Two Backpacks One Couple

After the highs and lows of attempting to complete the O-Trek backpacking loop we were all looking forward to a more relaxing couple of days. For our next family activity we were picked up from our hotel; what a luxury not walking with our bags to the bus station. At a local dock we were greeted by our guacho host for the next two days, Tomás. It was just our family, the captain, and Tomás on our boat. As we cruised through Last Hope Fjord Tomás told us all about the area and its history. The estancia we were headed to was a sheep farm run by his extended family for the last three generations. They also have many horses.

Once we arrived to Estancia La Peninsula our bags were taken by a jeep to our cabin for the night while we kept small daypacks. Two herding dogs were keeping a herd of sheep in line, and we went inside the reception cabin. Waiting for us was freshly made rhubarb juice, wines, pastries, jams, and other small yummy goodies. Looking out the window the view was incredible. The property had various red buildings including a barn, lamb smoking shed, and dining area. There were large wooden wagon wheels, white horses, and mountains in the distance.

Tomás piled us into his jeep and off we went driving through the forest to get to the start of a short hiking trail. The hike was nice; it went through forest then opened up to show 360° views. We could see an aerial view of the area we started at, the fjord we cruised through, and behind us were mountains. It was sunny with many birds and rabbits everywhere. The wind was pretty strong that day, as usual, but we had gotten accustomed to that after spending so much time in the national park.

Once we completed our two hours of hiking we drove back down the forest road to return to the main area. We got to go to the lamb smoking shack and see how they prepare the lamb barbeque. It smelled like heaven. The lamb had to be attended to constantly for hours. We met one of the guys who was on lamb duty for the day and he gave us each a small piece of lamb skin. It was crispy but melted in our mouths at the same time.

Just when we thought our day couldn’t get any better we were welcomed back inside for lunch. They served more wine, beer, rhubarb juice and water to drink. Lunch was huge pieces of smoked lamb, crunchy potatoes, salad, and chimichurri sauce. Nick was delighted to have both his and my flan to finish off the meal. We felt spoiled as it was just our group in there. The ranch also had a big group there at the same time as us, but they timed all of the activities in such a way that we never did the same thing at the same time. It made us feel like we were the only guests, which was so fun.

With full bellies we headed over to the sheep enclosures where we got a fun sheep herding demonstration with the two dogs we had met earlier. Tomás took us to the sheering barn next where all the rams were gathered. He grabbed one, put it on its butt, and sheared the entire ram in a few minutes. All the wool was connected in one piece when he was done. It was incredibly impressive since the rams are so large and strong. The ram seemed to enjoy the shearing once he was on his back. Tomás showed us how they process the wool, and how to tell high quality from low quality. It was interesting and informative. There was one stray sheep that seemed to like Jeff and followed our group as fast as it could for our afternoon.

Our last activity for the day was a 3.5 hour horse ride to get to the cabin La Barosa, where we would spend the night. We each got our own white horse and followed Tomás in a single file line. We went through the forest, along cliff sides with views of the ocean, up hills for arial views, through water and mud, and sections of tall pink flowers. Each horse had their own personality and whereever your horse ended up in line (it changed somewhat frequently) you got to know the horse in front of you pretty well. Deb’s horse had a gas problem and was farting nonstop. Jeff’s horse was the smoothest at stepping over fallen trees. Tomás’s horse was younger and being trained and didn’t like going in deeper water or mud. Tomás had to walk him across those areas. Nicks horse liked going slow to create a gap between him and the next horse, then gallop to close the gap. My horse, Nana, was super nice the first day, although she did try to take a short cut back to the barn at one point in the ride. Apparently its more common for them to go back to the barn than it is for them to go to our cabin. Gabe’s horse, Freckles, was the most chill and nice. That was Gabe’s first time riding horses so he got the best horse. Emily’s horse was an eating machine and liked brushing her against the tall calafate berry bushes.

The horse riding went extremely well. It was so gorgeous and peaceful. I think we all enjoyed ourselves. The area we would spend the night at was stunning. We had a red cabin with large windows, waterfront views, and nothing else around as far as we could see. Getting off of the horses after 3.5 hours was brutal. It felt like I would never walk normally again. Luckily the soreness wore off after a few short minutes. Emily, Gabe, Deb, and I went for a walk around our cabin and along the beach. There were hundreds of rabbits hopping around everywhere as we walked and the wind was blowing ferociously.

