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Life's too short to be Vitamin D Deficient

Day #1 (2/18/11-2/19/11) The start of the trip and travel to Punta Arenas 

The day starts out with the typical anticipation associated with any major life event. There was a feeling of great anxiety and excitement, while the planning was similar to planning your own funeral. Loose ends were slowly tightened as the planning for ones potential death in the face of next great adventure were meticulously conducted. The day slowly passed as the bag and backpack were checked and rechecked waiting for the hour of departure, which was set for 6:45PM that night. The departure time was the first in a series of aberrancies that the trip would hold, as a final phone call to PNT confirmed the flight time to be 5:45PM, an hour earlier than expected. The plan for the first day of travel was to be as follows:

Dallas/Fort Worth to Santiago - 9hr and 40min

Santiago to Punta Arenas (1stop in Peurto Montt) - 4hr and 20min

The total noted travel time to our final destination was around 24 hours given the lay-overs between connecting flights. To spare the details that would lead to significant recall boredom, I am only discuss a small part of the travel. The initial two legs of the flight were uneventful, until we reached the town of Santiago in northern Chile. We had just retreated from the customs and the passport station after discussing "Salty Piece of Land", a book being read by PNT. There was a curious line noted in a book that goes as follows... "Butch Cassidy didn't work for The Man. He was his own man. He ran away to Patagonia." Patagonia was to be our final destination. Those words resonated and bounced around like a drop of water in a hot grease filled skillet until a familiar voice was heard. "Hey Mark... is that you?" I turned to find a familiar face from far away, James. James was a previous traveler from Winnepeg, Canada. He had spent time with us previously on a trip to New Zealand and presented himself as an energetic young man with a kindred soul. Our paths had once again crossed, on what seems like an impossible encounter in a small airport terminal on a specific day at a specific time which propelled the thought that something bigger than that moment lead to the encounter. We said our aloha and once again parted ways with the confidence that this would probably not be the last time we crossed paths.

The flight from Santiago went by way of a stop from Peurto Montt with a continuing flight to Punta Arenas, our final destination. We arrived late in evening a little more than 24 hours from our departure to find ourselves checking into Hotel Carpa Manzana. The hotel was quaint and adequate for our purposes. This was the meeting place where the four of us would begin our week long quest to find something, whether that be a new sense of living or merely the camaraderie of friendship, this was the beginning. That night, the sun continued to shine late given our southern latitude and we enjoyed a recommended meal at a restaurant called La Luna. The restaurant would hold yet another clue affirming our quest, a Jayhawk sticker, positioned at eye level on a post by the baño. The specialty of La Luna was a molten concoction of a creamy soupy substance the consistency of chili and mixed with the meat and spice of your choice. It was a very welcomed meal that probably will take weeks for our bodies to burn the total amount of consumed calories even taking into account the upcoming activities.

First nights meal consisted of the following:

King Crab "Chupe"

Spicy Shrimp "Chupe"

Seafood "Chupe"

King Crab Parmesan "Chupe"

Preceded by an incredible bowl of Cerviche, which was to be first of many, and a bottle of wine. (Caserillo de Diablo - Shiraz 2010)

Day # 2 (2/20/11) The trip to Peurto Natales... penguins

We spent the morning walking the city after a recovery night of sleep. The four of us began to meander through the cemetery, which consisted of multiple above ground grave sites stacked two stories high. This was on a Sunday, which lead to quite a bit of traffic and several looks from the locals. The next stop was a tour of important landmarks including O'Higgins and the "great toe". The "great toe" or "lucky toe", as it came to become known, held particular importance as it provided safe travel to those who rubbed or fondled the toe. Those who scoffed at the toe, i.e. Dak and Peter, may as well have asked for the Apocalypse. Around the town park, which held the Magellan and indigenous indian statue with the bronze toe, were small carts holding local goods. Some small souvenirs were obtained including the little wooden carving, Mr. Happy. That afternoon, we began our ride to Peurto Natales.

After loading the bus, we started on our adventure with 7 other travelers crammed into a little tiny bus. We began to make our way to see the local penguins. The trip to see the penguins consisted of a series of rough gravel roads, which was pretty typical for the region, and an invigorating conversation with Mr. Weed about the problems with health care and how age rationing was the obvious answer that only an idiot could not comprehend. Thus the stage was set for many further invigorating and enlightening discussions. By the time we made it to the penguins, we could have been told we were seeing the largest ball of twine and would have been only all too excited to get off the bus. The penguins were our first stop on the organized portion of the trip and were a bit underwhelming, but yet the trip was on... We continued our venture to the city of Peurto Natales that afternoon. Upon arrival, we organized and met for dinner. The meal consisted of lentl bean soup and some meat. This was followed by regrouping that night at El Living, a bar near the hotel that was home to a British sounding bartender. He told a story of coming to visit and never leaving, the dream we probably all had in our youth and he found a way to make a reality. That night, at El Living, Peter was educated on the finer points of Backgammon and we played several games of cribbage. We discussed our plans for the next day, which was to be kayaking. The night ended when the bar decided to stop playing music and we actually closed the bar down, not due to a healthy consumption of alcohol, but the stories and good conversation that began the trip.

