I am always amazed at the transition from wilderness to city - not it’s difficult or awkwardness, but rather, how easy it is. A shower, a chair, the fast pace of civilization… these are the things that are part of our daily lives, and like walking or riding a bike, happen naturally and without thought. The abruptness for me however, is simply not being ‘on the trail’. I feel lucky to wake up and see the most amazing panorama of glaciers and peaks out of my tent door.

My life is like everyone else's. I wake up eat breakfast, work, and whatever else, but inside me from this point forward will always be Patagonia.

Pekin, Louis and Arial arrived early at our cache camp with a conclave of 10 or 12 horses that included two young foals.

‘Hermano,’ Louis said to me in greeting. ‘Brother.’

Initially, we were planning on hiking back to Pekin’s estancia but after seeing the condition of the trail we opted for horses. While Louis and Arial loaded up our Granite Gear duffels, Pekin rode down to the cow that had his broken it’s neck several days earlier to finish the butchering job and bag the meat. The sky was clear blue and the twin peaks of Cerro Balmaceda were stunning in the distance.

Getting onto my horse, it was hard not to feel a bit like we were in a scene from the wild west. Winding down from our camp, the terrain is difficult at best. Thick branches whipped at our faces while the horses plunged chest deep into one mud hole after another, crossed rivers several rivers and scraped up steep rock faces.

As the morning wore on, I became acutely aware that the term sure-footed must have originated from horsmenship.

After a couple hours of slow progress, we stopped for a break at a small camp. The three Chileans had camped here the previous night to minimize the length of the long ride back. I was glad for the break, but smiled even more when Louis shoved a dirty tin cup in my direction.

‘Whiky?’ He asked. ‘Whisky?’. How could we say no? We talked and laughed for over 30 minutes. Louis and Arial managed to polish off the rest of the Red Label. Ryan translated as we learned more about their life. Pekin’s family was one of the few offered grazing rights within the park. Scattered in and around were 1,000 cows all with the ‘LG’ brand (which coincidentally is our nickname for Merritt — little guy). Both Pekin and Louis said they preferred it here to the city, but when I pressed Louis more, he replied. ‘It is hard work’.

The terrain opened up after the camp and we were treated to stunning views of the Tindal Glacier and River. Riding up, it had been completely overcast, but now with clear skies, we rode mouths agape, in awe at the scenery surrounding us.

‘Casa Prima,’ I said in my best broken Spanish. ‘Incredible home.’

Image: Ryan and Pekin.