Hike, Bike and Paddle Patagonia in Chile and Argentina + W Trek

Patagonia ranks in my Top 3 of the ‘Most Beautiful Places’ I’ve seen (and I’ve been to 50 countries and all seven continents).  The rugged granite mountains are often snow capped in glaciers lit up by the sun.  Those same glaciers have turned its many lakes into stunning milky blue and teal oasis that defy description.

In Patagonia, you can hike one of most beautiful hikes in the world, the W-Trek including the French Valley and Grey Lake.  You can also sea kayak around the icebergs and glacier in Grey Lake.  On our trip, we also got in some amazing biking when we were over on the Argentinian side after we hiked and checked out the gorgeous Perito Moreno glacier.  We spent some time eating and exploring the fun gateway cities of Puerto Morales, Punta Arenas, El Chaltén, and El Calafate.

Below, you’ll learn all about going on a hiking, biking and kayaking adventure in Patagonia (also by listening to the podcasts).  You’ll soon see why you will be adding Patagonia to your Bucket List!

Be sure to check out this earlier interview for more insight on adventures in Patagonia!

The W-Trek (or the O-Trek)

One of the most popular things to do in Patagonia is to hike the W-Trek, a four day hike along a trail that resembles a rounded ‘W’.  There are refugios, or dorms, a day’s hike apart (along with campgrounds) along the W trek, so you don’t have to carry a kitchen or tent.  Reservations are mandatory and can be difficult to obtain for this popular hike.  I went with my affiliate Active Adventures, who made all the arrangements for me.

The W-Trek, at 46 miles/74 km, is unbelievably beautiful!  One highlight is the towers, believed to be the highest cliff faces in the world.  We also saw glaciers and several small avalanches (safely from across the valley), eye-popping glacial lakes, condors souring on thermals above, and surprisingly, orchids and other wild flowers that flourish despite this tough environment.

On the O Trek, you have to backpack for 7-9 days the 85 mile/136 km trail.  It joins the W trek for the last four days.  

There are some steep climbs, so you need to train and be in shape for this hike.  I would rate it a 4 out of 5 for difficulty.

Where is Patagonia and How to Get to Patagonia

Patagonia is a region at the very southern tip of South America that encompasses both Chile and Argentina.  The rugged mountains that divide the countries are so formidable, that the two countries left the boundary uncharted (hear the interesting story behind this on the podcast).

Getting to Patagonia

Most people fly in to Santiago, Chile or Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then connect to another flight to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales in Chile, or El Calafate in Argentina.  [Note that Punta Arenas, like Ushuaia, are gateways to Antarctica.]  From Punta Arenas you take a bus or with a tour, a van to Puerto Natales, the gateway town to Torres del Paine National Park.  Ditto when you cross over to the Argentian side, to visit Glacier National Park.  The gateway towns there are El Calafate and El Chaltan.

Airports

Santiago     Buenos Aires     Punta Arenas     Puerto Natales     El Calafate

Click on the link above for the airport you are interested in and then scroll down to see which airlines service this airport and what its direct flights are.  LATAM is a good airline.

How Long to Stay in the Patagonia Gateway Towns

Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales and El Calafate and El Chaltén are all great towns to explore.  You can see everything in a couple of days each, plus your hiking time.  The coolest towns are the last three.  You can hike right from the downtown of El Chaltén, which has a Moab vibe, and is the ‘hiking capital’ of Argentina.  El Calafate offers more boutiques and restaurants.  Punta Arenas is decent sized city and borders the Magellan Strait.  Puerto Natales is also on the sea and you can see snow capped mountains across the water, plus the cool ‘wind’ scupture below.

When to Visit Patagonia

November through March is the best time to visit Patagonia.  Remember, since South America is below the equator in the southerm hemisphere, their spring and summer is the opposite of the northern hemisphere.  The warmest months are December and January.

What is the Weather Like in Patagonia

Year ’round, expect VERY changeable weather!  The region is known for its winds – see the sculpture above.  When hiking, be sure to be prepared for all four seasons at all times.

For your safety, I recommend that you go with a guide as they know these mountains.  I recommend my affiliate and the adventure travel tour company I went with, Active Adventures (email me for an exclusive $100 Off Promo Code).

