Our Patagonia Adventure: A Day At The Farm

Happy Friday! This has been one heck of a week, and I am more than glad for the long weekend. We don’t have anything big planned for the weekend; I’m hoping to start making some new screen prints and maybe enjoy a sunny day at the beach. What are you up to for Memorial Weekend?

I’m getting close to wrapping up our Patagonia trip. I never expected it to take this long to write about it all! Helloooo busy! But this day….ahhhh this day at the farm….THIS was perhaps our favorite day of the trip. And yes, there are a lot of pictures because, well, these was a whole lot of awesome to take pictures of.

When I went to lunch with a friend and told her about this day of our trip, she said, “You had a Bachelor date! It sounds just like one of those extravagant dates they do on the Bachelor!” And you know what? She was right on.

Have you ever watched the show The Bachelor? They go on these incredible dates in amazing places that would just never happen in real life. They do a fun activity like riding elephants thru the jungles of Thailand or skydiving in the Alps, then walk up to an overlook where a lunch is perfectly prepared on a large blanket with pillows, wine and chocolates. The birds are singing (along with maybe some famous singer-songwriter), romance is in the air and all is right in the world. Who has dates like that? THAT, my friend, was our day!

So about our day I fondly refer to as our Bachelor date…

It was our second full day in El Calafate and one of only a handful of days on our trip that we had nothing planned. I think originally we thought we would just find a good day hike, but El Calafate isn’t really much of a hiking town so that was out. Belen, our precious B&B hostess, first suggested bird-watching on the lake. Not quite what we had in mind. Then I mentioned going to a farm. After all, a lot of the people we’d talked to had enjoyed stays at Estancias (Argentinean farms). “Ahhh!” she said. “I know just the thing.”

Belen suggested one of two day trips. The first included going to a farm to watch sheep shearing and experience other farm-like activities. I spent a couple of years in New Zealand as a kid so I didn’t need to watch any more sheep being sheared. Option two included going to a farm for a day of horseback riding and lunch. That sounded super fun! AND the bonus was that we’d give our feet a day off to recover from all of our hiking and walking. Thankfully J thought that it sounded fun as well, so we told Belen to sign us up!

BEST. DAY. EVER.

Our day started with Luciano, our non-English speaking Goucho (cowboy) picking us up at our B&B and driving us out to his farm which sits on Glacier National Park overlooking the amazing glacier we had trekked on the day before. A double rainbow framed the glacier in the distance while the perfectly shabby and quaint farm was waking up to the bustle of about a half dozen dogs, about 30 horses, 2 cats and a couple of chickens. Luciano rode off to gather his horses, a couple of the dogs following along. J, in photographer heaven, wandered off to take photos while I sipped on hot tea and ate croissants while playing with all of the kittens and dogs.

We immediately were drawn to one of the dogs, a black and gray mut with milky eyes that followed us around, eager for affection. Our blind buddy, appropriately named “Amigo”, was a source of much laughter for the rest of the day.

A while later after Luciano rode back with all the horses (which was amazing to watch), we strapped on some chaps and saddled up for our ride. The trail ride was slow and stunning, the landscape around us just breathtaking! I grew up riding horses so I was dying to take off in a canter, but other than the regular trot my horse did to catch up, it was a steady walk.

Our gaucho led us up to a lookout where we could clearly see the glacier behind us, snapped a couple of photos of us, and continued to lead us around his hills to an opening by a river. Here he had built a small shed, a couple of benches for his guests, and an outhouse for when nature calls. After tying up our horses, Luciano poured us each a glass of wine (in silver cups… perfection) while he started on lunch. Plaid blankets draped the rustic benches and a fire crackled away. We were in HEAVEN! Both of us felt SO happy and relaxed.

On top of the fire was a cast iron shallow bowl where Luciano started sauteing garlic and onions. LOTS of onions. We sipped more wine. Then he added thin strips of beef from his farm. More sipping of wine. By now we were drooling a bit, smelling the beef and the onions sizzle away on the fire. Cutting some crusty bread into 6 inch strips, he prepared a sandwich for each of us.

Let me stop here. THIS was probably the BEST sandwich of our lives. So simple but SO delicious. If we could go back now and eat more of these sandwiches we would. I had 2 sandwiches. J ate three. And, honestly, the third one was the best. By then the onions had been cooking for almost an hour and were perfectly caramelized. YUM.

