On Saturday, December 18th, a crew of 8 excited Cary Academy students, led by Gray Rushin and Corrie Cooper, started their adventure to Patagonia. The journey from RDU to Chilean Patagonia took an unprecedented 49 hours after the group missed a flight. However, when they arrived in Puerto Natales they were a new season and a hemisphere away from home. In collaboration with Venture Patagonia, an adventure tour operator founded by CA alum Carrie MacLean, the team began their 7-day trek through the famous “O” loop in the Torres del Paine National Park.
The origin of this adventure was in 2017, when Mr. Rushin and members of the Wilderness Club leadership team, along with Wilderness Club alum and Venture Patagonia traveled to the region for the first time. The 2017 itinerary was a guide for this past trip, and the meticulous journal that Mr. Rushin kept provided helpful data and plans for the group. Rushin’s post-trip reflections from 6 years ago centered on the words dramatic and diversity, a tribute to the unpredictable weather and breathtaking landscapes of Southern Chile.
Rushin had been planning this trip for years, despite being thwarted by the pandemic. He was determined to bring the opportunity back for the leadership team of the Wilderness Club, the student-led group that offers a backpacking trip for intrepid students twice a year. Passionate and courageous students took the leap to backpack over 80 miles over the holidays, with the trip totaling 15 days and 14 nights including travel (Southern Patagonia is a bit more than a hop, skip, and a jump away).
Led by two Venture Patagonia guides, Felipe and Javi, the expedition set off on the 21st of December on the “O” Loop after a short boat ride to the trailhead. “I felt super overwhelmed but also super excited as we boarded the ferry to the national park, and I remembered how I thought that I was going to feel so different when I come back—a more mature version of myself,” said Jill Sandreuter, a sophomore. From there, the group traveled counterclockwise from Paine Grande and finished the first day with a 360° panoramic view of the French Valley, Pehoe lake, los Cuernos (the famous jagged mountains in the park, rightfully named “the Horns”), and Mt. Paine Grande.
The days following consisted of 8-to-18-mile days through varying terrain including crystal-blue lake-filled valleys and vast glaciers, boulder fields, and daisy fields. On the third day, the team decided to wake up at 2:30 in the morning to hike to the Torres del Paine (“Towers of Blue”) by sunrise. Rushin notes that “You likely have never felt wind of this power before” on his Instagram dedicated to travel. The weather is extremely unpredictable in Southern Patagonia, especially in the Torres del Paine National Park—the saying is “you can experience all four seasons in a single day.”
The group spent days four and five (which was Christmas Day) along Lago Paine, Lago Dickson, and Rio de los Perros, following the water to the sources: Puma Glacier and Perros Glacier. The anticipated sixth day was a mountain pass for the backpackers, exacerbated by howling winds and merciless snow. Later, they learned that the windshields of some buses coming into the park had broken due to the fierce wind. Luckily, the group was able to scramble over the exposed pass and down into the covered tree line again and descended to Lago Grey via hanging rope bridges. On the seventh and final day of the “O” circuit, the students got the opportunity to ice-trek on a glacier and its ice caves and crevasses, outfitted with harnesses, crampons, helmets, and ice axes. After a week and 80.3 miles, the exhausted but accomplished crew finished the “O” loop and set off on the next leg of their trip.
As with most places in rural Chile, a van ride on bumpy backroads brought the group to the Baguales mountain range, known as the “Highlands of Patagonia.” On the land that Venture Patagonia exclusively has access to, the group experienced the vast grasslands, wildlife, and archeological history of the land. Louis, a paleontologist, led them on a day-long exploration over the ranch containing fossils dating back 66 million years. The expedition also saw wild horses, guanacos, condors, rhea, Grey foxes, armadillos, Magellan, and a puma, along with petrified wood, fossilized plants, and shark teeth.
At the top of the range on the ranch in the Baguales, the distinctive towers visible in the distance marked how far the team had gone. Rushin reflected, “Chile was mesmerizing. Continually dramatic & diverse,” referencing his similar 2017 reflection. Will Capps, a senior leader in the Wilderness Club remarked, “On the flight down to Chile, we were quiet. Many of us didn’t talk to each other regularly. Two weeks later, as we prepared to return home, all of us were super close.” For many, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and for all, it was a trip they would never forget.