Patagonia

I used to think that nothing would eclipse my Macchu Picchu trip in 2004 in terms of stunning scenery, but Patagonia might have done it. From March 4 - March 12, I traveled to Patagonia with 5 other first year classmates to hike the W trail (of the Paine circuit) in Torres del Paine, Chile. Pictured to your left is the famous Glacier Grey in Torres del Paine.

Patagonia is a large region in Southern Chile and Argentina, comprised of diverse landscape that includes deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers, and the like. There was a Wharton Leadership Venture to Tierra del Fuego (in Southern Patagonia) that I was interested in doing; however, I and the rest of my travel companions were wait-listed on this trip. Given the difficulty of getting off the wait-list, we decided to plan our own trip to Patagonia - just a different part of it. Torres del Paine is the most famous part of Patagonia and highly doable without a guide; so we decided to go there.

When I think of Patagonia, I think of windy, stark, and diverse landscape. It's not uncommon to be standing on a ledge in 50 mph winds, seeing clouds and rain off in one direction and blue sky and sun light in another, while looking up at a mountain and down at a lake with floating pieces of glaciers. And, because we're so far south, the sun doesn't set until 9pm. My travel companions felt the same - hiking in Patagonia, it's easy to feel like you're on another planet. Does Patagonia live up to the hype? Yes - take it from a man who has traveled to 30 countries - it does so with ease.

Over the next several blog entries I'll describe details of our adventure as we spent 2 days getting to Torres Del Paine, 5 days hiking the W trail, and 2 days getting back to the US. Looking back at my pictures, I shudder at the raw beauty of Patagonia.