With a base camp established, today’s trekking is with camera gear and day pack only, a welcomed relief from hauling full packs. Not five minutes into our hike, Kyle looks back and notices that Mount Fitz Roy is totally clear. Knowing how infrequently this happens with good light I jumped on the opportunity to capture the scene.

Our destination is the viewpoint of Cerro Torres from above Laguna Torres. The round trip takes us 6 hours to complete. When we arrive at the mirador, Cerro Torres is completely shrouded in clouds. It is said that visitors have a 1 in 10 chance of catching an unobstructed view on any given visit. Disappointment about the cloudy conditions instantly gave way to excitement over the katabatic winds. I have no way of knowing for sure (driving with my torso sticking out of the sun roof in a limo being my only frame of reference) but I would estimate sustained winds of 50 mph with frequent gusts to 70 mph. The video which I shot is far more compelling than the still photos.

Satisfied with our gale force wind experience we descended back into the forest where we encountered this very large woodpecker doing some serious pecking on a tree immediately adjacent to the trail. Even with only a wide angle lens at hand I was able to capture a fairly good image of this very distinctive bird.

During the last 45 minutes of our return to camp we encountered a light rain, which eventually transitioned to barely perceptible snow and then to highly perceptible albeit tiny hail. Anyone familiar with sand blasting will appreciate the sensation of these tiny balls of ice, driven by a horizontal wind, smashing into ones face. Between the hail and continuously dropping temperature, Kyle and I decided to get bundled up inside the tent. The soup I cooked under the vestibule of the tent helped to warm us from the inside out and made it easier to fall asleep much earlier than normal.

El Chaltén is a small mountain village in Argentina located on the riverside of Río de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park at the base of the Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountains. Another three hour bus ride delivers us to this village, a popular destination among trekkers and climbers, just in time for lunch. “Chaltén” is a Tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as they believed it was a volcano for its peak is most of the time covered by clouds. Starting at the Hosteria El Pilar, we make a relatively easy 6 Km hike to the Poincenot campground where we establish a base camp that will serve us for two nights. Having run out of dehydrated food, this evening’s meal is pasta with meat sauce prepared with ingredients obtained in town. I was rather pleased with the outcome and Kyle offered no criticism of the simple but hearty and piping hot meal. Temperatures here are considerably cooler than Chile and we are wearing almost everything we have to fend off the cold.

For a complete change of pace today, Kyle and I will trek in crampons over the Perito Moreno Glacier. This glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The 97 square mile ice formation is 19 miles in length, and is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing, the reasons for which are a matter of debate among glaciologists. The terminus is 3 miles wide, with an average height of 240 feet above the surface of the water of Lago Argentino and an average ice depth of 558 feet. My back of the envelope calculation puts the total weight of the glacier at 40 billion tons which helps to understand how such a formation advancing at up to 6 feet per day can carve valleys from stone. Massive calving events are a frequent occurrence.

We arrived at the glacier mid-morning after a two hour bus ride from El Calafate. We were then shuttled across the lake to the trail head of our trek on a catamaran which afforded us great views of the face of the glacier. After a relatively short hike to its base we were fitted with crampons and began our ascent onto the glacier. A very knowledgeable guide taught us proper ice trekking techniques and gave a series of short lessons on glaciers in general and the Perito Moreno in particular. Our trek concluded with a whisky and glacier ice cube toast (I opted for straight glacier water) before returning by boat to the other side of the lake. An additional hour was spent viewing the glacier from a set of balconies emanating from the visitors center offering a much wider view of the entire glacier. Even with my 17mm lens on a full frame camera I was not able to capture the full width of the glacier in a single photo.

After a good night’s sleep we caught the early bus bound for El Calafate, Argentina. The six hour transit included more than an hour spent clearing passport control and customs at the border. A model of inefficiency, all passengers exit the bus on the Chilean side of the border to clear passport control and then re-board the bus. A few minutes later we arrive at the Argentinian control point and once again everyone disembarks and files through the passport control office while dogs check luggage for illegal contraban. A single passenger with a soon to expire visa held up the line for over 30 minutes. When travelling in this part of the world you simply have to accept the fact that time tables are more like loose guidelines. We arrived Calafate by mid afternoon, checked into our hostel and made a bee line for Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve, a virtual gold mine for birders. Pictured below are but a fraction of the birds we discovered.

