Camping Fitz Roy

After Mom left, I geared up and headed back to Argentina for my first ever, solo backpacking trip.

What lies below is copied directly from my book (with some grammatical and spelling correction of course). Anything in italic font has been added for clarity…

Warning: its kind of long- but that's what happens when you're trapped in a tent for sixteen hours.

Day 35: Fitz Roy, El Chalten, Argentina

Mistakes I have made thus far on my solo adventure:

• Almost accepting a tent without a rain-fly.
• Not getting rain gear… or a hat… or gloves.
• Only planning to eat cold food in a cold place.
• Not having anything to alert people if I am in trouble (i.e. a lighter or a whistle).
• Not thinking about the weight of my pack.

Look up – what do you see in the world around you?

Your mind is so focused on where you can step,

And where you can’t.

Which rocks to avoid,

And which will hold your weight.

Your eyes only looking down;

You miss the view,

The picturesque valleys,

The jagged edges of a snow capped mountain,

The bluest water you have ever seen,

Let alone the purest you have ever tasted.

Don’t be afraid to lose yourself on the journey.

Look up – don’t miss life as it passes before you.

Day 36: Day two of Camping, Fitz Roy, Argentina

I wish I could say I was loving this that every second holds a small treasure of self-defiance and joy, but I’m not. I am cold – I wore two pairs of socks to sleep and my feet are still numb. I didn’t sleep well and now my head hurts. Breakfast will be a god damn granola bar. It is going to rain. I smell buy I can’t change my shirt. Last night I had a nightmare; I woke up thrashing in my sleeping bag, calling for my mom – I felt like I couldn’t breather. Today will be my only full day out here… Let’s hope I make it through.

Later… Trapped in my tent because of a storm…

Did the great explorers, the Darwin’s, the Lewis and Clark’s, the Madsen’s, did they tire of their journeys while they were on them? Did the rain wash away their spirits and the wind blow away their hope? Did they long for home or did their vision – their quest motivate them through the difficult times? Perhaps if my vision for this journey was more than an extended hike I would be in better spirits as I shiver, trapped in my tent as a storm of wind and rain beckons around me. There are certain things one should not do alone and this might be one of them.

Mistakes I have made today:

1. Setting tent up in a location with little wind and rain protection then realizing it after it was too late.
2. Not brushing my teeth.
3. Having very little warm clothing.
4. Dropping my orange on the ground.
5. Bringing oranges on a camping trip.

Because I'm an optimistic/positive person:

1. Quick take down and set up of camp.
2. Building shelter around camp.
3. Mooching food off of couple from Seattle.
4. Letting go of built up anger.

It is as if the mountains produce the very clouds that form around their base. Hiding themselves in white silk before unleashing their torment on the valleys below. It is here I sit bundled beneath my cloth shelter. Rain pitter pattering overhead as the wind winds down the enormous slopes, pushing over hilltops and curling around trees before racing past my tent. I cannot tell if it is the wind or the river that is roaring – perhaps it is both and their cries mix together to form one.

Equality only exists in a utopian society. Utopian societies are unattainable. Therefore, by the law of syllogism, equality is unattainable. Society will always be rigged with a hierarchical system – the rich at the top controlling the dispersal of wealth and power. I wish to create change but there is no changing a system that has ruled society from the moment it was created. Perhaps instead of total change, I should focus on the decreasing the separation between castes. In other words, instead of striving to achieve equality, working to decrease inequality. However, what difference does it make if human society is limited? Almost every other species has gone extinct, what is so different about ours? I have little hope in the human race.

My mind is like a file cabinet, holding categories and subcategories and sub-subcategories; like a concept map but of thoughts – each separated and organized, placed in the folder it best belongs to… Lets take colors for example…

• Favorite color to see: turquoise.
• Favorite color to wear: maroon.
• Favorite complementary colors: purple and yellow.
• Color with most memories: lime green.
• Least favorite color: neon orange or fluorescent yellow.

Things I am afraid of right now: the back left corner of my tent collapsing/the pole breaking under the stress of the wind, the rainfly not holding and getting me and all of my stuff wet, a tree being blown over by the wind and onto me, the storm not being finished by morning, not regaining feeling in my toes…

Day 37: Last Day! Fitz Roy, Argentina

Total damage done:

Blisters: three – toe, toe, inner heel.

Sunburn: peeling nose, back of neck.

Scrapes: back of hand.

Bruises: pinky toe (unknown cause).