March 5th - Puerto Williams to Ushuaia

Location Ushuaia (s54.48,w68.18)

Chris here: We returned to the Evohe yesterday after two nights camping and
trekking in the wilds of Patagonia. Hot showers and clean clothes were most
welcome. This morning we motored from Puerto Williams to Ushuaia through
the Beagle Channel.

On Wednesday evening we had a barbecue and shared a few glasses of wine with
folk from a couple of other yachts docked alongside in Puerto Williams.
Just after midnight we all sang Happy Birthday to Tamsin, another of our
brilliant crewmembers, and the second to have a birthday on the trip. Al
and I retired to bed while the party continued as the next day we planned to
hike into the hills and camp. On Thursday morning we said goodbye to Arne
and Nicky who had decided that Buenos Aires was a bigger draw than trekking
in Patagonia. However we did not envy them the 38km minibus ride followed
by a Zodiac dinghy (yes really) ride across the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia,
particularly as Nicky had been a leader of the late night revelling.

Thursday was a warm and sunny day as we packed our rucksacks to head up into
the Patagonian wilderness. The group consisted of myself, Alan, Mark Bryan,
Gerry, Andrew and Rewa, and guides Guy, Mark Sedon and Luis. Dan was
suffering from a stomach bug so decided to stay on the Evohe. We climbed
above the town of Puerto Williams through Beech forest to a landscape of
shattered rocks with mosses, lichens, grasses and small alpine flowers
clinging precariously to small areas of soil. It reminded of us of the
Cairngorms except the rocks and boulders are not nearly as weathered. In
the valleys below us were many, many small lakes each feeding the other with
small waterfalls. The lakes are left over from retreating glaciers. As we
traversed around the mountainside we got a better view of the range of hills
called Los Dentes de Navarino, which translates as the teeth of Navarino
(the island we are on). This name is very appropriate as the range of
mountains juts up with multiple peaks rising vertically from steep scree
slopes. After 5 hours of walking we came to our campsite by the side of a
small mountain lake surrounded by bush, scree slopes and cliffs and fed by
another small waterfall. Just as we descended to the lake we met a trekker
from England who camped beside us and we compared our tales of Antarctica
with his experience aboard the Marco Polo cruise ship. As we talked it
turned out that John had been in Port Lockroy at the same time as we were
and had seen us climbing one of the peaks. Around the lake was a lot of
dead wood which was great for making a camp fire. The fallen wood is due to
beavers having gnawed the trees to get wood for their dams and lodges.
Beavers are very common in this part of Patagonia but are not indigenous and
viewed as a pest. The crew of the Evohe have told us of a restaurant in
Ushuaia where it is possible to eat beaver. Some of our party are keen to
try this when we get there!

Friday morning dawned sunny and windy. We packed day packs and set off to
climb one of the "teeth" in the mountain range. We walked past crystal
clear azure coloured lakes surrounded by scree to the base of the towering
peaks. Climbing the shattered scree and leaping from boulder to boulder
made progress slow. As we gained altitude we moved onto the ridge leading
to the summit. The last few hundred feet of climbing was a very enjoyable
scramble up a more and more exposed ridge. We enjoyed the fantastic views
from the summit especially south to Cape Horn and the Southern Ocean which
had caused Alan and I such angst voyaging south and north. A couple of
peaks away we could see a condor circling the top. We descended down steep
loose scree and then walked back to camp via a different route. As the
campsite came into view there was one tent missing!. Looking more carefully
we could see the tent upside down snagged on a rock with Gerry and Mark
Bryan's kit scattered all around the small lake. This brought a mix of
reactions from the group - some of us thankful that it wasn't our kit,
amusement, and embarrassment. Mark and Gerry (two of our most experienced
mountaineers) were particularly embarrassed because the previous evening
Luis had offered some help pitching the tent but had been rebuffed with a
sarcastic "I think we know how to pitch a tent Luis!!!" Clearly not this
particular tent.

Saturday morning we packed up a walked back to Puerto Williams. The views
over the Beagle Channel and north to the Andes were again spectacular and
the weather was pleasantly warm - remember we are on the same latitude as
the lake district in late summer down here. After hot showers, washing
clothes, airing tents and sleeping bags it was time to explore the joys of
Puerto Williams again. Strangely, the town proved much more appealing on
second viewing, a glass of beer in a friendly bar, eating empanadas. These
are a bit like small pasties or bridies and served with spine tingling spicy
chilli paste. Another barbecue on the deck of the Micalvi (the part-sunken
cargo ship) followed by a couple of Pisco Sours in the sloping bar finished
off a very pleasant stay in this part of Patagonia. We had an entertaining
evening chatting with an American lady who is training to sail single handed
around the world and a couple from England who have given up their jobs to
travel around the world. All this in a sloping bar aboard a sunken ship in
a tiny town at the very bottom of Chile. Surreal, is a word that can only
begin to describe this sort of meeting.

We arrived in Ushuaia late morning and then all had to report to the
Prefectoria (Coastguard) to fill out forms and have our passports inspected.
A wander around Ushuaia, window shopping, was in order as most shops were
closed it being a Sunday. Ushuaia bills itself as the gateway to Antarctica
and there are images of the frozen continent in most shops and restaurants.
It was therefore another surreal experience to be sipping cappuccino looking
at pictures and thinking "we were there" but at the same time not quite
believing that it had been so recently. This is just about the end of our
blog as Alan and I will be leaving for Buenos Aires in a couple of days.
Alan will be writing tomorrow and we'll both also be writing a summary of
our feelings over the past few weeks. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading
the blog. We had a chance look at our blog in an internet cafe today and
thank those of you who have added comments. Other members of group have
said (threatened?) they will be adding comments of their own blog - perhaps
giving their side of the story.

Our final guest despatch is from Luis who has been guiding us for the past
few weeks, so over to Luis to give you some insight into the guide's view of
our adventure;

Luis here: Greetings to one and all. Chris and Alan have asked me to talk a
bit about the experience from the "other side of the coin". Having these 2
Scots aboard "elevated", shall we say, the humor level of the group. A quick
wit, combined with a burning desire to get out and do it, put them at the
head of the pack for pushing the group to keep our standards high. As a
guide, sometimes on trips it is hard to know where to draw the line when it
comes to overall group safety and trusting the skill level of the
participants involved. Often you find yourself wondering if you are giving
enough direction, providing enough assistance, and simply just being aware
enough to foresee any issues that may arise. The beauty of this trip has
been that this group of people came to this expedition with a few common
things;a passion for adventure, and a similar level of skill that allowed us
to go farther and harder than we ever thought possible down here, not too
mention a stupendous sense of humor that left everyone waking up with our
sides hurting from laughing so hard, so much of the time.

There are those rare expeditions where the line between guides and
participants becomes wonderfully blurred due to the above. It becomes not so
much an issue of teacher and student, but like minded folks out enjoying
what they set out to do, have an adventure of a lifetime, and come back safe
and sound! On this trip I recall mostly the unabashed laughter and fantastic
terrain. Coming back to the boat and enjoying wonderful meals and even
better company. This has been an exercise where one and all, guides
included, are walking away richer for the experience. As guides you wonder
about your overall impact on a group, life lessons learned, accomplishments
achieved, and new goals set.After a trip like this, it will be hard I think
to go back to normal life and not strive to find the challenge in new
adventures and horizons. For this group, it is only the beginning.