The warmth of family

Jonathan:
After wrapping up our visit to Patagonia and seeing Molly and Andy off, Megan and I had exactly 2.5 days to enjoy our privacy in Buenos Aires before my mom & dad arrived for a visit of their own. Knowing that my parents would be spending the better part of the month with us in Buenos Aires, and thinking it would be nice to have a space of our own, Megan and I had made arrangements to rent an apartment during our brief visit to the city back in November. Since the place was big enough for four, we ended up moving in the day before Molly and Andy left, and all of us enjoyed a nice quiet celebration of our final hours together in our new apartment.

It's hard to describe what it feels like to have a space of your own again after spending the better part of a year sleeping in hotel rooms and spending every minute in what is essentially someone else's space. Suddenly we had our own private niche in the middle of this howling city where we could quietly do whatever we wanted. We had a kitchen that was just sitting there waiting to be used; a fridge that we could fill to the brim with whatever we wanted (including what ended up being an alarming quantity of beer); a closet where we could unload our backpacks and leave anything we wanted out in the open... It was amazing!

We spent the weekend before my parents arrived basking in the warm glow of privacy that neither of us had expected would feel so good. We spent new year´s eve at home together, quietly sipping wine and watching the city's fireworks from our terrace.

The apartment itself turned out to be a hip and spacious brick loft located in a very nice neighborhood in central Buenos Aires called Palermo. By the time my parents joined us, we were still reveling in the luxury of our plush new surroundings. We spent our first several days together exploring the vast expanse of gorgeous parks that surrounded us in upper Palermo, and just enjoying some time together in our nice air-conditioned home. We didn't get out much at all, and it was hard to keep Megan and me out of the kitchen - every meal was an opportunity to break out one of our favorites from home, and share some good home-cooked food with the folks.

The following Monday we all made our way downtown to start yet another round of Spanish classes. My parents have always been interested in learning the language, and since there's nothing quite like learning it on location, we thought it would be a fun way to spend part of our time together. That whole first week, we all plugged away together - spending our mornings studying hard at school, and our afternoons and evenings huddled around the table doing homework together.

Feeling thoroughly fried after just five days of intense studies, we all decided it would be better to spend the rest of my parents time exploring Buenos Aires, the area around the city, and having a little fun. After spending a few free days checking out the city, and catching an authentic Tango show in the theater district, we headed out on an overnight bus north to the province of Misiones to take in the magnificent Iguazú Falls - one of the largest series of waterfalls in the world. We spent 2 full days exploring the vast network of walkways that wind in and out of the 300-some falls, providing humbling up-close experiences of the falls' sheer force, and some absolutely breathtaking panoramas.

Upon returning to the city, we headed out on a day trip across the Rio Plata to pay a brief visit to Uruguay, and the beautiful cobbled town of Colonia. We enjoyed a very pleasant day exploring its shady flowered streets, and playing on the sandy beaches of the riverbank. Our final few days together with my parents were spent exploring still more of the richly varied parts of Buenos Aires, and enjoying each other's laughter and company over card games at home.

After bidding my parents farewell, and seeing them off in a cab on their way to the airport, Megan and I solemnly walked back into what turned out to feel like a very quiet and cold apartment. The same place that just two weeks before had felt so exciting and filled with potential, now seemed sterile and empty. We've spent the better part of this last year surrounded by new faces, strange places, and the only thing familiar or constant we've had has been each other. In all of the excitement of spending the past 6 weeks with family, it hadn't really occurred to either of us just how wonderful and different it had been to be with people we love. It was such a blessing to spend that time surrounded by the warmth of our family in the midst of a journey so far from home.

That night we couldn't help but break down crying as we thought about how fortunate we feel to have our family, our wonderful friends, and what a tremendous joy it will be to come home.

Lakes District

Megan:
After our time in the south, we took our longest bus ride of the year (28 hours) to the Lakes District of Patagonia. We spent a few days in El Bolson, an incredibly charming little town known for its microbreweries, chocolate and ice cream - could you ask for anything more? From there, we set out on our final backpacking trip with Molly and Andy. These three days were filled with a variety of climates, some of the most poorly constructed trails we've ever seen (these people don't believe in switchbacks), unbelievably rickety bridges, glacier-fed crystal clear swimming holes, and some spectacular scenery. Jon and I decided to take a different approach on this portion of the trip and instead of bringing our tent, we stayed in small artfully crafted log-cabins along the way - each complete with hand-made furniture, playful kittens and a cozy wood burning fire. These welcoming refugios ended up being one of the highlights.

We finished our trek in the wilderness on December 24th, just in time to spend Christmas day back at our quaint, family run hostel in El Bolson. The four of us enjoyed cooking some delicious meals together in their well-outfitted kitchen, and even found time to enjoy a picnic in a nearby park where, in the heat of the southern hemisphere sun, it was difficult to remember what holiday it was.

