Rio Santuario, Santiago, Chile (January, 2016)

As the kids were out of school for the summer, Eliza decided to take them to Rio Santuario, which is a stream near our house. She went with our neighbors and good friends, the Raleighs. They have three boys (Cole, Liam, and Ryan) almost the same age as our three boys (Ryder, Nash, and Zander). They have become great friends and it is great having them as next door neighbors.

Zander, climbing his way out of the creek.

Ryder, at Rio Santuario.

Liam, Ryder, Nash, and Cole.

The kids playing in the stream.

El Chalten, Southern Patagonia, Argentina (January, 2016)

After El Chalten and Perito Moreno, we took our journey further north (deeper into Argentina) to El Chalten. I would classify El Chalten as Argentina's Torres del Paine. It was spectacular with huge mountains and cliffs, a lot of hikes and plenty of organized activities to do (i.e. river rafting, horseback riding). Again, it was obvious how much better Argentina was at tourism than Chile (Torres del Paine did not have near the amount of activities as El Chalten).

One of the highlights of our trip to Patagonia was horseback riding in El Chalten. We booked a tour with one of the local groups and each person was given their own horse. With just a little instruction we were on our way. We got to ride through some spectacular scenery right on the outskirts of the park (on private land). We were able to cross streams on the horses, which was a cool experience and they let some of the adults gallop the horses (split off from the rest of the group to take a more advanced path). We ended up at a mountain shack to have some snacks and take some pictures before we headed back down the mountain. Everyone enjoyed the great weather and even better scenery that we were able to take in from the back of our horses.

The next day, we decided that with a couple days rest, we were ready for another big hike, so a few of us got up early the next morning and set out to see some of the more picturesque areas of El Chalten. Unfortunately, we ended up getting a bit lost on some of the trails and did not end up where we thought we were going to be. All was fine in the end and we did see some good views. We ended up having to cross a pretty deep river at the end of the hike since we could not find a crossing anywhere (all part of the experience).

Toni, Eliza, and Whitney in front of a waterfall that we hiked to at El Chalten.

Part of the adventurous crew (minus Toni) that hiked 13 miles in El Chalten.

The kids playing in the river at El Chalten, Argentina.

Motorhomes in front of El Chalten, Argentina.

All the girls in our crew at El Chalten, Argentina (Eliza, Toni, Whitney, Jovi, and Sawyer)

View from horseback on our excursion in El Chalten, Argentina.

Jovi and Zander in the town of El Chalten.

Cody, Ryder, and Toni on the hike in El Chalten, Argentina.

Kyle, carrying Toni across the creek in El Chalten at the end of the hike.

Our crew, on horseback in one of the beautiful meadows on the outskirts of El Chalten.

View from the mountain shack on the outskirts of El Chalten, Argentina.

Dinner after our long hike in El Chalten.

Family picture at El Chalten, Argentina.

Sawyer, horseback riding in El Chalten, Argentina.

Ryder, horseback riding in El Chalten, Argentina.

Nash, horseback riding in El Chalten, Argentina.

Cody and Eliza, horseback riding in El Chalten, Argentina.

Cody and Eliza at a waterfall in El Chalten, Argentina.

Ryder, the only kid that got up with the adults for the long hike in El Chalten, Argentina.

Toni, hiking in El Chalten, Argentina.

Our time came to an end quickly (Patagonia is huge!) and we had to hit it hard back down to Punta Arenas, Chile. We traveled the more well established routes in Argentina heading all the way down to Rio Gallegos and then crossing back into Chile right around Punta Arenas. We then grabbed the LATAM flight home from Punta Arenas back to Santiago, Chile.

El Calafate and Perito Moreno, Southern Patagonia, Argentina (January, 2016)

Due to the rough roads (and the toll it was taking our our 2 motorhomes), the low fuel levels in the motorhomes, our exhaustion from our 13 mile hike the previous day, we decided to head out of Torres del Paine (skipping the far eastern section of the park) and head across the border to Argentina for the second half of our road trip (to El Calafate, Perito Moreno, and El Chalten).