Weather: about 60 F and partly sunny

Day # 3 (2/21/11) Kayaking the Eberhardt Fjord and the discovery of Ahi Pebre special sauce

The third day of the trip brought about our first day of action. We loaded up the bus, strategically positioning ourselves as close to Mr. Weed as possible, so as to soak up more wisdom, and proceeded to the Eberhardt Fjord. This stretch of water was named after the family that originally settled the land in 1896 and are still present today. The stretch of water was a quiet hill and mountain lined inlet with relatively sparse wildlife. There were three new guides for this day who were present to ensure that everybody made it out and back. We geared up and hopped in the kayaks as if we were long time professionals, making every stroke look as though we were refining our previously possessed master skill. Dak and Joel shared a kayak, with Peter and I flying solo. The trip was going to be about an hour long, which we in Chilean time meant about 4 to 5 hours of paddling out and back. The guides stopped us for lunch at about the halfway point, which happened to be the previous Eberhardt family home. There still stood what appeared to be a weekend cabin with an indoor bar and open pit grill. The ruins of the house were still seen and implied a rather large homestead. While exploring the area, otherwise known as looking for a place to urinate, Dak swears he found a piece of Puma scat... Puma scat??? A small dark mound with bone fragments, which for all I know could have actually been a hairball from the local barn owls. This was declared as Puma scat, and set the tone for Puma vigilance. There were, over the course of the week, about 7 to 8 Puma sightings, none of which were witnessed by any two individuals at the same time. The kayaking went well and we eventually made it back to Peurto Natales. That night we once again had dinner and went to Baguelos. Baguelos was a local pub started by a group of guys, one of which was from California, who all had the outdoors in common. They brewed their own beer and had an ingenious arrangement with an actual beer tap at your seat. Baguelos means "wild horses"... That night we called it quits at a reasonable time so as to be ready for the start of our big hike. The start of our 49 mile trek known as the "W".

Day #4 (2/22/11) First Day of the "W"...

We went by bus to the Torres del Paine park entrance. The bus skirted back along a dirt road and came to bridge. The signage on the bridge stated clearly, " let your passengers out prior to crossing". We were men and continued on... riding in the bus hoping for best, while it made it with literally a centimeter to spare on either side. Around several bends we came to Hosteria Las Torres, the hotel we were to spend the night in after our planned 11 mile hike. The hotel was like an oasis in the countryside, our first night of roughing it... We left our big packs at the hotel and started our ascent up the mountain in the clouds. Our final destination was to be three peaks, the Torres central, norte and sur. The ascent would be more than a quarter of a mile at 1970ft. The initial climb was steady and leveled out as we crossed over a river at the half way mark. We came upon a camp named Chileno. This was a small lodge with bunks,warm food and drink that became our lunch break. Two things happened this day that made lunch memorable:

1. We first experienced J's sandwiches, which consisted of flat bread and an assortment of something between. This first day was an avocado delight. Everyday thereafter on the hike J would make an incredible sandwich.

2. We met two physicians from Holland, Dennis and Karin, who would be at all of our subsequent stops during the remainder of our hike. Dennis was a tall, thin guy who had a sense of satirical humor combined with gangly, boisterous gestures. Karin was his quiet wife who he referred to as "gold mine" given she made more money as a specialist.

After lunch we mustered up the energy to carry on to the peaks. The hour and half climb that followed was fairly intense. The final 45 minutes were a steep climb amongst boulders with a view that was shielded by the clouds we were hiking through. Reaching the top were the entire group including Dick and Dotty, the 75 year old couple. Despite the enlightening conversation, I found new respect for the couple and their quest. The peaks were nowhere to be seen and I guarantee that the bronze toed native guy was watching and laughing... Peter and Dak - if only they had rubbed the toe. After reaching the top we sprinted back down to the hotel hoping for a nice meal. Everybody cleaned up from the day and made our way to the neighboring cafeteria. They proceeded by serving some sort of a Salisbury steak and rice followed by a fluffy sponge textured cake with bitter chocolate. Once again, if only they had rubbed the toe... Despite the meal and limited views, the first day was definitely a success. We spent the rest of the night in the bar at our hotel recalling the events from the first couple days.

Day #5 (2/23/11) Day 2 of the "W" - the hike to ceurnos and a night of camping.