Let the camping begin! We made our way from the airport in Punta Arenas, Chile (now is the time to look at a map and see how far south this actually is) to Hostal Independencia and set up our tent. Our rumbling tummies took us over to a local seafood restaurant where we filled up and then went back to have a nap. We spent the later parts of the afternoon walking around Punta Arenas and getting oriented, checking out the grocery stores and picking up random supplies, and going to the central plaza to touch the big toe on the statue of Magellan. Local lore states that if you touch his toe, you will come back to Patagonia one day!
The next day, we took a bus to Puerto Natales, about 2.5 hours north of Punta Arenas. Puerto Natales is the gateway city to Torres del Paine National Park and as we pulled into town, I got really excited seeing the gorgeous mountains and snowy peaks surrounding the bay the town is situated on. We set up our tent at Hostal Josmar 2 and went to the 3pm talk at Erratic Rock, an American owned gear shop. One hour and a half later, it seemed as though we knew everything there was to know about Torres Del Paine and the various trail options. We had the time to do the full circuit loop around the park, so we set off from there and prepared our minds, our bodies, and our packs (with lots of food!) for the next 8 days.
DAY 1
We rose early and took the 2 hour bus ride into the park, passing gorgeous mountains, valleys, and lakes along the way. Once in the park, we saw wild vicunas (vanacos?), a relative of the camel, and some Andean Condors Passing overhead. We got off at park “administration”, the very last stop on the bus. While making our tuna and tortilla lunch, we got our first taste of the famous Patagonia wind. We heard that the weather and wind in Torres Del Paine was unpredictable, but there was nothing like actually experiencing it. After browsing the informational posters and several large maps at the park administration, we started hiking on our first day of the trek (known as the tail of the Q), which turned out to only be two hours of relatively flat terrain we were thankful for. The view to our right was of the entire Paine Mastiff, consisting of sedimentary rock with a main layer of a granite intrusion that was heated and uplifted about 12 million years ago. The Paine Mastiff stands alone and is not connected to the Andes at all, although the surrounding mountains (part of the Andes range) make the scenery even more stunning! We also learned that all the water running through the park is the result of melt off from two massive glaciers. We arrived at our first campsite, Las Carratas, and chose a spot that would best shelter us from the wind. The view and the surrounding campsite area consisted of an overlook above a wide, blue glacial melt river and dead trees, twisted, and gnarled into shapes by wind and fire. We had a nice dinner of queso risotto and a massive chocolate bar then chatted with the other campers before heading to sleep in our tent. The stars were fantastic after the sunset at about 10pm!
DAY 2
We woke up to a magenta colored sky for sunrise! We began walking up and over rolling hills into a river valley where we got an excellent view (mirador) of Lake Pehoe and the Paine Mastiff. It was really neat to be looking into the valleys we would hike into for the next few days. Just as the rain began to come down, we took our lunch break in a nice shelter for campers. From there, we headed along the “W” path towards the base of the French Valley and Campamento Italiano. The rain was off and on and we passed several high mountain glaciers, Lago Skottsberg, and lots of other hikers! When we crossed the river we had been following, we found the most amazing campsite right next to the river (it was the last one and very far from the bathrooms, but still it was the best!)! We had an incredible view of the French Glacier from our tent door. JJ could not resist the urge to give himself a wash in the freezing, ice cold, glacial water (seriously, the water was coming off the glacier only about a mile from our tent site). I dipped my feet in and they almost instantly went numb, just to give you an idea of how cold the water was. After pasta dinner and our nightly chocolate bar, it was time to tell the glacier goodnight.
DAY 3
The sky was clear blue when we woke up, giving us an unbelievable view! The clouds quickly rolled in after breakfast, but we continued with our plans to spend the day hiking up the French Valley and back without our heavy backpacks. The trail began to climb along rocks and shale left as the glacier has scraped up the valley over thousands of years. We had been hearing the “white thunder” from the glacier as it dropped huge chunks of ice all morning due to the intense sunshine, but as soon as we got to a nice viewpoint, a massive piece broke off! We got some great views and then continued our hike along the right side, passing by the French Glacier and into the depths of the valley. We walked through rolling forests and over small hills for about 2 hours until we finally climbed up to the mirador, where we got a very nice 360 degree view of the whole French Valley for our lunch spot! There were lots of people at the viewpoint and we longed for less crowded trails and climbing over the mountain passes we saw in the distance (which we would get to a few days later!). Back at Campamento Italiano, we decided to stay there a second night instead of hiking to Los Cuernos because our spot was so nice. We washed out some clothes in the river and relaxed before our long day of hiking the next day. Although, the wind got to be so strong later in the evening we had a sandstorm inside our tent because of the mesh lining!
DAY 4
We actually woke up late because of our battles with the wind and sand. But we felt well rested and ready to battle the wind along the trail. For our lunch stop at Los Cuernos, it was so windy that our Peanut Butter and Jelly filled tortillas almost blew away! As we walked along the shore of Lake Pehoe, we saw a waterspout (tornado that forms over water) due to the high wind! We thought the wind had died off a bit as we took a marked shortcut towards Refugio Chileno that gave us great views of crystal blue Lake Pehoe. Well, when we got to the pass into the valley of the Torres we realized we were wrong! We could actually see the wind and rain coming out of the valley towards us in sheets! We bundled up as quickly as possible (I sort of looked like a bank robber with my buff scarf wrapped around my head) and headed into some of the strongest winds I have ever faced in my life, but at least the trail was downhill from there! We took a rest stop from the weather at Refugio Chileno, where we sat by a warm fire and shared a nice tall glass of red wine! Realizing that the rain and wind were not going to stop, we decided to put our packs back on and head the hour more up the trail to Campamento Los Torres. The way was uphill, but sheltered by trees most of the way. When we got to the campsite, we made our way to site 29, where our friends Caitlin and PJ had left us some buried treasure when they were at the same campsite only about 2 and a half weeks before us! We dug up the note they wrote us following their directions and read it before bed, putting huge smiles on our faces!
