here is extremely well-organized.  Our first long-haul bus trip was from Santiago to Pucon on one of the big companies, Tur-Bus.  For those of you picturing old beater buses with livestock and chickens, think again.  Many of the buses are very new, and you can travel in style.  There are different buses for different classes of service.  There is classico, which is your basic bus seat, with a little more leg room than most airplanes, and some pretty comfortable seats... There is semi-cama... think business class airplane seats on most US airlines... very plush, and very comfortable.  Amy and I opted for the Full Cama... we´re talking seats that lay completely flat and turn into full-on beds.  They even have separate matresses that the conductor lays out for you on top of your flat bed, with pillows, blankets, and a fresh pair of socks.  Sure it costs a little more... but pop in your headphones, watch your favorite american films dubbed over in spanish, and wake up refreshed after a great night´s sleep, 12 hours later in Pucon.

2.  Geo-Termas, near Huerquehue... What to do after a long and difficult first day of trekking carrying too much weight?  Head for the hot springs, which were a 5 mile day-hike away.  We tried to make this into a trail run... but that wasn´t really happening... particularly on the way back.  But nothing soothes those aching muscles like a good soak.

3.  La Maga Restaurant, Pucon... After 3 days in Huerquehue, we were ready to spoil ourselves when we got back to Pucon.  The entry for La Maga in our Lonely Planet says something to the effect of ´when you really need a steak after trekking in the wilderness, there is no choice but La Maga.´ They served up the biggest steaks we had ever seen... and Dave has eaten his share of big steaks.  These things were about 5 inches thick and took up the entire plate.  Washed down with a lovely bottle of Chilean red, and you´ve enjoyed a good meal.

4. Tren del Sur, Puerto Montt... Our favorite hostel.  Funky, artsy, little boutique hotel, which calls itself a hostel.  All the furniture in the hotel is made from refurbished railroad ties, and many other pieces of abandoned railroad.  It wasn´t that much more expensive than a regular hostel, but every little detail was just perfect.  Very out of place in rough-and-tumble Puerto Montt, which is a regional transportation hub... To give you a sense, Lonely Planet says the best thing Puerto Montt has going for it is the large number of options there are to leave.  And yet, here´s this total diamond in the rough, the Tren del Sur.

5.  Afrigonia, Puerto Natales... Easily one of our top 5 meals, ever.  The night before our big trek in Torres del Paine (and saying farewell to friends Carly and David), the four of us headed out to Afrigonia -- African-Chilean fusion cuisine.  (Yes, you read that correctly -- a tale of love -- a husband and wife team -- she´s a Chilean who was living in Zambia because her father worked with the copper mining industry there, and he´s a Zambian chef... they fell in love and ran off together, to Patagonia).  Anyway... back to the meal.  4 hours, easy, from start to finish.  Appetizers, Main courses, and Desserts.  3 bottles of Chilean wine (2 Carmeneres, 1 Sauvignon Blanc).  And, once Dave bonded with the chef over a shared love for Southern Africa, and dropped the fact that it was our honeymoon... a round of champagne on the house.  Dave´s favorite español phrase, by the way, is "este es nuestra lune de miel¨... meaning, ´this is our honeymoon´... which goes a surprisingly long way here:).  Back to Afrigonia... meal was so good, and we were so intoxicated, that we had to postpone our planned departure for Torres del Paine the next morning.  One of our top 5 meals, ever.

6. Ochos Huevos, Torres del Paine... Okay, this one is a little bit different than the others... Our ochos huevos cost us 200 chilean pesos per egg... for a total of about $3.20 US.  But you have no idea how extravagant and indulgent 8 fresh eggs are after 7 days of backpacking and eating dehydrated foods.  We bought the eggs upon arrival, lovingly packed them in our tupperware bowls for safe storage during the evening, barricaded them in the corner of our tent, surrounded by soft, cushiony materials... and cooked up a feast in the morning.  We fried up some spicy salami, added in some cheese, and scrambled up some deliciousness.  Top it off with a carton of juice for 1800 chilean pesos (another $3.60 US) and 2 cups of nescafe instant coffee (200 chilean, or $0.40 USD), and you have yourself one extravagant back-country breakfast.

