The Parques Nacional in Patagonia are plentiful and amazing. They feature vast landscapes, glaciers, snow-capped mountains, lakes and rivers and cover much of the territory of Patagonia. We had some rest days in Puerto Natales close to the end of our itinerary. This town sits close to Torres del Paine, a favorite destination for trekkers. On our first day there I joined a couple of my cycling companions to do a day hike up to the base camp for mountaineers who climb the peak. We signed up for a minibus for the roughly 2 hr drive into the park and planned to do the roughly 25 km round trip hike despite a somewhat dodgy weather forecast. ( You know the drill by now…possible high, gusty winds, rain, cold). On the drive up, we had a condor fly just adjacent to the vehicle. It was incredible to see the giant bird up so close! We also saw flamingos, guanacos, and rhea along the way. (Photos from various sources)

We started up the hike with multiple rainbows and little wind

Up we went with the weather rapidly changing between sun, clouds, rain, and gusty winds in our faces. My legs were complaining a bit that hiking uses different muscles than cycling.

Midway, we reached a hut, a welcome respite from the wet and cold and indulged in a warming chocolate Caliente (otherwise known as hot chocolate- yum!)

At this point, I decided to leave the group and head back down because my lungs were hurting (the aftermath of the big winds I assumed…more on that later). My return hike was especially enjoyable as the trail was quite empty with most users still ascending.

Once I reached the welcome center I decided to try to make my own way back to our lodgings since it would be several hours before the group returned. It was a couple hours long drive…”Hmmm”, I thought, “What are my options? Hitchhike? It’s essentially just a bunch of ecotourists here. Try to hire someone? But who?” I decided to wander around the welcome center and parking lot. I asked guy at a lodge and he told me that there was a shuttle to the Park entrance and then a bus for which you could purchase tickets on-line. Amazingly, there is a good wifi connection in the middle of this remote park. Alas, all of the seats were sold out to the many young backpackers returning from multiple day treks in the park. Sigh.

I saw a young couple of trekkers from New York standing in front of the welcome center. We struck up a conversation and amazingly they happened to have purchased an extra bus ticket. They said that if I shuttled with them to the park entrance that I could try the ticket on the 3 pm bus (their other tickets were for 2:30). Great! After waving goodbye to them I hung out with the young trekkers (grandma and the backpackers…I was probably 3 times the age of all of them) and made my way to the next bus. The driver was standing there with his clipboard and asked me in Spanish “Nombre (name)?” “I don’t know”, I replied in my limited Spanish ( I didn’t know the names of my benefactors). He scratched his head. Is this old woman daft? “Seat number?” he asked. ” I don’t know” I again replied sheepishly, trying to explain that I was given the ticket by strangers. Finally he shrugged and waved me onto the bus where I took the only open seat. Ha! So off we went and I had a thoroughly interesting time chatting with my fellow adventurers on our trip back to town. Once again, the kindness of complete strangers came through and I had a great time!