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Journey with us to Patagonia...
Imagine a place with the most dramatic landscape on Planet Earth - home to pumas, condors, countless glaciers, soaring mountain peaks, and lakes in shades of blue that seem unreal.
Are you coming?
Get the BMTM Experience: A Magical, One-of-a-Kind Adventure
Hey Ladies! It's time we hit the wilderness together.
This Patagonia experience isn’t available anywhere else – We combine both adventure and luxury on this special women’s photography trip.
We’ll be journeying to Patagonia for two weeks, beginning with visiting the Megellanic penguins in their natural habitat, then journeying to Torres del Paine where we’ll spend the next 9 days marveling at the dramatic landscape from the trail, taking on the challenge of the full O Circuit – arguably the most impressive hike in all of Patagonia. Walk alongside the vast Southern Patagonian Ice Field for a full day (an experience not available on the shorter W Trek), and enjoy delicious meals each night. Following our hike, we’ll relax in comfort and luxury at the Hotel Las Torres, and enjoy a Full Paine bus tour of the park to see all of the things we didn’t see from the trail, plus a horseback ride led by a gaucho.
Join my pal Pete, who starred in MTV’s Made as an expert outdoor survivalist guide, and me, your photography guide, as we all explore the ‘Yosemite’ of Patagonia. Meet like-minded female BMTM readers who also want this incredible, immersive experience, and indulge in an adventure that will show you what adventurous travel is all about in a safe, attainable, and fun way.
Our women’s adventure groups are kept small and are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis. This allows us to all get to know each other and for you to feel less like a number and more like an integral part of the experience, all while giving us access to smaller, local, more authentic, and ecological local operators. Women of all ages and backgrounds tend to join and our groups are a close-knit atmosphere.
Below you’ll find the itinerary beginning on March 15, 2020:
Meet Your Guides
Two wanderlust addicts and adrenaline junkies about to take you on an epic adventure!
Pete Kornmeier
Chief Adventure Architect
Pete has traveled to over forty five countries and led trips on six continents. He was featured as a leader in Alaska on MTV Made: Extreme Survivalists. Pete also has over 200 hours of wilderness medicine training and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. His favorite traveling experiences were volunteering for two months at the Tibetan Refugee Assistance Center in India and backpacking for fourteen days through remote areas of Wrangell St. Elias National Park in Alaska. He wants me to tell you that his strongest attribute is ability to pack snacks for a trip, but I think it's his inventive 'would you rather' jokes.
Kristin Addis
Ambassador of Exploration
Kristin is the founder and main author and photographer of bemytravelmuse.com. She has traveled to over fifty five countries on nearly every continent, hiking, hitchhiking, and solo traveling each time. She's always looking to discover new and exciting things, and to gain a new perspective on old favorites by connecting with locals and finding amazing photo ops. She is passionate about female empowerment and encouraging people to put their fears aside and see the world!
What previous attendees are saying:
More than an unforgettable adventure
Check out what we've got in store for you!
Here is the itinerary:
The Best of Patagonia
Adventures Followed by Comfort
Torres del Paine National Park is known for its dramatic mountains, the bright blue ice fields and glaciers, and golden grasslands. Prepare to see llama-like guanacos and incredible rock formations including the 3 granite towers from which the park takes its name. We’ll be hiking the O Circuit, where we’ll be treated to one jaw-dropping view after another on this all-inclusive adventure.
This hike can be challenging. Some days are long, parts of the trail can be steep, and Patagonia is known for extreme weather. Heavy winds and rain are typically unavoidable. You must be in good physical condition to tackle the O, free from injuries.
All that said, we have taken every effort to make this trip comfortable. We will have tents and food provided at each campsite, significantly lightening our loads, so that all you need to carry is your personal equipment. We have also added two days at the end of the trip at the Hotel Las Torres, for optimal comfort and good eating (and some very inventive cocktails!). Here’s what our adventure will look like:
March 15: DAY 1, Arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile
Arrive at any time in Punta Arenas, Chile, our gateway into Patagonia.
Meet your adventure tour leaders, Kristin and Pete, and other group members at our welcome dinner.
In the evening, walk to the Cerro De La Cruz for a view of the city all the way to the Strait of Magellan.
March 16: DAY 2, Isla Magdalena to Puerto Natales
After breakfast, we’ll take a 2-hour ferry journey to Isla Magdalena, Chilean Patagonia’s most important Magellanic penguin colony. With its rookery of around 120,000 penguins, this tiny island in the middle of the Strait of Magellan is a significant breeding ground for the species and was declared a national monument in 1982.
