Day 4 and 5 - Glacier! and More travels

Monday we were a little worried about the weather as it called for rain, however, the rain clouds all congregated around the mountains and seemed to stay there.  For us it worked perfectly because we were headed to Lago Grey for a boat ride for an up close view of the glacier.  We boarded a small motor boat that took us to the boat and we were off for a 3 hour cruise.  None of us had ever seen a glacier of this magnitude so we were all pretty excited.

 We were all pretty tired from our hike the day before, so we took the morning slowly.  And this is what it looked like.  After lunch we headed to the boat dock.

 Can you find the two condors?

 The colors were unreal.  

Day 5 was  a travel day.  We drove from Torres del Paine in Chile to El Calafate in Argentina.  The first 1 and 1/2 is beautiful as you drive out of the park and the last hour is views of the ranges near El Calafate.  Everything in between  (about 3 hours) is dry plains.  And only one gas station!  It is very important when visiting the Patagonia's that you get gas every time you can because there are very few places.  So we made it through the check points with ease and then 2 hours later arrived in a small town, the only town within hours, that had gas.  So we pull up and find that no credit cards are taken, only cash!  What?  We don't have Argentinean pesos!  And we were on empty!  There is no way we can make the 285 km left to get to El Calafate!  Panic for 5 seconds, and then the attendant causally mentions, do you have Chilean pesos, we take those!  Oh thank goodness.  Gassed up and on our way to  the very cute town of El Calafate.

 A rainbow on our way out!

 Argentinean mountains

And we made it!  Ready to start some fun in Argentina.  We arrived to check in, do a little grocery shopping, watch a little Olympics, and then have a great meal.  Oh and a short visit to the hospital.  Let me tell you, we walked in and I almost turned myself around and RAN the other way.  I think I would rather die, is something I think I said out loud.  So it all turned out OK and no one ended up sick because of the visit.  We didn't find out much about my problem of lack of equilibrium, but it helped a bit until we could get back to private medical services in Santiago.  The United States is one blessed country!

Day 3 - Adventure Patagonia

Day 3 was a big day.  We hiked one section of the "W" (all the sections are a 3-4 day hike in the park) which was 18km (or just over 11 miles).  It takes you to the base of the Torres.  And it wasn't the easiest of hikes, especially as the first hour is a very good incline up, up, and more up.  But once we got going it was good.  The first 30 minutes I was a bit worried we wouldn't even make it up to the first camp, but once everyone got in their groove it was amazing.  Can I tell you how amazing my kids are?  We had conversation,laughter, adventure, and views!  And little Easton astounded us all, he kept going and going and going.  In fact he made it about 15 km (that's over 9 miles!).  Once we got to the second camp we knew the terrain was not 4 year old friendly so Easton and I made our way back to the first camp, while Mark, Mason, Dallin, and Drew headed up to the Torres.

 Little owl.

 This is a little before we separated.  But it sums up our trek together once the others were gone.  Easton walking and talking with energy to spare and I just thinking how do you do that with those little legs.  He and I had a wonderful trek through a beautiful area on our own while the boys ascended to the Torres.  We went down to the first camp at our own pace to wait at and it was a lot of fun with this non-stop talker.  

 It's funny how it was all sunny and calm on Easton and I's trek down, while at the Torres it was a whole different climate.  Fog and a little rain.  Once Easton and I were at the first camp the wind picked up and a few sprinkles.  And then from the first camp once the boys were back it was windy and sunny.  The weather was all over the place!

The end!  This sign shows this 18km trek.  Easton and I point to where we went.  Dallin shows where we started and Drew shows where Drew, Dallin, Mason, and Mark went.  

Route to the end of the World - Day 1 and 2

We returned this past weekend from Patagonia and it was a major success!  We were all awed and inspired by this beautiful Earth.  As Mason said, "Heavenly Father is creative!"  This trip had been much anticipated by all of us (and especially Mark) and it did not disappoint in the least.  We feel extremely blessed to have had this opportunity to explore the very southern tips of Chile and Argentina.

This trip started out much different than our last - as in we actually got to our destination in our own rental car.  We left straight from the airport in Punta Arenas and headed to the Torres del Paine National Park.  We had a short stop for a great meal and purchasing some groceries in Puerto Natales.

Route of the End of the World - Welcome!

 We had lots of wildlife to greet us on our road trips!

 And the wildflowers and red grass were gorgeous!

Hello nandu!  We saw lots of these guys during our week of road tripping.  Did you know that they have these non-flying birds here in the south of Chile that look like emus?  Mark didn't so the boys had to give him a lesson on this bird.

 Guanacos!  Everywhere!  

 Our first glimpse of the Torres!  Torres translates to towers.  It was incredible.

 These geese were often spotted around all the bodies of water we passed.

Day 2 - A very blustery day!  Originally we were going to take the boat ride on Lago Grey, but the wind was churning the water up so much in the lake that it was cancelled, so we just enjoyed the park and the wind.

Our trusty car that took us all over southern Chile and Argentina

This is the cabana

And this is was our morning view from the cabana!

 Rio Serrano.  Our cabanas were next door to the hotel you see in the lower left corner.

 The water in the lakes and rivers in this park is all aqua-marine/green.  This day the wind was churning the water up so much it has a gray look, but the color was unbelievable.  

 See those trees?  A little bit of wind...

 And more wind!  The boys are leaning back and "laying" on the wind.

 Did I mention it was windy?  Thank you Mason for demonstrating this in the picture below!

And to end it we saw this little mouse/mole thing.  We came up to this group of people looking at something on the ground, which at first glance looked like a little rock, but then it moved!