In Patagonia Day 24
In Patagonia Day 24 Puerto Natalas—somewhere along Chilean coast on The Eden I recall reading many narratives when I was young where the wanderer boarded a tramp steamer, heading off to adventures unknown. I would always picture a rusty steel hulk with a shady captain and crew trafficking in illicit goods. When not so suspicious, […]
In Patagonia Day 22-23
In Patagonia Days 22-3 Puerto Natalas Puerto Natales, a town with a cemetery where the mausoleums have aluminum storm doors, and the people (living) even in late summer bundle in winter coats, all wandering about looking like puffy hand-grenades. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Woodstock, Virginia, with a population then […]
In Patagonia Day 21
In Patagonia Day 21 El Chaltén—Puerto Natalas A transition day in preparation for a new phase of Patagonian peregrinations. Passing back through El Calatafe on my way back to Puerto Natales gave me a chance to reflect on the trekking culture I’ve been witnessing here which is much different from the long distance hiking world […]
In Patagonia Day 20
In Patagonia Day 20 El Chaltén—Lago del Desierto—El Chaltén Today was about borders—national, hydrological, botanical, and geological. My last day in Argentina’s Glacier National Park was a shuttle ride up a rough gravel road with many one-lane wooden bridges to Lago del Desierto, a long narrow lake 37 kilometers from El Chaltén. The plan was […]
In Patagonia Day 19
In Patagonia Day 19 D’Agostini Campground to El Chaltén Woke to the sound of light rain on the tent and a distinct chill in the air. Dozed a bit, looked out at the other tents where no one was stirring. My cold, wet-weather New Zealand training kicked in, and methodically I gathered my things, filled […]
In Patagonia Day 18
In Patagonia Day 18 Poincenot Campground—D’Agostini Campground Woke to a cloudy windy morning but the rain had stopped. Took my time leaving as the wind soon dried my wet hiking clothes (which meant I still have dry clothes in my bag—always a good idea). Today I walked the trail that connects the Fitzroy loop with […]
In Patagonia Day 17
In Patagonia Day 17 El Chaltén —Poincenot Campground As is often the case with full day trekking, it was a day with a split personality. None of these sections involve any real distance, so I caught the 9:30 shuttle to the trailhead, accompanied by a number of folks including two American couples with a baby […]
In Patagonia Day 16
In Patagonia Day 16 El Chaltén Thoreau called Katadhin a “cloud machine,” a well-deserved appellation though the day Bennett, Tom, and I summited to finish the Appalachian Trail, it was perfectly clear. We could see what seemed the entire state of Maine. Mount Fitzroy is also a cloud (and wind) machine. Today was one to […]
In Patagonia Day 15
In Patagonia Day 15 El Calatafe—El Chaltén I started reading Jason Moore’s Capitalism in the Web of Life the other day. In the opening chapters he lays out an argument familiar in 21st century environmental philosophy criticizing the notion that humans are actors—agents of history— acting on a mute and stable Nature. Societies have history, […]
In Patagonia Day 14
In Patagonia Day 14 El Calafate—Perito Moreno Glacier—El Calafate Yesterday evening I had a good IPA Esquél at the Wanaco bar looking out the window onto the main street of the old section of El Calatafe. It is lined with tour agencies, souvenir shops, restaurants, and hiking equipment stores. Divided by a green median with […]