December Round Up

Christmas morning = jammy-time

My nut & olive lady @ La Vega.  She has a crush on me,
I think her husband does too.

$2US gets you a bowl of killer ceviche.  It was very good.

Hey, ya'll, Matt here.  So December is almost over and with it come the holidays.  For those of you that we talked to on Christmas: it was great to see/speak with you and you were missed horribly.  To those that we didn't talk to: it would have been great to see/speak with you and you were missed horribly.

Sandwiches go in here.

Our buddy, Canuto, with his new kitten.

Prior to Christmas, the world, of course, has gone on.  As it is summer here there are a ton of good deals to be had on fruits and vegetables, outdoor fairs, and occasions to hang out with friends.  We've been finding particularly good deals at La Vega on avocados (look at the sticker on yours at the supermarket, they probably came from Chile); it has been delicious.  We also got to go to the first annual Sandwich Festival (Feria de Sanguche) at Parque Araucano (a park in a rich part of town).  The festival was kick-ass: it only cost $4US/each to get in and then craft beers were $2US and artisanal sandwiches & burgers were $3US.  We probably had about 3 sandwiches each, it was great.  

Cola de mono ingredients.  Settle down, Sara.

It has also been very fun seeing folks and watching the futbol (soccer) season wind down.  The Universidad de Chile (U. de Chile) won the Copa Sudamerica and are now in the finals for the Chile-wide tournament against Cobreloa (based out of Calama, Chile).

Definitely adjust amounts to your tastes

As it is Christmastime here too - though it doesn't feel like it as it is hot - it is time for Christmas-themed blogging.  Christmas is big down here, including the winter themes and all (strange as it is so hot).  All the children want to see Viajito Pascuero (Santa Claus) and get their favorite toys on Christmas Eve (when most Chileans celebrate).  One Christmas tradition here is a drink called the cola de mono (literally "monkey's tail").  This drink is basically milk and booze and will knock you on your ass if you aren't careful.  Here are the ingredients I used to make it:

Cola de mono and a slice of pan de pascua, breakfast of champions.

• 1 liter milk (it comes in boxes here)
• 1 cup aguardiente
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 tbsp. coffee
• Lemon zest (1/4)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

It is pretty easy to make, but you will need a few hours to let it cool down to appropriate drinking temperature (it is served w/o ice, but as cold as possible; again, it is very hot here on Christmas).
Here are the steps:

Christmas Eve dinner.  Pork chops, mashed potatoes, &
a Cuban salad (avocado, onion, tomato, mustard, oil).

1. Combine milk, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, zest, and coffee in a pot and put on low heat, you don't want it to boil.
2. Let it heat, stirring occasionally for about a 1/2 hour, it will be a nice cafe con leche color.
3. Remove from heat.  As it is cooling slowly add sugar and then booze.  Strain into another container.
4. Put in fridge and wait about 4 hours.
5. Merry Christmas!

You can make plenty of variations to this recipe: Charlie recommended whiskey (gotta try that one!), I made one with a 1/2 c. of peanut butter that was good, and I've also heard that more/less booze can really change the flavor.  This drink is traditionally served with a slice of pan de pascua (Christmas bread, like fruitcake).

Big American breakfast on Christmas day

Getting snacktastic in Parque Forestal on Christmas

So for Christmas here Sara & I woke up at a reasonable hour after watching Christmas movies (National Lampoon's, Charlie Brown, etc.) the night before and had a big breakfast and opened gifts.  Afterwards, we packed up a big picnic and went to the park to sit in the sun, read, listen to music, throw the frisbee, and enjoy our first Christmas together (awwww).  While it was very different being hot and away from our families, plenty of cola de mono and gchatvideo/skype afterward made the day a success.  We closed out with a HUGE dinner at our local Peruvian restaurant, it was crazy good.  I haven't cursed that much at dinner in a long time/ever.
Millsy & Danielle are coming down this Wednesday, which will be a whole lot of fun.  I'll try to post some stuff from their visit and New Year's Eve celebrations in the new year.

