Stranded in Chilean Tierra del Fuego, Part 6

Hiking with new friends on beautiful Isla Navarino

[Start this series from the beginning, or catch up by reading Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5]

On Wednesday, my third day of on the Chilean side of the Beagle Channel, I still didn’t know how I was going to get back to my home base in Ushuaia and I’d made a good bit of progress scanning files for my novel research.

So when Humberto Molina, the friend of my Argentinian host family, messaged to ask if I wanted to go hiking with him and some other people, I figured it was a good chance to see more of the island.

When else was I going to get an opportunity to hike in some of the most remote, pristine wilderness on the planet?

Hiking is a great way to make new friends. Behind us is the town of Puerto Williams, on the edge of the Beagle Channel.

Molina was a great contact to have, a natural includer and people-magnet. The other friends he’d rounded up were also temporary residents: Nora, who ran one of the guest houses in town, and Amanda, a theater student in town to develop a community theater project as part of her program of study.

Not long after we started off, two other companions joined us: a couple of dogs that were sleeping outside. When they saw us walking toward the hiking trails, they decided they wanted in on the adventure. At least one of the dogs had a collar, and the others assured me the dogs were known and cared for—they just liked to join in on a hike any chance they could.

Sure enough, the dogs bounded ahead to show us the trail, pausing to make sure we were following as we should.

Following the dogs’ lead on the road out of town, toward the hiking trail.