We finished our meal…and the bottle of wine… with some chocolates, both of us fat, a bit tipsy and agreeing that this was the best day of the trip, then got back up on the horses for the ride back to the farm.

I really don’t feel like I can capture in words the perfection of this day. I was so thankful that J and I didn’t have to share this day with anyone else. It was so fun, romantic, relaxing and memorable. The food was remarkable; Luciano, while barely speaking any English, was the perfect host, and the farm was quaint and homey. It was a day we will never forget.

All photos ©2012 Jason Ward Studios. DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION.

Clean, Green Machine: My Standard Process Cleanse

One line disclaimer: I’m not a doctor of any kind. Don’t do anything stupid. It is recommended that you do any cleanse or extreme diet under doctor supervision. Ok, there.

Today’s a good today. I just completed a 21-day cleanse! That’s 21 days of eating nothing but fruits, veggies, chicken, fish, brown rice and lentils. I’ve lost around 7 lbs, at least an inch from my middle (maybe more… all my pants feel looser and I even fit into some old jeans that were too tight) and I feel pretty great. Today I can eat whatever I want and the crazy thing is… I’ll probably keep eating that same way. Trust me, I’m more shocked than any of you.

The cleanse that I just completely is called the Standard Process and you can read about it here on their website. So many of you have asked me about this that I decided to write a blog about it to answer all of your questions (including the common “Are you crazy!?). The main question I get is why do a cleanse? Welp, when my friend Sheena mentioned on Easter Sunday that she was going to start this cleanse, I thought it sounded like a good idea. I knew it would be good for my body and help me shed a few of these marriage pounds, so that was enough for me. But when I started reading about it, the list of reasons to cleanse were pretty long. Here is what Standard Process has to say about it:

“Purification, also known as detoxification, can help you remove natural toxins from your body and help maintain a healthy weight. We are exposed to external toxins everyday, including pollutants, pesticides, and chemicals. Internally our bodies produce waste byproducts as a result of normal metabolic function. Although your body is designed to rid itself of these toxins naturally, it can become overburdened. Purification offers your body additional support to expel natural toxins and minimize your weight, which is important to maintaining your health and vitality.”

Being out in the world today DOES effect our body no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Things in the air, the ground, in our shampoos and soaps, the junk they spray on your fruits and veggies… all of that is in your body. The foods you eat — even the good foods — can be affecting your body. You might have intolerances to the foods you eat every day. How do you find out? By cutting everything out, cleaning your system and, later, adding them in one by one.

Basically, when you cleanse your body, it’s like pushing a re-start button for all your insides. If you get sleepy mid-day, have trouble catching your zzz’s at night, have infertility struggles or just want to have a healthy baby (do NOT cleanse if you are already prego or nursing… that baby needs all the nutrients it can get), can’t lose weight no matter how hard you try, have that constant foggy head, crave certain foods all the time (for me it was cheese and bread) or just want to do something good for your body, this is for you.

Still following? What you really wanna know is what does it mean to do a 21-day cleanse. What in the WORLD do you get to eat?

You ready?

Fruits. Veggies. Lentils. Brown rice. Oils (selected like olive or coconut). Spices (the lifesavers). And later… chicken and fish. All organic. All fresh or frozen. That means nothing pre-made or pre-packaged with the one exception of canned tomatoes.

Honestly, before I started I wasn’t sure I was gonna be able to do this. I mean, we eat pretty healthy at home with a couple vegetarian dinners a week, but NEVER a full day of just veggies and fruit. I was gonna miss my cheese (I have had a small addiction to cheese), I loved bread and ate as much as possible, and even some of the vegan recipes I looked up were off limits (they had things like beans, nuts and quinoa in them… no go for the cleanse). On top of that, I was going to be cleansing on Cinco De Mayo (no chips or ritas for me. *sigh*), at a baby shower (hello all the foods I love in one place!) and a mother’s day lunch where a chocolate fountain tested my willpower.

The first ten days you can only eat fruits and veggies with half a cup of brown rice OR 1 cup of lentils a day. After the ten days you can add in fish and chicken, which I happily did. The cleanse also includes supplements which you have to take in order for this whole thing to really do it’s job. That’s 21 cleanse pills a day for the first 8 days (if I can do it, you can do it. I have a pill swallowing phobia thanks to my cartoon sized tonsils) and then 10 green pills a day after that. You can buy them from Standard Process or save a little money and get them off of Amazon instead.