At El Aji Seco for Christmas dinner, that food is unbelievably good. 

We hope your holidays were/are/will be everything you want them to be.  Our big hope for the New Year is that the troll-man who has taken up residence in the streets below our window moves on.  He sounds like a combination of Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, and Dr.John, and loves to stay up late talking to no one about everything.

Back to Summer

Inside Estacion Mapocho, designed by Eiffel.
Once a train station, now a cultural center.

Hey, everyone.  Matt here.  Not too much has been going down around here.  We've been trying new foods, seeing some sights, and trying to keep breathing.

@ Ciudad Vieja, an excellent sandwich shop

   Sara continues to work like a mad(wo)man, making a lot more money than me.  She is also palpably excited for her work to start in March.  I had a few interviews last week for some jobs that didn't go so well.  One was at the local dive bar, Mano Manja (Not Mano Monja as in earlier posts.  Thanks, Charlie.), where I was told directly that they didn't want an American.  Another was for a study-abroad program, which I didn't leave feeling particularly strong about.  Lastly, and this was a real pisser, one for a guiding company that was called off after a 3 week delay because they had all the positions filled.  However, I do have one more sweet, sweet paycheck coming from the NYCDOE, so I'm not in too much danger.  Also, I'm actively working to concoct as many get-rich-quick schemes as possible.

A very busy beverage

   The time off has been nice as every day is getting warmer as Summer arrives in full (students are already off for break).  Most every day is sunny, dry, and about 80-something degrees.  The arrival of summer has also brought some great deals on fruits and vegetables at the open-air produce market, La Vega.  Just a few deals:

Pichinga: cheap, salty, and greasy

• 1Kg (2.2Lbs) Apricots - $500CLP (Approx. $1USD)
• 1Kg Cherries - $500CLP
• 2Kg Watermelon - $2.000CLP
• 1Kg Lemons - $300CLP

We've also been able to try some new foods and drinks that one doesn't see in the US.  One particularly excellent one is very common streetfood - the Mote con Huesillo.  This is basically peach juice, mote (a grain), and a halved huesillo (dried peach).  A 12oz. cup is $450CLP, refreshing, and damn delicious.  It is a serious must-have in Chile.  A dish that has proven a little less delicious is called pichinga.  It is basically a mix of mortadella, ham(s), olives, pickled onion and cauliflower, and cheese ends.  It is very salty and greasy.  I imagine drunks living on the cheap off of this with a loaf of bread.

Terremoto in a cleaner part of La Piojera

   Another distinctly Chilean institution, in the sense of place and custom, is La Piojera.  This bar is very close to our home and serves a crazy beverage called a terremoto ("earthquake").  This bar was once referred to as a "flea's nest" by a Chilean president; this is not far off.  It is a pretty dirty place that sees a lot of people getting seriously mangled.  Our first time there, within 5 minutes, we saw an old lady getting carried out on a chair.  Seeing people get taken out is fairly common.  This is more understandable after 1+ terremoto.  Here is a quote about the place & drink from LanguageRoulette.com:

A creepy clown at La Piojera

This traditional restaurant and bar is known for it’s home-cooked meals and variety of  drinks that will knock you on your ass.  The most famous, the Terremoto (or earthquake), is a combination of Pipeño (a Chilean wine), ice cream and liquor that tastes like a sweet mixed drink but hits you like a booze train.

We've always stopped ourselves after 2 of these, which seemed like enough.  I imagine that 3 or more and you are really banged-up.  Hence, all the jack-asses getting dragged out of there.

Moonrise over Cerro San Cristobal

   In other news, Universidad de Chile won the Copa Sudamerican soccer tournament last night in their final versus Liga (from Ecuador).  We were watching the game at a bar, which was very fun; the people were very into it.  After the game ended (about 11:15), the city erupted into celebration for hours afterward.  People were honking their horns and waving flags into the wee hours.  

A vegan protest.  I feel bad for these people.  They're standing
in direct sunlight for hours holding dead, rotting animals.
The stench is pretty bad, yet I'm surprisingly hungry.

