Protagonist in Patagonia This is the story about how Protagonist became a trail runner, well maybe not so much

how he BECAME a trail runner, that would imply conversion and transformation, rather this is mostly about trail running in Patagonia. Protagonist had signed up to join a Running adventure with Andes Adventures, a company based out of Santa Monica, CA. Protagonists holiday was planned and organized over the course of about 2 months and considering that Patagonia is a seasonal tourist destination, it worked out very well as far as tickets, travel and coordination. A map drawn any time over the past few centuries will attest that South America is a long way from Bahrain and Protagonist experienced the journey for all of the 30-hours that door-to-door travel to Santiago required. Protagonist flew Emirates from Bahrain - Dubai - Rio de Janiero - Santiago to begin the journey. After a LOT of airplane and airport, Protagonist arrived in Santiago, got a taxi to the hotel, checked in and promptly fell asleep. For some reason he had very strange dreams that night and quite possibly this was a result of wildly disrupted sleep patterns from the travel. He awoke feeling dazed and confused but breakfast and COFFEE helped to rapidly mend the situation. After this, Protagonist walked outside and into the largest shopping mall in SA - it was a truly huge building with 6 or 7 floors. Normal mall products of clothes, food, electronics, and such were generally segregated by floor and this appeared to be a good idea and something novel to Protagonist. Grocery stores hold a particular attraction to Protagonist and the most impressive from this one was that an entire AISLE in the produce section featured Haas avocados - and there were still more avocados located elsewhere in the packaged and organic produce areas. Similar to the way that SouthEast Asians consider cayenne peppers to be one of the Major Food groups - so it is with avocados in Chile. Protagonist observed that a local breakfast dish appeared to be mashed up avocados on toast and this is definitely tasty! After the mall-walk, Protagonist ambled to the metro and rode to the downtown Santa Lucia area for more wandering and people watching. Protagonist purchased a belt from a man with no legs who had a sidewalk leather belt shop. Protagonist had intentionally not brought a belt with him figuring on purchase of a Chilean leather belt some time into the trip. Anyhow, the belts were mostly "Protagonist sized" and styled to go well with Protagonists UtiliKilt. The vendor had all the tools to cut belt holes on the spot and after trying on, the man suggested a couple of additional holes be added for aesthetics. Protagonist took the recommendation and left wearing a suitable leather belt - custom fitted - for 8,000 pesos (about $17). Soon encountered a govt. building area with many people and there appeared to be a sort of activist/awareness/xmas kind of rally in progress. The purpose was not really clear to Protagonist even after watching long enough to eat 3 apricots and drink some water. Protagonist walked on and found the Modern Art National museum that happened to have a Kandinsky on exhibit Guggenheim and this was a worthwhile excursion to view the collection. Protagonist rode the red line to end, green line back, walked and found an outdoor bar for Cerveza and Cevice - this was good. Then back to the hotel and a much appreciated nap. About 7pm or so, Protagonist returned to the Metro and caught a train for central area. The subway was very, very crowded and Protagonist barely got on after letting a couple of full cars go by. At the next several stops even more people packed in until there was simply no more room in the subway car. There were people touching on all sides and faithful readers will know that Protagonist is NOT very comfortable with this - but when in Santiago Anyhow, Protagonist found and walked around the bohemian area of BellaVista where he located a venue in a trendy area and drank a bottle of vino tinto - Carmenere (a varietal that is bold and fruity). There were lots of young people out and about and this was an interesting place to people watch. Protagonist was offered weed a couple of times - presumably to buy but did not stop to find out details. There are lots of street dogs in Santiago. They appear to live peacefully within the metropolitan area without causing any particular distress. Protagonist had encountered a similar situation at a sleepy coastal town in Turkey where there was an active policy to sterilize and care for stray dogs. By contrast, in Santiago it was initially