So how did I do it? I had a plan, I always had snacks on me and I made delicious recipes. Sounds easy? That’s cause it is! Don’t try to survive 21 days on just salads… you’ll go crazy. Instead, get creative!

Each day started our with a smoothie… that wasn’t anything totally new for me. The catch, though, was that I couldn’t add any fruit juice unless I squeezed it myself and I had to added a couple of scoops of their SP Complete Powder and a scoop of fiber power, both of which take away much of the sweetness of the smoothie. The first day was rough, but after that you get used to it. Strawberries, bananas and pineapple are your friends — they will keep your smoothies tasting less like dirt and more delish. You can add whatever fruit you want to your smoothies, and I ALWAYS add a large handful of spinach or kale to each smoothie. I promise you won’t taste it. You know when your mom said that and she was lying? This isn’t like that… you just won’t be able to taste it. Bonus points for getting some veggies in for breakfast!

Amazingly, the smoothies can hold you over until lunchtime! I swear there is something magical in that powder (aka protein and other good stuff that keeps you full). You have to have 2-3 smoothies a day so I typically had smoothie #2 either for lunch or an afternoon snack. A typical lunch would be something like sauteed veggies and a salad or roasted brussel sprouts and apples. The rule is to take in twice as many veggies as fruits and as little carbs as possible (avoid rice if weight loss is your goal). Oh, and no store-bought salad dressings! Learn how to make your own vinegarette! They taste so much better than homemade. My favorite recipe is here. If I needed a snack I had things like carrots and celery with homemade guacamole or baked sweet potato fries. If I craved something sweet, I ate a date (just eat one or two though… thoses little fruits are still packed with sugar!).

Dinnertime consisted of meals like lentil soup (MUST post this recipe. This will become a household staple.), giant salads, wild rice and veggie stuffed mushrooms, homemade spaghetti sauce over zucchini and fajita veggies over brown mexican rice topped with avocado and salsa. Once I added in chicken and fish, I felt like I had a whole world of options! Eating roasting chicken with a salad is pretty normal at our home, but I was excited to make other things like spicy tilapia with a mango avocado salsa and grilled kabobs. Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

Ok, so the questions I get asked the most:

How did I feel on the cleanse?

I felt surprisingly good! Really good! I anticipated feeling hungry, grumpy and having crazy cravings. I didn’t experience any of that. If I was hungry, I ate something.

Did I have any of those cleanse side effects like headaches, flu-symptoms, etc.?

Thankfully, I didn’t drink much coffee before the cleanse so I didn’t have the awful caffeine withdraw headaches that many people get. I did, however, get a nasty migraine day 3, but it was short-lived and went away without my usual remedy of caffeine. After that I was totally fine! It is totally normal to feel some sort of sign of your body cleansing such a chills, headaches or just a plain sick feeling. It won’t last… it just means it’s working! Weird, huh?

Can you work out while on the cleanse?

For the first week, you are supposed to only be walking at least 4 days a week. Honestly, I got bored with walking after about 5 days and went to my favorite boxing class. My teacher told me not to sprint since I was cleansing, but everything else felt fine. Once I added animal proteins back in I felt like I could do any activity I wanted and feel strong and normal. I think I even had MORE energy!

How much weight can I expect to lose?

I had read that most people on this cleanse lose 10-15 lbs. I lost almost 7. I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed by this, but I know that losing 1-2 lbs a week is a NORMAL weight loss. I anticipate I’ll lose the final few lbs over the next few weeks. I didn’t let myself step on the scale more than once a week… the weight will eventually fall off, but the main point is to clean your body.

What about the rest of my family? What if they aren’t cleansing?

J didn’t do this cleanse with me and it was fine. He’d just cook up a side of chicken with whatever veggies I was cooking up when I couldn’t have chicken yet or would make a grilled cheese sandwich to eat with the veggie soup. Thankfully, this meant I didn’t have to cook separate meals. Honestly, once I was eating chicken or fish we ate the same things for dinner at night. Everyone loves kabobs or turkey spaghetti (just eat yours over mushrooms or zucchini instead of pasta)!

