drew|merryman

i recognized that when i made the decision to bus from puerto natales into parque nacional torres del paine, i was making the decision under a negative point of view.

i felt a great difference in my surroundings moving from the carretera austral to punta arenas, but an even greater change moving from punta arenas to puerto natales. i recognized that while unloading from the bus into ‘natales, i was completely surrounded by tourists. i became aware how much of a gateway this city was; everyone here was lining up for the park.

no longer were locals smiling at me. just about every person i spoke my basic level of spanish to, ignored my attempts and responded without emotion in fluent english. this change of my surroundings raised questions within myself whether this was where i wanted to be. i never held it in my mind to immerse myself in the tourism industry which so closely resembles the herding of cattle here in chile.

but, who hikes chile and dismisses what is often referred to as the premier hiking destination in all of south america? i had a burning desire to see just what this park had to offer, keeping that benchmark, the valley of paradise, in mind.

in typical fashion of my previous posts here from chile, this is where i would jump into the linear journal-like fashion of some eye opening introduction which would lead from event to event, supporting some sort of concluding perspective gained. but this park simply didn’t inspire me to take many photos or to outline words in my journal for the sake of this post.

besides the last couple hours of my hike out of the park, this park is held as just a memory of pushing myself physically to the point of developing an injury in my foot and knee and grabbing a few photos among a crowd of people who lacked the knowledge of how to say ‘hello’ in the language of the country which they were visiting.

but i was only a couple hours away from hobbling out of the park when i crossed a girl. i was focused on the trail in front of me, not exactly looking up. i remember sensing somebody up ahead and i believe i said ‘hola’, but before i could raise my head i heard, ‘didn’t i meet you back in pucon?’

it was a girl who i had briefly met and chatted with in my last hour at pucon. i had a bus to catch and, at that point, never caught her name. we had discussed my hike out from the closed park and she had told me about her experience hitchhiking up the carretera austral, which i believe had planted a seed within me to experience the same.

we caught up among the patagonian wind and rain, each of us hooded and wrapped in wool and goretex with packs hanging off our backs, boots gripping the slanted rock below us.

i attempted without success to summarize my time in the truckbed on the southern highway. it brought a smile to her face, perhaps because she knew exactly what i was talking about and how hard it is to describe, or because she recognized how instrumental she was to my adventure.

i felt so fortunate to have caught that experience, bumping into her for a second time on that trail, especially so close to my moment of parting the park. while my perspective of the park remains unchanged, katherine had made me realize how much i was inconsiderately generalizing the park, and for a second time, added purpose to another one of my moments in chile.