A Nomad I Will Remain for Life

First grade at Flint River Academy, Mrs. Millers class. She was the oldest teacher at FRA. I will never forget how much I hated her class. She used to make us watch Barney every single morning... I would try to be cool like the other kids and said that watching Barney was slowly killing my soul. Little did they know, I would secretly tell my mom that I kind of liked watching it in the mornings. On a side note... I was the girl who ran around the playground barking like a dog with my best friend Meagan Armstrong. Sorry about the name drop, Meagan, but you have to admit those were the days. 


I do believe that first grade was also around the time that I was obsessed with horses, dogs, tamagotchis, and listening to my sick portable cassette tape player. Yeah, I would rock out in the backseat of my moms white, Toyota Camry to my silly songs and rhymes with my bowl cut and short bangs. I was one cool kid. Man... I miss the 90s. 


So the point to this 90s flashback... First grade was the year I met my best friend, R.J. Gipaya. Yes, we have been friends for over 15 years. We graduated high school together and were supposed to attend the same college and major in Marine Biology. Funny the way things turn out. R.J. actually fulfilled the Marine Biology plan, but somehow I ended up majoring in Advertising, attending an art school, and living in Patagonia. My heart is still set on nature and the outdoors, guess that's why I work for an Adventure Race and an Outdoor Company. Here are some flash back pics from our Junior and Senior year in high school and some from our freshman year in college... I will have to ask my mom to send me some real throwback pics of us in the first grade, yes I have some.

(Me an R.J Hanging out in Spain on Spring Break)

(Somewhere in the streets of Spain)

(We tend to have a few odd pictures like this)

(R.J., me, and our other great friend Cam Short during homecoming)

(Got to Love This)

(On our way to a FRA Basketball Game)

(Field Day)

(We Have Always Gone on Outdoor Adventures with Each Other)

Any ways. I have mentioned R.J. in previous posts. He is the one who is going to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, also known as the A.T., in 5 months. From North Georgia to Maine. He is actually beginning his trek on the 20th of March and will be blogging about it. You should friend him on Facebook to follow his adventure. His Trail name/Facebook for this is: Red Fred. Look him up, friend him, follow him. You wont regret it. You may also find other pics from our adventure in Patagonia that we had. Yep! I somehow talked him into coming down to hike the number 2 hike in the world with me: The W Circuit in Torres Del Paine.

Our trip began with someone mistaking their bag for his and taking it with them. We were supposed to leave for Torres del Paine the night he arrived, but of course, I have learned to expect the unexpected! I spent a few hours tracking down the bag, finding it, and talking the people into giving it to me. Bag... CHECK! We were finally ready to head out to Torres del Paine, got on the first bus to Puerto Natales the next morning, and were off. When we arrived, it was pouring rain. Just. Our. Luck. We were bound and determined to go anyways!
          

(R.J., probably half asleep walking to the bus.)

(I was so ready to leave Punta Arenas!)

(About to get on the bus to Torres del Paine.)

We ran into my friends Melissa and Ignacio before we left and took a few photos... After, we caught the next bus to Los Torres. We had the entire bus to ourselves because the weather was so horrible. I think I slept most of the way to Torres del Paine. When we arrived to Torres del Paine, the weather still wasn't that great, but at least it the rain wasn't coming down as hard as it was... just light sprinkles, we could handle that, at least for our short hike from Hotel Los Torres to Campamentos Torres. It was about a 3 or 4 hour hike. I don't quite remember.

(Me and Melissa)

The wind was blowing hard and we couldnt really see the tops of the mountains that surrounded us because of the weather, but we werent going to let that dampen our spirits! We were so ready to begin our awesome Patagonian Adventure no matter what Mother Nature threw our way! And we were off!

(In front of Hotel Los Torres.)

The weather can change in a split second, out here in Patagonia, so we didn't know if we would make it to the base camp at Torres or if we would only be able to go as far as Camp Chileno. We decided we would see how we felt when we got to Chileno. I am always trying to push us past our limit to make it somewhere... when we got to Chileno I felt that we could keep going towards Camapento Torres. So we agreed that we could, in fact, make it. The weather looked like it would hold for a few more hours, just enough for us to make it to Campamento Torres. When we arrived to the camp, low and behold, it began to sleet. Story of our lives. We pitched the tent, ate dinner, and headed to bed, in the freezing cold weather.

(Headed to CampamentoTorres.)

We tried to wake up early to start our day hike to Los Torres to watch the sun come up over the Towers. It is a must if you go to Torres del Paine. Thankfully, when we woke up that morning, the weather was perfect! We began our 6 am hike up to the torres. It was cold, but so worth it!
Here's what we saw:

(Beautiful morning in Patagonia)

(We had to do a bit of scrambling to get to the torres.)

(We made it!)

(A Victory Breakfast at the Torres was a must.)

( Los Torres.)

(Eating lunch on a rock... I decided to attempt to do something cool.)

(Almost to our cabin!)

(We got a little lonely so we made Pillow Buddies. Meet Leroy and Estelle.)

(Our 3rd Day hiking.)

(That sign is actually pretty heavy...)

(And they ask me why I love Patagonia.)

(Hiking up to Frances)

(We decided to attempt to climb.)

(A definite FAIL on my part.)

(Eating lunch in front of a waterfall and a glacier.)

(Sketchy Bridges!)

The reason that we had to cut out our last 2 days hiking the W Circuit in Torres del Paine was because of the horrible weather. We were about an hour and a half into hiking up to Glaciar Grey in the pouring rain and stopped. I forgot my rain pants and my hiking pants had turned into a wet suit. My pants were so wet that water began dripping off of my knees, into my gaiters, and eventually into my boots. We discussed the negatives of going on with our hike... I had no other pants, the temperature was dropping, and it was supposed to rain for the next few days of our hike. I would never dry off and in turn, possibly get hypothermia... we made the smart choice and headed back to catch the catamaran. I was pretty upset about the whole thing because I really wanted R.J. to see the glaciar, but he said that he had a great time and was okay with cutting the trip short. Of course, when we got back to Punta Arenas, we went on a 10 mile hike at the Reserva.

(Our trip was shortened by 2 days because of the weather.)

(Soaking wet from head to toe... literally.)

(Everyone shortened their trip because of the weather.)

 Until next time. Trek on.