What a relief to get this email today!!
Just a quick email to let you know we just got back from Torres del Paine. It is 5:00 and have not eaten lunch, no clean clothes, and the boy is very hungry, so we are going to go eat, but I knew you would be worried and I wanted to send you this first. I will call you tonight. We stayed longer than expected in T. del Paine (PAIN) for my feet, we hiked a good bit and I think we did it well.
This evening, Guillermo did call me and he sounded very upbeat! He said their plan was to only spend 3 night in Torres del Paine, but they ended up spending 4 nights. Each night was spent in some place that was expensive, but provided no linens, no soap and the room had to be shared with 3 or 4 other people. Guillermo talked excitedly about the hiking they did each day, usually hikes of 8 - 9 hours in length. He said the trails were mostly deep with snow, rocky, incredibly steep or very icy, which led to several falls, some of which cut their hand or fingers. Despite all that, he seemed happy about their hikes, and a lot of it has to do with the beauty of what they were seeing. But some of it also has to do with how well he felt, unlike when he hiked in Peru and felt so out of breath and had continuous coughing. He realizes now that it was more the altitude in Peru than anything else, and that is a relief for him. He is grateful (and proud) that he was able to keep up with Fernando with no problem.
I think I'll be able to sleep a little bit better tonight!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
"A couple" doesn't necessarily mean two!
Ok, so it's been 4 days since I've heard from Guillermo. I can only assume that he and Fernando are now or have been in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine and are either still there or are on their way to Ushuaia.
The following website has more pictures of Ushuaia but also pictures of several places they've already been - Puerto Madryn, Calafate, and Bariloche. Click on the link for the photo gallery on each site. Visit the site
By the way, it did NOT freeze again here, so all our plants are doing fine!
The following website has more pictures of Ushuaia but also pictures of several places they've already been - Puerto Madryn, Calafate, and Bariloche. Click on the link for the photo gallery on each site. Visit the site
By the way, it did NOT freeze again here, so all our plants are doing fine!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Close to freezing again here in town?????
Well, like Guillermo said in his last email, he probably wouldn't be writing for a couple of days. So, today it just felt a little unreal to not be receiving any word at all from him. I thought about them all day, hoping, if they did attempt that 8-mile hike, that they were both doing ok.
I do believe I have been to our credit union every single day for the past week or more. The last few days have been for relatively better reasons, but it it so weird to walk in the door of that credit union now and have the people that work there greet me by name! When I go there, I feel like I'm in a small town where everybody knows your name.
My mom, sister Linda and nephew Jacob came over today. We looked at all the indoor plants and discussed their care. We also had quite a time trying to capture a stink-bug that was on one of the dining room plants! We managed to get it and release it outside without it smelling up the place! We then went to eat lunch, after which I took them to "our" park. We all had a wonderful walk down the sunny paths to the "tree tunnel". The weather was sunny and breezy and cool, so it was a perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon.
It just figures, but now that every single plant is out of the greenhouses, the weather is going to get close to freezing Monday night!!!! That is UNHEARD of here this late!!! Several days ago they forecast the low for Sunday night at 50 degrees, and it's been dropping steadily for the last few days, and now, as of Saturday night, they predict the low Sunday night will be 39! That is getting too close for the plant's comfort.
I do believe I have been to our credit union every single day for the past week or more. The last few days have been for relatively better reasons, but it it so weird to walk in the door of that credit union now and have the people that work there greet me by name! When I go there, I feel like I'm in a small town where everybody knows your name.
My mom, sister Linda and nephew Jacob came over today. We looked at all the indoor plants and discussed their care. We also had quite a time trying to capture a stink-bug that was on one of the dining room plants! We managed to get it and release it outside without it smelling up the place! We then went to eat lunch, after which I took them to "our" park. We all had a wonderful walk down the sunny paths to the "tree tunnel". The weather was sunny and breezy and cool, so it was a perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon.
It just figures, but now that every single plant is out of the greenhouses, the weather is going to get close to freezing Monday night!!!! That is UNHEARD of here this late!!! Several days ago they forecast the low for Sunday night at 50 degrees, and it's been dropping steadily for the last few days, and now, as of Saturday night, they predict the low Sunday night will be 39! That is getting too close for the plant's comfort.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tons of snow
Guillermo sent this Friday afternoon:
We caught our bus at 8:00 this morning and we are now back in Chile in Puerto Natales. It is cold and rainy here, and on the way we went through areas that had a lot of snow. Tomorrow we are going up into the mountains where it will really be cold and the snow will be deep. It is likely that we will stay in a shelter up there for a couple of days, so there will be no Internet. Fernando wants to try to do a couple of 8 hour hikes, so that is what we will be attempting.
