Where to begin??

Well, first things first...i ended up in Chile.  Wanted to see the glaciers and heard it was cheaper and way more beautiful so hopped on over and here it starts! 

I wanted to take my first picture in the National Park Torres del Paine in Southern Chile, Patagonia, and found it missing.  First I shrugged it off, then I thought about it and started to cry :)  While sleeping on the bus it fell out of my pocket and I hadn´t realized until a half hour into the hike, bus gone. We had 5 hours to hike that day and it was already 11:30. Time was wasting. 

I decided to head back to the ranger station and ask what I could do.  Sweetheart Sarah from France decided to drop her bag and come with me.  Her bf, Adrian and Spanish Pegoñia decided to stay with our bags until we came back.  South African Toms and Elsh ( I adopted using their nick names) trucked on and would guard campsites for us. 

Once we got to the ranger station they said the only option for me was to wait until the bus came back in 2 hours. I told Sarah to go back and hike on; a 3 hour delay was too much.  She was hesitant but went on.  Over the next 2 hours I made friends with everyone in the office, filled up on the traditional tea, mate, and swapped stories.  When the bus arrived I was prepared not to find it but had such a good time with the mounties that it was ok.  With an understanding I had about a 2%chances of finding it, I looked on the bus and found nothing.  The bus driver came on board and asked where I sat then gave a once over again.  Then he called me over. YAY!!!!! Wedged between the seats my camera laid with pictures all the way back from Carnival on it!  I was so happy I gave the bus driver a kiss :)  And then hustled on out of there back to my bag and on for a solo hike until the campsite. When I got to my bag, Sarah, Adrian and Pegoñia had all waited for me :) Yay again!  And so the hiking began, 3 hours late.  The wind started to whip up.  Wind as in it would blow you over if you didn´t lean into it. When we finally got to the campsite it was still light and we were tired and ready to set up camp.  Elsh and Toms saved us some spots and we set up.  I immediately took a nap. 

Originally, I had thought of doing a 3-4 day hike but the two couples were thinking more.  I didn´t want to hike alone and I really liked these people so I decided to do the Circuit hike, rather than the W, for 8 days.  There were warnings of rain, wind (incredible wind), and sun.  Thin ozone so sunscreen a must.  When I went shopping for food I couldn´t believe that I would eat so much for 8 days. I bought a pot to cook in and gas to burn and figured I would be fine bumming a burner from someone else.  My bag packed was the heaviest of the group.  Sweet. On we went.

Cutting to the good part : Day 4 and 5.

You know, all I knew of Patagonia is that it was beautiful and majestic.  Nobody told me that I was going to be battling nature for my life!!! Whatever calender pictures!  You are all evil underneath the colors!
Rain, wind, and sun all took it´s toll.  My feet were well blistered, face burnt and happy as a camper!  Surrounded by beautiful snow topped mountains, drinkable stream water (AMAZING!!!), trees with beautiful fall colors.  Reds, yellows and greens exploded everywhere in fall colors with a white snow background. Endless amounts of waterfalls, moss, big and little trees, bridges and stunning glaciers.  I have never seen a glacier in my life and they are just as wonderful as I would imagine. Iridescent-blue that just seems to draw you in.  We also found out that we were the last people to go through the Circuit route before they close for the season.  I totally want a shirt that says that :)

Day 5 started when I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to get ready for the day and found it snowing.  Um, my tent is barley able to get through rain and now snow? Hmm. No wonder I was so cold the night before!  We packed up and headed out by 8.  It started to snow harder.  And the wind was picking up quite quickly.  About an hour into our hike we could not see the path any more and the storm was just getting worse.  Both my feet were drenched in mud and half of one calf.  The snow was getting to about 5 inches. The group stopped and waited to see if it was going to be better or worse.  I, unprepared for snow, was just soaking up the snow into my clothes and getting a little grumpy from the unrelenting wind. Three of us decided to head back.  Most of the group just stood there and wanted to wait it out.  There was barely any cover and I was getting very, very, cold. Either continue or go back but I couldn´t just stand there.  So, I along with Elsh and Toms, headed back. When we got back to the campsite we stayed by the sheltered campfire and dried out everything that was wet. I was able to score a sweet tent that was left for a Mountie and a sleeping mat.  I was sooooooo

Day 5.  Ready to go at 8 we headed out.  It was not snowing. Awesome.  We saw the sunrise over the mountains and it was mostly clear. Sunny and beautiful!!  Then the wind started. It was 3 hours up to get over the mountain and another 4 down to the second campsite. We wanted the third campsite that was an actual refugio.  It had showers and a place to cook.  22km total for this day.  As the day went on we were all very happy that we waited out the extra day.  It would have been miserable out in the open with all that snow. However, after swapping stories with the other group, we decided our group ended up having it worse. 

Now, to imagine what kind of wind we were dealing with imagine standing on top of a car going 65 miles an hour.  Then imagine wearing a giant backpack. Then imagine you on a cliff. And the wind rarely stayed blowing the same direction for more than 3 minutes so you can lean all you want into it thinking it will be ok only to have it change direction and you fall. I tried walking slowly, crawling, running (well once, that didn´t work out too well!) and it was all just the same. This hike was terrible!  Toms had dropped his water bottle and when I found it I actually looked for his body down in the canyon. Elsh said she thought nature deserved to be littered on by that point :) I could yell as loud as I could and Elsh, less than 30 feet in front of me could not hear. For over an hour we were out in the open.  Falling, cursing nature, and quickly using all energy we had simply to survive!  It was raining too.  You know, the kind that burns it is falling so hard.
Foot and a half stairs, 2 story ladders held together by shifty rope and lots of mud was the rest of our hike. When we got to the first campsite we barley stopped and went to the second, 2 hours away. By that time we were so tired and hurt that we all went into survival mode. Just walk.  One step in front of the other.  My feet were on fire with the blisters and I was so hungry I could have eaten slugs. By nightfall we made it to the oasis campsite.  We long stopped complaining, and communicating by this point just absolutely drained!  I had already made up my mind that I didn´t care to finish the hike.  Yeah, yeah, I maybe should have.  But, I also maybe should have prepared a bit more for things like snow.  I was tired of either not feeling my feet because they were frozen or they were on fire from the blisters. 
I divided up some of my food so that the others could eat a bit more and said my goodbyes :)  I also paid 30 US $ to sleep in a warm, warm bed that night.  Worth it.  The next morning I hiked 3 hours to the boat dock where my ride awaited.  I went with two other American girls who complained: ¨There were times that we couldn´t even take a step the wind was so strong!¨ Most of the time I bit my tongue but it may have slipped that where I hiked you could not stand up or you would be blown down a few hundred feet.
I must say that my only regret is that I did not finish with the same group of people but a warm bed is hard to beat!  This is by far the most bad ass hike I have EVER been on.  And perhaps it will keep that title for at least a few years :) I head back into Argentina tomorrow and then I am not sure.  I spent so much here I think I need to hitch back up north.  I think I prefer this mode of travel anyways.  Soooo many great, weird people :) Miss you all!