Page 1

startling to see dogs sleeping on sidewalks while thousands of people walked by going about their various business. The Santiago street dogs seem to be relatively low energy animals, most were sleeping or resting and Protagonist did not see any of them run or interact with people in the downtown area. Out in the parks, the dogs tended to follow along cheerfully with groups of walkers or runners - Protagonist as a lone walker in the parks was not much of interest to the dogs unless one happened to be strolling the same way for unknown dog reasons. Protagonist walked the next morning to the heights of Santiago. The city itself is fairly flat but there are several hills within the city area. Cerro San Cristobal is the tallest of these and has a statue of the virgin at the top. Protagonist walked from his hotel to the top and returned by a different route. From Cerro San Cristobal there are quite good views of Santiago. Unfortunately the day was overcast and raining and the low clouds obscured the view of the Andes that are really "just right there" and should be quite visible in reasonable weather. It was actually rather cold on this day and unusual for the season - especially considering that this should be just about as good as it gets weather-wise in Santiago. Protagonist was reminded of Portland or Seattle weather but this was not sufficient to keep from seeing the sights and the great touristic opportunities in Santiago.

Cerro San Cristobal Protagonist is typically more bemused than frustrated with the language barrier situation and finds it quite interesting to observe this in action. An example of this happened at lunch in a shopping mall restaurant on the 5th floor of the largest shopping mall in SA where Protagonist was offered an English menu and he did indeed order from this. However, the waitress did not speak English so it really would have been more effective communication to "point and choose" from the Spanish menu but the result did not prevent consumption of good food and drink. Protagonist really should learn Spanish. First round course at lunch was a pisco sour (sort of a margarita blended to frappe) and tequenos crillos - these were spring roll type appetizers filled with yellow chili chicken stew, served with guacamole and were great!!! Protagonist followed up with another pisco sour and a criollo sanguich that ended up being a good version of what Yankees would know as a "Philly cheesesteak sandwich" served on a baguette, sauted beef tenderloin and red onions with sliced avocados and a brown sauce. It was quite good and Protagonist enjoyed it thoroughly.

Page 2

Apparently the rain in Santiago was indeed unseasonal and as a consequence it brought traffic in the city to a rather complete standstill. Protagonist determined to forego dinner in favor of rest and sleep - was not even motivated to order room service or chance the bar downstairs. This cannot all be attributed to the weather, although after a nap Protagonist did get dressed and went downstairs with plans to walk to the nearby shopping mall for snack and a drink. At the time Protagonist arrived at the hotel lobby, the rain was falling in torrents, there was chaotic gridlock and a deep puddle at the intersection that would need to be crossed. Overall the simpler thing seemed to be rest and relaxation to get over the 6 hour time difference and associated jet-lag. The next morning Protagonist made it to the Santiago airport without incident and fairly readily met up with the Andes Adventure group. Locating a group of 20 or so Americans in a foreign airport is not such a difficult thing to do, this to be expected. The flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas was in a LAN airlines A320 and the plane was full. Protagonist lucked out because there was the very last available seat in the exit row next to Devy and so Protagonist moved there just before takeoff and got substantially more legroom as a result of this chance upgrade. Devy Reinstein is the owner of Andes Adventures and has this gift of "opportunity awareness" such that he seizes beneficial situations before they pass by. Flying over the mountains and glaciers near Calefate is truly spectacular. The glacier is huge and when viewed from above it looks like there is a road in the middle of it snaking towards the water clearly it is not a road, rather the flow path of ice towards the sea. The surrounding peaks are tremendously jagged and steep - clearly these are young mountains. Punta Arenas itself is a bleak place. There are quite a few inhabitants including a number of street dogs - again, these animals appear to be fairly well taken care of. After arrival Protagonist had an excellent sandwich and beer at the famous local sandwich shop Lomito's - beef, tomato and avocado sandwich - YUM. And the cerveza was a local brew - it was good. Punta Arenas definitely appears to be located at the extreme end of civilization. Protagonist heard the unmistakable whine of studded tires and the type of vehicle favored tends toward the robust and hardy 4WD's and older beaten-up sedans.