Weather Averages for Gateway Cities

Punta Arenas     Puerto Natales     El Calafate    

Views along the W-Trek

Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina

Video Highlight Reel

This video is a four minute highlight reel of my favorite Patagonia pictures.  As you know, cameras cannot capture landscapes, so just 10x what you see to guage the beauty.  I thought the French Valley section of the W-Trek was my absolute favorite!  We saw it all: mountains, glaciers, avalanches, condors, orchids, forests, glacial lakes and streams.  Impressive!!!

Refugios at Torres del Paine National Park

About a day’s hike apart along the W-Trek, you will find a quite comfortable refugio, where you can sleep in a dorm room with baths down the hall, and get a fixed hot breakfast and dinner.  They also offer a la carte snacks and smaller dishes, like burgers, as well as beer and soda.  It’s a bit pricey, but the quality is good.  Reservations are mandatory and can be difficult to get.  If you go with a guided tour company, they take care of this for you.  Camping, also with reservations, is allowed.

PRO TIP:  Your refugio reservation will include a sleeping bag.  Mine was nice and fresh, but remember that I went early in the season.  Still, I packed my silk sleeping bag liner.  Later in the season, you may want to pack your own sleeping bag:)

Is Hiking Patagonia Safe

The mountains of Patagonia are rugged and remote.  While you could theoretically hike without a guide, I would NOT recommend it!  The weather can be harsh, even in summer (see our summertime lunch photo!), and can change in an instant.  You want to go with someone who knows these mountains and is trained to help you should something go wrong.

What about safety in the cities?  I always felt safe in both Chile and Argentina and found the people super helpful, friendly and hard working, so from a personal safety point of view in the cities, I just took normal precautions and felt secure.  Outside of my 14 day guided adventure tour, with my affiliate Active Adventures (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!), I traveled the region solo.  As an affiliate, Active offers my audience a $100 discount.  Email me to request the Active Adventures Promo Code HERE.

Active Adventures offers Bucket List adventures around the world.  While most tours concentrate on hiking, they always add in other fun activities such as biking and paddling.  In Patagonia, we biked to see amazing landscapes and wildlife, and also sea kayaked around glaciers and icebergs!

Check out Active Adventures tours HERE

What to Pack for Hiking Patagonia

Because the weather is so changeable and often VERY windy, even during the summer months, you need to be prepared for all four seasons at all times when you are hiking in Patagonia.  On one hike, it was nice and sunny at the base of the mountain, but absolutely frigid and drizzly at the top, where I put on all FIVE layers!

Your day pack should include a rain jacket, puffy jacket, lightweight rain pants (good for wind, too!), waterproof AND wool gloves or mittens.  Get access to my complete packing list (as well as ALL packing lists, checklists and travel planners HERE.  You’ll also get my once a month email (no spam promise – unsubscribe anytime).

How to Train for Hiking Patagonia

I’ll be honest:  the hikes can be challenging!  On one hike, we climbed over 3000′ elevation gain (over 1000 m).  In the cold.  In the rain.  We were rewarded with indescribaly beautiful views you couldn’t get from down below.  In the frigid photo shown, we had just completed that climb and got to see the immense Fitz Roy massif surrounding us.  I will admit, it was a QUICK lunch:)

At one peak, we looked down into a mezmorizing glacial pond that you couldn’t see unless you climbed.  A perfect place for a protected lunch out of the wind.

So to hike Patagonia, you will need to be in shape and you must train.  Ideally you will start your training 3-5 months in advance.  You need to get your feet and body used to a decent amount of miles, day after day (so train with several back to back day hikes!).  You also need to train to carry at least 20 pounds in your daypack.  I did an episode on How to Train for Adventure Travel that you can check out for more details.

If you want some assistance in training, I recommend my affiliate, Trailblazer Wellness (TBW).  You can get a Free Initial Phone Consultation with Becki to see if you are a good fit.  Becki can custom design a training program for you using the equipment you already have.  She will give you videos to make sure your form is correct and will guide you along the way.  TBW offers ATA listeners a 10% discount.

How Much Time to Hike and Explore Patagonia

Let’s face it, Patagonia is a LONG WAY AWAY!!!  So if you are going to go, allow yourself enough time to explore it.  My Active Adventures tour alone was 14 days.  If you can, you’ll want to spend a couple days if possible in Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, El Calafate and El Chalten, too.  And depending on whether you are flying in from Santiago or Buenos Aires, you will want to allow around three days in either or each city.