   That just about does it on my end.  I hope everyone is feeling Christmasy and doing well.  Drop me a line if you are/aren't.

You Gotta Take Some, And Leave Some

We got to sit at the big kids' table

   Hey, everybody; Matt here.  It was good to hear from family and friends about your Thanksgiving festivities; you were all sorely missed.  We were fortunate enough to have Charlie's family invite us over for a Thanksgiving meal that Friday.  A true Thanksgiving on Thursday would have been impossible as people have to work here on that day (What an injustice!).

Happy 30th Birthday, Ina

Mashini, this guy is a lawyer

   The meal had all the important parts: turkey, potatoes, pies, wine, and beer.  I was relieved to discover that I could maintain the hallowed Thanksgiving tradition of immoderate consumption of food and drink in Chile.  We brought along some excellent dishes to share as well.  I brought an marinated olive mix (from NYTimes' Mark Bittman, very easy & quick).  Sara made a killer stuffing and stuffed red peppers.  We also volunteered ourselves in the kitchen as soon as we got there and my copper pennies in a pinch were a hit.

Looking up the Yerba Loca valley to La Paloma (glaciated peak)

   The next night was our friend, Ina's, birthday.  It was a great time and we got to hang out with a fun crowd.  Many of them were Will's friends that we haven't been able to see as much as we'd like. In fact, we had such a good time that we didn't find ourselves getting home until about 7am the next morning.  Needless to say that Sunday was completely shot.  However, I'm proud to say that we did manage to get ourselves out of the apartment in time for sunset (around 7pm) to straggle our way into cheap/quick food (mmm, freezer-aisle sushi & empanadas from the supermarket).

At my base camp.  La Paloma, Altar Falso, and Altar behind me.

   Last week I was able to get out of work on Thursday which allowed me to get back into the mountains.  The plan was to make for the summits of La Paloma (4900M) and Altar (5100M).  They are both located in Yerba Loca Nature Sanctuary, which is just outside Santiago on the Camino a Farellones (road to the ski resorts).  Public transportation and hitchhiking had me there in a few hours.

Los Sulfatos waterfall, stunning.

   The approach to these summits is fairly long, ascending the Yerba Loca valley for about 21km to the base of the La Paloma glacier.  In that time, you slowly and steadily gain elevation while getting cooked from the intense Chilean sun (it is seriously intense down here).  While exposed and grinding, the approach is pleasant and goes through several environmental zones.  It was interesting to see the composition of flora and fauna change so clearly as the elevation changed.  The physical geography of the land is also striking.  There are many waterfalls, plains, cliffs, boulders, and stratifications that are the result of glacial movements thousands of years old.

My route goes right up that glacial field in the center

   The approach was going well until I got towards my high camp (about 3800M) on day 2, where the route turned into very steep and loose rock.  In stiff-soled, heavy mountaineering boots this is not a very comfortable way to travel.  In another rather unfortunate development, I began to have quite a headache the night before my summit attempt.  This is one of the signs of altitude sickness, for which there is only one cure: descent.  Knowing this, I decided to try my own cure - time.  I figured that maybe I'd feel better in the morning and could continue on to the summit.

Big views from about 4500M.
I'll be quite sick in about 1/2 hour.

   The stars when I woke up at 4:15am were incredible; there was no moon and not a cloud in the sky.  I was pumped to get moving (it would also help with the cold).  After slamming down two granola bars and a piece of chocolate, I began the summit attempt.  I don't think anyone had gone my route (up the Rincon glacier) in quite some time; there were no boot prints anywhere.  This was understandable in retrospect as the ascent was a bastard.  The parts on the glacial moraine (base of the glacier) were more steep, loose rock.  The surface of the glacier was also extremely sun-cupped (referred to here as penitentes), which slowed my progress significantly.