Punta Arenas waterfront

Page 3

Travel from Punta Arenas to Torres del Paine was by bus and Protagonist was unable to write and bring faithful readers up to date for several days - as most of you will know by now, the world did NOT end on Dec 21st and Protagonist had not done anything particularly limiting to his future so this is probably a good thing. Patagonia is BEAUTIFUL and Torres del Paine is awesome - especially when sitting in a warm refugio after lunch and a couple of beers. There was a fairly long day of bus travel to get to the park and knowing this, Protagonist went for a morning run around Punta Arenas and noticed that there were not very many folks out. It did get light well before 5am (dark at 11pm, light at 4:45 is norm here at this time of year). Run was from the hotel down to the water, along water to the park and back to hotel - about 50 minutes and no coffee. Fortunately the hotel did have coffee - Protagonist asked where there might be a latte to be purchased and found out that the best bet was plain hotel coffee. Then after breakfast the group embarked on the bus ride to Torres del Paine (pronounced "pa ain e" - think panini and drop the first "n"). Highlights of the bus ride included a stop at a local penguin rookery where a group of about 100,000 penguins live. These are Magellan penguins and are larger than Fairy Penguins in New Zealand but not as large as the Emperor Penguins in Antarctica although Protagonist has not yet been to Antarctica. The penguins were in the season where one of each pair were in their nests with the chicks and the other was out feeding or enroute to or from feeding. It was interesting to find out that pairs travel 5000 km in a season and then return to the exact same nest each subsequent year. Along the ride there were hares, Chilean Geese, Andean Condors, Guanacos and lots of sheep to be seen at the sides of the road.

Guanacos and Chilengos (special name for young Guanacos) The bus stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant in Puerto Natales where there was a freshly caught 17 kg salmon on display - lunch was salmon - and local beer that was brewed in a shop 2 doors down from the restaurant. Lunch was certainly a welcome respite and then the bus continued towards the park. Soon the towers (torres)

Page 4

were visible and it was a beautiful day with green hills, bright white clouds and blue sky as background to the Torres del Paine. The group got to Refugio Torres and checked in - soon followed by wine and food as befitted the civilized group. The participants were beginning to meet and talk and this proved to be a lively group. Protagonist was the lone runner in the group with 24 hikers. The hikers were an eclectic mix of personalities. Of note, they included a doctor and his family, a university professor, a pole dance instructor (yes Virginia, they even have competitions in this), scientists, engineers and quite a few retirees. The plan was for Protagonist and Devy to run "the circuit" and the hikers would hike the "W" and then all meet at Refugio Paine Grande. The Paine massif is primarily a single large rock formation that can be circumnavigated by a trail referred to as the circuit. Backpackers usually take 8 days to complete the circuit but Devy and Protagonist would run it in 4.

First view of the Paine Massif The morning of Day 1 brought overcast sky and the first run up to get an up close view of the Towers. Protagonist and the walkers all started together at about 8:30 and picked up Devy about 1km down the track Devy had stayed at a different hotel to check it out and a few minutes later Protagonist and Devy left the hikers at a slow run uphill. The path was up the East leg of the "W" to the lookout from the base of the towers. It did not rain, there was no wind and the temperature was suitable for tights and a long sleeve shirt - however the towers were not visible from the lookout. Protagonist had to be satisfied with a sign that was engraved with outline of the towers and attempted to visualize this allegedly spectacular sight - Devy assured that it was right there, really!!! Regardless it was a good run of about 12 miles round trip on good trails along an ice-blue and whitewater river. The trail crossed the river at several places on bridges made from logs - probably local beech trees, the predominant forest in the area. Running downhill on the trails was a highlight, most of the surface is crusted granular granite so it is not slippery and a runner can really fly down the hill after getting a rhythm of how far ahead to look. The trail was damp but even exercising reasonable caution on the rocks, the return was quite fast and the runners were back at Refugio Torres by 1pm. The first of the hikers returned about 3 hours later, and they also did not glimpse the view although the weather had cleared such that they did see the lake at the base of the towers. Protagonist noted that the fast walkers appeared to be the Albuquerque group led by High Priestess. This is a group of friends who hike together in New Mexico and take international travel as a group to

