Into Patagonia

Jan. 8
We spent the morning at the mall, grocery shopping and buying warm socks. We were then supposed to catch an overnight ferry to Chaitén, however they overbooked it and there was not room for our truck. And the next ferry wasn´t for two more days. So we went back and set up camp again to leave the next morning for a ferry in a different town, setting us back a couple days.

Jan. 9
Got up early to drive to Hornopiren on the Carraterra Austral. We took a 20 min. ferry with nice views and sea lions. We arrived early and hiked "25 min." to a waterfall that took an hour. We had a nice campsite by the river and had our first campfire of the trip.

Jan. 10
Boarded the ferry to Chaitén at 9 am for the 12 hr. ride. After the boredom set in around 1130 am we decided to crack open the wine. Which was finished before lunch. We saw Magellan Penguins and some dolphins. We arrived in Chaitén early and drove around town to see the ash. Chaitén was evacuated in May 2008 because the volcano just behind the town errupted for the first time in 9,000 years, covering the town in ash and causeing the river to flood. We camped at a place close by with hot springs that were really nice.

Jan. 11
We awoke to pack our gear that was now completely covered in ash. We spent most of the drive on the roof seats on top of the truck. It´s chilly but you can get great views of the mountains. We camped in a National Park with a hanging glacier called Ventisquero Colgante. Some of us made the short hike to a view point where you could see the glacier and the massive waterfall coming out below. While we were at the view point the glacier made some noises that sounded like thunder followed by large chunks of ice falling to the valley floor. Coolest thing ever!

Jan. 12
Drove all day around a lake with gorgeous views and ended up bush camping by a river and waterfall. The girls made an awesome bonfire and some German cyclists joined us.

Jan. 13
Made it to the Argentinean border, where we were heckled by the Chilean border control for not having a piece of paper, from the airline, with the exact same stamp that´s already in our passports....assholes. We camped just accross the border near a lake in a crowded campsite...but they had hot water! Yay!

Jan. 14
Got up very early to make a 12 hr drive to Chalten the trekking capital of Argentina. We drove all day accross desert with very high winds. But we saw Guanacos (like llamas), Rheas (mini emu), armadillos, and wild horses. We arrived in Chalten where it is very cold and windy and little bit rainy. We walked around the town, which has a population of 600, and ended up getting a beer in a bar, before returning to our wet tent...in the rain and cold.

Jan. 15
Bad weather, so we´re finally catching up on our blog, laundry, and eating some real food. Have plans to take a boat tomorrow mornging to a glacier to do some hiking and ice climbing, hopefully the weather improves.