And if you have the time and the money, consider going to Antarctica while this far south, as I did.  I went with Hurtigruten on their expedition cruise that also included the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.  I covered my adventure on this expendition extensively and you can check it out HERE.

What Makes Patagonia Special

As I mentioned earlier, Patagonia ranks in my Top 3 Most Beautiful Places.  I LOVED the rugged landscape with its jagged cliffs and ridges.  I loved all the glacial lakes and icebergs.  I was surprised at the amount of wildlife we saw, including dozens of the mighty condor sooring on the thermals above us.  I was doubly surprised by all the beautiful and seemingly delicate wildflowers, such as orchids, that were in full bloom along our hikes.

Also, the people and food in Chile and Argentina are amazing!  And so is all the delicious and affordable wine!!!

PRO TIP ABOUT FOOD: Both Argentinian and Chilean food is delicious and plentiful but is it VERY red meat heavy!  If you have any dietary requirements or are vegan or vegetarian, I would advise figuring out your food situation before you go.  One of their most popular celebratory meals has around 5-6 types of grilled meat (see photo).  If you go with a tour company, like Active Adventures, they can figure this out for you.  If you eat meat, be sure to try the guanaco and roasted lamb!

Patagonia: Chile or Argentina if you can only visit one country

Ideally, if you are going this far south, you will take the time to visit both the Chilean AND the Argentian sides of Patagonia.  But if you only have the time or money to visit one side of Patagonia, how do you choose?

First, review the list of things to do in Patagonia above and see if you can narrow it down from there.  And then, here is my quick take on ‘winners’:

Hiking:  The W Trek in Chile is awesome and a stunning hike.  The mountains on the Argentinian side seem more remote and had less flowers and wildlife, but with incredible views of the Fitz Roy massif.

Sea Kayaking:  We were able to kayak in a somewhat more sheltered area to see the glacier and icebergs in Lake Grey, Chile.  You can also kayak by Perito Moreno in Argentina, but it looked far more exposed so I would guess that wind would make it a less available option (We even had to turn back early on Lake Grey due to high winds.  While we had waterproof and thermal gear on, we still didn’t want to risk falling into the frigid waters!).  Kayaking around the icebergs and glacier was a definite highlight!!!

Biking:  We did our Patagonia cycling on the Argentinian side, but I’d bet it’s great on both sides.

Patagonia Hiking Gateway Towns:  My favorite by ranking best, first: El Chaltén, then El Calafate – both in Argentina, followed by Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas in Chile.

Glaciers:  The Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina is the prettiest!

Avalanches:  We got to see several small avalanches from across the valley while hiking the W Trek, which was very cool.  We saw none in Argentina.

Flora and Fauna:  We saw a greater variety in Chile, especially of orchids, the firebush and condors.

But in reality, choosing Chile versus Argentina in Patagonia is like splitting a baby.  They are both outstanding and well worth your time and money!!!  You will be delighted whichever you choose!

The Perito Moreno Glacier

By far, the prettiest glacier I have ever seen!  I loved the jagged pinnacles, and if you are lucky, you can witness glacier ‘calving’ where a piece breaks off.  I heard one calving, but by the time my eyes knew where to look, all I saw was the movement of the water.

The Perito Moreno glacier is huge!  There is a boardwalk across from the glacier where you can safely get a good look at the 3 mile (5 km) width of its terminus.  It is almost 100 square miles in total!!!  You can also take a boat ride to get a closer look and if the winds are calm, a kayak tour.

Gratefully, it grows and shrinks at the same rate (for unknown reasons), so it will be the same size when you get there.

Active Adventures Adventure Tours

Active Adventures is my ‘Go To’ adventure travel tour company for any of my Bucket List vacations!  I have covered numerous of their tours, and highly recommend them.  I’ll be going on my SIXTH Active Adventures trip this summer, their Mont Blanc tour.  Remember, since they are an affiliate, they offer my audience a $100 Discount off of any tour. EMAIL ME for my exclusive Active Adventures Promo Code.

So EMAIL ME for an exclusive Active Adventures $200 Off Promo Code.