Page 5

attractive hiking locations (Kilimanjaro, G54, Inca Trail, etc). Anyhow, High Priestess is the leader of this group, she had organized and brought 7 others with her from New Mexico and she is definitely a wise and inspiring soul.

Field of daisies just outside of Serron Protagonist ran the Torres del Paine Circuit completing the 74 miles on beautiful trails in 4 days!!! This was a great adventure run and worthy of much better description than Protagonist can come up with at present. The circuit run required carrying a small backpack for the duration and there certainly was no room for the MacBook Air so the notes are from recollection after completion. Day 2 started out in a light mist but rest of the day was quite clear. Protagonist and Devy ran to Serron and it was a green and quite lovely track. The path ascended a small hill to about 350m and then descended into a beautiful river valley that had blooming daisies in it such that the floor of the valley looked like it was covered with a soft white blanket. Lunch at Serron was interesting for a run pork chop and rice - probably not the first thought of menu for a pair who still had 12 miles to run. However, it was sustenance and was quite tasty. Running again after lunch the pair climbed up and over a small ridgeline to the back side of the Torres. The view of the cloudy blue-green Lago Paine surrounded by small snow banks was spectacular. The running trail was great and Protagonist saw condors while running the path along the lake and the only people he encountered were Sebastian and Denice, a couple he had met at lunch the previous day. On approaching Refugio Dickson, Protagonist passed a few more hikers and he and Devy ran/walked into Dickson to complete a 21 mile day. Dickson is also set up as a beautiful campsite but the benefits of running from refugio to refugio are great, immediately off the trail Protagonist had a hot shower and washed his running clothes and put them to dry on the brush outside and then had beers. There was pleasant scenery including a pair of grey foxes hanging around the Dickson campsite and Protagonist figured them for locals. The guys who ran the Dickson Refugio were young and friendly and since Protagonist was sitting and drinking beer in the appropriate place, he was showed a simple game consisting of a string with a small metal ring on the end of it. Goal is to swing the ring on its 2m string and hook it on a bent nail in the wall and after 2 beers and about 100 tries, Protagonist was able to claim success at the game. Visitors at Dickson were a combination of refugio stayers and tent campers. There were many young folks, mostly North Americans, at the campsite and they came into the refugio and bought a bottle of wine and whooped it up until Devy kicked them out at 11pm. Protagonist was tired and slept well and was not particularly bothered by the noise.

Page 6

Day 3 was alleged to be the hardest day of the circuit. The run began on a shady trail through the forest towards Los Perros campsite for about 2 hours and then a quick lunch stop and a gradual climb up to the pass - Paso John Gardner. The path was too steep to run but Protagonist is a very good walker and quite enjoyed this hike. The snow was just packed enough that Protagonist was able to walk without breaking through the snow and he passed up a half dozen or so hikers and left Devy a distance behind. Approaching the pass, Protagonist saw a pair of small grey partridges that did not fly away and they looked quite edible although they (or their relatives) never appeared on any dinner menu during the trip. The pass was cold and windy and Protagonist waited for Devy but they did not spend much time before heading downhill alongside the Grey Glacier. This did include some fun "shoe skiing" down the steep snow-covered hillside. Views of the glacier from the pass are captivating because it is huge and looking down on it provides awesome perspective.

