A ‘normal’ day in the field

Hola everyone!

I’m back and just as tired as ever (but what’s new LOL). It’s been a fun and adventure filled last week with lots of hiking, deep talks by the fire, and taking many notes in the field. It was probably some of the most beautiful mountain ranges I’ve ever witnessed, and not to mention to experience them first hand as we backpacked through them in the rain, hail, and snow was something else.

This past week we trekked through one of the most popular hiking trails here in Chile known as the “W” trek. This is a section of the mountain range that basically makes a shape of a W. The other option is to do the “O” trek which winds all the way around the Torres del Paine National Park mountain range. Along with my 22 other classmates and 3 professors we did half of the W trek to experience the stunning beauty of the park and Glacier Grey. We hiked around 8 miles a day to each destination where we slept in refugios (kinda like smaller hotels but with a ski lodge vibe) that had sit down dinners – which I thought was crazy cool and super boujee. Travelers also have the option to camp outside in their own tents, or if they didn’t bring one, they can rent one.

Throughout these day hikes we would stop periodically to look at geology and different formations in the rocks and take notes on the observations. Our professors would give us small little blurbs as we pass an important landscape to look at and to take notes on, as it related to the materials we learned in class. Now can you really complain when this is essentially your classroom vs sitting in an uncomfortable desk somewhere in the states? I’d say a big no. We were observing things such as burnt trees from the two recent fires of 2012 and 2015, how glaciers formed the valleys we were walking through, and why certain bodies of water were a different color of blue than the others. Each day was a so different from the previous. The weather is one of the craziest things to experience. One day the wind was around 80 mph with stinging hail, the next was clear and sunny. Just when you think you might understand what is happening, it switches up on you (Mother Nature is over there laughing at you the whole time). On our last day we woke to snow covering the ground, and as the children we all are, we felt like little kids on Christmas morning running around yelling “DID YOU SEE THAT IT’S SNOWING!!!”. It was honestly a dream to wake up in what people call the 8th natural wonder of the world and to see the vastness of the mountains that were towering over you and watching the huge snow flakes fly by you and roll off the mountain tops. Have you ever eaten a Patagonian snowflake? Well, now I have. To experience the cold wind blowing from what it feels like all directions, making your nose cherry red and running constantly. Wanting to always be looking up at the magnificent views, but also not wanting to fall off the side of the cliff face. To have your friends both in front and behind you and being able to experience everything with them.

If you ever get the chance to come view this impressive national park you need to come ASAP. It is something you can’t miss. Period.

This week is going to be just as fun and jam packed as the last. Between last week and Sunday (today) when we leave for our next field expedition to see Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, we had two short days with a midterm on one of them. What follows that is our mid-semester break (aka: spring break – whoop! whoop!). We leave strait from El Calafate to head off on our 5 day break which will consist of lots of cool hiking spots, camping, and hopefully a sunrise hike… though one thing it will not consist of is taking notes while on these hikes, that’s for sure haha.

Until next time, keep the adventuring going!

Luke