Penitentes = major bastard for travel

   When I reached the top of the glacial valley (approx. 4500M), I was feeling mighty cooked: the altitude sickness (known here as La Puna) and exertion were catching up to me quickly.  About 1/2 hour later I was at the summit of Cerro Fortuna (a smaller summit en route to La Paloma, approx. 4600M) and felt a definite "reversal of fortuna" coming on.  At this point I was a little behind schedule, tired, cold, and certainly getting sick; but also only 300M from the summit.  I made the smart decision and began to descend; it sucked.
   However, as I knew would happen, I immediately began to feel better as I reached lower elevations.  The mountains aren't going anywhere, so no worries, just disappointment.  To punish myself/make my exit easier, I decided to descend the 17.5km from high camp to Villa Paulina (day-site in Yerba Loca).  By the time I reached Villa Paulina (approx. 1900M), I had been moving for about 12 hours and my feet had turned into ground meat.  After a quick dinner of instant mashed potatoes w/ a sausage, I died in my sleeping bag for the following 13 hours.

Sara making friends at Gourmet Mundo food expo

   After scoring a sweet hitchhike from the entrance to Yerba Loca (4km from Villa Paulina) all the way to the La Vega produce market (4 blocks from our apt.), it was great to see Sara.  She had bought a bunch of great food and cheap beer on which I proceeded to gorge.  Sara also knew about a great food expo happening about a mile into the park by our apt.  We went there and got to sample all sorts of Chilean foods, drinks, and condiments; it was a load of fun.  
   All in all, that's about it on my end.  I have interviews this week with a study-abroad program and a mountain-guiding service.  Hopefully one of those will hit (c'mon, mountain guide!) and I can stop tutoring English.  But you know, you gotta' take some, and leave some.

I just think this is neat.

   One more thing: it is very strange to see a Santa's Village set up in the Plaza de Armas which is sunny, hot, and full of palm trees.
   If you want to see more pictures from my trip to La Paloma, visit my adventure picture website: http://getserious.shutterfly.com.

Tough Days Lead to Chilean Cooking

A beautiful Spring day in Santiago
This is the Bellas Artes Art Museum

Hey Y'all!  (I say that because Britney Spears recently performed at the National Stadium.)  Sara here on the mic, or should I say keys.  Matt and I have finally gotten off our high horse about the Maquinaria Festival and have been living pretty low-key the last week or so.

I wish for (insert what you think I wish for).

Work has been keeping us both busy.  Currently, I'm teaching seven different courses to a variety of folks.  Here's a breakdown: I teach a young business entrepreneur who will be traveling to Korea in a couple of weeks.  The main language for the conference he will be attending is English, so he's brushing up before he goes off.   Secondly, I teach a very cool and very smart 10-year old who knows everything there is to know about Pokemon and loves to tell me jokes from his comic books.  Unfortunately, the jokes don't always translate, so I'm left to make up my own jokes in my head and laugh at those.  Next, I teach a group of 4 accountants at a brokerage firm in Los Condes, which is one of the fancy parts of town.  This class is definitely a challenge because none of the students speak much English and are very tired after a long day of work.  I speak all Spanish during this time which is hard, but it helps me practice!  Directly after that class I go to a TOEFL tutoring course with an extremely motivated lawyer who will be moving to Florida to complete an American Master's.  This class includes a lot of test-taking, which I am well-versed in from teaching in the public school system (sadly).  Twice a week I teach a computer designer who is preparing to move to NYC (!!!) in the next few months.  We meet in a really cute coffee shop and always end up talking about New York.  Only once a week, I work with a lawyer who is very fluent in English.  This class is fun because I bring music or sports related articles to read and discuss.  I even get to teach him some of the knowledge I picked up in my Urban Studies classes (who knew that would come in handy?).  Lastly, I teach a manager at a construction company who travels extensively out of the country.  Teaching English to adults is fairly new to me, but I enjoy the work.  I've learned a ton about Chilean culture and it has definitely helped me practice my (slow-going) Spanish.

New friends at our local bar.

