However, as per usual, we would be travelling in small groups of 4 or 5 including instructors and we always make sure each small group is self-sufficient with a tent, stove, fuel, cooking pot, first aid kit and emergency signalling device. In the last five years since I've been a backpacking and mountaineering insturctor at NOLS I've never had a small group not make it to the "x" for the day. I've finished the hiking day well into the evening, but never not made it to camp before dark.
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| Kevin enjoys watching an Andean Condor pass by several times. It probably thought we smelled like carrion. |
This course was different. On day seven of the first ration we started the day with a small river crossing. My group was the first to get going after the crossing and we trudged our way up through a steep forested hill side in the afternoon and broke out eventually into alpine tundra. We worked our way west and skirted around a beautiful lake bordeered by a glacial moraine that piled those rocks there many years ago. We continued walking over fairly flat terrain and rounded a valley corner and began hiking north. Eventually the terrain got a little more rough, but not terrible and we arrived in the vicinity of our agreed upon "x" at about 7:30 pm. My group was the first to get there.
Probably 30 minutes later another group arrived, and then a third group. Hmm... this is sounding familiar from the day before. Only this time the fourth group didn't arrive. We waited until it was fully dark and half expected to see some headlamps decending the slope into the stream delta that we were camped on. But no headlamps appeared. By 10:30 pm we figured they had for sure chosen to stop and camp along the way somewhere and we told ourselves we needn't worry until noon the next day. If they didn't arrive by noon we would put a scouting party together and walk the valley in reverse to look for them.
In the morning we woke up and cooked breakfast. We decided to pack up camp and be ready to go by 10 am, because we were assuming they would arrive at about that time and we would be able to make some more miles that day. Sure enough about 9:30 am we see and hear them a short distance back coming down a steep rocky hillside--everyone was just fine.
We welcomed them happily into camp and found out they had just camped about a kilometer back--they had been hiking kind of slow and ran out of daylight. Four people took shelter that night in a three person tent--Jim, the instructor, slept in the tent vestibule. They were in good spirits and chalked up another story to tell!
We decided to go ahead and hike some more and try to get to our reration site which was still 8 or 9 kilometers away. By the time we got re-organized and packed up it was mid-day, but we felt like it would be a good opportunity to have the students hike in small groups without instructors. They had already done this in the backpacking section a couple of months ago, and we were 8 days into the mountaineering section, so it seemed like appropriate timing.
A couple of kilometers ahead on the route was a possible river crossing, but we could also follow along the same side and not cross the river if for some reason the crossing seemed sketchy or anything. We instructors decided to head out first and then wait at the river to let the students know if they should cross it or not. We travelled through some more tricky terrain and eventually got to the river. It didn't look like something we wanted to attempt and the travel on the east side of the river was going pretty well. So once a couple of the student groups arrived we told them we were planning to stay on the east side of the river and that they should do the same. We parted ways again and walked over fairly flat terrain for a couple of kilometers and then smelled smoke and saw some colors in the distance ahead. It was a person... and a tent... with a campfire. Huh? That wasn't exactly what we were expecting to see out here in the middle of remote Patagonia. We walked up to the person and said hello. It turned out to be two Chilean guides who had two American clients with them. The owner of the company they work for is the person who owns the property we were crossing at the moment. His company was also the one who we'd arranged with to bet our food to us for the second and third ration. They said our food was there, down valley, at their base camp.
They also said their was a little-used trail along the river where we were heading. We had seen signs of trail the last kilometer, but it had come and gone. So we were happy to hear we might find a trail to follow. They said it would probaly still take us 3 1/2 to four hours to get to our destination which was only 3-4 kilometers away. That seemed hard to believe that it would take that long, especially if we found and followed the trail--but we didn't say anything.
We got going since it was already about 4 pm and we wanted to make it in before dark. We did have some trouble keeping the trail, but after losing it here and there we always seemed to find it. Kevin was particularly good at following and finding the trail. We seemed to be making ok time, and then all of a suddent the trail shot up hill. What is this? The river we are followingn is way down there... hmm.... but this definitely seems like a well travelled trail. We followed it. Up and up... then down... down... and back up and up. Then it was gone. Where did the trail go? We spread out and looked for it. Is this it? Maybe... lets see where it goes. Wait, no, over here... I think this is it. Eventually we were back on it... going up and down just barely hearing the river in the distance below.
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| An example of Patagonia bushwacking. |
Around 8 pm we came out into a semi-clearing and there were trails going every where. Which one do we follow? We were now in an area that is grazed by cows and the cows have made numerous trails all over through the bushes. Again we dropped our packs and scouted around looking for the most likely trail. About 8:15 pm or so we found an area close to where we'd chosen on the map that was campable for us. We set up our tent and listened and waited for the students to arrive. The travel on the "trail" had been slower and more difficult than we'd anticipated, so we were hoping the students would make it before dark-- but it was not looking good.
Then all of a sudden I heard what I thought was a voice in the distance. I listened. Yep! I hear someone! I called back... then listened. Within a couple of minutes a group of 4 students exploded out of the woods. Yes! We hi-fived them and welcomed them to camp. I asked if they'd seen the other two groups, but they hadn't since leaving the river 4 hours ago. So, we waited. And waited. Eventually it got dark and we decided not to worry. We won't worry until noon tomorrow. Fortunately it is a clear night--doesn't look like rain. A good night to sleep out under the stars.
I went to bed that night knowing the students were probably just fine but also praying that they hadnt''t had any accidents and that they were working as a team with any challenges that might arise.
It was hard to just wait in the morning. But we did...we tried to wait patiently and stick to the plan that they would arrive by noon as a contingency. Then some-time late morning, 10 students with backpacks on came crashing out of the woods! Yes! We were so excited to see them!~ And they had some stories to tell... around dusk ooone of the groups stumbled into a yellow-jakcet nest and two students got stung badly. Once they were a safe distance from the bees they decided it was getting dark and they might as well nrse their wounds, cook some dinner and take care of themselves. The other small group also caught up to them so they were ten strong. They slept out under small tarps and thankfully it didn't rain that night. They finished hiking the rest of the way in the morning. Don't worry... the Patagonia adventures didn't end there.
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