A little more on the park...

Just found this video that gives a little more background info.  And some awesome images of where we'll be!

Where I'm going...

Many of you have heard the story in person or read this really nice article in the Brattleboro Reformer, but I figured it would be best to elaborate a little bit on where I'm going and what I'll be doing for the next few months.

My friends Mack, Jon, and I are going to spend the better part of two months volunteering for Conservacion Patagonica, a non-profit which is doing some pretty incredible conservation work.  The organization's mission, as described on their slick website, is to:

preserve intact ecosystems by acquiring and protecting privately owned wildlands, and ultimately returning these landholdings to the public domain for permanent protection in the form of national parks or preserves

They've already created one national park, and are currently working on turning Estancia Valle Chacobuco--a 173,000 acre former sheep and cattle ranch--into the future Patagonia National Park.  The park will provide connectivity with the Jeinimeni and Tamango National Reserves and will serve to protect a pristine example of the Patagonian steppe.

While we're down there, we'll be doing the hard work of tearing down fences and removing invasive vegetation.  Given my past experience volunteering in beautiful places, I'm totally stoked.  Plus, the mission and end-product of this organization are truly staggering.  To be able to help preserve hundreds of thousands of acres in a sustainable way is a project I'll be proud to be a part of.

So it begins...

I came across one of my favorite Frost poems in an attempt to come up with some clever and meaningful title for this blog. Given the day and the weather, it seems surprisingly fitting:

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy
Evening

Whose woods these are I think I
know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with
snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and
deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

~Robert Frost

It's a cliche poem, I know. But the image of Frost pausing to contemplate the snow in that near-silent glade strikes me as the best way to kick off a blog about travel.

Miles to go and many more adventures to come!