This last week, we've had the opportunity to speak with many family and friends, either on the phone or over Skype.  It is such a joy to see your faces and hear your voices.  I have been Skyping into my book club meetings each month, which occurred last Thursday.  It's great to be able to continue to contribute to the discussions (even though Matt claims we only talk about the book for 15 minutes - not true!  It's more like 30...)  Saturday was a day packed with Skype dates!  Matt's baby nephew, Nate, was baptized and the Uphams/Hubens were able to plug us into the celebration!  We loved seeing everyone's faces on such a happy day!  Also on Saturday we had plans to Skype into our "Friend Thanksgiving" taking place in Queens.  Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties and we were only able to talk on the phone briefly.  As short as it was, we were happy to hear that the party goes on!  Lastly, I was able to talk with Lauren and Roe in Montana.  Though we are thousands of miles away, it felt like we were sitting on the couch together chatting.  I guess it doesn't matter how far away your good friends are, they always feel close.

Chorrillana Prep!

These electronic connections with family and friends are wonderful, but also remind us of how far away we are for special events and holidays.  It has definitely been hard coping with withdraw from our friends and familiar surroundings.  I suppose this is the plight of an ex-pat.  So, to deal with these tough days, I experiment with my Chilean cooking!!!  In between Skype dates on Saturday, I made a common Chilean dish called Chorrillana.  This is a popular dish for bars or pubs because it's perfect to munch on with a group of people.  Here are some pictures and the recipe for Chorrillana:  (Disclaimer: this is my adapted version, not officially Chilean)


You will need:
-Potatoes (or a bag of french fries)
-Onion
-MEAT!  (I used beef cubes, chicken and sausage- usually it's just beef and sausage)
-1-2 eggs
-Spices (salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic)

Meat and onions: delicioso!

Steps:

The final product!

1) First you will need to make the french fries.  You can make them with regular potatoes by cutting them into slices, seasoning them and baking them in one layer in the oven (357 F).  Make sure they are crispy.  If you are using a bag of french fries, follow the directions on the bag (duh!)
2) Saute the onions (in thin slices) with some spices.  I added some garlic here.
3) You want to cook the meat now.  You can do this with or without the onions in the pan (I kept the onions in).  Make sure everything is cooked through and spiced to your liking.
4) Scramble the eggs.  I like to add milk, salt and pepper when I scramble.  NOTE:  With Chorrillana, you can also use over easy/hard eggs as well.  However you like your eggs the best.  
5) Assembly time!  On a serving dish, layer the french fries, the meat and onion mix and the eggs on top.

There you have it!  Chorrillana, an easy to make dish that's great for pickin'!

Happy boyfriend.

Full boyfriend.

 Today, being Thanksgiving, is another tough day for us.  We, of course, wish we were stuffing our little faces with turkey, potatoes, stuffing and cranberries with our families rather than running around Santiago teaching English.  But, we only need to wait a day, since our good friend Charlie and his family have invited us to a 'Chilean Thanksgiving' at their house tomorrow evening.  We are so grateful and lucky to have the Walbaums as our friends here in Chile.  We can't wait to bring some American flava to their Chilean Thanksgiving.  Matt's biggest dilemma: Should he stuff his face until the point of bursting, as is tradition?  


Last, but definitely not least, I received a wonderful Thanksgiving gift today:  I was offered the teaching position at Santiago College I was so eager to get!!  I couldn't be more excited to get back into the classroom with young people.  I start on March first.  I am waiting to hear the grade I will be teaching, but I suspect it will be third.  I never thought I would be so happy to get into the classroom, but I can hardly wait!  


To close this blog post on this very special (and different) Thanksgiving, I would like to say I am thankful for all the important people in my life who have supported me throughout this and all my adventures: family, friends and especially Matt, who if it weren't for him, I would have high-tailed it out of here a month ago.  Gobble!  Gobble!  

Yes, this is the afternoon view from our terrace.

Maquinaria Festival

Cute, w/ beers

Hey, everybody; Matt here.  After last week, we needed a break and we sure got it.  "Isn't that guy retired?" you ask, well in an unfortunate development, I realized that I couldn't live off of the corpse of my US life forever and got a job tutoring English.  It's well under the amount Sara is working, but hell, I'm working again (ugh).  Therefore, we were in need of some relaxation post-haste this last weekend.  While we weren't exactly relaxing, we rocked out very hard.