What about cravings? I don’t think I can live without (fill in the blanks)

This is one of the things I was most worried about. I have little to no will-power when it comes to things like sweets and cheeses. Amazingly, the cleansing actually “cleanses” you of cravings! It’s SO weird. I didn’t crave sugar, carbs, cheese, caffine, chocolate or anthing else I couldn’t have. That isn’t to say I didn’t WANT them. Sitting at a Mexican restaurant with chips in front on me was tempting. I WANTED the chips, but I didn’t crave them. It’s like my mind wants what it likes but my body doesn’t need it. Does that make any sense? I am still amazed at all the treats waved in front of my face that I didn’t eat… and didn’t have a hard time skipping out on.

So did you cheat?

Shockingly, only once. After the mother’s day chocolate fountain incident (incident in that I was near a chocolate fountain and didn’t even taste it) I allowed myself one dark chocolate square. That was it. I felt so strong and didn’t want to mess up the body cleaning process.

Now what?

I’m supposed to slowly introduce foods back into my diet, one at a time. The purpose is to find out how my body reacts to foods. I could have a food intolerance and not even know it (like dairy making me feel sickly or grains making me feel bloated… things like that). I am now used to eating all these fruits and veggies so hopefully that won’t change too much. And while I am glad to not have to down 2 smoothies a day, I still started my day with a smoothie this morning, only this time with a piece of whole-wheat toast on the side. I don’t have any plans to cut out any specific foods, but I do hope I continue a mostly whole food (as in foods that aren’t processed and are living) diet.

Any other questions? Just ask! I’m really proud of myself for seeing this through. I really do feel SO good!

Our Patagonia Adventure: Glacier Walks and Chocolates

I know that some of you have bee following the journey J and I took through Chile and Argentina this March. A couple of days ago I wrapped up our time in the lovely Torres Del Paine National Park. Chile was wonderful but it was time to move on and head east to Argentina, so, on a very rainy Monday morning, we loaded onto a bus for the 6-hour drive across the border to El Calafate.

Back in Puerto Natales we heard some people suggest skipping El Calafate entirely and head to El Chaltén instead where we could hike the majestic Fitz Roy. While I have no doubt that the hiking and scenery in El Chalten is incredible, our feet where done with hiking for a bit and we didn’t want to add another 4 hours to our journey.

Arriving in El Calafate that chilly afternoon, we crossed the main street and headed to our bed and breakfast, Hospedaje Lautaro. This was the BEST place we stayed our entire trip! It wasn’t fancy, but Belen and Dario, the couple who own the guesthouse along with their 3-year old girl Adina (dressed as Snow White… adorable), were some of the kindest, friendliest and warmest people we encountered on the trip. Belen helped us with all of our excursion bookings, knew every guest by name, left handwritten notes with candy on our bed and truly felt like a good friend after talking to her for only a few minutes. Dario knew less English but was equally as helpful and cooked AMAZING meals for dinner every night. It was such a joy staying there.

Walking the main street in town felt a bit like being in a mountain town like Breckenridge. Argentina has a lot of Swiss, Italian and Welsh immigrants and you could tell. Tea houses, trattorias and chocolate shops lined the streets along with North Face stores and adventure companies. Snow-capped mountains and a giant glacier awaited exploration just beyond the main street. Chocolates, pasta AND mountains? We automatically liked this town.

Tourists don’t travel to El Calafate to eat chocolate and pasta, though. They go there to see the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of three glaciers in Patagonia (and one of only a few in the world) that are actually growing. We headed out early Tuesday morning for the mini-trek on the glacier (my still aching feet couldn’t handle the full-day trek) which included a boat ride across the lake to get up close to this monster glacier, a 90-minute walk on the glacier with crampons to explore all the cracks, caves, streams and bright blue wonders of the ice, then, after boating back across the lake, 90 minutes to just sit and watch the glacier in all it’s glory.

This might not sound super exciting but let me tell you, this was one of the most spectacular places I’ve EVER been in the world! The glacier is around 150 feet tall and goes back for miles. The blue hues in the ice are so bright that you think they can’t possibly be real, and yet somehow they are.

And then you hear it — it sounds like a canon going off — a crack so loud that it makes you jump.

