Up is Down: The Legend of Laguna Esmeralda
All aboard! A Journey to the Bottom of the World.
Or the Top?
Nestled along the ridges of Ushuaia, Argentina — legends of myth lie waiting to be discovered.
For beyond the wind-scorn peaks of the harbor valley, a mirage of untapped wilderness thaws with the summer glaciers.
Beavers build their dams as wandering souls traverse forbidden forests.
Unannounced, yet unwelcome? The marathon trek deciphers tourists from travelers.
It has been recorded — early explorers have searched, yet hardly any had found. An Italian’s voyage, Amerigo Vespucci, was all it took, to make this place renowned.
Lace up your boots and sharpen your sticks. Scale the jagged peaks of avalanching rocks. For the view from above will leave a lasting panorama in your midst.
The Fountain of Youth — la fuente de la juventud
February 2018. Layers of ice cracked atop frozen lakes as frigid wind slapped across dead trees. Wait, aren’t the seasons flipped below the equator? Or above?
Perspective is everything.
A gentle breeze nudged fleeting voyagers along a path. The lush tree line of Tierra del Fuego guided their route to the point where moss is worth its weight in gold and GPS postmarks: Returned to Sender.
Cast off to the end of the world, I thought as we scaled switchback after switchback. We could have just stayed on the ship…
Striking the ground a bit harder with a chiseled walking stick, we picked up the pace.
Stay on the ship?! What if Ponce de León or Magellan just stayed on the ship?”
An armada of white pines began to enclose the trail ahead. Once more into the fray of the great unknown. The Wild West? No, the final frontier.
