Parque Nacional Los Glaciares

At the southern end of the Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares is Glaciar Moreno which until recently was steadily growing but is now in recession leading glaciologists to determine it unlikely that the glacier will return to its former behavior. A little global warming I'd say, so see it while you can. Viewing the glacier involves a short day trip from the popular tourist town of El Calafate. Unlike Glacier Grey, the Perito Moreno glaciar is accessable to almost everyone and is well worth the trip.
At the northern end of the park 4 hours away by gravel road, are the breathtaking peaks of Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We arrived in the basetown of El Chalten, a town with about 500 residents and roughly 100 stray dogs, on a day with unbelievably good weather and geared up immediately for a few more days of backpacking. We started with a hike to Laguna Torre, a breathtaking turquoised colored lake and one of many we saw throughout the Patagonias. We set up camp next to the laguna and at the base of the Cerro Torre tower which gave us a superior view of the laguna, Cerro Torre, and a sprawling mass of intersecting glaciers in between, very cool! As is life in the Patagonia mountains, and much like our experience in Torres Del Paine, we we're greeted the next morning with clouds and rain. Have I mentioned the wind yet, you can almost sit back and it will hold you up, there was a few times I nearly got knocked down from the wind and was pretty sure I would get carried away if it weren't for the weight of my pack. Unfortunately by the time we got to our campsite Monte Fitz Roy was still covered in clouds as it is most of the time, but luckily it cleared up a little right before nightfall so we were blessed with one good view.

Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine is a national park located on the Chilean side of the Patagonia´s in Puerto Natales. The journey over to Chile was an exciting experience which included a ferry ride where we were able to get out of the bus and watch some dolphins as they swam beside our boat for our personal viewing pleasure. It was nice to get some added value for our bus ticket. When we arrived in Puerto Natales, we discovered what has turned out to be our favorite restaurant so far on our trip, called El Living. Even our vegan friend Tony had more choices than he could have possibly asked for. Fresh veggies and ginger apple juice, and a garlic dip to die for among others. After gorging ourselves at El Living for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we headed to the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine the next morning with our backpacks on to do a very ambitious backpacking adventure called the W. We spent 4 days and 3 nights backpacking through the most beautiful mountains we've ever seen about 70km of distance in all. (You're supposed to do it in 4 days 5 nights, but since we were out of shape and obviously crazy, we decided to push ourselves a little). We made it but would strongly recommend enjoying the mountains and hiking a little slower. The first day in the park was sunny and warm and we trekked up to Glaciar Grey, the largest glacier in the area, and part of the Hielo Sur, the largest icecap outside the polar regions. It is a 200m thick wall of ice that continually cracks with ear shattering volume plunging large blocks of ice into Lago Grey. It was more than impressive and pictures cannot really do it justice. The last mile was a bit of a struggle, all uphill, but well worth it as our camp was situated right at the edge of the glaciar. The second day we set off for our next camp which was situated in the Valle de Frances about 22 km away, so definitely a full day of trekking, but the scenery was well worth it with a great view of Glaciar Frances. Unfortunately our weather did not stick and the patagonian rain had settled in, and we were soaked to the core by the time we got there. The remaining days were challenging at best due to the nonstop rain, but still well worth the effort. We did not get to see the Paine towers, a highlight in the park, but I think if you are blessed with one beautiful day in Torres Del Paine, you can count yourself lucky.

Ushuaia--Fin Del Mundo

Ushuaia the southernmost city in the world and a popular link to Antarctica where for only 4,000 dollars you can hop on a boat for a 10 day cruise. Although this is pocket change for John and I we decided to save it for a later date. Ushuaia lies beside the beagle channel where on our first day we decided to take a boat ride to look at some sea wolfs and little peguionos! They are sooo cute I really wanted to take one with me but apparently that's frowned upon. There are a lot of great hiking opportunities in and around the Fuegan Andes. We hiked up to see Martial Glacier, took some day hikes through the Tierra Del Fuego national park, and even visited the southern most post office in the world were they´ll stamp your passports with fin del mundo seal and a picture of a penguino. I can´t say a whole lot about the hostel we stayed in, I guess they at least had a nice kitchen so we could finally eat a few vegetables in Argentina, and we met a very nice local Ushuaian named Lily who was happy to help us practice our Spanish. And as luck would have it we did end up with the only heated dorm room in the whole place (thankfully or I would have frozen to death). We did meet a couple of fellow Americans from San Diego who we decided to travel with for awhile up through the Patagonias--they turned out to be great company on our backpacking trips. So we headed north to Torres del Paine and a little taste of Chile.