Looking towards the water you witness a piece of ice as big as a small house breaking off and crashing into the lake creating a huge splash and a giant wave. Everyone cheers and claps. AMAZING! Every time a piece of the glacier fell, it was like witnessing magic and you wanted to see just one more. And then one more after that.

The glacier trek was pretty awesome in itself. Strapping crampons to our book (metal spikes that dig into the ice to keep you from slipping and falling), we slowly made our way onto the ice. Our group was pretty slow moving, but taking in the beauty of the ice, I didn’t really mind. We had plenty of time to take pictures, drink from the glacier streams and explore. The tour ended with shots of whiskey on the rocks (shaved glacier ice, of course) and little Argentinean chocolate covered cookies called alfajores (yum).

Back in town we ate dinner at an amazing restaurant called La Zaina, an old barn-like building filled with antique furniture and collectables. Two young hipsters run the tiny kitchen, making everything from scratch including baked goods served on grandma’s old china while pouring libations. Rock concert videos are projected on the wall while you eat (unless it’s a weekend when they have live music or dancing). The food was delish! We started with empanadas which were buttery, flaky deliciousness filled with beef. I had a bowl of veggie soup for dinner while J tried the Milanesa, a thin breaded veal patty covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Holy moly? We liked this place so much we return a night or two later for round two.

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Stayed At: Hospedaje Lautaro One of our favorite places to stay on the trip! Kind hosts, simple rooms and a private bathroom. They will arrange any activity or transportation you need. Breakfast is basic but served whenever you want it, and dinner is additional but delicious.

Ate At: La Zaina. Warm, friendly, delicious. Try their empanadas and be sure to eat a slice of pie before you go.

Activity: Mini-trek on the glacier with Hielo & Aventura. They are the only company that does treks ON the glacier. A bit pricey but totally worth it.

Our Patagonia Adventure: Days 3-4 in Torres Del Paine

Happy Monday! I hope you had a splendid weekend. My weekend went by much too quickly but was full of good things like garden baby showers, a slumber party with dear friends and a mother’s day lunch with a dear family that has taken us in as one of their own. So sweet.

I want to keep moving forward with stories and pictures from our trip to Patagonia. I need to get all these memories down before they become cloudy in my mind. Hopefully you’ve already read about day 1 and day 2 on the trail in Torres Del Paine National Park. If you haven’t or you just want the cliff note version here it goes: Torres Del Paine is breathtakingly beautiful, the trails are all longer than we expected and our feet hurt more than we can even express. There you have it. Moving forward…

Day 3 on the W trail was our short hike day. Praise the Lord for that! We needed a shorter hiking day for our weary feet at this point. Our destination: Hosteria Los Torres, a mere 11 km (compared to 22 km our first day of hiking). Sounds easy, right? They estimated the hike taking 4.5 hours at mederate difficulty so we thought no big deal. And, honestly, the trail wasn’t so bad minus the giant rocks we were still walking on and our throbbing feet.

Leaving our campsite at Los Cuernos, we headed head on a trail that ran alongside the lake, crossing numerous streams and rivers and even more people. We passed SO many people this day! This must be a popular hike because there was high traffic all day on this trail, so different from our other days when we could hike 30 min to an hour without passing anyone else.

I think we were hiking at a slower pace due to our aching feet because after 4.5 hours, we could see our hostel in the distance but still had a long way to go to get there. At this point we were HOBBLING down the trail, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other instead of the pain. It wasn’t working. I remember seeing horses grazing in a field along the way and fanticizing about riding them the rest of the way. Our sad feet!

the dreaded rocks

Then there were the buildings in the distance… we were almost there! Hobbling into the lobby, we felt so relieved and walked up to check in. They looked suprised…confused.

“What is your name again? Hmmm… your name isn’t here. Are you sure you aren’t staying at the Refugio? That’s 15 minutes down the road.”

I thought we both might cry. We almost did.

Our feet were pounding with pain and they are telling us we have to walk another 15 minutes? I wasn’t sure we’d make it, but with a sympathic “you can do it!” from the hotel staff, we headed out the door of the gorgeous hotel and down the dirt road. Another 15 hard minutes.

Sounds pathetic, right? It really was.

clouds rolling in to hide the Torres

Of course we made it to our hostel and went straight for the hot showers. They might have been the BEST showers of our lives! Hot water on our feet felt amazing. My feet still hurt so badly that I couldn’t walk on the bottoms of them… I had to shuffle around in socks on the sides of my feet. Again… pathetic.

