I'm going to be a trekker for Halloween.

This Halloween will certainly be one that I'll never forget. It won't be for the reasons you may be thinking upon hearing that though. I won't be exposed to some new kind of cultural rituals or parties that only a Chilean Halloween could present. Instead, I'll be returning to the famed Torres del Paine national park (the picture above is actually from the park) that we had the chance to visit during our first weekend here in the south. This time we'll be attempting to conquer the famous W trek. It's called the W because of the path the trail takes around various peaks, glaciers, lakes and rivers along the way cause it to form the shape of a W. Clever enough for you?

Now this is no day hike. We're planning to arrive in the park to begin the journey on Wednesday and we won't be done until the following Monday morning. Although I'm currently an English teacher, my math skills tell me that's 6 days & 5 nights of camping and hiking. I can't remember ever being on a camping trip quite that long. I was in the Boy Scouts for a few years and I think the longest I'd ever gone was 5 days & 4 nights so this will certainly be a test. I am happy to report that instead of the obligatory weirdoes that made up my Boy Scout troop, I'll have company in the form of Marie (my fantastically, wonderful girlfriend) and 4 other volunteers (who aren't too shabby either). While hiking around and camping for 5 nights with 6 people will be tough, the benefits will surely present themselves as we'll get to hear all kinds of interesting stories.

Hopefully, this time next week I'll be writing a new blog about how awesome the trip was and not about how I know only possess 9 toes due to an unfortunate sleeping bag zipper accident. Plenty of pictures to follow, of course. For now, I've gotta go finish packing.

WISH US LUCK!