Forest Rambling

It's a first world problem, and I feel dumb complaining about it, but coming back to reality from the dreamland of Patagonia was tough. Transitioning from a life without chores or obligations to a fast paced urban assault has made for quite the tumultuous time. I keep saying this to my friends and family, but I have been extremely discombobulated since I stepped off the plane last week and have been struggling to get back into my normal routine. I suppose writing and sharing photos has been a cathartic step in this process. Part of what's responsible for my discombobulation is the newest addition to our family. Toph Beifong-McKan is an 8 month old blind kitten. The rescue that we adopted her from isn't sure of her exact story; we just know that she was found on a construction site. She had partial vision in one of her eyes, but both needed to be removed about a month ago due to some unknown complications. However despite all this, she's adapting pretty well to her new h...

Editor's note: Upon receiving reader feedback, I have opted to consolidate all Patagonia blog posts into a single trip report for ease of content consumption. I also would like to take a second and explain the numbering scheme - since the trip is centered around the O Circuit, I used day t-0 as the marker of the beginning of the hike. So negative day numbers correspond with days before the hike, and positive indicating days after the start of the hike.  Day t-3: travel by fir e I'm pretty nervous; I am completely out of my element when it comes to international travel. So it’s safe to say that I’ve pored over my packing list and visualized the trip many times through. On top of that, I really want to document the trip through photo and video, which adds elements of precision, creativity, and diligence to the already tenuous equation.   Of course I arrived quite early to Sacramento International Airport (SMF). With the speed and efficiency of their TSA checkpoint I’m through t...