Fall Rock Arrives in Patagonia!

Written by: Madeleine Berkowitz 

Well, the desert sun couldn’t last forever. In the northern hemisphere, F-Rock actually had some pretty good luck, weather-wise. So really, we were due for some storming. And after all, what’s even the point of a formative wilderness gap year experience without at least a little cold, wet misery?

Our stay in the Patagonian wilderness started with winds so strong we could barely walk in a straight line, and our first night featured an un-forecasted snowfall. We also completed our first major river crossing, which was absolutely freezing, but very fun in retrospect. High points of the hike included incredible views, a visit from some wild horses, guanacos under a beautiful rainbow, and seeing flamingos. On the third day, we reached Cerro Colorado, an incredible collection of basalt french fries rising out of a very tall and chossy hill. We camped at the bottom, next to a beautiful clear spring that emerged from a hole in the ground just a few feet from our tents.

Then, after one day of climbing, a blizzard hit. Two of our tarps almost blew off in the night because of the winds. That was around the same time all our stoves stopped working. To stay warm, we spent a day holed up in our sleeping bags and all our layers. We played a lot of hangman. And when we woke up the next morning, the snow was gone. In fact, it was extremely sunny, and it would stay that way for the rest of the trip.

We made the most of our remaining days at Cerro Colorado with lots of climbing. We saw condors flying by and landing on the rocks above our heads, and lizards poking their tails out from stones on the ground. More folks got to lead on gear, and we all got our first multi pitch experience of the semester. The route nearly reached the top of the whole of Cerro Colorado, and the views from the top were incredible.

F-Rock faced plenty of challenges this exped, but I think we managed pretty well. We’ll see you after Cerro el Aguila!