Hosteria Los Torres was another cozy hostel with a wood-beamed dining room and a warm bar area with a wood-burning stove and all the overpriced cocktails your trail-weary body desired. This was the only night we didn’t cook which was SUCH a treat. Dining at long, family style tables with other travellers (we sat next to a kind Parisian couple who were doing an around-the-world journey), I scarfed down my fried fish and mashed potatoes. It wasn’t amazing quality but it was warm and home-made. Plus, it was pouring rain outside by now so I was relieved to not be cooking out in the rain.

J and I discussed day 4 of hiking. Could our feet even handle it? Did we care if we missed seeing the Torres up close? Thankfully… and I truly mean thankfully… it was pouring rain the next day. We could have hiked the 7 hours to the Torres but we wouldn’t have been able to see anything at all as the peaks were all hidden by clouds. Phew! A day of rest! J and I headed back up the street to the nice hotel (the one where we weren’t staying) and camped out there all afternoon, reading and writing postcards on comfy couches all covered with sheepskin rugs. It was JUST what we needed!

After a couple hours of chilaxing by the fire, we headed back to the refugio to catch the bus back to town where we treated ourselves to another delicious dinner of pasta and pizza at Pizzeria Mesita Grande.

our reward dinner. yummmm.

 

Thinking about hiking Torres Del Paine in Patagonia? First of all, know that you DON’T need a guide. The trails are well-marked with lodges connecting them along the way. Secondly, check it this blog, which was really helpful for us. It’s full of useful info you might need before you go.

Our Patagonia Adventure: Torres Del Paine Day 2

I’m apparently really excited to be hiking

I totally didn’t intend on spacing these posts out so much. I’ve been SWAMPED with work, which is a great thing, as well as continuing on this cleanse I’m doing (14 days down…7 to go!) so free time is limited. But I definitely want to tell you all more about our epic trip.

Hopefully you have already read about our first day of hiking in Torres Del Paine, so you are well aware of how much our princess feet were aching after just one day (and 14 miles… yeah…that makes me feel a bit better) of hiking. Day two was another gorgeous, sunny day. I think I was hot after about 30 minutes of hiking, rolling up my pant legs to keep cool while wondering why I had to be so dang stubborn about wearing convertable pants (literally everyone… and I mean everyone…was wearing zip-off pants. I wanted to be fashionable, instead I was hot. Well hot AND fashionable.).

This was definitely my favorite day of hiking as far as scenery goes. Heading west you go through big fields that gradually turn into a lush forest, such a change from the day before! With a roaring river running through the French Valley, separating glacial mountains from forest, it reminded me a LOT of the Smokie Mountains. After a couple of hours of hiking, changing bandaids on blisters and chatting about whatever you chat about while hiking all day, we stopped for lunch in a campground, dropped our bags, and headed into the French Valley.

The French Valley is an epic hike for those on the Torres Del Paine W trail…epic meaning both awe-inspiring and beautiful as well as long and hard…our favorite combo (enter rolling of eyes here). Our feet were still throbbing from the first day of hiking, and the full hike to the end of the French Valley and back would have had us hiking into camp around 9PM again; we weren’t really up for that, so we stopped at the first lookout point instead. From there you can see the Torres on one side – three fingers that are the park’s trademark – and a HUGE mountain glacier on the other. It is gorgeous! On top of that, a couple of older gents took their shirts off to soak up the rays providing us with some chuckles. Hubba hubba!

shirtless wonders

After picking up our packs at the campsite, we were back on the trail, optimistic that we would be at camp sooner rather than later. Remember how they called most of the hikes moderate in difficulty? Riiiiight. Hiking up and down steep hills for 4 hours on giant rocks (ah yes, more rocks) is anything but moderate. The pay-off? Gorgeous scenery. Stunning. Exiting the forest you head towards the lake with its milky turquoise blue waters and pebble beaches. It was such a dramatica and beautiful change of scenery that it caught me off guard.

A little more hiking as we arrived at our campsite for the night, Refuguio Los Cuernos, which was the most quaint, inviting and cozy lodge of the trip. The tiny dining room was packed with trail-worn travelers sharing stories and pisco sours by the wood-burning stove. Cabins dotted the hillside with waterfalls in the distance and the lake below.