7.  El Asador Patagonica, Puerto Natales... After 9 days of backpacking, you don´t want to go for the over-indulgent meal too quickly.  That first night out, we were far too tired and taste-deprived to appreciate a fine meal right away... So you wait another 24 hours... you plan carefully... you make your reservation... you skip lunch... and go to the place that advertises itself as ´meat specialists´.  Amy ordered a a fillet steak, Dave ordered the Lamb special.  When Dave´s plate arrived, it must have had about 4 sheep on it.  It was a huge plate of meat... tender, delicious meat.  Amy´s fillet steak was no slouch either.  Don´t worry -- not a bite remained of either.  Add in an appetizer of garlic sausages and grilled vegetables, a bottle of your favorite Chilean Syrah, a dessert entitled chocolate fantasia... and you´ve had yourself yet another fine meal.  (Editor´s note:  it was so much meat that Dave is now considering becoming a vegetarian... as long as he is still allowed to wrap his vegetarian meals in bacon). 

Thanks, Fongs!  We love you!

9 Days in Torres del Paine

Hola, Friends and Family -
It´s been a while since our last post, but fear not... we´re back from Las Torres!  At the risk of stating the obvious, it was pretty amazing.  When we last wrote, we were holed up in our hostel in Puerto Natales, having arrived in the middle of a pretty serious 7-day strike over plans to eliminate subsidies for heating gas in the southern regions.  The cities of the south shut down all transportation, creating a bit of a humanitarian situation for all the hikers stranded in Torres del Paine park... as the park began to ran out of supplies.  Eventually, the Red Cross got involved to evacuate stranded hikers.  We, however, arrived just in time... the strike ended the morning that we arrived... we spent the day in Puerto Natales gathering provisions for our 10-day trek, making arrangements for our bus to the park in the morning, going for a run, and enjoying one of our finest meals ever (see our later blog post on indulgences).  The meal was so fine, in fact... and the wine flowing so freely... that it was not so conducive to packing for our trek when we got back to our hostel.  So, when the bus showed up the next morning, we sent them on without us, and rescheduled for later in the day, allowing us to finish a few more errands before our big trek. 

Day 1:  So, with a slightly later start than planned, we caught an afternoon bus to the park (about 2-2.5 hours from puerto natales), arriving around 5:30pm.  No problem there, as it stays light until 10pm.  We decided to hike in about 2.5 hours to a campsite called Chileno, up the valley that leads to the park´s signature attraction, Las Torres (beautiful giant towers of granite).  The campsite sat behind a refugio (like AMC huts in the White Mountains, where you can pay to stay in a nice lodge/bunkhouse)... lots of tents too close together, though.  Good news was that we packed much better for this one... left many unnecessary things back at the hostel, and our packs felt great.

Day 2:  A 4-hr day hike up the valley of las torres to view the towers.  They were stunning.  We didn´t realize how lucky we were to get such a fine day for viewing them... as the clouds moved in as we watched, slowly enveloping the towers.  We felt particularly bad for all the people we saw struggling up the hill on our way back down (now raining on and off), because they weren´t going to have any view at all.  At the top, we were re-joined by friends Carly and David, who were day-hiking to Las Torres as well.  The hike itself was lovely... and a day off for us without our packs.  It rained a lot that night.  Fortunately, our tent does a very good job of keeping us dry:)

Day 3:  There are two main treks in Torres del Paine -- the ´W´, named for the shape of the trails when looking at a map, taking about 4-5 days, and the ´Circuito Grande´, which takes you all the way around the mountains and then takes in the W as well on the back side (8-10 days).  We´d guess about 45% of the people in the park are there to see Las Torres and maybe a few other big attractions, about 50% hike the ´W´, and about 5% hike the Circuito Grande... we, of course, were all over the Circuito Grande.  Day 3 marked the beginning of our journey around the circuit, from Camp Chileno to Camp Seron, about 18 km away... a beautiful day for hiking, a long day of hiking, but quiet and peaceful with few other hikers out on our route. 
                                                                          Day 4:  From Camp Seron, we continued around another 17 km or so to Camp Dickson, which sits at the foot of Glacier Dickson and the lake that forms at its base.  This was our favorite campsite -- with giant peaks behind us, a glacier and lake in front of us, some beautiful rainbows, and a whole lot of wind.  I mean, a whole lot of wind.  The kind of wind that is strong enough to knock a 230 pound clydesdale and his 50+ pound pack off of his feet and onto his bottom... twice.  Dave was a bit concerned, because we were in a bit of a precarious position coming up over a pass... and it was much stronger and more consistent wind than he´d hiked in before... Amy, of course, was having way too much fun to notice any potential danger.  She would just lean into and try to fall forward but let the wind hold her up.  Wind would continue to be a consistent theme on our trek:)