I asked Kyle to select the restaurant for dinner this evening and we were not disappointed with his choice. By far the best meal of the trip, I enjoyed a grilled salmon while Kyle sampled their best cut of beef. Also on his radar was a fine ice cream parlor which served as our final gastronomic destination of the evening where we indulged ourselves in our only frozen treats of the trip.

Consistent with the plan formulated yesterday, guided by our headlamps through a cold light rain, we left the warmth of our refugio at 3:30AM destined for the 3000 foot high Mirador Torres which requires a fairly steep ascent after passing the Campamento Torres. Our party of four arrived at the top by 5AM, fifteen minutes ahead of sunrise. Alas, the sun would be blocked by clouds on this morning which would prevent me from making the image I had hoped for featuring the peaks bathed in golden light with the small tarn and boulders in the foreground. Kyle, having glimpsed through the clouds at the grandeur we came to see, wisely elected to return to the refugio after about 30 minutes on top and before losing all feeling in his fingers. I remained for another two hours hoping to photograph all three peaks unmasked by the clouds. I had two such opportunities which lasted for less than a minute each. The light was not good but I was grateful for those brief windows of relative clarity. With a 9AM breakfast deadline looming, I completed the 12 Km round trip back to the refugio descending at break-neck speed to ensure I would have a meal in my belly before facing the dreaded 3 Km, all downhill leg (most punishing on my knees) of our trek. Kyle had waited to have breakfast with me and it was nice sharing our last meal in the park together. Before taking the shuttle to the park entrance and transferring to the afternoon bus back to Puerto Natales we had an opportunity to dry our tent and sweat soaked clothing in the sun and do a bit of sun bathing ourselves.

Two days of carrying most of the weight left Kyle with a very tender hip flexor muscle today so we shifted much of it to my pack to give him some time to recover. We also scaled back our planned 17 Km distance to 12 Km and stayed at the Refugio Chileno instead of the Campamento Torres. Generally regarded as the most difficult hiking day, our effort was rewarded with great vistas, one after another as we made the traverse from the Valle del Frances to the Valle Ascencio.

If I had not heard the sound of falling water I would have walked right past this waterfall which was only a few hundred meters off the main path. Much of our journey today will take us along the emerald waters of Lago Nordenskjold. Each lake here seems to have a distinctive hue depending on the mineral content carried by the streams which feed it. Despite their beauty, dipping one toe in these glacier fed lakes will either completely dissuade you from even thinking about a swim or put you in touch with your inner polar bear.

Now well beyond the area consumed by fire, the vegetation here is lush and calls out to the weary hiker to stop and rest atop the cushion of green velvet. We forge on, both of us preferring to adjust our pace as necessary but not to stop for long rests.

As we enter the Valle Ascencio we catch our first glimpse of Las Torres (arguably the most iconic mountains in the park; so famous they appear on the Chilean currency).

After arriving at Refugio Chileno we meet up with a great bunch of folks from California, Austria, and Australia. A group of us decided we will leave early the next morning (3:30AM) so we can catch sunrise at the Las Torres Mirador. To my surprise, Kyle, a generally late sleeper, agrees to join us.

Even though the sun here does not set until after 10PM at this time of year, I was sound asleep last night well before then and up prior to the 5:10AM sunrise for some pre-dawn photography. After a breakfast of rehydrated scrambled eggs (unlike the stroganoff, these were just horrible) we made a 7 Km excursion up the Valle del Frances. The weather could not have been more cooperative and we enjoyed spectacular views as we ascended beyond Campamento Britanico. In my 54 years, I have never witnessed a more stunning 360 degree view than on this day at the lower mirador along this trail. With Los Cuernos on one side, the Glacier Frances on the other, the Cordillera Paine behind us, and Lago Nordenskjold and Pehoe in front, every sliver of the horizon was a jewel to behold. Snow capped peaks, granite spires jutting up through the clouds, a calving hanging glacier, distant islands nestled in emerald lakes, and waterfalls feeding a raging river. No camera can do justice to such a vista and I will have to settle for the image seared into my memory.