As we came into Puerto Natales, we saw a lot of geese and black necked swans. We haven`t done much else today, with the bus ride and the weather the way it is. We have walked around in the town some, but it is prertty miserable outside.
I don't know if I will be able to write you later today and I am almost sure that I won't be able to write for the next couple of days, but I just wanted to let you know how things have gone and you can tell Nena I read her comment on the blog and what I said in my email last night still stands!!.
What he said in his email last night was: I will read the blog tomoorow, but I can just imagine what Nena has to say, but you can tell her I would still put my money on the one wearing the skirt.
We caught our bus at 8:00 this morning and we are now back in Chile in Puerto Natales. It is cold and rainy here, and on the way we went through areas that had a lot of snow. Tomorrow we are going up into the mountains where it will really be cold and the snow will be deep. It is likely that we will stay in a shelter up there for a couple of days, so there will be no Internet. Fernando wants to try to do a couple of 8 hour hikes, so that is what we will be attempting.
As we came into Puerto Natales, we saw a lot of geese and black necked swans. We haven`t done much else today, with the bus ride and the weather the way it is. We have walked around in the town some, but it is prertty miserable outside.
I don't know if I will be able to write you later today and I am almost sure that I won't be able to write for the next couple of days, but I just wanted to let you know how things have gone and you can tell Nena I read her comment on the blog and what I said in my email last night still stands!!.
What he said in his email last night was: I will read the blog tomoorow, but I can just imagine what Nena has to say, but you can tell her I would still put my money on the one wearing the skirt.
Email from very late on April 10th
I received this email at almost 10:30 Thursday night, which meant it was about 12:30 in the morning for Guillermo!!
For six days they were cloaked in fog and clouds, invisible to the human eye, but on the seventh day, the rays of the sun burned through the veil, and as the fog and mist fell away, the spires revealed themselves in all there splendor.
We had a good day today and Ushuaia is still in the picture.
We got back to Calafate at 10:00p.m., and got a hotel, although I wanted to run here as soon as we got to town, the boy was hungry, so you know what we did.
After I wrote you last night, we walked out of the Internet place and it felt warmer. There was not a sign of snow anywhere and it was drizzling, so we thought it was bad news for today. However, when we walked out at 8:30 this morning, everything was white, several inches deep, so it must have snowed most of the night. The strrets were really tricky walking because the snow froze on top of the rain. The boy and I had breakfast, and at nine, we walked ot of the town looking for a trail. It was partly cloudy and didn't know whether the weather would hold. We also had to decide wheather to close our return on the bus for 6:00 today, because I had left it open. Another decision was whether to take a trail that would get us closer to Fitzroy, but where we would probably not have good views of Cerro Torre, Eggers or Standhardt, and those are very impressive peaks. We were told that Torre was the more difficult one to sse and that it clouded up quicker than the others, but I think we made the right decision. We decided to go for Torre lake in front of the peak, a six hour round trip walk to the lake. So we walked through the snow, plenty on the ground and the trees were loaded. We saw an austral parakeet, some flickers, a rabbit and some torrent ducks on the way there. The torrent ducks were really neat; they were able to swim upstream in very swift water. We got to the lake in 2 hours and 45 minutes, so we did well. We also walked around the rim of the lake to a place where we could get a better look of the glacier that feeds it. On the way there, we heard, but did not see, two avalanches that sounded like freight trains. The wind coming off of the glacier and downslope from the peak really buffeted us on the rim. The wind was blowing snow really hard horizontally and it pelted our faces. Although my feet hurt a good bit as they usually do, I felt good otherwise and was able to match the boy stride for stride. We both fell a couple of times. He caught himself with his hands both times and I did once, but the other time I landed on my shoulder, but no harm done. All in all, we walked from 9:00 until 4:00 when we got back into the town. During that time, we only stopped when he took pictures and for about twenty minutes to eat lunch. So, I felt that I did well and did not hold him back today, but I am sore and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Even he said his legs and anklies were sore. It was cold, but beautiful walking in that snow and I really did not find the trail that tough, other than the slippery conditions and a few climbs. By the time we got back, the snow had all melted in the town. The peaks reamined clear until we were abut two hours down the trail toward the town. I know you would have just loved seeing all the snow on the ground and trees and those peaks are something else. They look practically impossible to climb and I understand there is a cemetary in El Chalten for those who have died trying to do it.
