You will hear us!!

GVC has purchased an induction loop to provide those of us who need hearing assistance. It will be in operation at Chapter meetings. You can use it in at least 2 ways: if you use hearing aids that are equipped with a t-coil, just turn on that feature for the presentation. We also have 5 personal receivers for individual use. Either way, you will have an enhanced experience.
Contact Bill Lindenfelser or Katy Kuczek for more info.

Program:

Hiking the ‘O’ Route in Patagonia

by Luke Nelson

In February 2025, Luke Nelson took a 16 day Pack, Paddle Ski (PPS) trip to Patagonia with a few friends.  How did this trip come about?  Why is Patagonia so special?  Have you ever wondered where it is?  What is the infamous Patagonia wind?  What is the terrain like and what wildlife would you see?  What can be done in upstate New York to plan for a rugged trip like this?  What did they carry in their backpacks for the famous Torres del Paine ‘O’ Route?  Also:

• Did they see live avalanches?  Yes
• Did they walk among thousands of Magellanic Penguins?  Yes
• Did they see Glaciers actively calving off?  Yes
• Did they see lots of cool wildlife including Pumas?  Yes
• Did they have to walk on 1 person only long suspended bridges that swayed back and forth?  Yes
• Did they hike up a mountain pass and climb down to a massive glacier?  Yes

ADK-GVC member Luke Nelson will walk you through this trip to the bottom of South America in the infamous Patagonia area which covers parts of Chile and Argentina.  He walked among Penguins, spent 8 days hiking in Torres del Paine National Park (on the famous ‘O’ Route), hiked down to and along Grey Glacier, walked across several (single person only) suspension bridges, witnessed avalanches, saw Pumas and watched live Glacier calving.  He also hiked among many glaciers and mountains witnessing fantastic viewpoints such as Cerro Torre, the needles of Egger and Fitz Roy (the King of Patagonia).  

Luke is an avid hiker, backpacker, adventurer and suffers from wanderlust.  He is an Adirondack 46er, Catskill 35er (now 33) and is actively working on the Northeast 115 (having completed 88 thus far).  He has hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, climbed the Katahdin ‘Knife Edge’, climbed Half Dome (in Yosemite), climbed down into the Haleakala volcano in Maui and hiked in the Canadian Rockies.  He regularly hikes over 500 miles/year.

He has also visited and hiked in Glacier NP, Grand Canyon NP, Olympic NP, Shenandoah NP, Haleakala NP, Everglades NP, Great Smoky Mountains NP and went on a 10-day backpacking trip to the Wind River Range in Wyoming.