Big/small names from all over

This guy is feeling it, his sitting friend is
laughing at him.  This goes on for 30 minutes.
I'm pretty sure they're on drugs.

November 12th & 13th saw Sara & I attending the Maquinaria Festival (see the line-up above or visit their website, maquinariafestival.cl).  These two days of music promised big names, small names, and one sh*t-ton of live music.  Held at the old horse track, Club Hipico, the festival was to be loud, sunny, and beer-filled (I said we were going to a music festival, right?).  However, someone missed the boat on that last part; there was no beer sold at the festival unless you had a VIP pass ($40USD extra/day).  WHAT A BUST!  Despite this letdown, we had a great time seeing bands like Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and many others.

Turntables & bright lights.  Get your Red Bull!

We went to see a DJ, Vicarious Bliss, perform after Alice in Chains.  He was clearly a little miffed on stage: there were only about 50 of tens of thousands of people at his show, he was scheduled during a big name performance, and the crowd wasn't dancing as much as he would like (again, no/little beer).  Back to him in a minute.  In a stroke of massive poor-planning, I had worn shorts and a t-shirt to the festival.  As it is really dry here, it gets cold at night quickly.  We kept delaying leaving as I wanted to get my money's worth (I will freeze to save a buck).

Sara & Vale @ Sonic Youth.  Nice wristbands!

When we finally were on our way out, we saw Vicarious Bliss sitting on a rock, by himself, by the exit gate.  Saying, "Hey, man.  Good show." seemed like the least we could do.  We started talking more with him, lending him a sympathetic ear, and being people who spoke English well.  He then said he had something that would make our days.  We thought, "Finally, a beer!"  Instead, he pulled out three "Artist Access" wristbands.  SCORE!

Backstage for Damian Marley.

The next day we walked right back in through the exit, flashing the wristbands, and no one stopped us; one test passed.  We then went to the small stage side entrance and again walked in; #2 passed.  The main stage, where the big acts played was the last test; hat trick.  We immediately called up Charlie and Vale and told them to come down.  We were able to get Vale in on an artists' pass, give one of our tix to Charlie, and sell the other to a scalper.

Yes, that is Les Claypool and a giant spaceman.

By the end of the day, we had seen, talked with, drank with, and hung out with people from several bands.  The highlight of the day was definitely seeing Primus from backstage; it was incredible.  I also particularly liked hearing from Sara, Charlie, and Vale how during the Damian Marley show they all of a sudden noticed me standing off to the side of the stage ("Surprise!").

Nothing like free, cold hot dogs before the riot police swoop in.

 After rounding out the evening seeing Snoop Dogg and Stone Temple Pilots, we retired to our neighborhood for some more drinks at our local dive, Mano Manja (Nun's Hand).  We're still tired, but still very happy, days later.

This is just a weird thing we saw en route to the festival by the Mercado Central (big seafood market).  That is a keyboard plugged (only) into a small tree.  Strange.

Cerro El Plomo (5432M/17822')

Looking cool at approx. 4150M/13615'

Hey, everybody; Matt here.  So last Thursday (the beginning of November), I went against the better wishes of most people and attempted to summit Cerro El Plomo on my own.  This is the largest peak you can see from the city of Santiago.  Its presence over the city is similar to that of Mt.Rainier in Seattle: it is always there, watching over the city, tempting the adventurous/foolish.  Naturally, I had to go.


DAY 1

Piedra Numerada, El Plomo up the valley

The beginning of the way to El Plomo is at the ski areas about 40km east of Santiago.  Public transportation is available up the one road (Camino a Farellones), but only in the winter.  I was able to hitchhike all the way to La Parva (the ski resort I started from) in only 2 rides.  In a vast change of pace from the states, I only had to wait a total of 30 minutes w/o a ride from leaving the bus to being at the ski resort.