Well, it is very late, well after midnight, and I need to get up early and carry all of my stuff about 8 or 10 blocks and hope to catch a bus to Chile.
For six days they were cloaked in fog and clouds, invisible to the human eye, but on the seventh day, the rays of the sun burned through the veil, and as the fog and mist fell away, the spires revealed themselves in all there splendor.
We had a good day today and Ushuaia is still in the picture.
We got back to Calafate at 10:00p.m., and got a hotel, although I wanted to run here as soon as we got to town, the boy was hungry, so you know what we did.
After I wrote you last night, we walked out of the Internet place and it felt warmer. There was not a sign of snow anywhere and it was drizzling, so we thought it was bad news for today. However, when we walked out at 8:30 this morning, everything was white, several inches deep, so it must have snowed most of the night. The strrets were really tricky walking because the snow froze on top of the rain. The boy and I had breakfast, and at nine, we walked ot of the town looking for a trail. It was partly cloudy and didn't know whether the weather would hold. We also had to decide wheather to close our return on the bus for 6:00 today, because I had left it open. Another decision was whether to take a trail that would get us closer to Fitzroy, but where we would probably not have good views of Cerro Torre, Eggers or Standhardt, and those are very impressive peaks. We were told that Torre was the more difficult one to sse and that it clouded up quicker than the others, but I think we made the right decision. We decided to go for Torre lake in front of the peak, a six hour round trip walk to the lake. So we walked through the snow, plenty on the ground and the trees were loaded. We saw an austral parakeet, some flickers, a rabbit and some torrent ducks on the way there. The torrent ducks were really neat; they were able to swim upstream in very swift water. We got to the lake in 2 hours and 45 minutes, so we did well. We also walked around the rim of the lake to a place where we could get a better look of the glacier that feeds it. On the way there, we heard, but did not see, two avalanches that sounded like freight trains. The wind coming off of the glacier and downslope from the peak really buffeted us on the rim. The wind was blowing snow really hard horizontally and it pelted our faces. Although my feet hurt a good bit as they usually do, I felt good otherwise and was able to match the boy stride for stride. We both fell a couple of times. He caught himself with his hands both times and I did once, but the other time I landed on my shoulder, but no harm done. All in all, we walked from 9:00 until 4:00 when we got back into the town. During that time, we only stopped when he took pictures and for about twenty minutes to eat lunch. So, I felt that I did well and did not hold him back today, but I am sore and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Even he said his legs and anklies were sore. It was cold, but beautiful walking in that snow and I really did not find the trail that tough, other than the slippery conditions and a few climbs. By the time we got back, the snow had all melted in the town. The peaks reamined clear until we were abut two hours down the trail toward the town. I know you would have just loved seeing all the snow on the ground and trees and those peaks are something else. They look practically impossible to climb and I understand there is a cemetary in El Chalten for those who have died trying to do it.
Well, it is very late, well after midnight, and I need to get up early and carry all of my stuff about 8 or 10 blocks and hope to catch a bus to Chile.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Really cold weather
Guillermo's garden doesn't normally look like this, it is usually well-kept and full of beautiful vegetable plants! That is winter rye growing so tall in there! The purple martins wonder why their house is still down on the ground.
Here's what Guillermo wrote today:
We are now in El Chalten, but it seems our luck has run out as far as the weather is concerned. It looked promising as we left El Calafate, but as we got closer to this place it was more overcast, and from a distance, we saw the bottom part of those very impressive peaks, but as we came into town, the clouds rolled in and we couldn't see much at all. It started snowing then and it has been snowing all day, but mostly little tiny flakes that aren't sticking and it is colder here than in El Calafate, so I wore my gloves when we hiked a little.
When we were close to El Chalten, we saw about 10 condors and a bunch of cara caras along side of the road. When the bus stopped, they all flew except one; we got excellent views from up close, but the bus took off again right away and we couln't get any pictures. We did a lot of walking with all our stuff before we found a place to stay. Some of the places were closed, others full, etc. After we had lunch, we got our warm clothes on, walked to the other side of town and then hiked up a pretty big hill along a trail called los condores. As we approached the trailhead, we saw three condors fly over, but they were high and it was snowing pretty good, so again, no pictures. We ony saw a hawk up on top and on the way down, we thought there was another condor flying, but when we saw it better we saw it was a black chested buzzard eagle.