Day 5:  We left Glacier Dickson, climbed out of the valley we were in, and headed to Campsite Los Perros... named after Glacier Los Perros, which is just around the corner.  Another lovely day of hiking.  When we arrived at camp, there was a lot more hustle and bustle here... There was a bit more excitement in the air... because everyone would be heading up and over the pass the next day.

Day 6:  By far, our favorite day of hiking.  From Los Perros, over the Paso, to Campiamento Las Guardas.  So great, in fact, that we´re writing an entire separate blog post about it.  Highlights:  a fox, a whole lot of mud, climbing towards the pass, a freak blizzard (yes, freak blizzard), and our first views of Glacier Grey (which is so amazing it might also be getting it´s own post), and which we camped at the foot of.  Just a wonderfully glorious day of hiking.


Day 7:  From Las Guardas, we headed down to Lago Pehoe, where we rejoined the masses doing ´the W´.  But before we did, we spent most of the morning hiking alongside Glacier Grey, spotted a pair of woodpeckers in love, had a close encounter with a huemel deer (about 5 yards away from us -- the huemel is the national symbol of Chile -- their equivalent of the bald eagle -- and apparently just as endangered), and played with giant pieces of Glacier Grey.  Gigantic pieces of glacier break off of the end and tumble into the lake -- some as big as houses.  They float across the lake as giant icebergs, and get washed up in little coves, creating beautiful ice sculpture gardens.  We hiked at the foot of the Cumbres, the highest peaks in the park, covered in a beautiful icy white layer, all the way down to Lago Pehoe.  It was a tough day of hiking, though... we´d apparently burned through an awful lot of calories heading up over the pass, fighting through some extremely strong headwinds, and staying warm in the freak blizzard... meaning we were a bit depleted the next day (especially the clydesdale, who led the charge up the pass:).  When we camped at Lago Pehoe, were definitely back with the masses... but it also brought some other benefits.  The campsite had a store... with m&m´s, juice and fresh eggs.  Trust us... after 7 days of dehydrated food, these are exciting developments. 


Day 8:  A close second for favorite days of hiking!  We hiked with our packs from Lago Pehoe to Campiamento Italiano, at the base of the Valle Frances -- a lovely and peaceful 2 hour hike (after a glorious breakfast of eggs, juice and coffee).  We then set up our tent right by the river, dropped our packs for the day, and day-hiked up the valle frances -- about 6 hours in total.  The entire day, we hiked underneath the shadows of a giant hanging glacier, which was alive with its rumblings, as giant pieces of glacier would go tumbling down.  We could have watched that all day... and more or less did, as we hiked up and down the valley. 
  
It was a wonderful little vacation to hike without our packs again, after 7 straight days of carrying weight.  Up in the valley, we found the most beautiful spot in the entire park, surrounded on all four side by unbelievably stunning views -- the hanging glacier frances on one side, the towering cumbres peaks at the back of the valley (a favorite among the rock climbers), the cuernos peaks on the other side, and amazing views down the valley, with a winding aqua-blue lake and massive snow-capped peaks in the distance. 

The rest of the way down we were giving permission to other hikers to turn around (as it was now late in the day) once they´d found this most beautiful spot in the park... for which they all seemed grateful and relieved.  Back at camp, Amy met our dopplegangers from San Diego (first date in the Lost Coast where we got engaged, honeymoon in New Zealand, vacation in Patagonia), who had all kinds of great New Zealand tips for us. 

Day 9:  Our last day in the park... a rare early start for us (hiking by 7:30am) and a morning of solitude hiking out from the Valle Frances, about 16 km out to Hotel Las Torres... as we finished, our legs finally had permission to start hurting, after 9 days,120 km of hiking with 50-pound packs, 100 mph winds, a freak blizzard... and oh so much beauty. 

