#pasodelviento

The following morning we registered at the ranger station, and I realized that not only would I be the only female in the group, but I would also be the oldest by 7 years. No pressure. We set off and made it to the split in the trail in the same time it took me a few days before, with a daypack. I was in the back, but not too far back, which helped my confidence. I realized that this would be a good group when they offered to let me lead the way. When I objected due to my decidedly slower pace, they assured me that they didn't mind and that they wanted to share the feeling of walking in front without another person in sight. I'm so glad they did. Walking without a soul in sight is rather special. We did hit a few rough patches that first day - we had some marshy terrain that proved somewhat troublesome… Stefan #2 (the tallest of the bunch, by far), sunk waist deep in a mud trap, and then attempting to hop a stream, I slipped onto my bum with my backpack on, leaving my bottom half wet for the remainder of the day.  In our attempt to avoid some of this problem area, we led ourselves off trail and ended up in some thick trees that we had to dive through.  We escaped relatively unscathed, with just a lost water bottle and a few scratches and finally made our way to the first campsite. 

Now this is the point that most people would take the time to set up their tent, relax, etc.  Not 21 year old boys. They decided to drop their packs and literally run up the side of a mountain to explore. And then do some push-ups and calisthenics. I mean it's not like they would be at all tired from just hiking miles uphill with large backpacks or anything. We woke up early the next morning prepared for the epic day that lay ahead. We had to get up to cross the river before it rose too much and became too dangerous. Getting out of a warm tent to face grey, rainy weather and a glacial river crossing is not easy, but we did it. We passed by some good spots in search of the perfect crossing point, but thought there must be something wrong with them because they just looked too easy and showed up too early in the path.  That might have been a mistake, but we did find a reasonable crossing point, at least as far as our inexperienced foursome deemed it to be.  We took off our boots, put on shorts, and went for it. Stefan went first to test the waters, excited Philippe scurried across afterwards, and then Nicky and I went in a chain with Stefan helping out.  The freezing water didn't even bother me. It was so cold, my legs numbed immediately and I was too focused on not falling (have I mentioned I'm less than graceful?) that the cold was the last thing on my mind. We got across and all just yelled with joy and from the cold that we started to feel as soon as we exited the water. 

The first challenge of the day was over, but we still had to walk across a glacier and go over a pass before we would make it to the next campsite. Yeah, pretty epic day. 

After warming ourselves with tea and oatmeal*, we set off hiking. We were to cross over onto the glacier because it was supposed to be safer than the moraine. That sounds comforting, right? We found the spot fairly easily and then started having fun ON the glacier. I'd seen a bunch of these at this point, but I hadn't actually walked on one! There we were with full packs and without crampons, just hiking on a huge glacier. Such a cool feeling.  

We found our exit point and began to scramble up a steep side of the mountain to get back to the trail.  With full packs. It was intense, but I had just crossed an icy river and walked on a glacier so my inner badass was out in full force.

After some lunch, we grinded the rest of the way up to Paso del Viento. We relished in the high of reaching the pass and enjoyed a few minutes together, eating some of our sacred chocolate (SHOT!) together.  All our accomplishments of the day made for a lovely downhill hike to the second campsite. Of course the 21 year olds decided to take the more difficult path and scurry along the moraine while I took the leisurely valley walk. They got more adventure, I got some solitude, it was perfect. 

After the epic day we'd experienced the day before, I had tempered expectations. I didn't need to. For most of the morning, we walked parallel to Glacier Viedma, without seeing a single person. It was so serene. We took our time and separated enough to have some solitude to appreciate where we were. I was happy to be with a such a self-aware group of guys that could appreciate the spiritual aspect of what we were doing in addition to the physical challenge.  

At the top of the second pass of the trip we again took some time to enjoy ourselves.  There was a lookout near the top, which looked down on where the glacier met the lake. The boys found some vertigo inducing positions to enjoy the view. 

We couldn't enjoy this too much though since we had one more major challenge of the day: a steep descent to the third campsite. I was nervous. This was actually the part of the trek that made me the most nervous. Crossing the river sounded exciting, walking on a glacier was clearly going to be rad, and I handle steep passes with relative ease, but descending is another matter. And on this descent, I would have to use a rope to repel down about 10m.  Eek. The boys were all aware of my nerves on this one and made sure to stay close by (good guys).  As is typically the case when I stress myself out over obstacles, this wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. It was actually kind of fun!  Sadly this moment was not photo documented... we were too focused. 

In our joy of reaching the bottom, we missed the campsite, so we just walked on and found another spot near the lake with a perfect spot for a group bonding dive into the freezing cold water. The 21 year old boys' idea. Go figure. We were prepared that the next day didn't have a clear trail, so we figured being closer to the end wasn't a bad idea. It most certainly wasn't. 

The final day was hard. Probably the most difficult, which says quite a bit. As we had been warned, there was not a clear path. We knew the direction we should be walking (we were on a peninsula - it couldn't be too hard to follow), so we all headed out. The 21 year olds were all overjoyed by the thought of this adventure; this was real exploring. No trails, no problem! They all set off in different directions. Really? This stressed me out. We managed to keep an eye on each other most of the time and rendezvoused a couple hours later where we decided it was best to stick together. Duh. Facing the rest of this together was FUN! We walked though valleys, along streams, and then found ourselves walking on a cliff along the coast from where we could spot the other end of the river that we had the fortune of crossing once again. This time, we were hot from the sun and "adventuring," so we were actually looking forward to the "refreshing" water. 

Philippe got excited about the crossing again and went for it. Stefan #2, Nicky and I crossed in a more conservative, team-oriented approach. We practiced the technique we'd learned from the one other couple we'd met on the trail (2 people face to face with hands on each other's shoulders) and joyously stepped ashore on the other side. We'd made it. We could spot the dock where we'd catch the bus back to town from here. Before we got there though, we had a celebratory swim in the small warm lake on the way. And finished our snacks; no chocolate shall be waisted.

We were all proud of everything we'd accomplished on this epic trek and although we weren't continuing traveling together, we were all happy to have shared the experience with this special group.