I'm still alive!

I have been absolutely horrible about keeping my blog up to date these last few months, but I am still alive and doing well. I have a lot of stories to share so I'll get right to it. The last time I wrote was just after the wildfire had started burning in Torres del Paine. It continued to burn for over one month. I can't remember the exact statistic, but something like 35,000 acres of old growth forest and grasslands were destroyed. The national park is open and fully functioning again, although the land and animals will suffer for years to come. The fire did not seem to affect tourism as much as I had thought, as people from all over the world still traveled to hike through the amazing landscape, despite the charred vista. I actually spent two days in the park at the end of December, volunteering and helping the team of firefighters in any way possible. My group of friends and I arrived the morning of December 30th and helped to organize and deliver the box lunches to the firefighters. While we were driving to the next drop-off point, a group of four hotel workers asked if we could help them. There was a focus point burning on a steep hillside close to the road. So we helped drag fire hoses up from the road and assisted in putting out a small portion of the wildfire. As we continued down the road, we passed one of the camping areas (Camping Pehoe) and stopped to talk with the manager. They were hard at work watering the lawn and buildings as the fire moved quickly down the mountainside. We offered to help them and they graciously accepted. We spent the entire night carrying buckets of water, garden hoses, and one fire hose around the property in an attempt to salvage the campground. The fire moved closer and closer throughout the night, and we were forced to evacuate at six o'clock the following morning. Just as we were getting in the car to leave, a red fox came staggering out of the smoke and flames. His paws were burned and he was suffering from exhaustion. I can only imagine that his home had been destroyed and he had spent the night running for his life in search of safety and shelter. He slowly walked closer and closer and finally stopped to sit in the lawn, only a few feet from where I was standing. He just sat there and stared at me, as if he was asking for help. And as I stared back at him, I began thinking about all of the baby birds, pumas, guanacos, and fox that had just been born in the springtime. I thought about the ancient trees that lined the shores of Grey Lake, leading up to Glacier Grey. I thought about how one person's decision to make a campfire changed the natural course of nature in Torres del Paine forever. It was an overwhelming forty-eight hours to say the least. We left the campground to burn and drove two hours back to Puerto Natales in silence. A few days later, we heard that the campground and restaurant had survived the fire. The fire burned right to the edge of the property where we had been watering the lawn and forest. When you drive through today, you will see a small green island, like an oasis surrounded by the black, barren landscape. It was one small success in the middle of a tremendous loss. I like to believe that the little red fox found a safe place to rest in the forest next to the campground.

In mid January my friend Clayton came to visit Puerto Natales from Colorado. It was so great to see familiar face, and the day he arrived a group of us decided to spend the afternoon having a beer on the coast. As we drove south of town a small, helpless puppy wandered out into the dirt road. Of course, the guys did not want to stop but I immediately protested. I ran from the car, scooped the little guy up into my arms, and quickly realized that he was very sick. The moment that I turned to walk back to the car, I heard another sad little puppy cry. There in the weeds next to the side of the road were two more puppies, one dead and one alive. Needless to say, the guys were less than thrilled when I hopped back into the van with not one, but two tiny puppies. We made a visit to the veterinarian when we got back to town and he informed that one of the puppies had distemper. It is a nasty virus that is very common in stray animals. Symptoms include runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, discharge from the eyes, and eventually a miserable death. Despite the discouraging news, I bought vitamins and syringes and tried to nurse the little guys back to health. They had to be fed by hand and we would all wake up every two hours in the night take another dose of vitamins. Unfortunately it was too late. The little one's health went downhill quickly, and after three days I took her back to the vet to be put to sleep. I was pretty confident that male puppy would be okay, as he was the stronger of the two, but he had to be put to sleep after five days. As sad as it is, I've come to understand and accept that the perspective regarding the treatment of dogs and cats is not the same as it is in the U.S. Some people do keep dogs as pets but the large majority of them wander the streets, homeless and hungry. There is no system of animal control Chile and there are no organizations or charities to help the problem. And as much as I would love to help every homeless puppy, there are just too many and I have to force myself to look the other way. I wish that Bob Barker had a television program in Chile so that he could remind everyone to spay and neuter the animals.

Things were pretty relaxed after the whole puppy rescue. I was still working at the kayaking company in the afternoons, filling my mornings and free days with climbing and biking. In the middle of February, I decided to attempt a climb on the North Tower named Taller del Sol. We had been planning the climb for about a month and we finally went for it when the first good weather window arrived. We hiked seven hours into Silence Valley and set up base camp. The next morning, we woke up at 3:00 AM to hike the remaining three hours to the base of the route. Another team of climbers from California hiked up the talus field with my partner and I. We were about a half an hour below the base of the climb when we heard a voice calling for help. We answered the calls and learned that a climber had taken a long fall and broken his femur. We traversed out onto the face of the slabs to locate the team of Chilean climbers, who had climbed the north tower the previous day. They were rappelling through the night but cold weather had caused the ropes and rock to ice up, which made for dangerous conditions. They tried to wait for the light and warmth of the morning sun, but they had run out of food and water so they continued to move. One of the rappel anchors failed and the victim fell over 100 meters down icy rock. The truth is, he was very lucky that he only broke is leg after a fall that big. We started the process of lowering the victim and his partner to the valley floor. Twelve hours and nearly 2000 vertical feet later, we arrived to the talus field at the bottom of the valley. We continued to carry the victim in a stretcher for another three hours, until we reached a flat area that would serve as a landing site for the helicopter. The helicopter arrived the next morning at 8:00 AM; 28 hours after the accident had taken place. Afterwards, we learned that he had broken his femur in four different places and suffered from blood clots in both legs because he was forced to lie down for so long. Despite the trauma, doctors seem to think that he will make a recovery. And hopefully I will have another chance to climb the North Tower next summer.

After the excitement of the wildfire, the puppies, and the rescue, I decided to take it easy during the month of March. I did one kayak trip down the Serrano River, climbed a handful of times, and worked in Baguales a few nights. Beyond that, I relaxed in my home, studied Spanish, and tried to find some sense of reality again. On more than one occasion, and for many different reasons, I considered leaving Patagonia to travel again. It just didn't seem like things were going my way. And just when I thought my time was up, I received some news that changed my mind. A local businessman, climber, and acquaintance asked if I had interest in working on a project with Backpacker magazine. I quickly replied, "What? Of course I'm interested! What is the project?" So he explains that a photographer, a journalist, and couple of assistants are coming down to write a story about traveling in Patagonia. It's a story about kayaking, trekking, horseback riding, climbing, paddle boarding, and other adventures in the mountains. As it turns out that they are looking for a gringa to be the model for the photographs, so they offered me the gig. I really lucked out on this time! Getting paid to play in the mountains...life doesn't get much better than that :) The job starts the 28th so I will be sure to update the blog with the release date of the magazine.

I finally went over to Argentina last weekend to check out El Calafate and El Chalten. Calafate is another tourist town, with access to the most popular glacier in the region, Perito Moreno. We spent a couple of nights there and checked out the glacier one day, before traveling up to the sleepy climbing town of El Chalten. Now that place is amazing! It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, including Fitzroy and Cerro Torre, which are two of the most amazing pieces of granite that I have ever seen in my life. This was the first of many trips that I hope to make over to El Chalten.

So here I am in Natales again, waiting for the winter months to arrive. I recently moved to a nice little loft located on the coast of the fiord. It has the most amazing view of the mountains and a nice little fireplace to keep me warm all winter. And I will really make an honest effort to keep the blog updated a little more frequently. As always, sending lots of love and hugs to all my friends and family!