Paso Beban

We had four days off for Easter so I headed into the mountains with some new friends to take advantage of the gorgeous fall colors before they are all covered in snow (which happened two days after we returned:)









We hiked up and over Paso Beban and camped on Bahia Torito, a bay on Lago Fagnano (a large lake nearby). There were many beaver dams to navigate through (which, after a few that had covered the trails leading to extremely wet feet, became "Damn beavers!!")








I was on the trail with Steve, a guy from England who is living here in Ushuaia, and Alejandro and Alberto, who are both from Ushuaia. Ale and Alberto had already done this trip before, so they were our guides.















Much of the trail was through turba, or peat bogs. It is very cushy and could make a good bed (if you have a waterproof cover) but it was like hiking over a big wet sponge (hence the four days of wet feet:)









The colors were incredible, and some beaver dams made some gorgeous pools of crystal clear water.


















We stoped at a refugio along the way to have lunch and enjoy a short break from the rain.











Fortunately we were able to find enough dry wood to indulge in a campfire every night- used for cooking and drying out socks and boots.











Sunrise on Bahia Torito.













This is calafate, a wild Patagonian fruit that is somewhat similar to a blueberry. I was often at the back of the pack because I was grazing on the calafate.
















...as shown here, I am a bit behind the neon-pack-covered crew because I was eating:)












We had three days of intermittent rain and one gorgeous day. On the way back over the pass we were hiking through snow, some of which remained on the high peaks.












All in all, it was a mah-velous trip!

Glaciarismo

I did a two-week glacier travel course, learning about how to travel safely over a glacier and the basics of rescuing someone from a crevasse. Here we are climbing up to Glaciar Martial, a two hour hike from the city.









We practiced walking in crampons, using an ice ax, placing different types of anchors and self-arrest methods.

















There were seventeen of us in the course, mostly residents of Ushuaia with a few foreigners like myself. Here we are hiking up to the glacier, with Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel in the background.









It was fun to learn all of the vocabulary words for the techniques and equipment that I was already familiar with in English. My favorites...
carabiner=mosquetón
knot=nudo
















I was also happy that I could understand all that was being said- slightly important when you are rescuing your partner from a crevasse:)











Here we are all roped together, traveling across the glacier. One at a time one of the group members simulated a dramatic fall so the others could practice rescuing them. Here I am putting in the anchor (right after I cut my leg and both layers of pants with the crampons when I got thrown by the "fall":)







Here with Ceci and Niko, my team for the hike up the glacier.













Despite a terrible forecast, we had an incredible day and hiked roped together up to a pass to see the incredible view on the other side. We were able to see some crevasses on the way, one guy fell in up to his thigh a couple times!















Here with Cerro Torito, at the top of the pass.













Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! I didn´t get a picture of them, but while we were eating lunch at the top we saw at least four condors soaring above us... I was jealous of them!










We then rappelled back down to the base of the glacier to complete the course. There is a video of the course on You Tube if you want to see more!

(the first one is more interesting, not sure why the link isn't working. If you go to the second one you can look at the related videos and find "Glaciarismo ll")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzaTpEz79uw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqIl_xRYuqM

Ushuaia

Here is the ferry I took across the Straight of Magellan on the way back into Argentina. I didn´t get a picture of it but there were four or five dolphins swimming along with the ferry, jumping in and out of the water as if they were racing us. It was incredible!









In Punta Arenas, Chile, I went to a penguin colony. Although it was a bit late in the season and many of them had already started heading north to Brazil, we were able to get extremely close to them, listen to their squawks, and see the little ones learning to swim.














Here I am in my new city where I will be living until July. Ushuaia in "el fin del mundo" is proud to boast its "southernmost city in the world" status. Due to this, I was expecting it to be extremely remote and freezing. However, when I looked at a globe I realized that it is at about the same latitude as British Columbia or Great Britain.







It is a gorgeous city with mountains rising up from the Beagle Channel. The city has very colorful architecture and a labyrinth of roads winding up the hills. I love the combination of mountains, glaciers, water.








And the views at night of all the ships in the port are gorgeous!!












Before I started working and met my host family I spent a few days in a hostel and at the national park. This was the breakfast spread in the hostel, overlooking the city and the Beagle Channel.









I headed into Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather. All the trees were starting to turn beautiful shades of green, red, orange and yellow (a nice change from the monochromatic yellow we get in Colorado!)








Here is the view from Cerro Guanaco, a peak in the park. In the background is Ushuaia, and the peninsula that you can barely see is the airport. There is not much room for error on this small runway!









The Beagle Channel from the peak.













Taking in the views, writing reflections in my journal, and getting a good fill of fresh, pure air.































Here is the home I am living in now, with Estela who is the director of the English school where I am working. I also live with her husband, her 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son.










Here is Estela with one of the classes, looking at illustrations of a story we are working with. They use stories a lot as a teaching tool.











With one of the groups we baked a lemon pie- working with food vocabulary, measuring, and eating... what better way to learn?











With another group we made waffles- the first time that many of them had tried waffles. Fortunately we don´t cook in all of the classes, or else I would be leaving here twice my size. I could never be a pastry chef!









The ages range from 3-adults. I love working with the whole range. One night the group of adults went to a bar-cafe and they prepared information on Ushuaia and all of its characteristics and features. I am working hard here, can´t you tell?








My friend Veronica from Neuquén was in town for a Paleontology convention so we went out for a drink with my new friend Daniel. (Cue the song "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold...":)