Stretching our legs felt amazing and we were welcomed inside our cabin with a beautiful charcuterie board and beverages. Our chef was Tomás’s girlfriend and she was incredibly nice. At 7:30pm it was time for our next 5 star meal. We had salad, chicken soup, steak, rice, sauce, and dessert was crepes with dulce de leche.

Since it was New Year’s Eve we enjoyed a variety of alcoholic beverages as well. Deb had some local red wine, Gabe and Jeff had some beers, and Nick and Emily drank mostly water as Emily was not feeling too well. I had a pisco sour and a calafate gin and tonic. Since we don’t drink that often those two drinks were enough for me to feel warm and bubbly on New Year’s Eve. Tomás also had us try some calafate flavored moonshine that was super delicious. Our cabin had a little fireplace that we did not have to use. Deb and Jeff got their own master bedroom with a private bathroom. The rest of us shared one room with two bunk beds. It felt like an old school sleepover. We all said Happy New Year’s from bed and talked lots about how amazing the experience had been so far.

It’s not often I wake up the morning after New Year’s Eve not hungover, so waking up in our cabin with no headache was fabulous. For breakfast we were served eggs, avocado, toast, jam, cheese, ham, juice, coffee, and fruits. Once everyone was ready we left the cabin around 9:15am to start our morning hike to a waterfall. Tomás was with us, as usual, and we headed off across the grassy field behind the cabin that had small bushes and dozens of leaping rabbits. Eventually the hike was through a much more forested area where we saw a horned owl perched in a tree fairly close by. He watched us intently and it was amazing to see one in broad daylight. We took a detour where Tomás showed us what it felt like to walk on thick peat and moss, like walking on a memory foam pillow. He also showed us some old cave paintings and an area where they grow many varieties of fruits such as plums.

Eventually we made it to Misery Bay, which lived up to its name with howling winds. The entire coastline was covered in dead white logs. There was an area with rushing water that Tomás attempted to build a make shift log bridge for us over. Jeff slipped and got a bit wet. Deb made it across and so did Nick. Emily and Gabe opted for a run and jump across, but both landed a bit short and made some big splashes. I nearly made it across the make shift bridge but one of the logs was not actually touching the bottom so when I stepped on it it sank and my foot got wet. It made the morning feel more adventurous, thats for sure.

The hike continued along the coast for a short distance before we were back in a forested area next to the water. There were many flowers and a few hummingbirds. We crossed a few bridges and climbed over a few fallen trees. They have volunteers who come out and help maintain the horse and hiking trails so Tomás made a note about that one for them. Eventually we made it to our final destination, a beautiful waterfall tucked away at the end of the trail. There were thick neon green mosses, mist, and layers to the waterfall cascades. We all enjoyed the short and sweet hike. It’s amazing how easy hiking feels when we didn’t have our large backpacks on and barely any elevation gain.

We made it back to the cabin at 12:30pm following nearly the same trail back the way we came, just in time for our next gourmet meal. For lunch we had trout, mashed potatoes, and salad. By that time the stomach bug had made its way to Jeff and he had to skip lunch. Gabe was also feeling a bit off, but luckily not too bad. When we finished lunch it was time to say goodbye for good to the cabin. We each got back on the same horses we rode the day before and at 1:30pm started our slow ride back to the main area we started at the day before. It was only 2.5 hours which my hips and pelvis were extremely thankful for.

Our horse back ride this afternoon took a different route than we had done before. We went mostly on the gravel road which the horses seemed to dislike. Any small patches of grass they found they’d walk on like they were playing ‘the floor is lava’. Like the day before, we went through some forested areas, saw some wood peckers, picked and ate calafate berries as we rode, and saw magnificent ocean views. At one point we all lined up with our horses by a cliff side to get our photo taken. Tomás was getting ready to take our photo when his leather jacket suddenly blew off of his horse’s back, spooking the horse instantly. A few of the horses also got scared, but their riders were good at keeping hold of the reins and not letting them move too much. The same could not be said for me and my horse. My horse immediately jumped up and made a run for it around the group. My instinct was to hold on for dear life and get Tomás to help me. Oops. To be honest I wasn’t that nervous on the horses up until that moment, but I was a bit nervous for the rest of the riding.

