Patagonia, The “Hottest” Cold Weather Destination

About 10 years, the “buzz” started. All we heard is, “You must go to Patagonia.” Why? The scenery was supposed to be stupendous. I’m always ready to learn about (and travel to) someplace new so I started looking through my different adventure brochures. Wilderness Travel had a good trek (considered Moderate) that seemed to fit the bill, departing over Christmas/New Years, 1996.

Their definition of “Moderate”: altitudes below 4,000′; trails weren’t considered rugged or difficult; an average of 8-10 miles a day; and you could hike at your own pace.

Received a detailed itinerary from Wilderness on the “Peaks of Patagonia.” It was a 17-day trip with hiking in Chile’s Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) and Argentina’s Fitzroy Massif. The brochure read: “….glacier-sculpted mountain pillars thrust 8,000 feet straight up from windswept pampas” …”we’ll hike in both ranges, enjoying the stunning mountain scenery as we amble through beech forest and past lakes, glaciers, and waterfalls.” (We’ll discuss the word “windswept” later in my articles!)

The weather cautions were quite interesting. There could be radical changes at all times, winds could gust up to 100 mph, and temperatures ranged from 40-70 degrees. Fair warning – in other words – be prepared. But I’m an eternal optimist and thought…a little wind…a little cold…no big deal.

Sounded good to me and even “ex-Marine” (husband, Steve) gave it the “thumbs-up.”

Committed and started planning….