We returned to Campamento Italiano by early afternoon and I “prepared” a lasagna with meat sauce lunch before embarking on an additional 6.3 Km trek to the Refugio Cuerno where we arrived just in time for dinner followed by a piping hot shower.

Reaching the Italiano Campground will require a 19 Km hike which we start early in the day. The katabatic winds which jostled us yesterday are all but gone today and we make excellent time. Much of this portion of the park (40,000 acres, 10%) was consumed by fire last year when an Israeli trekker triggered the inferno when he burned his toilet paper rather than burying it as is required. It will take decades before the slow growing vegetation recovers.

Upon reaching the campground we secure a level site, pitch our tent and ready it for the evening. I slaved to prepare a delicious beef stroganoff (added boiling water to a pouch containing the freeze-dried, dehydrated ingredients; a perfect match to my cooking skills). Kyle inherited his mother’s refined taste for food and was quite surprised with how good the meal was. It is amazing what a long day of hiking will do for your appreciation of a simple meal.

Minutes from our campground is a “bridge” (a literally loose collection of boards laid on top of two steel cables “secured” on each side by a netted pile of rocks) over the Rio del Frances from which there are exceptional views of the Glacier Frances and Los Cuernos mountain peaks (“the horns”). The former is an actively calving, hanging glacier which produces thunderous avalanches about every 15-30 minutes. Often the avalanche produces a prolific waterfall that lasts for several minutes as the melting glacier water is released from behind the ice. The latter is a set of 7500-foot peaks that are capped in dark brown stone and rise abruptly from the surrounding forest.

Our Patagonian trekking begins today after a 3 hour bus ride from Puerto Natales to the Torres del Paine National Park. We have elected to trek the classic “W” route (so called because the shape of the letter mimics the path of the trail) from west to east. This direction of travel allows us to work up to the more demanding hikes and provides generally better forward facing views. In addition to the tent, sleeping bags/pads, clothing, food and cooking gear carried by most trekkers, we have an additional 15 pounds of photographic equipment in the form of two DSLRs and a tripod. Fortunately, I have with me a strong Sherpa who on all but one day will shoulder the lion’s share of the weight. With all side excursions included we will cover a distance of approximately 48 miles during our 5 days in the park.

The entry station at Laguna Amarga where we briefly disembark to pay our park entrance fee offers our first view of the mountains we will be hiking amidst and our first encounter with guanacos. The guanaco is a camelid native to South America that stands between 3 and 4 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 200 pounds. I took several close up photos but enjoy this one of a single male surveying the landscape from atop a rocky ridge.

We exit our bus at Pudeto and board a catamaran which shuttles us across Lago Pehoe where the first 11 Km leg of the trek begins at around 1PM. Our destination for the evening is the refugio at the base of the northern lobe of Grey Glacier. Our plan is to spend two nights in the tent and two in refugios which are rustic hostels offering fixed menu hot meals and sleeping accommodations (6-9 bunks per unheated room and communal bathrooms with hot showers). From the moment we set sail until we arrived at Grey, we experienced the intense katabatic winds for which the park is renowned. A katabatic wind is the technical name for a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds can reach hurricane speeds, but I would estimate the ones we experienced to be under 50 knots, invariably hitting us head on and making the hiking that much more difficult. Normally, I only use trekking poles to ease the burden on my knees while descending. On this day, I was happy to have them to provide additional stability when a sudden gust could easily knock you off the trail.

We made good time and reached Refugio Grey in under four hours. After dropping our packs we did a short hike to a spectacular mirador where we paused for photography and to enjoy the magnificence of the Grey Glacier. This glacier, in the south end of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, has a total area of 270 square Km and length of 28 Km. It terminates in three distinct lobes into Grey Lake as seen in this photo from space (courtesy of NASA).

Isla Magdalena lies inside the Magellan Strait at the southern end of Chile just north of Antarctica. It is a small (600 square mile), uninhabited island that during the summer months (October-March) becomes a breeding colony for some 120,000 Magellanic penguins. In 1983, the island was declared a protected national monument, Los Pingüinos Natural Monument, and its only human occupants are park rangers there to protect and monitor the penguin population. Visitors walk on a marked trail from the dock to the highest point on the island, where the lighthouse also serves as an Environmental Interpretation Center.