The barn was a welcome sight for me at the end of our ride. As we made our way closer to it we got to see a few of their male highland cows that were gifts from Scotland. Apparently since they have nearly free rein it’s not common to see them. This was Tomás’s second time seeing them, which was cool. They were super fuzzy and orange. Once off of our horses we had about 1 hour of free waddling. I’d say wandering but after all the horse back riding it definitely started out as waddling. We enjoyed some last glasses of fresh rhubarb juice. We learned that the group we saw yesterday came on their 11 room yacht, and sometimes other groups arrive by helicopter. Unreal! I went closer to the highland cows to watch them for a bit before we had to leave. One managed to escape the fenced off area, but it was easy for the cowboys to get back in with not much effort.

Our boat ride back through Last Hope Fjord went smoothly and we made it back to the hotel before 6:00pm. Most of the family were exhausted and not feeling too great so they skipped dinner. Two friends of ours from the Antarctica cruise, Brett and Ellen, happened to be staying at the same hotel so we had dinner with them instead. They were great and it was nice to hear what they had been up to in Patagonia.

The last day of our Ralston Christmas Patagonian adventure had arrived. I thought I had booked us a puma trek, an activity where we’d get to hike in the national park following puma signs to hopefully see one. At 4:30am we got picked up by our guide, Rafael. We got some sleep and to eat our wonderful hotel to go breakfast bags. Brett and Ellen had gone with him a few days prior and had seen multiple up close pumas and cubs. I knew that sometimes it’s all luck so I tried not to be too excited. Rafael said that it only happens once or twice a month where he doesn’t see a single puma. So of course it just so happened to be with us.

Our van drove around the east side of the national park where we saw an injured guanaco, some healthy guanacos, geese and goslings, ducks and ducklings, swans and baby swans. 2 of the other jeeps that were out at the same time hitting the same areas saw 1-2 pumas during the day. One of our attempts to find one was us hiking for 1.5 hours through the grasslands. We did not see one, but we did see a playful fluffy fox. After returning to our van we saw a condor on the ground, black faced Ibis, and more baby birds. It was great day for bird watching. We stopped at waterfall and then the cafeteria for lunch.

It’s hard to know if we had seen pumas if the day’s activity would’ve been better or not. I think with many of the family members all actively being in various levels of the contagious stomach bug, the energy levels were down. In hindsight that day should’ve been a rest day. For dinner we went to Le Chef, where Nick had made us reservations. That was a little disappointing as 90% of their menu was not available. We got the paella, which turned out to not be paella at all. It was fairly yummy rice with seafood, though, so it was fine. Deb was next on the hit list for the stomach bug and had to leave the restaurant in a hurry. Emily, Gabe, Nick and myself went and got ice cream after and walked a bit through town before heading back to the hotel. We laughed about how lucky Nick and I had been on our world trip so far and how unfortunate it was that some of our worst luck happened when we were all together as a family.

After our last hotel breakfast Jeff, Deb, Emily, and Gabe all left to the bus station to start their long journeys home. They would take the bus to Punta Arenas, and then multiple flights to get back to the USA. Poor Deb had horrible luck with the timing of the stomach issue. Amazingly Nick and I never got it. Our immune systems were probably at superhero levels at that point in our full time travels. We also got to say goodbye to our friends Ellen and Brett who happened to be on the same bus as our family.

Nick and I enjoyed a full day with no plans, wow. We did some errands, laundry, photo organizing, planning future steps of our trip, and blogging. We went to lunch at Santolla, a restaurant we had hoped to go to with the whole family the night most of them weren’t feeling well. It is really too bad that people were not up for it when they had the chance. It was the best meal we had in all of Patagonia, including before and after our family joined us. We got various dishes of crab and scallops. We finished off our gourmet lunch with gelato, of course, and brownie cookies to-go from our favorite bakery. It was not surprising that we both crashed early that night after the jam packed two weeks we had just had. Nobody will be forgetting that family vacation for a long time. We’re grateful we all love doing the same activities and eating good food.