Active Adventure Tours Previously Covered:

Mont Blanc     Machu Picchu     Dolomites     Annapurna     Italian Lakes     New Zealand South Island     New Zealand North Island     Bolivia Peru     Utah’s Mighty 5 Parks     Galapagos     Croatia     Kilimanjaro     Banff     Austria  

(C) Active Travel Adventures – All Rights Reserved

Hike Patagonia In Chile And Argentina I Adventure Travel with Erin Chambers and Sandra Long

TRANSCRIPT FOR MY FIRST PATAGONIA INTERVIEW:

Sure to be on nearly every hiker’s bucket list, we are heading as far south as you can imagine. We’re far past the equator to the very end of South America. We go where the Andes meets the Pampas or the grasslands where Argentina and Chile combined to showcase the jaw-dropping chiseled granite peaks and glaciers in the land we call Patagonia. You’ll see soaring condors with ten-foot wingspans, cuddly looking guanacos, an animal that looks like a camel and a llama had a fling. You might even be lucky enough to spot a puma in the Torres del Paine National Park. You could be sure that the charming and adorable Magellanic penguins will make you crack a smile. This is Patagonia. It is wild. It is challenging but it’s doable and is it ever worth it.

—

We’re checking in with not one but two women who have taken the adventure trip of a lifetime to magical Patagonia. Our first guest is 45-year-old, Erin Chambers. She describes her adventure to Patagonia with her husband, Jeremy. While they mostly hiked, their adventure also included a little kayaking and biking. Then we’ll hear from Sandra Long. You actually met her briefly on episode number ten, detailing the benefits of adventure travel. She’s a remarkable 86-year-old woman who is still incredibly active. She still adventure travels and competitively dances. Sandra hiked Patagonia at the age of 82, if you can believe it, which is a challenge no matter what the age. It goes to show you if you keep in shape and you train, you can do this adventure.

Sandra’s trip was strictly a hiking adventure. Erin and Jeremy’s trip with my affiliate tour company, Active Adventures, was a little bit more rigorous. Nonetheless, there are some difficult days on both trips. To get the maximum enjoyment, I recommend that you train for these adventures. This adventure ranks a four, possibly even a five out of five, but it is doable if you train. Like the other difficulty five adventure to Mont Blanc on episode number seven, this is definitely worth it. Outside of the fabulous hikes along the base of Mount Fitzroy, Fitzroy is that iconic jagged granite mountain peaks that you see in many of the photos that you’ll ever see of Patagonia, you’ll also hike to the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina plus some others.

You’re going to get to see the massive penguin colony on Magdalena Island, visit the famous Perito Moreno glacier, kayak and cruise in Grey Lake and hopefully get to see some glaciers calving. Glacier calving means when the glacier breaks off into the water. It’s majestic when you see it on film and hopefully you get to see it in person. Erin and her husband did the Condor two-week long adventure. If you have the time, take a few days like Sandra did in Buenos Aires and possibly even an extra day or so in Punta Arenas. To begin with, could you please tell us a little bit about yourself perhaps how old you are and how you started getting into adventure travel?

I am 45 years old. I’m originally from Tennessee. We moved to Boise, Idaho a couple of years ago. Me and my husband did not have kids, and so we took this opportunity to try to start traveling the world, and found that it was our passion. We got hooked up with Active Adventures. We are still active, we are avid hikers and backpackers and campers, so we hooked up with them for our New Zealand trip. We like them so much we did a second trip to South America.

You are physically fit, as you said you’re an active hiker. Where would you put yourself on a scale of fitness level where five is super hardcore and one is a couch potato?

Probably a two to be honest with you, it depends on the time of year. I’m a little bit older and so I can tell that my physical fitness levels is going down over the past couple of years. That doesn’t excuse or knock me out of wanting to not do adventure trips. They’re harder. I’ll tell you, they are. It depends on how much effort a person puts into it with their training. I feel like I was more physically fit when I did the New Zealand trip, because I put a little bit more effort into training. To be honest with you, the South American trip we took, I hardly did any training at all and it kicked my butt. I was still able to do most things.

Did you always do adventure trips on your vacations or is this something relatively new?