We had hoped to take a longer hike today, but the mountains wouldn't have been visible. So, we have some decisions to make. If it is really cloudy again, we can go see another glacier, larger, but not as famous as Perito Moreno. If it looks good, then we take either a 6 hour or am 8 hour hike, and I understand that both are tough with quite a bit of climbing and it will be very cold, but with spectacular views of a lake and the Fitz Roy and other peaks. My main worry are my feet that hurt pretty bad sometimes, but Fernando really wants to hike in this area. He has even said that if the weather is still bad tomorrow, we should perhaps stay around here a day or two longer and skip Ushuaia, so I don't know how it will turn out. Everyone in El Calafate and here says that these snows are a month and a half earlier than usual, so I imagine Torres del Paine and (The computers went off about 20 minutes ago and I have been waiting until they got them goimg again. Fortunately, there was a draft this time). Ushuaia are even worse. So, we will see what happens.
On the homefront, every last plant is finally out of the greenhouses. Our neighbor brought over a dolly which we used to help move the biggest plants. The trick is placing everything just right so that the wind doesn't blow them over. It has been really windy and humid here today, it feels just like being on the beach! There has also been an exciting, regular customer at our bird feeders - an American Goldfinch! He is bright yellow and black, looking quite striking among all the other birds.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The amazing glacier!
From Guillermo, sent at 5pm this evening:
After I talked to you last night, we walked back to the hotel, probably 8 to 10 blocks, and the snow was really coming down. This morning, the snow was all the way down the mountains and there was snow in the town on some rooftops and cars. It has been an interesting day today, the Perito Moreno glacier was very impressive. A bus picked us up at 9:00 and it took about an hour and a half to get out to where the glacier is. On the way there, we drove along the shores of Lake Argentina. It was snowing and the clouds were so low you couldn't see much. Some places the bus had to go very slowly because the snow was accumulating on the road, the trees and vegetation were covered by snow, but it didn't seem all that cold, so I am still saving my gloves for Ushuaia! However, I did wear a T-shirt, that quilted blue long sleeve shirt, my gray striped shirt, my fleece and my jacket a good part of the time, so I shouldn't have been cold!!
We stopped along one of the arms of Lake Argentina and got on a large catamarin that went along the north face of the glacier, but not too close. The ice cliff of the glacier varies from 40 to 60 meters (about 130 to 200 ft) and it is a very impressive sight. Some of the ice is very blue and there are huge cracks in the ice. While we were out there, huge chunks of ice broke off the cliff making a very loud cracking noise and crashed into the water. There were two especially large ones where whole sections of the cliff from the top to the water surface broke loose and crashed into the water making a huge wave that really rocked the boat. Fernando and I spent almost the entire time (1 hour) on the top deck and while we were up there, the snow let up for a little while and the sun even tried to show itself for a moment. It was really pretty, we took a lot of pictures. I wish you could have seen it and I know your mother would have loved seeing that too.
We then went to a place where there are well designed walkways that allow you good views of some sections of the glacier, but before we did the walkways, Fernando and I ate our bread, cheese, salame, potato chips, pears and drinks that we bought at a grocery store after talking to you last night. We also had bought some dried fruit and nuts, but we didn't eat any of that until after we got back on the bus a couple hours later. It was snowing the whole time we were eating and it was very pretty.
It also snowed on and off when we did the walkways and there were some very impressive sites of the glacier, some through the trees. We could also see where the glacier has blocked off one arm of the lake and the water in that part of the lake is at least 25 feet higher than in the rest of the lake. Eventually, the weight of the water will break that dam and I imagine it will be a spectacular sight. The last time it happened was in 2006 and it makes me wonder what will happen if the catamarin is out there when that occurs, because there will be a huge amount of water rushing down to the lower level of the lake. Shortly after starting our walk, we saw a good sized parakeet on a tree. It was strange to see a parrot in the snow and when it flew off, 7 or 8 others that we hadn't seen flew off with it.
Well, that has been our day. Tomorrow we leave for El Chaltén at 7:30 and we are hoping for good weather, otherwise the trip up there may be a waste because the Fitz Roy peaks will not be visible. We will come back here Thursday night or Friday morning and then head to the bottom of Chile as soon after that as we can.
It seems like they had an amazing day today!! I also wrote Guillermo this morning, after I talked with the people at the credit union. I wanted him to know that the ATM transaction that went through, that he didn't receive but we were charged for, was reversed, so everything is, at least up to this point, fine again.
