View from our hostel in Coyhaique of Mount McKay.
By Zachary Fitz, Saint John’s University
It has been over a week since Team Zorro has arrived in Patagonia, and our short time together has been filled with laughter, dance parties, amazing food, and stunning landscapes.
The team had a long day of traveling into Chile, but finally made it. After meeting instructors Scott and Valeria at the Balmaceda airport and gathering all of our packs (well almost all of them. Caroline’s pack didn’t make it to Balmaceda, but arrived the following day), we made the hour drive to the city of Coyhaique, Chile. Everyone crammed into the two vehicles and took in our first views of the snowy and rigid peaks of the Patagonia landscape. After a beautiful drive to Coyhaique, we met our other instructors Eli and Adam while getting adjusted to our cozy hostel. The hostel was home for two nights as we adjusted to our new lives in Patagonia. We were able to do last minute shopping in town for any gear we may have forgotten, as well as practice some of our Spanish and eat our first Chilean meals. We also spent our first couple days learning about the classes and places we would visit throughout the semester. We had our first discussion outside in a local park surrounded by mountains and later headed into town to watch locals celebrate their independence day of Fiestas Patrias on September 18th, and dance the famous La Cueca dance.
Confluence of the Baker and Neff River.
Our time in Coyhaique had come to an end as we had to make the seven-and-a-half-hour drive to the city of Cochrane, where we would be based out of for the semester. The drive was broken up with various stops at places such as the beautiful Cerro Castillo, confluence of the Baker and Neff River, and an impromptu class on the endangered Huemul Deer with CONAF (the Chilean Forest Service) in Cerro Castillo. We arrived at our camp at Aquasol on the crystal clear Rio Cochrane. We stayed with generous hosts Yolet and Atilio who graciously provided us stew for our first night dinner. We set up our tents and made it our home. Our Comedor (Kitchen) quickly became home where we were able to cook, have class, hold dance parties, and warm up by the fire. Our time between classes was filled with fly fishing, reading, helping in Yolet’s greenhouse, and helping Atilio build new shelves in the shed – mostly watching Atilio chainsaw-mill huge trunks of local lenga wood!
Our stay at Aquasol was amazing and beautiful, but Team Zorro was ready to hit the trail in the Tamango National Reserve. The group spent the first day warming up our hiking muscles while hiking along Rio Cochrane to Lago Cochrane, taking in the amazing views, and taking diligent notes on the new species learned throughout the hike. Our campsite on the rocky beach of Lago Cochrane was the perfect way to end a perfect first day in the field. We read Aldo Leopold’s famous essay, “The Round River” around the fire after an amazing meal of pasta by our wonderful cooks. We took in the thousands of stars and incredible view of the Milky Way before making our way into our tents for the night.
Our Second day in the Tamango provided us with a lot of uphill hiking, but with just as beautiful views and waterfalls as the day before. Our second day also consisted of more diligent notes for our practice Grinnell Journal, which requires notes of any plants, animals, weather, and other observations you make throughout your day in the field. Our camp at a CONAF Refugio provided an excellent spot for tents, dinner, and class before heading into our tents after a chilly evening. Thanks to Emma’s suggestion to get moving earlier, we were all able to catch a phenomenal sunrise in the valley Sunday morning. The beautiful sunrise made us all appreciate and realize how lucky we were to be in such a beautiful place. Our last hike out to the vehicles was a nice casual hour hike down hill where we were able to load up the vehicles and head to the Cabañas, our new home for a few days.
Overlook of Lago Cochrane from our first day hike in Tamango National Reserve.
Tiffany, Caroline, Tessa, and Nathan enjoying a beautiful sunrise in the Tamango National Reserve.
We spent the day re-adjusting into the cozy cabin while working on our Grinnell Journals and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the other Group, Team Puma. Team Puma arrived in the evening and we were able to put our classwork aside and meet some new faces over a wonderful meal cooked by instructors and students. Both groups will spend a few days in the Cabanas having class and prepping food and gear for their upcoming trips into the field. Team Zorro will head to Villa O’higgins for a couple weeks, while Team Puma will be heading into the Tamango National Reserve. Both groups are anxious for the upcoming adventures and work that will be done over the course of the semester.