To Patagonia and Back Again

Romans 1:20
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse"

Standing in front of the Torres del Paine

This verse and others like it, kept on running through my head throughout my trip in Patagonia.  I am pretty sure that I have never been in a place so beautiful.  Nestled in the southern tip of South America, Patagonia is one amazing canvas for God's handiwork.  Around every bend there were granite towers whose beauty surpassed any cathedral, breathtaking skies, and deep mountain lakes tinted with blues and teals.  As I looked at this beautiful scenery, all I could do was think "wow if the artwork is this beautiful, how amazing must the Artist be!"
I ended up staying in Patagonia for 5 days, trekking with an international group across what is known as the W trail.  At first I didn't think that this trip would have a particularly high difficulty level; however, we did end up putting in more miles than I realized. We ended up trekking an average of 12 miles a day, granted that was just with day packs and that we stayed in mountain refugios and not tents.  It was quite the experience.  On the last two days, our group eased on the hiking and turned to other means of the exploring the Patagonian wilderness: kayaking and glacier trekking.  

Getting ready to kayak!

When we were preparing to kayak, we put on wet suits and jackets to protect ourselves from the cold, but then there was one more article of clothing that at first I did not know what to do with.  It was this semi-round piece of cloth with a hole in the middle.  I then realized that it was the skirt that sealed us into our kayaks.  So, yes, I have now worn a skirt in my adult life, and I was very glad that I did.  I was amazed at how well the sealant worked at keeping the freezing water out of the kayak and us dry.  When we started, I was in a two man kayak with a new friend I met named Suen and we decided to put me in the back because I weighed more.  That position, however, also meant I was in control of the rudder which took some time to get used to.  I am sure that after crashing into a small iceberg in the first few minutes, that Suen was rethinking our plan of having me in the back!  Fortunately, it wasn't just pilot error as the rudder wasn't in the water yet, but I still felt bad.  After that I learned quickly and we avoided any more collisions with icebergs.  The experience was a blast!  I will never forget how amazing it was to see towering icebergs rising out of the water in front of your kayak.  It made you feel small and mesmerized at the same time.

A view of one of the icebergs from the water.

The next day we had trekking on Glacier Grey on our itinerary, but then the only tourist boat broke down and we had no way of getting back to Puerto Natales except to go back on the trail we came with our packs.  This option was not one that we were not so keen on, especially because it would mean that we would have to miss the glacier trekking and some of us had very heavy packs.  But due to  our awesome guide and some persistence, we finally were able to get a non-tourist boat to convey us to the end of the lake after our trek.  In the morning when we found out, I was inside the refugio and I could literally hear one of the girls in our group let out a shriek of excitement outside. It turned out that I was very glad that we did not have to give up that part of the trip.  The glacier trekking was amazing.  One of my favorite parts, was a deep blue pool  that we stopped at, complete with three waterfalls.  It was spectacular.  Besides the beautiful scenery, at that point we also got to try our hand at ice climbing!

Now I am sitting in the airport on my way home, and am reflecting on my experiences.  Patagonia was probably on of the best ways I could have ended my trip. It was breath taking and gave me the space to think about my trip outside of the context of Lima.  As I have been thinking, I have been realizing how much God as blessed me these past 4 and half months.  I have gone through some lonely times, I have seen some spectacular sights, and I learned a lot about myself and this world that I live in, yet through it all the most important thing that I have seen is that God was with me every step of the way.  At no point did he need me, but He always loved me.  In fact in many ways, my plans didn't work out according to the way I had thought that they would in my head, but rather the things God had planned for me He did in His timing and His way.  It was almost as if He were saying to me "Nathan, I am the planner and I have everything in control.  My plans will be fulfilled with or without you, so all you have to be concerned with is being faithful and obedient in the situations I have placed you."  My hope is that, if there is nothing else, that I can take that with me from this experience.  I have seen His faithfulness and now is the time to use what I have learned and put it into practice in my daily life.  I will post one more time once I reach San Diego.  I hope that this blog has helped you guys get a small taste of my experiences abroad.