We had a few hiccups getting across the border because we had rented one of the motorhomes from a private party and all the paperwork was not in order (basically, we had to wait for him to meet us at the border and bring us the necessary paperwork), but eventually we got to El Calafate, Argentina. El Calafate was a fun little city, with a lot of tourist agencies (it was obvious that Argentina has done a much better job at developing its tourism industry than Chile). We had some great food and relaxed and walked around the city for a while, and then were on our way to the Glaciares National Park to see Perito Moreno (the Blue Glacier).

Ezra, Zander, Jovi, Sawyer, Ryder, and Nash hanging out in El Calafate.

Eating at a cool waffle joint in El Calafate.

Ryder and Jovi, enjoying the town of El Calafate, Argentina.

It took us just over an hour to drive from El Calafate to Perito Moreno. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine. Perito Moreno is a massive glacier with water on both sides of it. You can see if from miles away as you drive up to it. There are some great walkways that take you right up to the face of the glacier and with the sun hitting it, we were able to hear and see a lot of cracking and large chunks of it breaking off into the water below. It was quite a sight to see.

Whipperman kids at Perito Moreno, Argentina.

Our 2 motorhomes in El Calafate, Argentina.

Perito Moreno from a distance.

Perito Moreno.

Perito Moreno is 14km from front to back.

Nash in front of Perito Moreno.

Sawyer in front of Perito Moreno.

Perito Moreno, Argentina.

Hiking part of the the "W" Circuit in Torres del Paine, Southern Patagonia, Chile (January, 2016)

Our next adventure was to hike a portion of the "W" circuit in Torres del Paine. Most of the advice we got was that the French Valley (up to Campo Italiano and Campo Britanico) was one of the most beautiful areas of the circuit, so we decided that's where we would go. We mapped out a course that was about 7 miles up and began at the base of Pehoe Lake. We woke up early and took a boat ride (from where we had the motorhomes parked) across Pehoe Lake and began the hike from there. We packed for both warm and cold weather, but ended up not needing any of our coats or sweatshirts as it was a beautiful day. It was a long hike and we were exhausted after it was all over. We made it well past the Italian Base camp and almost all the way to the British Base camp before we decided it was time to turn around (with 6 kids in tow, we thought it best). We ended up hiking just over 13 miles during the day, which was plenty for all of us (and enough that we all said "No" to hiking the next day).

Kyle and Cody with mom in the French Valley (part of the "W"), Torres del Paine, Chile.

Beautiful mountain lake entering the French Valley (part of the "W") in Torres del Paine, Chile.

Ryder and Ezra on our 13 mile hike through the French Valley (part of the "W") in Torres del Paine.

View from the French Valley (part of the "W") in Torres del Paine, Chile.

An armadillo decided to pay us a visit after our long hike.

Armadillo.

Guanaco (similar to llama).

Taking Patagonia by motorhome.

Sawyer and Jovi at just before arriving to Torres del Paine, Chile.

Entering Torres del Paine, Chile.

We took a short boat ride across Lake Pehoe to begin our hike from the base of the lake up through the French Valley (one section of the "W" hike in Torres del Paine).

Eliza, with niece, Jovi, in tow in the French Valley (part of the "W"), Torres del Paine, Chile.

River coming from the hanging glacier in the French Valley (part of the "W"), Torres del Paine, Chile.

Lots of cool bridge crossings.

Ryder and Ezra, getting a break from the heat.

Looking up into the French Valley.

Boat ride on Lago Pehoe to begin our 13 mile hike through the French Valley.

Whipperman family in the French Valley (part of the "W" hike) in Torres del Paine, Chile.

Nash, in front of a beautiful lake on the "W" circuit in Torres del Paine.

Eliza and Zander, hiking down from the French Valley, Torres del Paine, Chile.

Looking across Pehoe Lake into the French Valley at Torres del Paine, Chile.

Cool contrasts of rock cliffs and beautiful green in Torres del Paine, Chile.

Eliza, hiking down from the French Valley, Torres del Paine, Chile.

Looking up towards the hanging glacier in the French Valley, Torres del Paine, Chile.

Family picture in the French Valley, Torres del Paine, Chile.

Nash and Zander, tough kids, hiking the "W" at ages 7 and 5. A 13 mile day is more than you can ask of most adults.

Pit stop to look at some very interesting trees just outside of Puerto Natales on the way to Torres del Paine, Chile.