We’ve progressed into it. Since we’ve been married for a couple of years, we started off with national park trips out west and started with Yosemite. We fell in love with our national parks in the United States. At that time, we were living in Tennessee. We would come out west every year and pick a different park. That’s one of the reasons we moved out west to be honest with you, to be closer to the Parks. The New Zealand trip was our first true active travel trip that we took. In the national parks, we did a lot of hiking but nothing compared to these two trips.

Erin’s going to talk to us about her New Zealand adventure in a future episode. What is the appeal of adventure travel like the types that we’re talking about now?

My husband says this all the time, it’s like adult camp, where you have people that are experts on the country, on the culture and they’re telling you what to do, so you don’t have to think about it that much. That’s in a way relaxing. We get in a van and they take you someplace and they say, “You’re going to hike this mountain or we’re going to get on this bike or we’re going to kayak this river, lake or whatever.†For us, it takes a lot of thinking out of it. You’re relying on the experts in this country to tell you the best places to go so you don’t have to plan as much. The other perk with the travel adventure companies is they take care of you. We eat well. The places that we stay are fantastic. Some of them are a little bit more rugged but that’s cool because you’re in the back country. As a traveler, you don’t have to put too much effort into it besides the physical fitness part of it.

That’s what I like too, Erin. The tour companies make all the arrangements. They’ve done all the planning and figured out the logistics. All you have to do is get there and then go on the adventure. I love how your husband calls it camp for adults. I’m totally stealing that. Do you find that you bond quickly with your fellow adventurers on these trips?

Yeah. I am an introverted personality. I can look forward to being in a group of people that I don’t know, getting to know them. They’re from all over the world. One of the things that I enjoy the most is listening to their travel stories and where they have explored in their past travels to get ideas for us. On this trip to South America, we had some South African couples, some Australian couples, Canadian and Puerto Rican and then American. It was a wide range of people from all over the world.

How old were the folks of the Patagonia trip?

The Patagonia trip ages from mid-twenties. The oldest person we’ve had on the trip, this is very impressive, he was from Australia. He was 72 years old. A couple of years before, he wanted to be the oldest man on Everest and he was there when the earthquake hit Everest. I would say the average age on this trip in Patagonia was probably mid-40s. These older couples out-hiked the younger couples by far. They were machines. They were really cool. For people who might be a little hesitant, “I’m too old or not in this particular physical fitness right now,†that should not hold anybody back from doing adventure travel. You can train and age is just a number.

With age comes wisdom of course. As we get older, we know the limitations of our bodies so we know it’s important for us to train. That’s why you’re probably finding that the older folks have conditioned themselves and their bodies to prepare for these adventures, instead of just going there and winging it like probably a lot of the younger folks do. I know that I have found that the excitement and anticipation of going on an adventure trip makes it fun to do the training. Can you give us a brief overview of your trip?

It was awesome. We went to both Chile and Argentina. We basically spent half of our time in Chile and half in Argentina. The two biggest locations that we explored was we did the W Trek in Chile and then in Argentina, we were at Fitz Roy. There were a lot of other things in between such as glaciers and other shorter hikes, but those are the two places that we explored the most.

When you look back on your trip, what comes to mind first?

The wind. I enjoyed being in a country that was truly so far removed from the United States. We kept saying to ourselves, “We’re at the bottom of the world.†The people were fantastic. Those mountains are absolutely incredible. It was hard. It was a very tough physical trip. Not only from me being at a two or three level but for everybody. It was so worth it. It was amazingly beautiful.

You said there are times that was hard. What was the hardest day?

I’d say the hardest day on the trip was on the W Trek. We were supposed to catch a boat because we were done. It was the end of our trip. We were at Grey Glacier and we were supposed to catch a boat to take us out. Because the winds were so high, there were like 70 or 80 miles an hour while we were there, the boat decided to cancel. We had the hike seven miles that we were not anticipating hiking to try to catch another boat to take us out of that region. That was the hardest thing because you weren’t expecting to having to hike seven more miles. We had to do it in order to get out. I would have hiked seven miles or more to be safe. The winds and the boat on the water was a little sketchy. I think that the Park made a good decision to do that.

I find when these unexpected obstacles come up, that I get proud of myself for working through them. What are your thoughts on that?

I was absolutely surprised. We were exhausted. We had hiked 40 miles in four days, so about ten miles a day over all kinds of terrain in the wind, in the rain. You have a feeling of accomplishment when you get done with something like that. Then they tacked on seven more miles to get out, then you really feel like you’ve accomplished something.

