The End

I’ll be posting here for the last few weeks that I’m in Patagonia and Southern Chile. I will be randomly posting images as I find time and have internet access.

Boats and daises in Puerto Natales, Chile.

The fishing fleet in the Puerto Natales harbor

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Lone peak in the Patagonia region of southern Chile

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The infamous winds of Patagonia on Grey Lake.  Torres del Paine National Park.

Grey Lake, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

Cuernos del Paine and the road into the Park.  Torres del Paine National Park.

Snow blowing off the Cuerno Principal

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Just another day at the office for this Huaso(cowboy).

Lake Pehoe, Torres del Paine.

Cuerno Principal and Cuerno Este.

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Detail of one of the walls.  Yes, climbers are climbing these peaks.

A view on the other side of the park of the Torres(towers).

The old bridge is still in place that Tracy and I both drove across at different times, many, many years ago.  It’s barely wide enough for a car.

A semi–rare windless, gorgeous morning in Torres del Paine.

The Cuernos and Torres.

On my hike into the base of the towers I passed two hardcore climber girls hiking down.  They each were packing haul bags almost bigger than each of them.

Here are what the towers look like up close from the base.  There are climbers on the middle tower.

Here’s an up close picture with a circle where the climbers tents are.

And a closer look.  They are hanging in what’s called a Portaledge, which is a hanging tent platform.  On good weather days they climb.  On bad weather days, they literally hang out.  This day they were hanging out.

The red dot in this picture shows where they are on the tower.  Still a long way to go.

The hike in and out of the valley to get to the base of the Torres is pretty spectacular in itself.

There are a lot of Guanaco in the entire area around Torres del Paine National Park.

I visited an old abandoned sheep ranch called Estancia San Gregario.  It sits right on the ocean with several ship wrecks right out front.  A local told me this used to be one of the largest sheep ranches around, until the Government implemented a law allowing private land owners to only own so much land.  The owners had to give up large parcels of their land.  As a result the owners let the ranch go into disarray.  There is an ongoing dispute with the Government, who want to make it a bonafide historical landmark, and the owners, who just want their land back.  None the less, it was fascinating to see.

Lots of sheep wool and parts still laying around.

And bundles upon bundles of unused wool.

The skeletal remains of times gone by.

As Neil Young once said, rust never sleeps.

I spent several more days in and around Torres del Paine National Park.  I had a rare sunny, windless day for a long hike up the Francis Valley.

On the edge of the park I came across a bunch of pink flamingos.

And several puma’s.  But this was the best I could do for a picture with the low light.

A lone tree showing off which way the wind blows in Patagonia.  ALL THE TIME!!

Several early mornings found me chasing low, colorful light resulting in some abstract images.

Punta Arenas, Chile.

Torito, Chile.

Vulcan Osorno at first light, shrouded in lenticular.

A few parting shots of Chile on my last day and night here.  After four months on the road, I’m headed back to winter in Alaska.  Lake Llanquihue and Volcan Osorno.

One last sunset on Volcan Osorno

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