Today, here at home, I picked up my sister Linda from SAKS Fifth Avenue, where she works, and we had lunch at a great Korean restaurant. We had Beef Bulgogi and also a Shrimp Pancake and it was so delicious. After lunch, I went to the park by our house to walk because I didn't have many steps yet on my pedometer and my goal is to get over 7,000 steps every day. As it turned out, I didn't need to go walking because I ended up mowing the garden around Guillermo's garden this evening and ended up way past 7,000. But that's good!!
Our neighbor also came over and helped me move the last of the plants out of the small greenhouse and the three huge plants that were in our garage. So now, the garage is cleared out and the little greenhouse is totally empty!!! The ten biggest and heaviest plants are left to move, and those are in the big greenhouse and we tackle that tomorrow!
After I talked to you last night, we walked back to the hotel, probably 8 to 10 blocks, and the snow was really coming down. This morning, the snow was all the way down the mountains and there was snow in the town on some rooftops and cars. It has been an interesting day today, the Perito Moreno glacier was very impressive. A bus picked us up at 9:00 and it took about an hour and a half to get out to where the glacier is. On the way there, we drove along the shores of Lake Argentina. It was snowing and the clouds were so low you couldn't see much. Some places the bus had to go very slowly because the snow was accumulating on the road, the trees and vegetation were covered by snow, but it didn't seem all that cold, so I am still saving my gloves for Ushuaia! However, I did wear a T-shirt, that quilted blue long sleeve shirt, my gray striped shirt, my fleece and my jacket a good part of the time, so I shouldn't have been cold!!
We stopped along one of the arms of Lake Argentina and got on a large catamarin that went along the north face of the glacier, but not too close. The ice cliff of the glacier varies from 40 to 60 meters (about 130 to 200 ft) and it is a very impressive sight. Some of the ice is very blue and there are huge cracks in the ice. While we were out there, huge chunks of ice broke off the cliff making a very loud cracking noise and crashed into the water. There were two especially large ones where whole sections of the cliff from the top to the water surface broke loose and crashed into the water making a huge wave that really rocked the boat. Fernando and I spent almost the entire time (1 hour) on the top deck and while we were up there, the snow let up for a little while and the sun even tried to show itself for a moment. It was really pretty, we took a lot of pictures. I wish you could have seen it and I know your mother would have loved seeing that too.
We then went to a place where there are well designed walkways that allow you good views of some sections of the glacier, but before we did the walkways, Fernando and I ate our bread, cheese, salame, potato chips, pears and drinks that we bought at a grocery store after talking to you last night. We also had bought some dried fruit and nuts, but we didn't eat any of that until after we got back on the bus a couple hours later. It was snowing the whole time we were eating and it was very pretty.
It also snowed on and off when we did the walkways and there were some very impressive sites of the glacier, some through the trees. We could also see where the glacier has blocked off one arm of the lake and the water in that part of the lake is at least 25 feet higher than in the rest of the lake. Eventually, the weight of the water will break that dam and I imagine it will be a spectacular sight. The last time it happened was in 2006 and it makes me wonder what will happen if the catamarin is out there when that occurs, because there will be a huge amount of water rushing down to the lower level of the lake. Shortly after starting our walk, we saw a good sized parakeet on a tree. It was strange to see a parrot in the snow and when it flew off, 7 or 8 others that we hadn't seen flew off with it.
Well, that has been our day. Tomorrow we leave for El Chaltén at 7:30 and we are hoping for good weather, otherwise the trip up there may be a waste because the Fitz Roy peaks will not be visible. We will come back here Thursday night or Friday morning and then head to the bottom of Chile as soon after that as we can.
It seems like they had an amazing day today!! I also wrote Guillermo this morning, after I talked with the people at the credit union. I wanted him to know that the ATM transaction that went through, that he didn't receive but we were charged for, was reversed, so everything is, at least up to this point, fine again.
Today, here at home, I picked up my sister Linda from SAKS Fifth Avenue, where she works, and we had lunch at a great Korean restaurant. We had Beef Bulgogi and also a Shrimp Pancake and it was so delicious. After lunch, I went to the park by our house to walk because I didn't have many steps yet on my pedometer and my goal is to get over 7,000 steps every day. As it turned out, I didn't need to go walking because I ended up mowing the garden around Guillermo's garden this evening and ended up way past 7,000. But that's good!!
Our neighbor also came over and helped me move the last of the plants out of the small greenhouse and the three huge plants that were in our garage. So now, the garage is cleared out and the little greenhouse is totally empty!!! The ten biggest and heaviest plants are left to move, and those are in the big greenhouse and we tackle that tomorrow!
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