Those end up being my favorite memories or at least the best stories.

I don’t think I would strongly say it was my favorite memory.

Do you have any other fun stories you’d like to share?

The most memorable hike for me was a Fitz Roy hike. That was twelve miles altogether, so it was a pretty long day. The elevation was not bad going in or coming out. It was the last section, where you hike up to a viewpoint to see the mountain range, and that was a tough hike. It wasn’t very long, maybe a mile, mile and a half but it was it was almost straight up. You get up to the top and you’re looking at this iconic mountain range that you see in all those pictures. I could have stayed up there all day.

While out there, were you ever concerned that you weren’t going to be able to do it?

You have it in your head that you’re done. Your feet are sore, your body’s sore, you’re exhausted from hiking in the conditions. Then you find out that you’ve got to do it again. I had a lot of reservations the evening before. When it comes the day, you do it because you don’t have a choice to be honest. I did rely on the doctors in the group that I talked about. He helped treat some of my blisters that were causing me pain. I got some energy bars from other people on the trip. That truly did help. You just put your mind to it and you do it.

Then what happened?

We get back to the refugio and we have to wait about three hours before the next boat comes to take us out. We have a long period of time from when we get done hiking to when we can actually leave. Alcohol was consumed and we’ve got snacks and hung out with everyone. We played cards. Some people in our group played cards. We were in this large cafeteria. We were with all kinds of different hikers from all over the world in different groups. There were some singers. I think they might have been from Switzerland, that just started singing acapella. It was a party atmosphere.

How did it make you feel?

We were thrilled that we made it back. Then the next challenge, to be honest with you, was getting on the boat to take us completely out. The winds were still high, 70, 80 miles an hour. We’re on this beautiful lake, bright, clear blue. There are about a hundred hikers that are on the boat to take us out. It was a little bit nerve wracking. The waves were huge on this lake because of the winds. When we started moving away from the W Trek, we got this view that is another one of the iconic views of Patagonia that you see, that we were not able to see on the W Trek because we were in the mountains. That was worth it. Getting off of the boat and riding out of there in the van and then being able to see the whole scope of the mountains and the Torres del Paine.

Even after a challenging day like that, do you still wake up the next morning excited and ready to go?

Yeah, because you knew what the day was going to bring. It’s the landscape and the atmosphere that you’re in that leads to that excitement because you’re in beautiful countries. If your passion is hiking and looking at beautiful scenery, then you’re automatically excited.

Tell us about some of the people you met.

For the Patagonia trip, when we got our flight into Santiago, we were unable to get a flight out to Punta Arenas. We missed our flight with fifteen other people. Everyone else seemed to be hiking the W Trek. The funny thing was we were able to get on the next plane out, we had a little bit of a layover. Then we kept seeing this one particular couple on the W Trek that we had made a connection with in Santiago. That was a little cool. We’d give each other high-fives and like, “We’re doing it. We made it. We’re here.†That was cool.

Who else?

We met a lot of people on the W Trek. We stayed in refugios, which are basically backpacker hostels. We stayed with one woman and she was doing the hike solo. She told us about her stories with that. I think she was German. That’s cool to meet some people on the trail, find out where they’re from and out why they’re doing this.

Why do you do these kinds of adventure trips?

It’s a passion for being outside. It’s a passion for being in these landscapes that you are not normally in in your day-to-day life.

Tell us about the landscape.

It depends on the area we were in. One thing that surprised me is in a lot of the places that we stayed or just traveling from one place to another, it was what we considered in Boise, Idaho, a high desert or desert-like. Maybe Americans can think of Utah or Wyoming. That was a little bit of a surprise for me. Other areas were lusher when you’re closer to the mountains. It’s at sea level in all of the locations in Patagonia except when you’re on these trails in the mountains. That’s what makes them so dramatic is because they’re coming straight from sea level. They’re not that high. The Rocky Mountains have a lot higher mountains then what’s in Patagonia. Dry desert like, I wouldn’t say alpine, of what we think of in America as alpine wilderness.

What kind of wildlife did you see?

We saw a lot of condors. The animal that is down there, guanaco, it’s a cross between a llama and a camel. We wanted to see puma but we were not able to.

