HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well done J, well done.

Riley says: "There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls."

CERRO CASTILLO

Cerro Castillo basking in the alpenglow. Talk about some beautiful spires!

On our 32-day Mountain Travel Section of the Patagonia Semester, 17 students and 5 instructors completed a 105 km route climbing 6200 meters in the National Reserve of Cerro Castillo just south of Coyhaique, Chile.


The entrance to Cerro Castillo National Reserve.

During the first 10-day ration, our group learned basic camping, traveling, and mountaineering skills as they approached the mountainous playground surrounding Cerro Castillo. With a five person instructor team we had ample time to go and play while the students honed their abilities.


Max and Caitlin headed up a steep snow couloir on what we deemed an "Instructor Development Climb".


Victory is ours! The couloir goes!

After developing a competency with the foundational skills, we set up a base camp just below the Piñon Glacier where our students learned how to ferry loads, self-arrest, and travel on glacial terrain.


A wind wall Caitlin and I built to protect our tent from high winds... It was definitely put to the test. We spent three days cowering below Mt. Piñon before we were forced to retreat and take an alternate route to the New Zealand Camp.

The third and final ration was spent base camping to the west of Cerro Castillo developing more technical skills, ice climbing, and summiting peaks.


Max, Caitlin, and I took 13 students up this ridgeline. It was spectacular.

The last three days of the course, we split into two groups. Christian, Max, and Felipe took eight students to attempt Mt. Piñon, while Caitlin and I took the other eight to attempt Mt. Puntudo. In the end neither route went but both were incredible none the less.


Not a bad view eh? A local's campo with Mt. Palo in the distance.

We met up on the 29th day to be evacuated back to the NOLS campo due to volcanic activity in the region.

Caitlin heads in the field tomorrow, me the following day... Round two, ding, ding.

Riley says: "There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking, and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord."

PLUME

The Hudson Volcano that caused our course's evacuation is a mere stone's throw from the NOLS Campo. It was rather spectacular last night as the sun set.

Riley says: "The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette."

SAFE & SOUND

We are out of the field, early in fact. Yesterday we were evacuated from the Cerro Castillo area due to the "red alert" on a nearby volcano. Of all of the things you could be evacuated for, a volcano was the last on my mind!

Our course went really well and as we wrap things up we're already starting to prepare for our next courses. We head back into the field on Monday but I hope to put up some more photographs from our trip! Check back soon...

Riley says: "Life gives us brief moments with one another and if we're lucky one moment will produce memories that last a life time...”