On the climb to Paso John Gardner Glaciers persuade a person to believe that they are alive and are a flowing river of ice that builds intricate and complex geometric patterns made of crevasse and color. Appreciating this beauty and against such a background Protagonist ran strong to Refugio Grey for a 19 mile day. That evening was Xmas eve and the restaurant had prepared a special dinner. Knowing this beforehand, Devy and Protagonist had each carried a small bottle of Johnny Walker Red along the circuit just for this occasion. Note that Protagonist had weighed his full Camelbak pack at 5kg when he was at Serron so it is important to note that about 1/3 kg of this weight was the Scotch, carried 40 miles for a Xmas drink. Anyhow, it was an excellent and festive dinner and Protagonist had a couple beers, then Scotch, wine with dinner and finished the Scotch before a good slumber.

Page 7

Looking down on the face of Grey Glacier Protagonist awoke refreshed and ready to run on Day 4. According to Devy, this required only a short run to Refugio Paine Grande - about 7 miles but then there was an optional extra to complete the "W" portion of the circuit. The run to Paine Grande took Protagonist about 1 hour 40 minutes and then he had lunch and got checked into the refugio. The day was early and Protagonist knew that the following day was a bus ride so he went out for an afternoon run to the French Valley to complete the circuit. The trail to Camp Italiano is mostly flat and quite runnable for about an hour and then began the steep hike (very steep - not runnable) up the French Valley to Camp Brittanico and a short stretch above this to the most spectacular lookout of the Park, and quite possibly the most spectacular view in Patagonia. On the way to Britannico there was a snowfield across the stream that provided periodic avalanches that were awesome in both sound and vision. The falling snow quickly turned to a white cloud as it smashed down and the sheer height of the mountain where this happened made for a slow motion view as the avalanches fell. Mirador Britannico was truly the best view of the park and Protagonist was quite glad that he had continued on and reached the lookout. This mirador provides a true 360 degree extravaganza of granite, glacier, green and water and the most memorable view of the Torres del Paine circuit. There were a couple dozen people hanging out and Protagonist asked a group of young Americans to take his picture (tree pose). One of these was a young woman who had spent 1 hours on a rock looking at the view a most understandable desire to stay in a comfortable spot in this location as long as possible. Most of the people on this part of trail and indeed in the more remote parts of the park were youthful. Protagonist did not feel all that out of place on the trail but did clearly observe that this appeared to be a young adult adventure game. After spending some time at the Mirrador Britannico, Protagonist returned to Refugio Paine Grande for a 22 mile day.

Page 8

Near Camp Britannico in the French Valley The last day at the Paine massif area included a catamaran ride across the lake to meet our bus. Looking up at the huge granite faces of Torres del Paine, Protagonist felt an awesome realization of "I just ran around THAT" and was quite pleased with this introduction to trail running. Protagonist had been warned that it was to be a sedentary day and this was actually quite ok. The border crossing to Argentina was uneventful other than being windy and cold, then the bus drove North and eventually arrived at Calefate where the group had been told awaited a traditional Argentinean barbecue. Along the drive there were guanacos out in the open and sheep and horses but the overall impression of this Argentine steppe was of it being a rather harsh and barren area. The Torres del Paine and the Andean range were clearly visible in the distance for most of this drive. The dinner was definitely plentiful of meat and the bbq roasted lamb was excellent - especially with the Argentine Malbec. The group only stayed a single night in Calefate and then headed off to view the Perrito Moreno glacier. Protagonist had been informed that this was to be another "low energy day" and got in a 45 minute early morning run through the town of Calefate. The drive to the glacier was quite beautiful around Lago Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina. Watching and listening to the glacier was spectacular and is very memorable, the face of the glacier is 65m high! The Perrito Moreno glacier flows at a velocity of about 2m per day at the central point and provides for great glacier watching and listening. When there happened to be no falling and crashing glaciers to watch, Protagonist satisfied himself with looking at the ice and trying to choose exactly which shade of blue he considered to be the most beautiful. There are too many shades to describe and referring to a color as "ice blue" is quite inadequate when confronted with such a sight. Then the group took the bus back to El Calefate for lunch and another 3 hour drive to El Chalten.

