Patagonia was always on the short list of places we wanted to go on this trip. Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile is sort of the poster boy, quite literally, for Patagonia.

For those of you that think Patagonia is just a line of outdoor clothing let me set the record straight. Patagonia is the name of the region in the southernmost part of South America. It is a land of harsh extremes of wind and weather - A land of craggy mountains, glaciers and vast open steppe. In a way it is to South America what the Yukon is to North America.

We arrived in Puerto Natales - the gateway to the park on Dec 17. We made the wise decision to stay at a recommended hostal, Casa Cecilia, who were able to help us plan our visit to the park. The park has numerous trails but by far the most famous is the "W" trail that takes you though the three main valleys of the park.

Our fist day Dec 18 - we took the 2 hour bus to the park entrance. Along the way the anticipation built as we cruised past rolling hills filled with Ñandus (similar in appearance to an ostrich). From the park entrance we took a catamaran ride across a lake and then hiked 3 hours up to Camp Grey which is positioned just to the south of the park's largest glacier - Grey Glacier. We started the W from the west because the prevailing wind blows from the west and we were hoping to have the regions infamous wind - known to blow people right off the trail - at our backs for the majority of he trek. We figured that if it was to blow us somewhere it might as well be where we were going!

On that first day of hiking we got our first view of the glacier. Truly an amazing sight. Like a lot of very large things it was hard to get an idea of the scale of it. When it first appeared it looked like we would be next to it in 10 minutes. An hour later we were at the campsite but still shy of the enourmous "river of ice"

The next day we opted to spend the day exploring the glacier and signed up for an ice trekking and climbing trip. After a precarious ride in a zodiak across the frigid lake - dodging icebergs a la titanic - we arrived on the opposit shore to make our approach to the glacier. We had to stop and strap on cramp-ons to our boots and carry giant pick-axe type thiongs to navigate on the ice. We spent several hours walking the glacier with a guide, seeing the many interesting features such as ice caves, crevasses, ice lakes etc. Again the scale was amazing and so was the incredible blue color of the glacier; a result of the extreme conpaction of the ice forcing all the extra oxygen out. It is bind blowing to me to think that this glacier has been here since the last ice age some 12,000 years ago. I mean we were impressed by 500 year old Incan ruins! Needless to say that the melted glacier water is some of the greatest water you can drink, fresh and frosty cold. We just dipped our cups right in.

Soon it was time to climb one of the steep walls of ice. We had an anchor and belay ropes so it was prefectly safe. It was great exercise and a lot of fun. We were lucky to have beatiful sunny weather all day. Even though December is the summer down here (sunrise 5am sunset 1030pm) the line is that you can experience 4 seasons in one day in Patagonia.

The next day we started our trek in earnest and the weather was not as cooperative - it rained on us all day and we arrived at our campsite soaked to the bone. Fortunately the rain cleared later in the day and the extended daylight allowed us to get our stuff dry before setting out the next day.

The fourth day was by far the longest - about 10 hours of hiking all told - but it was also one of the most rewarding. We again had excellent weather as we completed the middle valley of the "W" called the French Valley. The Valley culminates in an impressive display of towering mountains. As we finished the day the weather didnt hold and we got our first true taste of Patagonian winds as we hurried to make it to our campsite for the night. The last part of the trail took us right along the edge of a large lake and it was probably only the weight in our packs that prevented us from blowing away.

We hiked the next day with grey clouds and sprinkles as the landscape mellowed to a more open and subtle form with lage azur lakes and rolling green hills. We camped that night only a short hike from the parks namesake attraction Las torres - meaning "the towers." We woke early the next morning and hiked the two hours up scrambling over boulders to make it to the towers. It was a sunny day but clous lingered over the towers obscuring our view. We climbed up into a large boulder and enjoyed the peacefulness of the morning and the immense beauty of this spot. Slowly the clouds cleared and the magestic towers came into full view with the rising sun lighting up the sides. It was an awesome sight.

We made our final hike out of the park and said a fond farewell to this magnificent place.