Welp, i returned from another successful trip to Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine last night. Accompanied by WPER cartographic and marketing experts as well as two Idahoan wayfarers, our party of five set out to trek a modified version of the famous W circuit - 88km in in five days! True to form, the Patagonian wild lands kept us on our toes with ever changing and challenging weather conditions. Driving rain, blinding snow, blistering sun, and tempestuous winds - we experienced it all. Such are the joys of camping.
Our trip began tuesday night by making the three hour bus ride from Puntas Arenas to Puerto Natales. Once we arrived in Natales, we checked into our hostel and headed out for a final "real" diner of churasco completos (Chileno steak burgers covered in cheese, tomatoes, gaucamole, and mayo!) and cervezas around 11:30 pm. After a fitful sleep in the hostel (the disco next door closes around 5 a.m. i think?) we had a standard Chileno breakfast (white bread, marmalade, and instant coffee) and caught our bus to Torres Del Paine!
We played it by ear deciding which side to begin the W. If the weather was nice and we were able to catch a glimpse of the towers, we would start from the Torres side. If the weather was less than optimal, we would start our hike from Glacier Grey. Given the overcast skies and gusting winds, we decided to hop on a boat and start our hike to Glacier Grey. Almost as soon as we stepped off the boat it began to drizzle and we set up camp in the rain. And so the tone was set for the first three days of the trip...
So the hike to the glacier was pretty- uneventful - but pretty. The terrain was rolling and fairly easy to trek. There were ups and there were downs. There were downed logs to crawl over. We saw icebergs in the lake and lots of clouds in the sky. The glacier was massive. It was so big in fact that it forms part of the Southern Patagonia ice field. It is currently retreating (science speak for shrinking) possibly due to global climate change. Who knows really? I can't really think of much more to say about it. We turned around and began the hike back to camp. That's when the rain and wind really started. Coincidently, this was the about the same time i realized my jacket is not as water proof as i thought it was. The rain came down at a pretty constant rate and nearly sideways for the last hour or so of our hike. I went to bed cold and wet that night, and not surprisingly woke up in a similar state. Such are the joys of camping.
So, it rained all night. When we woke, we packed our gear away wet, ate some oatmeal, and headed out for the Valle Frances. Now, i was very excited to see the Valle Frances as it is home to the Quernos de Paine (Paines Horns!). This was actually the portion of the hike of i was most excited to see. However, the weather did not cooperate. It was overcast all day, albeit less windy which was nice, with very low ceiling and limited visibility. We set up camp, took a nap, and waited for the skies to clear. Two hours later we decided we couldn't wait any longer and ascended into the cloudy abyss and climbed the trail up the mountain in hopes of getting above clouds and getting a clear view. Much to our surprise (bear in mind it's nearly summer time in South America) we found ourselves in a bit of a snow storm. We hunkered down in a grove of trees waiting for the weather to pass only to find about an inch and a half of snow on the ground ten minutes later. We called it a day and hiked back down to camp where we lightened our pack weights be consuming the liter of gin, three liters of tonic. and two limes we packed in. Such are the joys of camping.
Blame it on the gin or plain ol' good luck, but we all slept well that night! The wind died down and the snow stopped. Also worth noting, the Idahoans randomly ran into another Idahoan they knew from school on a different trip in the park. Talk about a small world! Such of the joys are traveling abroad? I think so. Anyways, we woke up to partial overcast and calm skies. Our spirits were high and we figured we would give the Valle Frances another go as we were all hoping to see some impressive mountains, but it was still socked in. No worries, we had 26km of rolling terrain ahead of his to our final camp. So we ate breakfast, enjoyed the calm weather, took photos when the blue sky peaked through, and just put one foot in front of the other so to speak.
After a long but pleasant day we arrived at Campamento Torres, about 2k below los Tres Torres. We set up camp under skies darkening with clouds, realized we wouldn't be able to to see the Towers, and took a much needed nap. We woke up around 8:30 p.m. with plenty of day light left and took a gamble and dragged our weary shit asses up the mountain in the off chance that we would get an unobstructed view of moutains. The start of the hike looked promising, but clear skies quickly gave way to more overcast conditions. About half way up the trail we decided to sit down and wait to see if the skies would clear. After so many miles, we had a hard time motivating ourselves to climb all the way to the top without a guaranteed view of the Towers. After a little more than a half hour of shivering and sitting in the cold (need i remind you again that it's supposed to be summer down here...) the clouds broke and we jumped at the chance to catch a glimpse. We sprinted to the end of the trail and got a somewhat clear view of the Towers for about four and a half minutes. The joys of camping.
We hiked back down to camp and the group planned to wake at dawn to watch the sun rise on the towers. Thankful, i already did this the last time i visited the park and did not feel the need to repeat the task. i told everyone not to bother waking me at 4:30 as i intended to sleep like a rock after such a long day. Needless to say, no one made it up at dawn, but somehow managed to get up to the top of the trail again by 6:20 or so while i slept warm and comfortably in my tent. However, camping does not lend itself to sleeping late so i was up around 7 a.m. anyways with my boots tied tight, ready to hike into yet another valley.
And so we hiked into the Valle de Silencia. The day began blue bird and warm. I actually hiked in shorts for about 3km! After we made our first ascent up the valley across the snow field, the wind started to blow. Once we finally made it to the talus field, the wind really began to blow and became a pain in our collective asses. However we ignored our tired legs and refused to accept weariness. We persevered to the end of the valley, saw what there was to see, acted happy about it, and high tailed it out of there. The joys of camping.
In conclusion, the weather in Patagonia is extreme and manic. It forces you to change layers/coats quickly and often resulting in tiring and tedious stop start hiking. While the trip was highly enjoyable, i was ready to head our of the mountains by the fifth day for a real meal, a hot shower, and bed.
Language Lesson of the Day: This is the longest entry i have ever written. It rambles. I am sorry. Say it with me now! Ésto es la entrada más larga que he escrito. Se divaga. Lo siento.