Page 9

Protagonist and High Priestess at Perrito Moreno Glacier Protagonist considers El Chalten to be another one of those places on this planet where he would possibly entertain the concept of disappearing into the local scene to for an extended duration. The town itself is rather attractive and located on the bank of a glacier fed river. It is obviously a climber hangout and even has a brewpub - Protagonist sampled BOTH of the beers they had on tap several times. This is relevant because Protagonist ran in the morning for 5 1/2 hours and after a bath and change of clothes, couple of empanadas and 3 beers, he was feeling quite relaxed in the brewpub, catching up on travel notes. The walkers, Protagonist and Devy had all started together that morning but Devy had work to do and took a short path back and Protagonist ran on alone. Highlight of the run was supposed to be a view of Cerro Torre but it did not cooperate and was obscured by clouds for most all the time that Protagonist was at the Mirador. Running farther up to the Lago Torres was pleasant and Protagonist was quite comfortably dressed in shorts and shirt. However on arrival at the lake, the wind was very strong and Protagonist put on his gloves, jacket and hat that had been carried in the small Salomon running pack. The mirador required a further short hike around the lake and an exposed traverse to get

Page 10

the best view of the glacier. It was a good view and although the sun did not come out the colors were quite striking. This was a very calm glacier and did not calve any bergs into the water while Protagoinst watched although there were a few floating near the lake outlet where they had been blown by the wind.

Cerro Torre was briefly visible just before Protagonist took this picture - really After spending a few minutes at the mirador and not seeing much change in the weather, Protagonist headed back around the lake and down the trail to the junction where he took a path towards Lago Dos-Tres. At this time the hikers had not yet reached the junction and Devy had already returned by this path. The trail ended up being a quick uphill hike and then a smooth running path on towards the lake area. The lake shore was made of small shards of black shale that went all the way down to the water edge and this provided a visual contrast to the blue water and white glaciers in the background. Return to the town of El Chalten was a fast descent along a ridge and then down the hillside trail to main street. Protagonist felt strong on the run and was thinking of microbrews most of the way down. That evening was a fun event that was set by Running Deer and Strong Man who live in the SF Bay area. Strong Man had taken his vacuum thermos water bottle on the hike and adventured down to Lago Torres to capture glacial ice from one of the bergs floating at the edge of the lake. Protagonist had seen the couple walking purposefully into town from his perch at the microbrewery and apparently this was to obtain a bottle of Argentinean Whisky. Well, they were offering whisky with 10,000 year old glacial ice and many of the group imbibed - certainly this included Protagonist. Subsequently there was yoga stretching and a plank exhibition with Strong Man and Protagonist both holding classic plank form for 3 minutes.

Page 11

Running Deer at the base of Mt. Fitz Roy The next day was to be a run to the base of Mt Fitz Roy to get the best view of the monolith. Running Deer joined Devy and Protagonist on this day and the runners and walkers all began the route together with a 30 minute bus ride to a campground that marked the start of the path. The 3 runners started together and it became apparent that Running Deer was quite a capable trail runner so somewhere along the path Devy split off to head down the hill for an 11am hot date (or business meeting but the story does read better as a date). Protagonist and Running Deer ran well and made excellent time to Camp Pinchot where the climb up to the lake started. This was actually a steep and constant uphill trail and the pair climbed it in 30 or 40 minutes and were rewarded with a view of Mt. Fitz Roy reflected in the lake. A great benefit of trail running is that one gets places rather quickly meaning before all of the hikers do. Protagonist and Running Deer had the lake view all to themselves aside from a trio of "illegal campers" who were still sleeping in their bags. Fitz Roy is a huge and spectacular granite monolith and presents a sharp spire when viewed from any direction. Protagonist thought that the view of Fitz Roy and the lake and glacier might just be the most spectacular view in all of Patagonia (hmmnotice how Protagonist is a fickle Adventurer - the best is most often the present one)? Anyhow, Protagonist and Running Deer stayed at the lake for some time basking in the view and then headed down the hill where they encountered the group of hikers including Strong Man and High Priestess who looked to be in good form and strong to reach the viewpoint. Running Deer and Protagonist ran back to El Calefate, taking the same path along Lago Capri that Protagonist had run solo the prior day. Running Deer really does bounce lightly on her toes and she was very fast on the smooth rolling sections of trail and gaining confidence on the broken rocky areas that were encountered. After arrival at the Hotel, Protagonist and Running Deer went out to the local brewpub for lunch and spent a pleasant conversation about running through life. That evening dinner was another "traditional Argentine fare" of beef-meat with a few condiments. One of the 2 Sisters from CA (both petite ladies who brought their husbands along) gave Protagonist half of her main course meal, this had become a dinner routine that actually did Protagonist well to get him through the holiday without losing weight and he was quite appreciative of this. Protagonist is not used to eating so much beef but this did not seem to cause any trouble with running and vacationing.