A Patagonian Reunion

My dear friend Carly and her husband, David, as Dave told you, were, too, recently spening time in this part of the world.  David works for USAID and Carly as a teacher and thier jobs and lifestyle take them all over the world.  Most recently, and currently, they live and work in Paraguay-a place we may need to tack onto our advenures in order to see the Iguazu Falls, share more wine at their favorite wine night hang out in Asuncion, and just share more adventures. 


Over the past week (over 2 weeks ago now, sorry we´ve fallen so behind fans!) we travelled together through the channels and fjords of Patagonia, watched as pieces of ice fell from the Iceberg Glacier, taught the world (well at least a small coningent of the nations represented on our boat) how to pass the pigs, watched as a small Chilean town recovered from a strike, shared one of our top 5 meals of all time (see ´Ïndulgences´ below), and climbed to the Torres del Paine.  That´s more time and adventure I have been able to spend with Carly since we shared an apartment and a couple of dogs in a neighborhood of LA.  I look forward to more Amy and Carly reunions (and husband bonding)  albeit closer to home.  We had so much fun with you!  Abrazos. . .
  

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Victory for the People!

Hola, loyal followers!  Warm greetings to all... and thanks for the comments!  Alas, no time for proper blog entries just now.  We´re off to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine for a 10-day trek -- our longest of the trip.  It should be a real highlight of our time in Patagonia (but to be honest, what hasn´t been?).  But just a few quick updates, to tide you over...

On Friday last week, we set sail on the Navimag for a 4-day ferry journey from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales.  The ferry is an important means of moving cargo (and some tourists) from north to south, around the Patagonian ice fields which divide southern Chile from the northern part of the country.  In winter, we hear they move livestock as well.  We felt like the livestock to some extent on the boat -- about 150-200 tourists from all over, making the ship feel a bit like a cross between the united nations, the love boat, and stowing away on a freighter.

Big highlight of the trip was surprising our friends Carly and David (who live and work in Paraguay), by getting assigned to a shared cabin with them.  We just happened to both be traveling in Patagonia at the same time and were able to coordinate our plans with theirs.  Other highlights including beautiful Patagonian fjords and narrow channels, several dolphin sightings, a rough night in the open waters of the Pacific, Disco Bingo night on the Navimag, and brokering international friendships through our favorite travel game, pass the pigs / passe los porcos.  (I know, porcos means pork, not pigs... but it sounds funnier).

The real excitement began upon arrival in Puerto Natales. Let´s just say we´re really glad that the big news in Chile the last week was not big enough news to make it up north (i.e., into the realm of nervous parents).  For the last week, the whole south of the country has been on strike, blockading access into and out of all towns in the Pategonian regions.  They were protesting against a proposed gas price increase (heating gas, not petrol for cars) of 17%.  In the past, this region has been heavily subsidized in gas, due to the long, cold winters.  (Note for Janet:  please note the use of the past tense, `were` on strike... the strike is now over:)

We pulled up to port with the ship´s captain honestly not knowing what to expect.  We were greeted by some large and exuberant crowds of people... not entirely clear whether they were happy to see us or not.  Some of their representatives were invited on board to speak to the passengers, and reassure us that we were very welcome in the town, and that there was no ill will towards the tourists.  In fact, as we came to realize, our boat was in truth a lifeline for the town, which is almost entirely driven by tourism, as the gateway to Torres del Paine.  Our boat brought cargo supplies, including fresh food for the supermarkets, and fresh tourists with Chilean pesos in our pockets.  Apparently, the situation had been fairly bad earlier in the week, with the Red Cross getting involved to assist in rescuing some stranded tourists in Torres del Paine and then in the town as well.  (Note for Janet:  Again, please note the use of the past tense).

Our ferry company was actually a bit irresponsible for bringing us down in those conditions, and in how they handled it.  In fairness, such strikes happen on occasion, but always in the past have lasted 2 days and no more.  This one lasted 7 before agreement was finally reached.  (Final note for Janet:  please note that agreement has been reached:).

Somehow, even though I´ve retired from the peacemaking business for at least a while, the conflicts still seem to find me... But I do have to question the wisdom of the people´s strategy of shutting down transportation in the region and cutting off access to their own towns... doesn´t seem like a very good strategy to put your own towns under self-imposed seige.  But, that´s Chile, I guess... because it seems to have been effective.


