The Promised Pictures!

Now you can see a bit of what we´ve gotten ourselves into.

Starting with our time on the island of Tierra del Fuego:

Tierra del Fuego

And then our trip from Punta Arenas, Chile to Coihaique, Chile.

Punta Arenas to Coihaique

Enjoy!
Will and Trev

Coihaique!

Amigos,
We have arrived in the largest town along the Careterra Austral. Our friend, Felipe, arrived a couple of days before us and found a nice hostel for us that we´re enjoying thoroughly. Trev´s got a bit of the flu, and the weather seems to be turning cold. And...happy Easter! There aren´t any great festivities here in Coihaique, unfortunately, but I´m glad to remember the holiday (it´s quite easy for me to forget about such things) and wish you all a happy one. I sat by a woodburning stove this morning and was so thankful for my saviour. Seriously, it´s not everyone who offers to save you from death and makes good on it. I have been rescued from such death that to remember it almost boggles my mind.
It´s a beautiful day here, and I´ll put some pictures up soon.
Love!
Will and Trev

Cochrane and Ripio

The Careterra Austral is amazing. It´s a gorgeous and incredibly low traffic dirt road that stretches through southern Chile for about 1000km. As dirt roads go, it´s not great. It´s also not awful...most of the time. Is it worth it? Absolutely!

You should all be jealous, because last night Trevor, Felipe, and I got to share a leg of lamb that we roasted over our campfire by a beautiful glacier river in the mountains of southern Chile. It was many, many mouthfulls of delicious salty lamby goodness. God has fantastic ideas. Not only does he make things tasty, he suggests, nay, demands that we eat them. Thank you, God!

We´re in Cochrane, now, about 300km south of the largest city we´ll encounter in Chile, Coihaique. The road today was rough and difficult. I want at massage for my hands and my upper-back/neck. Surprisingly my butt has not been in any pain. PTL?

Love! And this time, flying kisses.
Will and Trev

Villa O´Higgins

If you´ve ever gone hiking with a bicycle, you knew something I didn´t really know until the day before yesterday. It´s difficult. After busting our butts (which becomes rather literal when bicycling) and battling the wind to reach El Chalten so we could ferry across Lago del Desierto, we got to push our bicycles up steep hillside and through deep ruts for two hours and bicycle another 15km on some of the worst things I still classify as roads, we reached Chile in time to take the weekly ferry across Lago O'Higgins. We enjoyed three hours of rest on the ferry, and reaching the other side realized that Trevor´s rear tire had blown apart.
Anyway, yesterday was a lovely rest day for us. When we reached El Chalten, we caught up with our Mexican friend, Felipe, and will be bicycling with him for a little while. He's a great guy who speaks English well and has much nicer equipment than we do. Is that all I really have to say about him? Ahh, the things a bicyclist focuses on.

And so, here we go. 700 Kilometers of dirt and gravel stretch forth before us, but everyone we meet coming the other way assures us that ´vale la pena de hacerlo.´ So we are encouraged.

Love and hugs (though I wish the hugs could be in person and not only imagination),
Will and Trev

Regular Exercise

Thank you to all who offered suggestions to help Trevor and myself cope with our relational difficulties. It´s actually one of the great priveleges of this gjourney that we get to spend so much time growing relationally. Of course, the greatest gifts and experiences often come at the greatest cost. It´s good, so good.
I think my favorite suggestion was that we schedule some regular exercise and be sure to include it as part of our day. Exercise is important.
We will be headed north from this awesome glacier and incredibly touristy town to El Chalten which is near the base of Mt. Fitzroy. From there, we will enter Chile again and begin the most remote section of our trip on the southern Careterra Austral.
Internet in this part of the world is slow and expensive, so updates will probably be text-only for a little while, but be sure there are astonishing things to see in this part of the world.
We had a great day at the Perito Moreno glacier yesterday. We rented a car and went there with an Austrian couple that we met on the road. We spent a lot of time watching the glacier break, bits of ice fall into the water, and enjoying deep philosophical musings and stories. Before coming to South America, they bicycled through Tibet, and had many interesting stories to tell.
Love!
Will and Trev

Torres Del Paine

Trevor and I just got to spend five days trekking in Torres del Paine national park, an amazing place. Now, we head up to El Calafate where we'll get to see the Moreno Glacier, one of the three or so glaciers in the world that is still expanding.
It is an amazing adventure that we are getting to embrace every day, and I am more and more grateful for it. We do seem to be getting frustrated with eachother more frequently than before, so anyone with good tips for what to do with that feel free. We are doing well, and getting to learn so much about what it is to travel with, work with, learn with, live with, and love someone else who is so close almost all the time. Good practice for marriage I imagine.
Yesterday, while riding out of the park, I was imagining what it'd be like if we got into a fight, and while I'm fairly certain that Trevor could thoroughly pummel me in the end, I'm certain that he would visit me in the hospital almost as much as my mom.

It's a little odd, but I really am grateful to all who keep up with this blog and what is going on with us. It´s nice to know that people care.

Love,
Will and Trev

Puerto Natales

The famous doorway to the Torres del Paine national park is surprisingly squalid in a charming sort of way. Lots of tin and bright peeling paint makes for an interesting view from the surrounding hills, but is mildly depressing in town.
Trevor and I battled through 40-60mph winds yesterday, biking 50km toward our goal. Then we hitched for 35km to an estancia where we were able to stay the night. It was a fantastically difficult day.
Now that we´re here though, we´re planning to take several days brake from the bicycles, borrow some packs, and trek around the park for four days. It´s supposed to be spectacular.
T&W