Page 12

The next day was a very early start for the group and a 4:30 am wakeup was organized. It had started to rain at midnight and rain continued throughout the morning. Reason for the early departure was the 2 hour bus ride and 10:50 flight from Calefate to Ushuaia. The group were on the bus before 6am and had no trouble catching the flight with Aerolineas Argentinas. The flight to Ushuaia was uneventful and Protagonist sat next to the Captain and Stoker (tandem bike riders from Illinois) and the low clouds prevented view of anything interesting on the ground so there was very good biking discussion for entertainment. Captain and Stoker had stopped at Easter Island on their way to Santiago and they provided great descriptions of the ancient monolithic heads. The group arrived at destination and the weather was somewhat overcast with periodic showers. Ushuaia is known as the southernmost city in the world and boats stage from the port for Antarctic exploration and adventures. The group had lunch (more beef-meat) and Protagonist sampled an excellent local brew - Beagle rubio!!! Anyhow, after this the group went on a 3 hour tour of the Beagle Channel. This is where Charles Darwin sailed through and the boat ride should have been more relaxing that it was. However, Protagonist was tired and sleepy and weather was overcast and rainy but visibility was ok for seeing the channel and surrounding peaks. There are small islands in the channel with Sea Lions and Cormorants and the islands are green and pretty with very low-lying vegetation. After this the group went back to the hotel and Protagonist got a shower and change of clothes (fortunately there was laundry done in El Chalten) and then was ready for dinner. Dinner was at a traditional Argentine Parilla restaurant (barbecue) and was quite good. The primary meat cooked was lamb and this cook had 4 lamb carcasses on a rack over the coals and he tended the fire and selected and cut up meats for patrons - all with quite a flair. The cook was a thin wiry man with a long moustache and Devy said that the guy was an authentic gaucho (cowboy). The BBQ lamb was excellent, outside bits were crispy and the meat quite juicy. Overall this appeared to Protagonist to be a great way to cook lamb and it was very tasty - especially with Argentine Malbec, of course. Protagonist also tried the blood sausage and found that he rather liked it. Protagonist had a great sleep (dark about 11:30, light before 4) and was up and about by 7am.

At the Southernmost Post office in the world It rained much of the night but had cleared by dawn. The group were headed into the Tierra del Fuego park for a day of hiking and running. Devy reminded all to take passports to get an "end of the world" stamp from the

