Snow in June

A Quick Summary

We flew down to Punta Arenas, which is in the southernmost part of Chile in the Patagonia region. From there we took a bus to Puerto Natales, to explore Torres del Paine national park. We then took a bus north to El Calafate and then El Chalten in Argentina for some more hiking. 

It's the dead of winter here, which has made for some cold days without much daylight. However, it has meant that the parks are way less crowded and we've had some really popular hikes all to ourselves! I'd take a bit of snow over crowds any day.

Full trip map

Zoomed in map

Highs and Lows

Church in Punta Arenas:

Last week while I was in a park in Valparaíso, I ended up talking to a local guy named Ivan for a few hours. When he found out we were going to Punta Arenas, he gave me his friend's number who lived there. When we arrived, I texted his friend, Rodrigo, and David and I went with him to his church in Punta Arenas. 

With Rodrigo at church

The church service was really great, it was a small congregation of about 15 people and they made us feel super welcomed. We didn't really understand much though, so David and I accidentally stood up for a father's day blessing. Hopefully we can just save that blessing for the future.

After church, Rodrigo introduced us to his other friend, Pablo. Pablo took us out for lunch, and then spent the whole day showing us around Punta Arenas. I've been consistently so impressed at how welcoming and friendly the local people in Latin America are. 

Our new friend Pablo

Torres del Paine:

We spent a day hiking and exploring in Torres del Paine national park, which is the famous park in the Chilean Patagonia. We got to hike to the base of the towers, or "torres" from where the park gets its name. 

David contemplating life

"Does anyone swim in this lake?" "Definitely not right now, only a few crazy people do in the summer"

- a tour guide 

Enjoying the hike

Afterwards, we took the scenic route out of the park and got to watch the sunset over the mountains which was stunning. I was super thankful for the weather we had for our one day in Torres del Paine!

El Chaltén:

On the Argentine side of Patagonia, we stayed in a tiny mountain town called El Chaltén, in an airbnb which was a converted shipping container! The town is situated right in the mountains, so all the hiking trailheads were right in the town. 

The town of El Chaltén 

Our accomodation 

While we were here, we had the chance to do the famous hike in the area, called Laguna de Los Tres. The hike started off not super great; it was cloudy, windy, and there was a mix of rain/snow falling. 

As we climbed higher, the rain turned to snow, and the trail became pretty icy and slippery. Eventually, we made it to the top, hoping to see some beautiful lakes and the famous mountain Fitz Roy, which is featured on the Patagonia brand logo. Unfortunately, the lake was covered in snow and the clouds were completely blocking the mountains. 

The lake is the large white patch slightly to the right of center in the photo, and Fitz Roy is in the clouds behind the smaller mountains by the lake. 

Thankfully, there was still lots of daylight left so we stuck around at the top for almost 2.5 hours. We kept ourselves warm by wandering to a second unfrozen lake and observing the local wildlife.

Fitz Roy is still in the cloud in the very top right corner of the photo

Cam fighting a bird

No clouds the other direction

As the sun started to set, we eventually had to call it a day and start heading back down. However, when we hit a viewpoint on the way back, the clouds had mostly cleared and we were able to see just how big Fitz Roy was for the first time!

Cam in front of the mountains

If you use a bit of imagination, you can sort of see the Patagonia logo in the sky.

Finally, to cap off the day, we got to see multiple condors gliding around the valley and even directly overhead. 

The birds looked WAY bigger in real life

At the start of the hike, I didn't have high hopes for the day, it was freezing cold and with the clouds I didn't think we'd be able to see anything. By the end, it ended up being one of my favourite hikes from our time in Patagonia!

Reflections

On contentment:

The past few weeks, I've started to notice a tendency I have when thinking about future plans. I can get so caught up in these plans and dreams that I'll often miss being able to enjoy what I have in the moment. 

In my day-to-day life, I barely notice it since it often makes sense for me to have something more exciting to look forward to. However, this week, as I was hiking these beautiful landscapes in Patagonia, I would catch myself thinking over and over how excited I was to be back in school in the fall (school, seriously?) and all the different activities and communities I'd get to be a part of again. 

I don't think being excited about the future is a bad thing on it's own, but I don't want my future plans to take away from ending what I currently have. Hopefully I can learn to be a bit more grateful and content in the moment, regardless of if I'm on a hike in Patagonia or just living out my day-to-day life. 

Extra Photos

Hiking through the snow in Chile 

Glacial lake in Argentina

David training for American Ninja Warrior

Our airbnb had a handheld bidet!

Cam testing out how light he was on a (mostly) frozen lake