This refugio offered several sleeping options: fancy cabins, dorm rooms, eco-dome tents and regular old camping. We opted to save money by camping this evening so once we checked in, we were guided to our tent. Thankfully, it was already set up. The bad part? Whoever set it up didn’t remove any of the rocks from under it and didn’t seem to care that the tent was on a slight hill. Hello rolling into the corner of the tent all night! To top it off, the “ground pads” they provided were laughable. I would venture to guess that they were about a quarter of an inch thick, barely enough to feel like anything other than the hard, rocky ground beneath us. Soooo not the best night of sleep.

dinnertime

Despite the poor sleeping conditions, this was a great night. We served up some chicken and risotto with corn (freeze dried, of course) with a mocha cheesecake dessert (also freeze dried), then headed up to the lodge for some pisco sours and cards by the fire. A perfect end to a good day of hiking.

airing out some boots and boxers

A Letter To Those Who Are Weary

When I was in college a dear friend introduced me to a writer named Amy Carmichael. It seemed that every time I had a heartbreak or trial in my life, Katie had the perfect Amy Carmichael quote to encourage my weary heart.

Amy Carmichael was an Irish girl who moved to India in 1895 to be a missionary. She quickly discovered that many girls in India were being sacrificed to the temples and then were used as temple prostitutes. Astounded, Amy began to make a home for these girls who needed protection and care. They affectionately called her Amma (mother).

In 1931, an accident in Amy’s life led to illness and increasing physical limitations, but her faith in God never waivered. Her letters from these times of illness and pain are a beautiful testimony of God’s provision and presence in her life, and have become one of my favorite placed to turn for encouragement and inspiration.

This morning I was passing on some of my favorite Amy Carmichael quotes to a friend who has a weary heart. Then I thought, I bet a lot of people feel the same way.

Weary.

Tired.

Beaten down.

There is hope.

There is a God who holds you in His arms, who loves you more than you could ever imagine.

So for all the weary hearts out there, some encouragement from a woman who knew how it felt to be broken, defeated, weary and down. I think her words are beautiful. I hope you agree.

“HE knows what HE is doing… There will be a lovely ending to this story of frustration, something worth all it has cost.”

____________________

(italics mine)

” The best training is to learn to accept everything as it comes, as from Him whom our soul loves. The test are always unexpected things, not great things that can be easily written up, but the common little rubs of life, silly little nothings, things that you are ashamed of minding one scrap. Yet they can knock a strong man over and lay him low.

“It is a very good thing to learn to take things by the right handle. An inward grouse is a devastating thing. I expect you know this, we all do; but it is extraordinary how the devil tried to ‘get’ us on the ordinary road of life. But all is well if only we are in Him, deep in Him, and He in us is our daily strength and song.

“I have read and re-read the bit in your letter about the love that constrains. Nothing less will hold on to the end. Feelings can be shaken and the fight can be fearfully discouraging, for sometimes we seem to be losing ground and all seems to be going wrong. Then the devil comes and paints glorious pictures of what could have been. He did to me — I can see those pictures still. But as we go on steadfastly obeying the word that compelled, we do become aware that IT IS ALL WORTHWHILE. We KNOW it, we KNOW Him with us, and that is life.

“I am going to ask that the consciousness of His presence with you may be constant and very sweet. I know the difference this makes. But you are not a child in Him; you have passed the point where that is needful. You KNOW Him near, with you and in you. JOY though it be to be conscious of that blessed One, the great thing is not my feeling but His fact.

So if there are fogs on the sea on any day or any night — still all’s well.”

(from Amy Carmichael’s Candles In The Dark)

Our Patagonia Adventure: Heading to Torres Del Paine

driving to Torres Del Paine

I really didn’t intend on this vacation posts being so far apart. I want to blame it on the fact that I was busy getting my design website up and running (insert minor begging for you to check it out and pass it along here) along with the fact that I just started on a cleanse which means more fruits and veggies a day than I’d normally eat all week, no cheese or chocolates (boo) and gallons of water that keep me running to the bathroom. On a positive note, I feel great and have lost 3 lbs in the first 3 days, so I guess I can’t really complain… just keep cookies out of sight!