In the end, our timing could not have been better.  We arrived Monday night just after midnight, and the strike negotiations reached a successful conclusion on Tuesday morning at 9am.  The streets were alive with celebrations for the people´s victory (a 3% increase, instead of 17%), all transportation resumed as normal, and Parque Nacional Torres del Paine re-opened.  Imagine the opportunity to see Yosemite National Park, in the peak of the summer season, with no one else yet in the park!  That´s what we´re up to in a few hours, once we get just a few last supplies for our 10-days in the back-country.

Thinking of you all, and very glad our parents did not have access to CNN Chile the last few days:)  Abrazos. . . 

Friday, January 14, 2011

Climbing ´The House of the Spirits´

Volcan Villarica
As we head south our first stop was Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile. You can go climbing, hiking, biking, kayaking, rafting, canyoning or do pretty much any other adventure sport you can think of there.  The town thrives on tourism from not only extranjeros (foreign tourists) but also wealthy Chileans.  Our adventure of choice: Climbing ´The House of Spirits´ also known as Volcano Villarica.  (SHOUT OUT for Chelsea for the recommendation!)

Amy and her ice axe
We were all suited up for the climb by Sol y Nieve, one of the many adventure companies in Pucon.  We had waterproof pants and jackets, boots, a helmet, mittens, cramp-ons, and our trusty ice ax (my favorite piece of equipment) along with our fellow climbers (including 4 boys from MIT known simply as ´The Americans´) and our ever dependable guides: Oscar, Daniel, and ´The Mayor of the Mountain´and ´Climbing Machine´ himself, Sergio.  A motley crew, indeed.


We zig zagged like a line of ants up the mountatin, backpacks and helmets on, clenching our ice axes, always in the hand closest to the peak.  In the case of a fall, the ice ax is in position to dig into the snow and be grasped easily preventing any sliding.  The 3 hour hike up was only interrupted by two short breaks, and several yells of ´Roca!´ meaning rocks were falling from above.  Sergio led the way.

At the top we were welcomed by the 200m in diameter crater spewing sulfur that made it feel like you were inhaling a can of Pringles.  The view revealed lakes, mountains, clouds,  lava flows, and even the park we had hiked days before. You could see for miles and miles.

The Descent!
The climb, in itself was amazing but little did we know the real fun was about to begin.  Our descent was accomplished by sliding at ungodly speeds down luge tracks carved into the snow by previous trekkers on little plastic seats that resembled a tray from the cafeteria more than any kind of sled.  The goal was to stay on the seat and the track, neither of which Dave was able to accomplish.  For those of you who have seen Dave go down a hill on his bike imagine that same speed down a snowy volcano.  On his face.

This was one of those experiences that was so much fun you can´t believe they let you do it.  Abrazos. . .

Pucon 70.3, anyone?

Of course, Amy and I would stumble upon an Ironman 70.3 event while traveling in Patagonia.  Unfortunately, we need to miss the triathlon by a couple of days.  But mark it down for next year´s race calendar.

The ´Dutch Oven´

This post is offered as a special shout-out to all you elephant-walkers out there.  A few weeks ago in Florida, the phrase ´Dutch Oven´came up somehow.  Well, I offer a new definition:  hike all day, cook up a gigantic pot of black beans and rice, and then sleep in the same tent as Amy.  Trust me.... it´s a Dutch Oven.

The Nuts that Broke the Clydesdale´s Back

Amy and Dave... before the trek
I always thought the phrase ´the straw that broke the camel´s back´was kind of silly.  Could a camel really tell the difference if you added just one more piece of straw?  As it turns out, Amy and I discovered/proved that there´s a whole of truth in that phrase.

the noble Aracuania
Our first trek of our Patagonian adventure was a 3-day hike in Huerquehue National Park (pronounced ´where-kay-way´). Beautiful high altitude lakes, gorgeous peaks, aracuania forests (the tree that gives this region of Chile its name), some natural hot springs, and a whole lot of climbing up, and up, and up.

