This one's for you Herm!

Dear Dad,

We survived our trek of the infamous "W" and this first post after our adventure in Torres del Paine is for you. For the past five days we have climbed (and stumbled) over boulders, buckled down under fierce winds, traversed roaring rivers, pushes ourselves up scree slopes and eaten more pan y queso than I'd prefer to remember (and not enough pepperoni).

We have gazed at granite spires, we have weathered pelting rain, we have admired giant glaciers with blues unnamed, we have rested near peaceful glacial lakes, and every night I have thought of you, my bones and joints aching and weary.

It is your voice that urged me on to one more vista when my legs wanted to come to a dead stop. It is your love of nature that you infused in me that allowed me to sit in silent wonder amidst these grande montanas. So thank you--thank you for giving me the passion to explore, admire and respect nature and thank you for teaching me to keep going just a little further, even when I wanted to stop.

Con mucho amore,
Ingrid

PS. More stories to come...including Dame Elgar's silent film debut (it is silent only because the wind is blowing so hard you can't hear a word she's saying!)