To visit the island, Kyle and I board a high speed Zodiac which makes the transit in about 30 minutes. The Magellanic penguin, which lives up to 25 years, is found only in southern South America and the Falkland Islands. It’s a medium-sized penguin which grows to be 24–30 inches tall and weighs between 6-14 pounds. Adults have black backs and white abdomens with two black bands between the head and the breast. The head is black with a broad white border that runs from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, and joins at the throat. Studies show that while the penguin population in the Falklands is declining the numbers in Chile have stayed robust.

The penguins have no fear of humans and will approach to within a few feet as they make their daily commute to the ocean where they fish during the afternoons. Chicks and younger penguins have grey-blue backs, with a more faded grey-blue color on their chest. They are carefully guarded by one or both parents who do their best to keep the youngsters from venturing out of the burrows in which they are born. Vigilance is necessary as their is an abundance of winged predators on the lookout for a wayward chick.

Magellanic Penguins are a flightless birds which “fly” through the water in flocks feeding on cuttlefish, sardines, squid, krill, and other crustaceans. Magellanic Penguins mate with the same partner year after year. The male reclaims his burrow from the previous year and waits to reconnect with his female partner. The females are able to recognize their mates through their call alone.

Our next stop is the even smaller Marta Island which is home to some 1000 South American sea lions (called sea wolves in Chile), countless cormorants, and a medium size contingent of penguins. The male South American sea lions are twice the weight of females and have a very large head with a well-developed mane, making them the most lionesque of the eared seals. They can grow to over 9 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost continental city in the world, located some 2000 miles south of Santiago. It is the main urban center of the Patagonia Region; it is also known as “the end of the world” and the gateway to Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic Continent. The city of about 120,000 inhabitants is on the shores of the Strait of Magellan, named after Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands. Kyle and I arrived mid afternoon and immediately ventured out to see the city. Our first stop was the Municipal Cemetery which is distinguished by magnificent mausoleums showing the family history and wealth of the old colonizers and the very large and perfectly manicured evergreen trees which line many of the pathways.

One of the oldest buildings in Patagonia, the José Nogueira Mansion, pictured below, was built in 1890.

Magellan described the Selk’nam Indians of Tierra del Fuego as “giants with large feet”. The monument in his honor, located at the center of the city’s main square, features statues of the Indians, all depicted as very tall with exceptionally large feet. Kyle and I both touched one of the feet for good luck on our adventure.

Kyle arrived at Logan airport this morning on a red-eye flight from California at about 5:30AM. He tried to catch some sleep before boarding a second red-eye flight with me bound for Puntas Arenas, Chile by way of Miami and Santiago. By the time our travel is completed, Kyle will have been in transit for more than 36 hours straight with a bonus 5 hour time shift thrown in for good measure.

So begins our father-son travel adventure to Patagonia. Chile is roughly as long (2,880 miles) as the United States is wide but only 265 miles at its widest. This extremely narrow country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain range. Its length is dotted with volcanoes, two of which can be seen in the photo below taken from the plane on our flight from the capital of Santiago to Puntas Arenas, one of the country’s southernmost cities.

Posts for the next two weeks were added after our return from South America at which time we learned that the Copahue Volcano, located in the immediate vicinity of this photo had been showing seismic activity and venting a mile high ash plume.

Kyle and I depart for Patagonia tomorrow and I completed packing for our two-week trekking adventure. Kyle is flying in from California on the red-eye and I will connect with him at the airport in the morning for our flight to Puntas Arenas, Chile by way of Miami and Santiago. We will spend a week in Chile, primarily in the Torres Del Paine National Park, and then a week in Argentina trekking around Mount Fitz Roy and the Perito Moreno glacier. We will return by way of Buenos Aires on December 22nd. Until then it is not clear if I will be able to post any new blog entries. Kyle and I will each be carrying about 40 pounds and plan to cover 100 miles on our father-son expedition. It has been seven years since we traveled to Belize for his coming-of-age adventure and I am excited that we are doing this together.