Glacial Camping

We returned to Yerba Loca for another round of hiking and camping, and this time we made it even further into the mountains.

Our hike started off in a lovely green valley, but the terrain changed over the 13km. Near the end it got pretty steep and rocky as we gained another 500m past the waterfalls that freeze in winter.

The glacier is actually much higher and further away than we anticipated, and although we though we were close last time, and closer this time, it still took Daniel over an hour on an early morning run to reach it. Here's hoping we both make it all the way next time!

Camping in the Andes

Daniel and I spent New Year's Eve camping in the Andes. We hiked up from Yerba Loca to a beautiful camping site at over 2800m near a glacier. We managed to sneak a bottle of wine into our rucksacks, which we enjoyed in our valley, next to a river, with the glacier and waterfalls in the background.

It was a little hard at times to take in enough fresh air for the next breath, but we survived the altitude and welcomed the new year together.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todo!

Yerba Loca

We went to Santuario La Naturaleza de Hierba Loca with some friends and camped Chilean-style. While we had packed our tent, sleeping bags, food, clothes, etc. to fit into two backpacks, our friends’ car was overloaded with shopping bags, a duvet, a table and chairs, inflatable mattresses, you name it! Clearly we had misunderstood the brief that we were leaving home very early, walking very far and then camping. Turns out we left the city after midday, pitched camp about 20m from our car, and took a gentle stroll along the river before dinner!

  

And we ended up having a great long weekend! Yerba Loca is located halfway up the Andes about 30km from Santiago. The glacial Yerba Loca river winds its way through the valley and there are lovely trails and an abundance of wildlife. We saw several new bird species, lots of guajitas (lizards) and a very cute little chilla (fox).

Chileans take their dining very seriously and we had the biggest asado (braai) we’ve ever had, washed down by some piscola. There was music playing around the campsite and we all enjoyed a weekend getaway out of the city.