On a scale of one to five, how would you rate this with five being the hardest?

Five. It was hard. It was very challenging and hard.

Challenging yes but worth it. Remember, you want to train for this. Is there anything you’d have done differently?

I would have learned a little bit more Spanish. We were able to get by when we were on our own, especially in the airports and things like that. I feel like learning more of the native language can always be helpful.

What advice would you give folks?

Just do it. People in their lives make bucket lists or always wish or put things off or, “We can’t this year because of this.†My advice is just do it. There’s research out there that shows that spending money on experiences is a lot more rewarding in life than spending money on material goods.

How glad were you that you did this adventure on a scale of one to ten?

Definitely a ten.

Our next guest, Sandra, has got some insights and stories of her own to share about Patagonia. Sandra, to begin with, why Patagonia?

I hadn’t been there and I’ve been most everywhere else. I had seen enough material either in travel brochures because I’m on the list. Patagonia looked wonderful. I started looking into it.

Sandra is smart to do her due diligence and making sure that she found an appropriate tour company for her activity level. That is important because once you’re on these adventures, you’re committed and you must do the adventure. You don’t want to be dragging down your fellow teammates in your group. Do make sure that you’ve done the training if it’s necessary. I believe on this trip that you should do so. Match the adventure to your physical fitness level. This is a doable adventure for anybody that’s physically fit, particularly if you’re willing to train. By that I mean get used to wearing a pack on your back and doing some aerobic activities. There are times your guide might be able to give you a harder or an easier route depending on how your body is feeling that day.

It was great. We’d be walking all day sometimes. There would be options if you wanted the steep route or if you wanted one that was more gradual and moderate.

Sandra’s adventure was by no means easy. She talks about one of her longer days.

The one day of fourteen miles was the most challenging but not dangerously so. It was more of endurance and I had enough endurance to do that without a problem.

Did you find being in a group helpful on those challenging days?

Yeah. It’s like being in the service. When you have a challenge and you’re together, you help each other out and you bond because you’re all in this challenge together. There were only twelve in the group. This kind of travel you bond. You have much more of a connection with your travel mates than you would on a regular tour.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re doing? Did you do any glacier treks? Tell us a little bit about your days.

Yes, we did. I left San Diego four days early and spent that time in Buenos Aires and then flew on down. I rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and then flew down to El Calafate in Argentina. It was there from that hotel, we went out on a first trip into more of a moderate hike so that the leader can get his feeling about the ability of everybody. It was an interesting area because it was a petrified forest that was scattered in all these ravines and over hills and down into valleys. It was fascinating as well as it had enough degree of challenge that he could tell what we could do. Actually, we’ve got some nice views of Mount Fitz Roy from there.

Right away, by day two we were experiencing a lot of wind. The wind stayed with us for most of the trip. We had a lot of wind which handicapped the photography. One day when we were taking a boat out to the face of the glacier on which we got crampons and trekked over the glacier for a while. When we got off the boat to scramble over boulders and all to get up to the where the glacier was, the wind was so strong that you wouldn’t want to stand up, you get blown over. We were holding on to each other and helping each other over those boulders because they were huge. That was probably the most physically challenging aspect of that trip was just getting over those boulders in the wind in order to get up on to the ice field.

Don’t they have a saying down there that you can experience all four seasons in one day?

Yes. I believed it quickly.

Did you have much rain or cold?

We didn’t have any rain but it was cold because of the wind coming off the glaciers. That was the way it was in Antarctica too. It was not temperature. Without the wind, it wasn’t so cold. You had to be bundled up and have your face covered and everything else when the wind came up off the glacier.

Patagonia’s wild and rugged, and I do recommend that you take this trip with a guide. I do have information on my recommendations on my Resources page. Thanks to Erin and Sandra for a great information about Patagonia. It’s a super terrific trip that should be on about everybody’s bucket list. It’s difficult but if you train for it, you’re going to do just fine. Remember, there’s a training link on the website that will work through how to train for an adventure such as this. There’s a free Travel Planning guide link also on the website and some amazing photographs and videos. Be sure to check out ActiveTravelAdventures.com. If you’ve enjoyed this program, please share it with a friend to help get the word out. I’d appreciate it. I’ll be back with another great adventure. Until next time, adventure on.

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