Chile - Patagonia

We spent the next two and a half days exploring Patagonia. This part of trip was full of adventure. Some due to the wilderness, some due to the Chileans. The first day there we realized we didn't have enough gas to get to the trail head for our hike because our driver didn't fill the tank when he left Puerto Natales. So we made the drive back to the city and filled the car with gas and turned right around and went back to the park. The hike we had scheduled was supposed to take 9 hours. But in true Colorado spirit, we climbed those mountains in under 5.

At the top there were the peaks we could see from our cabins, with a glacier below, and a lake of pure water. The entire way up you can drink the stream water that runs off from this glacier. It was a really pretty hike with all the waterfalls and trees. But it was unfortunate that we had to do it in such a rush. HOWEVER, since we finished the hike so late (11pmish and still somewhat light out) it was dusk and on our way out we saw a mountain lion! Most of us have lived in CO for a majority of our lives and only 1 of us had seen one before. There weren't any pictures since it was night, but it was pretty cool.

The next day we went kayaking. Most of us had never been kayaking before and it was pretty intimidating at first. You start at the end of lake that flows into a river. In the picture below you can see the glacier that feeds the lake and an iceberg that has broken off. At launching point it was very wind and there were huge (never been before) waves. I think we were all a little nervous, especially Ian who was the only one in a single person kayak. But after we got out the lake it was smooth sailing and beautiful, except for Ian who enjoyed a dip in very chilly water. It was fun to cruise down the river on what was the nicest day of summer, according to the guides.
Here are the girls at the end with a cup of tea and the full mountain range in view.

Finally, it was time to leave and head to our next destination. But not without drama. Remember how I told you we had to go get gas? Well, the gas attendant put unleaded fuel in our diesel car. Somehow the car ran for another two days and we made it to the shop. Luckily for us, some nice Chilean mechanic came to our rescue and fixed the car so we could make our flight on time. On our way to the airport we stopped and checked out a penguin colony for a whole three minutes. It was disappointing to have to rush this part of the trip, but I still got to see the penguins and have a funny story to tell on top of it.