Anyhoo, back to the vacation. After Santiago we headed south, farrrrr south almost down to Antarctica. We almost didn’t make it after a hiccup with the airline losing (or refusing…we weren’t sure which) our reservation, but they eventually caved and gave us our tickets. I knew we were on the right flight since everyone… and I mean everyone… was wearing some sort of ourdoorsy gear like hiking boots or zip-off pants. We landed in Puntas Arenas, made friends with some lovely Belgians (I’ve never met a Belgian I didn’t like), and took a long bus ride up to Puerto Natales, our jumping off point for Torres Del Paine National Park.

Puerto Natales is definitely a backpackers town, marked by tourists clad in North Face jackets which giant packs on their backs. The town was modest, but in an endearing way with a picturesque lake,  cool watering holes and organic eateries. We loved Pizzeria Mesita Grande so much that we ate there twice! I’m such a sucker for a long family-style table and wood fire pizzas on a cold night. We also loved our little Hostal where we stayed, a cozy little house run by a kind Chilean man, David, and his Texas born and raised wife. They were out-of-their way helpful, doing our laundry, setting up bus tickets and offering us fresh from the over cookies; it was almost like we were staying with good friends.

We didn’t stay long in Puerto Natales, only long enough to rent some gear from Erratic Rock, head to the grocery store with throngs of other backpackers to gather lunch items for our hiking days and make some reservation changes to our trek. Bright and early the next morning we loaded back onto a bus and headed for Torres Del Paine, Chile’s most famous national park, to hike their famous “W” trek. Despite leaving town at 7am, with the long bus ride, stops for photos, park permits and catamaran, we didn’t arrive to where we wanting to begin hiking until 12:30 in the afternoon. We had to hike 14 miles that day… it was gonna be a looooong day.

fire damage

Let me just tell you… long is an understatement. Thankfully, we were only carrying a small day pack since we left our big packs back at the Refugio where we were sleeping that night. Starting at Lago Gray by Refugio Paine Grande is a bit eerie. The area has been devastated by the December fire, the trees charred, the camping area completely destroyed with the fires coming within feet of the Refugio. At first I thought the leaves on the trees were yellow because it was early fall but quickly realized that they had turned from the heat of the fire. It was definitely sad to see, but it still was immensely beautiful. We couldn’t believe how warm it and sunny it was… we had anticipated cold and wet, filling our packs with fleece jackets, beanies and rain gear. I didn’t expect to sweat!

check out the giant glacier in the background!

Our first day of hiking led us along Lago Grey towards Glacier gray. It was 7 miles EACH way, which totally sounded do-able before we started the trek. Unfortunately, nobody mentioned the softball sized rocks we would be hiking on that just wrecked the bottoms of our feet. After about an hour my feet started throbbing, a feeling I would get used to (kinda).

We hiked and hiked and hiked.

The views were gorgeous. Milky green blue lakes, floating icebergs, majestic snow-covered peaks. At 5:15 we reached the Rufugio at the glacier and had the sad realization that we weren’t going to make it to the glacier look out point. It was another 30 minutes each way — not far in distance but too far to add to our return trip. After ALL that hiking, we were going to have to turn around in order to stay safe and not hike in the dark (it gets dark around 9:30 down there in March). I won’t lie– we both felt a bit defeated–but with the hours ticking by and our throbbing feet slowing us down, we headed back to the refugio for a good night of rest, hoping to make it further the next day with an earlier start.

Glacier Gray

our cooking hut

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Slept: Puerto Natales — Tin House Patagonia. Small, cozy rooms with shared bathrooms. Great breakfast options, including the option to cook your own eggs in the morning (yay!). I highly recommend this place. Torres Del Paine — Refugio Paine Grande. This was a HUGE refugio, but because of the fire, they were working with limited power, a tiny staff and less rooms. It was a good enough place to stay the first night, although the hallways totally smell like wet feet (due to everyone’s muddy boots and sweaty socks. ew.)

Ate: Puerto Natales — Pizzeria Mesita Grande  YUM! Wood fired pizzas and fresh pastas served at long, community tables. Loved everything about this place. Torres Del Paine — Refugio Torre Cental offers warm meals but they were a bit pricey so we made our own meals in their dark but suitable cooking shed out back. Note to self: dehydrated scrambled eggs are gross but dehydrated bacon bits makes it a bit better.