A round at Augusta National

Imagine you are 27 years old and have never played a round of golf in your life. This is not that unusual, plenty of people have never golfed before. Now imagine yourself traveling in a foreign city, say Augusta, Georgia. You happen upon a couple of other travellers (who themselves are fairly experienced golfers). These guys are planning on playing a round at Augusta National, home of the annual Masters golf tournament. (Please omit the fact that this would actually be impossible, being that Augusta National is an exclusive members only course). Stay with me now...August National is reputed to be one of the most scenic courses in the world, a place people will see on television and just shake their heads as the camera sweeps over the manicured greens and lush spring flowers. You join the others and play a round here. It is difficult, you don´t have the right equipment, your putter and driver was bought at a discount shop for five bucks, and you are spraying the ball left and right. Still, you love it. You find yourself stopping every few mintues and just shaking your head at the simple beauty of the place. You know that all courses can´t possibly be so beautiful but you can´t sure, you don´t have anything to compare it to, right?

Sorry to make you read all that but I couldn´t help but using an analogy such as that to describe the experience I feel one my hiking partners must have gone through during my recent 4 night trek through the Fuegian Andes in extreme southern Argentina. At the campground in Ushuaia I met a 24 year old American, Paul, and we agreed to hike a 30 mile section of the Fuegian mountains to the northeast of Ushuaia. The next morning we ran into Vincent, a 27 year old Irish man who was also travelling alone and looking for a hiking partner. The three of us quickly decided to team up and off we went. On the way there we had to stop in town and buy supplies. For Paul and I it was mainly just food, but Vincent had very little of the necessary equipment as he had never done an overnight hike before. He bought a tent, he already had a very cheap sleeping bag, and we were able to share the rest of our equipment with him. The hike itself was stunning. The scenery was constantly changing, from boggy crimson red valleys where your feet sank to your ankles, to high mountain passes with jagged rocks and some lingering summer snow. I attempted to capture it all with my camera, but I am afraid it is one of those places that a camera will never be able to do fully capture. Every night we camped in a different idyllic spot, first along a snaking river in the valley, next in a high alpine meadow surrounded by an ampitheater of mountains. It is always difficult to compare hikes to others but this had to be right up there with the best I have ever done. We lucked out with the weather as well. All the nights except one were clear, offering a briliant display of constellations. We made camp fires every night and I slept like a log after each days long up and down stretches.

Most of the hike was done without the aid of a trail, and our route finding and map reading skills were tested. Having two others people to bounce possible routes off of made things a lot easier, as there would have been stretches where if I had been alone, I would have been a bit uncomfortable in not knowing if my chosen route was the correct one. Coming back to the golf analogy, I could not believe that Vincent was having this type of true and beautiful wilderness experience for his very first overnighter. If only he knew the countless dreary hikes and campsties the average hiker is required to slog though. Just like the average golfer is required to toil at their poorly maintained local municipal course, most hikers do the best with what they have, even if it is a short hike through a flat and featureless forest. If only we could all be so lucky to save the very best for the first time.