As we set off, Amy was a bit uncomfortable with the weight of her pack, while mine was okay... we did have (rather foolishly) everything we brought to Patagonia with us on the trek.  So, after a while, we shifted some weight to my pack.  Not too much -- probably about 5 pounds, including our bag of trail mix -- a simple peanut/raisin mix.  Well, that did the trick for Amy... but now my pack was uncomfortably heavy... so, after a while, we shifted some weight back to Amy´s pack.  Again, my pack felt good again, and Amy´s was unbearable.

Apparently, we´d accidentally discovered the maximum weight that we can jointly and comfortably carry... by carrying about 5 pounds more than that on our first trek.  It didn´t help that we jumped in with both feet -- a 7.5 hour hike with substantial elevation to gain on our very first day of hiking with all that weight.

Amy took to calling these 5 pounds that we kept passing back and forth our ´depression weight´, because that bag of trail mix brought depression to whoever was carrying it.  I took to calling them ´the nuts that broke the clydesdale´s back´... or, for you passover afficianados out there... ´the nuts of affliction´.

Needless to say, we were very relieved when our next hostel/hotel offered to store any of our extra luggage when we set off on our 10-day trek next week in Torres del Paine.  Abrazos . . .

Saving Los Perritos One Spare Meat Pie at a Time

Chile has its share of stray dogs.  Los perritos seem to co-exist with the Chilean people for the most part but seem to lack food, shelther, a good bath every once and awhile, and most of all LOVE.  You can probably imagine as dog lovers, this kills us.

As we walked the streets of Santiago among the stares of the puppy eyes I, ofcourse, looked up at Dave with puppy eyes of my own asking, ¨Can I touch them? (my desire to touch things in the past has led to allergic reactions aka dermatological events).  Dave´s response to the suffering perritos was, ¨I wish I had a spare meat pie.¨  And so, as we walk the streets of any Chilean city or town I reach out to pet the dogs and if you look in Dave´s pack there is always a spare meat pie. 

Alas, don´t be suprised if we return to the US with new pet dogs for all of you (don´t worry Mom and Dad, you´re off the hook : ).  Abrazos. . .   

Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Wonder of the Tourist Information Office (a.k.a., our friend Max)

So this is the second time we´ve taken advantage of the tourist information office.  We had great experiences with these guys in iceland helping us to plan our adventures up there... and we had an equally great experience with our new friend Max in the Santiago tourist information office.  Do we even have these kinds of places in the US?  We walked in, spent an hour with Max, and had most of our entire trip planned.  He told us he would have pushed us out the door sooner... but we told him it was our honeymoon, and that did the trick.  He was so genuinely happy, he said, to be helping us to plan our honeymoon... it was touching.

So, here´s the plan:  We´re heading south tonight on an overnight bus.  Our first stop is in Pucon, an adventure town that serves as something of a gateway to Patagonia.  For the rest of the itinerary, you´ll have to stay tuned. Abrazos. . .

The Escape!

It was crazy(!) getting ready to make our grand escape.  Who knew there were so many odds and ends to take care of when planning to put your lives on hold for a 3 or 4 or 5 or month adventure? It probably didn´t help that Dave procrastinated in grading his papers, and finishing his work, or that Amy sometimes gets emotional during transitions... or that our NH house flooded, or our car broke down (and is spending the next 6 weeks of winter at a garage in Lincoln, NH)... for any Goodriches reading along, let´s just say it was touch and go for a little while, and a true christmas miracle that we boarded our flights with relatively few loose ends to tie up.  It wasn´t quite NLE (no loose ends)... but we´re off, and any remaining items on the to-do list will just have to wait until June. Abrazos. . .

Full-Mooning?

Our first post!  How exciting!  We thought we´d dedicate this first post to explaining our title:  Full-Mooning.  As many of you know, we postponed our grand honeymoon plans until we could both be free of those irritating things called ´jobs´.  But to tide us over until January 2011, we took a couple of mini trips after our wedding, which we called ´miní-moons´.  We went to Amsterdam for a few days in October right after our wedding... but Dave had to work during some of that trip.  We went back to Amsterdam in December for a few days... but Dave had to work during some of that trip too.  While those mini-moons were fun, and we managed to pack a whole lot into a short little trip... they weren´t quite the real deal.  Well now, we´re on to the real deal.  The FULL MOON.  Six weeks in Patagonia.  Six weeks in New zealand.  Another six (?) weeks in Croatia.  Welcome to the Full Moon.  Abrazos. . .