In the afternoon, we’ll hop on a bus to make our way to Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine.
March 17: DAY 3, Begin the O in Torres del Paine
We’ll wake up early in Puerto Natales to make our way to the incredible Torres del Paine National Park to begin our hike.
Our first day will be a leisurely 12 km (7.5 miles) hike to our first campsite where we’ll enjoy a hot dinner and local red wine for those who are interested in trying Chile’s local offerings (non-alcoholic beverages and clean water always available as well).
March 18-24: DAYS 4 – 10, Hike the O in Torres del Paine
Over the course of the next six days we’ll make our way over the first pass to Refugio Dickson where we’ll enjoy one of the loveliest campsites in the park. Play soccer with the rangers if you’re up for it!
Next we’ll make our way to the John Gardner Pass, the highest point of the circuit at 1200 meters (3937 feet) above sea level.
Upon crossing over the pass, we’ll have a breathtaking view of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest frozen body of fresh water in the world. There are only 4 trails in Patagonia where this is viewable, and we’ll be walking along one of them!
Cross the park’s famous suspension bridges, and view the famous Grey Glacier before we make our way to join the hikers on the W Trek.
Over the following days we’ll see more famous rock formations, like the Cuernos, shaped like a bull’s horns, and the French Valley with an amphitheater of breathtaking rock formations.
All along the way we’ll be taking photos and eating hot meals each night. Each campsite provides tents with thick sleeping mats, warm sleeping bags, and some will have hot showers for us as well. The refugios all have their own special charm and are typically in gorgeous settings.
We’ve scheduled this trip to be during ideal star-viewing conditions. Join Kristin for nightly astrophotography sessions – a much-loved bonding experience from our previous Patagonia adventure!
All of this will lead us to the crown jewel of the hike…
March 25: DAY 11, Las Torres
Today we’ll be waking up before sunrise to hike with the stars to The Towers that made the park famous.
Watch as the sunrise illuminates The Towers – truly one of the most spectacular sights in all of Patagonia.
After breakfast, we will make our way down to the valley to complete our trek!
March 25-26: DAYS 11-12, Hotel Las Torres
We’ll finish our trek and head to the Hotel Las Torres for comfy beds, delicious meals, and inventive cocktails!
The hotel is one of the best in the area for learning about the Patagonian Gaucho (known locally as Huasos) culture. Ride along the parts of the park that we didn’t see on horseback with local guides and cowboys.
We will complete our stay with a Full Paine bus tour of the park, taking us to breathtaking viewpoints that we couldn’t see from the trail. This gives us a chance to get the full picture of Torres del Paine, while resting our tired legs! This is a premium park experience that most visitors miss.
March 27: DAY 13, Return to Punta Arenas
On our final day, we’ll make a leisurely return to Punta Arenas where we’ll have our goodbye dinner and celebrate a fantastic experience in the jewel of Patagonia.
March 28: DAY 14, Fly Home
Depart any time.
All meals are included and all tents and rooms are double occupancy with the exception of some rooms in Punta Arenas which may be triple occupancy. We will make sure that everyone is happy and comfortable.
Please note that some campsites are more luxurious than others. While some have refugios, showers, and running water, others are quite basic with drop toilets and no showers. We cannot avoid the more basic campsites on the trail – it’s part of the experience – however most will have great facilities and even Wi-Fi.
This trip is open to 16 adventurous women.
Price: $4500
Reserve your spot today with a $900 deposit.
What to Expect from Our Trips
All the juicy details
This adventure is open to 16 female participants.
Thanks to Pete’s extensive wilderness training and his years as a mountain guide, and my direct experience hiking this trail during my two-month stay in Patagonia in 2015 and our experience leading 16 women on this exact trip in 2019, we’ve put together a trip that we’re both excited about and dying to repeat ourselves, and we know that you’ll love it, too. We worked tirelessly to find companies that are ecologically sound, that put money back into the hands of locals, and that will give us the most authentic and amazing experience possible. Here’s what you get:
• All permits, park fees, and local guides.
• All meals and some welcome drinks.
• Accommodation in comfort – double occupancy in most places including in tents.
• Ground transport, including to and from the airport.
• All listed activities and associated entry fees.
What’s not included:
• Personal camping equipment like sleeping bag liners, hiking poles, and hiking clothing.
• Travel insurance (required).
• Tips and gratuities, at your discretion.
• Travel to and from Punta Arenas incl. international flights.
• Any additional snacks and alcohol.
• Visa fees, if applicable.
16 spots are available to female travelers on a first-come, first serve basis.
Have questions? Contact me!