From there, we enjoyed a few days in San Carlos de Bariloche - the capital of the Lakes District. It only took a few minutes of gazing out at the amazing blue lakes that surround this town to understand where this region's name came from. We spent some time in the town wandering through the beautiful Bavarian architecture-lined streets, and felt like we had been transported to a ski village in the Alps. We also put on our hiking shoes one last time for an incredible day-hike to the top of Cerro Catedral where we were able to see an awesome panorama of multiple rows of mountain ranges fading into the distance.

It was bitter-sweet returning to Buenos Aires because although Jon and I were very much looking forward to having time to explore the incredible cultural capital of Latin America, it meant that our time with Molly and Andy was coming to an end. Not only did our time with them make us forget just how far from home we were, but their passion for natural beauty was contagious. Jon and I pushed ourselves to do longer and more intense treks than we ever would have done on our own, and it allowed us to experience Patagonia on a whole different level. Thank you both so much for everything you shared with us this past month.

Fitz Roy

Jonathan:
After our glorious 6 days on the "W," we crossed the border back into Argentina and headed back through the all too familiar El Calafate on our way north to the top side of Glaciers National Park and the magnificent Cerro Fitz Roy - a stunning tower of jagged rock that juts up out of the plains at the head of the Patagonian cordillera.

We had heard that Fitz Roy itself was almost always shrouded in clouds and could be difficult to see. In fact we had heard stories from people who had spent weeks in the area and never caught a glimpse of the peak. But for some reason the night we arrived, as we crested the surrounding hills and began our decent into the picturesque Chaltén river valley, we were graced with a crystal clear panorama of a spectacular and dramatic range of peaks. Fitz Roy was almost perfectly framed by deep blue sky and a few fiery clouds that were still catching some light from the setting sun.

We spent our first couple of days in Chaltén gearing up for yet another back country trip, and visiting the rangers' station to familiarize ourselves with the park. Initially we had thought that after our aggressive and somewhat grueling time in Torres del Paine, we would take it easy and do a quick 2-3 day trip around Fitz Roy - just enough to make it to a few lookout points and get a good sense for the peaks. Well, somewhere in the planning process that idea got lost and we ended up planning another 5 day adventure that would take us deep into the gnarled valleys of this beautiful range.

Our all-to-recent trip into Torres was the first time Megan and I had used our packs in the back country. The majority of the trip we've carted them between bus stations and hotels and not much in between, so we were pleased to find out that our backpacks actually work as backpacks. Regardless, we were still nursing sore shoulders and hips from our last adventure when we strapped 'em on and headed into the wild yet again.

Our first day on the trail we were blessed with more gorgeously crisp views of Fitz Roy. After we set up our tents at our first campsite, Andy and I made a quick trip straight up the seemingly vertical valley wall to the official mirador for a better view the peak, its massive glaciers, and the crystal blue lagunas that sparkle on either side. Doing our best to not lose our footing in the thunderous gusts of wind, we got our first taste of the powerful presence of Fitz Roy... At some point earlier that day, Andy had mentioned that for him, mountains seem alive somehow - showing emotions, and changing moods from one day to the next. I knew exactly what he meant at the time; I grew up around mountains. But Fitz Roy... I've never seen anything like it.

Awe stricken in its shadow, we watched as the rock face stared down at us, drawing swarms of wispy clouds out of thin air around it, leaving us with only brief glimpses of its jagged summit. Thick storm clouds crashed around its base like waves from the ice fields beyond, doubling over on themselves, and reeling back into the grey valleys where they had started. The peak felt massive and fierce, truly awesome.

We spent the remaining four days winding our way through the lush old growth forest, giant boulder fields, dramatic canyons, and expansive river valleys of the park, always in the shadows of the dramatic rock towers and frigid glaciers of the surrounding peaks. With only a few exceptions, we found that we had most of the trails and campsites to ourselves - A sharp contrast to our recent experience on the overcrowded "W" where we were rarely out of earshot from other hikers, and almost never slept more then 4 or 5 feet from the next tent.

Our last day on the trail, we had planned to get up early and hike to a nearby mirador for a glimpse of Cerro Torre at sunrise, the smaller but equally impressive counterpart to Fitz Roy. Unfortunately that day we found out the hard way that these mountains are seen when they want to be seen... Cerro Torre was so thick in clouds we could barely even see the trail that led to the lookout. So we happily slept in a little, packed up camp, and made our way back down to Chaltén where we would spend the night, and head out on an early morning bus back to good ol' El Calafate.

Our third and final time through that cookie-cutter town, we ended up only having about 4 hours to kill before we boarded a night bus for the grueling 28 hour trip up to the Lakes District. It was enough time to stock up on snacks, water, and a little wine to help pass the time on the long trip north.