Page 13

southernmost post-office in the world. The bus entered the park and dropped off the 4 runners this day Running Deer and Strong Man joined Devy and Protagonist and this made for a good group run. The trail climbed through a beech forest and about 4km further the runners reached the post-office. Protagonist sent a card to The Parents but he later had to apologize for not writing anything other than "I ran here" and the address clearly Protagonist was at a loss for words at the time. Then there was a 5 mile trail around the bay that was a rather technical path and required constant attention to negotiate the roots and rocks. It was a great run and the group reached the junction at Hwy 3 and then ran alongside the road where there was no trail, then alternately on the trail where possible for another 4km until reaching THE END OF THE ROAD. There is a sign that lists distance to Buenos Aires (just under 3100 km) and to Alaska (over 17,000 km). Thus on the last day of 2012 at about 12:20 pm local time, Protagonist reached the south end of the road of the Americas. The day turned into a beautiful blue sky day and apparently this was the nicest weather Ushuaia had experienced in weeks. The scenery was quite lovely - not the massive peaks of further north, but the recent snow provided beauty with the bay as additional backdrop. Not that much snow had fallen overnight but the snow level was a straight white line marked at about 1000m above the water. This was fun and the group decided that they had sufficient running for the day and looked for transportation back to town. Devy convinced a local person to drive the group back up the road (north) and the runners met up with the hikers who had just finished the trail from the post office. They all walked to a local refugio and got cerveza - more Beagle rubio, this time on tap. Since the walkers had not yet seen the end of the road, the group took busses there and Protagonist had the time to practice Sun Salutation in a damp meadow. Then back to the Hotel Tierra del Fuego where Protagonist realized that he was tired and sore and in need of rest. However, it was New Years Eve and the group had plans to celebrate in style. The best and most avid party folks in the group appeared to be the Albuquerqueans, a group who have aged well and for some of whom retirement living means adventure travel. Of note to end 2012 is that Protagonist, the young Southen Californians and the Albuquerque group got thrown out of an Irish Pub! Well, had to leave because the pub was not serving drinks (really!), just a set dinner menu. It looked like an Irish Pub from the outside anyway. The group ended up drinking champagne and wine in the hotel downstairs until 2013 when the town did get louder with firecrackers and ship's horns blowing in the new year.

View from the trail near Fin del Mundo (end of the world)

Page 14

New Years Day found the group headed to the busy airport and towards Buenos Aires. The airport was a jam but did not make for significant delay. BA is a city of 3 million who live downtown and another 11 million in outlying areas. The group had a bus tour of the city and the guide showed some "slums" that were admittedly poor but not really all that bad by shanty town standards (Jakarta, Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur ). Protagonist was startled by all of the Eva Peron legacy and memorabilia in Argentina even at present. The largest avenue in the world 9th July Ave - has a building with huge outline of Evita. Protagonist went to the Mausoleum and saw the Duarte family "cript" (Eva Duarte = Evita Peron) made of black marble. That evening the group attended an evening tango show that was fabulous !!! The dinner show was in an old brick building in a section of town that had an abandoned rail track in the middle of the stone street. Devy said that a Tango show is all about legs and while this generally appears to be true there were other things added to this show including a 4 piece band of Andes native musicians who played the theme to The Good the Bad & the Ugly with flute, guitar, drum and an instrument that appeared to be a sort of mandolin. There was an entertaining skit with a bolo dancer who was quite a showman and then the requisite musical tribute to Evita. The dance band for tango was quite good, 5 men with a piano, guitar and 2 violins led by an old guy who played a sort of small accordion although Devy explained that the instrument is not actually an accordion.

Planking in Buenos Aires Protagonist definitely had mixed feelings about Argentina. The country is beautiful and the people are genuinely friendly and capable, but a clear impression is that the Argentine people strongly dislike their government. The Guide who took the group around BA clearly loved his country but was quite openly outspoken against the government and the present conditions. It is an unfortunate situation that there is so much resource and beauty in the world that is unfocused and squandered - and this has been the reality in Argentina for decades. Well, the final event with the more adventurous members of the group was a foray to the local coffee shop (150 years old) where Evita, Hillary Clinton and other famous personalities have been photographed. The coffee was also very good. And then Protagonist had to travel home (Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Dubai, Bahrain) and begin thinking about the next adventure. Until then The end

Page 15