35 MBAs. One Trek. Zero Showers.

By: Jake Zastrow

As an avid hiker, it’s probably not surprising that a trip to Patagonia has been on my bucket list for some time. So when I first learned about the Patagonia trek all the way back at Day At Kellogg (DAK), I never had any doubts that would be my plans for spring break, but I never intended to be leading the trip. However, one thing led to another and suddenly, there I was running the opening info session with my co-leader, Akiko Ippitsu 2Y ‘27.

Planning a backpacking trip with a large group, especially one that includes people who haven’t camped before, can be challenging. There’s a lot of personal preference involved in camping and hiking gear, and what works well for me might be a horrible solution for someone else. Even more difficult is trying to answer how someone might feel on a trip. I know how I’m going to feel after a few days of not showering (pretty grimy, but I’ll live), but it’s really hard for me to tell someone else how they might handle that feeling if they’ve never experienced it.

But challenges aside, we eventually got 35 students signed up, packed, and ready to go, which is how we found ourselves in the beautiful lakeside town of Puerto Guadal, Chile the Sunday before our trek began. The afternoon was complete chaos as everyone worked to wrap up final details. Gear was dumped out, triple checked, and repacked to be ready to go. Food was carefully planned out and split up equally. All around the group, it was clear there was a lot of excitement but also some apprehension for the week ahead.  

Everyone enjoyed one last night of sleep indoors, then Monday morning we were off!

There’s nothing much worse than bad weather when you’re on a camping trip, but sometimes that’s just what you get. Our first day of hiking was filled with perpetual rain, followed by waking up to a layer of snow on the ground the next day. Whie the mood stayed high, it was a tough way to start. But that all changed our second day once we had finally reached our campsite for the evening. We were set up in an incredible valley, and the sun finally broke through the clouds. Everyone ran out into the field and laid out, enjoying the sunshine and getting a stretch in after a long day. This moment was a clear shift in the group energy, and things only got better from here.

Later in the week, we got lucky with one of my favorite parts of any camping trip—stargazing. Our third night, the entire sky cleared, and we had a perfect view of the stars. Everyone found their own patch of grass and just enjoyed the moment and the silence, something that can be really hard to find during your typical busy MBA schedule. Across the entire week, this was something I continually found myself thankful for. Constant Slack messages, emails, news alerts, and everything else in daily life at home can get really exhausting. Having a week to be fully disconnected and out in nature is something that I find really helps me reset, and I know this sentiment was shared by many other people in our group.

Moving into our last day was bittersweet. I was incredibly ready for a shower and a real bed at this point, but it’s tough to leave such an amazing place behind. We closed out our final day with one last difficult climb followed by a nice gradual trail to the finish. While everyone experienced their own challenges throughout the week (including broken bags, shoes falling apart, mice attacks, and more), I think everyone came away with an experience they really enjoyed and will remember for a long time. Patagonia is truly a breathtaking region, and getting to lead this trip has definitely been a highlight of my Kellogg experience so far.

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