Bedside reading

My route took me directly up the ski mountain to a pass, down and up 2 valleys, and to a place called Piedra Numerada (Counting Stones).  This is where ranchers would count their livestock before bringing them down to lower elevations.  It was an awesome place to bivy (sleep outside w/o a tent) with a great view of the mountain.  It was also, however, high (about 3300M/10827'), cold (about 15F/-9C), and exposed (wind down the valley from El Plomo).


DAY 2

No reading material necessary

Refugio Federacion.  Cozy w/ a view!

After cooking breakfast from my sleeping bag, in my long johns, underneath my piled-up jackets, it was time to move on to the high camp, La Olla.  Moving steadily up the valley brought the mountain closer and closer as it grew steadily larger and larger.  One of the great things about being out here is that the higher you go, the better the views get.  This was very rewarding, which is a good thing as my pack was fairly heavy (about 45-50lbs) and the elevation increase was not the easiest.  I made camp at the Refugio Federacion (about 4200M/13780'), which is about 100M down from La Olla.  Sleeping inside the refugio was a vastly superior option to the very cold and windy La Olla, well-worth sacrificing 100M.

View of El Plomo from La Olla, my route followed the ridge
on the right.  The glacier route seemed suicidal on my own.

At this point I was not feeling the best, a sign of possible altitude sickness.  In Chile, it is called the puna.  This would be bad if it got worse, which would mean I would have to descend immediately; it can be deadly.  Luckily, it was not too bad, so I decided to stay.  The plan was to rise around 4 the next morning and make for the summit.


DAY 3

Shortly after sunrise, about 4700M/15420'.  Whoa.

Unsurprisingly, waking up at 4AM, it was ridiculously cold, so I waited 45 minutes in my bag, under all my clothes to warm up.  When I got going after 2 trail bars, a bit of chocolate, and some water, it was 5:15AM.  The moon had been waxing, but at this time it was down, exposing a hellacious view of the southern hemisphere's stars and the Milky Way.  It was a great way to start the climb.

Below false summit.  Direct assault on the summit plateau
straight up that glacier; real mountain stuff.

The going was steady, but fairly slow.  My route was very steep, on mostly loose rock, and my lifestyle in Santiago certainly didn't help.  I had planned on going directly up one of the glaciers, but decided against that as one slip would have likely been my last. I did have to cross the glacier to reach the summit plateau, but by that time its grade had eased to about 40 degrees.  

Looking south from the summit.  You don't see this in NYC.

Upon reaching the summit (5432M/17822', 11:30AM), I was floored.  Not only by the altitude, exposure, and exertion, but also by the INSANE view from the top.  Mountains!... Everywhere!.... Huge!  Unfortunately, my turnaround time (12PM) was approaching and I was pretty cold/tired, so I left after only 15 minutes (11:45AM).  The way back down was very fast: back to high camp by 2PM, back to base camp (Piedra Numerada) by 4:15PM.  On arrival at base camp, all I could do was slam some food and water, stare at my feet, and eventually crawl into my sleeping bag and pass out at 7:15PM.  Changing about 3350M/11000' in elevation in a day will do that.


DAY 4

Beautiful, but now I'm ready for a beer.

Horses grazing on a hillside, one of
many sights on the Camino a Farellones.

After an unbroken, solid 12 hours of sleep I woke to begin the exit hike.  I made great time back to La Parva and saw a bunch of condors on my descent circling overhead (I think I smelled like death).  Getting back to Santiago required a bit of a wait at first, but after about 2 hours of waiting, I was able to get, in 2 rides, directly to my front door.  The ride back down the Camino a Farellones was crazy; the road gains elevation very quickly through 40 hairpin turns from the Santiago valley.  My first driver, with his unbuckled 6 year-old daughter, was flooring it down the mountain (very exciting).  Getting back to Sara was great, especially as she had prepared a lot of food and beer.  It was a great trip and a new record elevation for me!


If you have any desire to see more pictures of this, and other trips, feel free to visit my adventure pictures website: http://getserious.shutterfly.com.