DAY 5
Most campers wake up at 5:30am to hike up 45 more minutes to the view of the famous “Torres”, the three towers of Torres Del Paine National Park. We heard the alarm go off, just barely, due to the loud rain hammering down on our tent. We decided not to get up and let the weather tell us what to do, which was obviously to sleep until about 11am. By lunch time, the skies had cleared and it had turned into a beautiful day! We took all of our things outside the campsite and onto a rock field to dry out. Everything was crisp and as good as new in about 30 minutes thanks to the wind and sunshine combo. We saw a few large foxes walking through the rock field while we were waiting. After having lunch, we decided to hike up and see the Torres. The short hike was steep and well worth the views! The Torres sit at the base of a little lake and the views were really clear! This was a very romantic spot to spend Valentines Day together. We decided that we would spend the night at the campsite again and try our luck for the famous orange sunrise views of the Torres in the morning. We had the best dinner of the trip which was pasta with pesto sauce and a ton of parmesan cheese and felt happy about our decision to stay.
DAY 6
We woke up at 5:30am to partly cloudy skies, but were determined to try to see those first rays of sunshine on the Torres. So, we geared up in all our clothes, packed the stove and our breakfast, then put on the headlamps and began our hike up to the viewpoint. When we got to the top, you could not see the Torres, but you could see lots of snow! The sunrise was gorgeous, but you could not see the rays of light or even the towers due the heavy clouds all around us. The weather at that high altitude was freezing, but with JJ’s expert cooking skills, he got the stove fired up and we enjoyed our hot coffee and oatmeal while trying to wait out the weather. We gave up waiting when quarter sized snowflakes started falling from the sky and made our way back to the campsite. We quickly packed up the tent and headed down and out of the valley. We made our way to the Hotel Las Torres just in time for lunch, which JJ initiated with an ice cream and roll of cookies he bought from the lodge store. We used the afternoon sunshine to dry out our tent and continued hiking into the “backside” of the park. Although it was mostly sunny we battled wind, rain, wind, rain, wind, and rain constantly, but only for a few minutes before the sunshine came out again. The weather is so crazy here! We walked over rolling hills and got dramatic views of lakes and neighboring mountains. We crossed into a river valley and then walked through it finally reaching Campamento Seron. We ate dinner, watched for Condors (that we thought would come get the dead horse in the field nearby the campground – but they didn’t show up), talked to some nice Americans and one Dutch guy, and then headed to sleep.
DAY 7
We woke up to a beautiful day and no condors, but a lot of hiking to get under way (19 miles to be exact!), so we set out after breakfast and immediately began climbing out of the river valley we were in. We filled up our water at a spring along the way and got asked questions in Hebrew by a crew of Israelis for about the 10th time since we started the circuit in Torres Del Paine. Apparently, JJ or me, or both of us appear to be Israeli – and there are a lot of Israelis in Chile right now! So, after politely explaining that we knew the language they were speaking to us was Hebrew, but no, we did not know any of it, and yes, we were American Jews, we began to hike again along the trail. We got amazing views of the glaciers and mountains surrounding us on the backside and it turned out to be the prettiest day with the most spectacular scenery we had seen so far in Torres Del Paine. After finding the Dutch guy’s camera along the trail, then walked with him to lunch at Refugio Dickson. At Refugio Dickson, we had to stock up on supplies, since we extended our trip from 8 days to 9 days and we were hoping to buy some pasta, packaged foods, etc. However, being Chile and all, at the mini-store all we could manage to buy were a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, a can of tuna, mayonnaise, chocolate bars, cookies, and milky way bars. JJ had a complete nutrition plan ready to tell me how these foods would help maximize our hiking abilities, but I was really too hungry to think about it, so we ate! We had a half dozen eggs and bread with lunch, right after JJ fixed some complicated problem with his stove using some tools he produced from his backpack. I asked him why he had the tools and he said he always did just in case, so I was very happy for the extra weight for a record of 5 minutes, seeing as he fixed the stove. After lunch, we headed up and up into the mountains and then dropped into a river valley, making our way to Campamento Los Perros, which sits at the base of the Los Perros Glacier. We camped next to some nice American guys from Wisconsin and ate our dinner in the cook shed due to the warmth coming from the door! We treated ourselves to a can of pinapple for desert, which we heated up on the stove for a warm, tasty treat!
DAY 8
I woke up very excited to climb over the John Gardner Pass, which I think was the highlight of the backside circuit. The trail began to climb almost as soon as we left the campsite and after a series of muddy forested sections, we made our way to the rock field below the pass. It was a little intimidating to see hikers so far above us and in the distance, but our packs were light, the weather was perfect, and we were feeling good. We made it to the top of the pass about 2 and a half hours after we started hiking and the views were absolutely spectacular of the great southern ice field on the other side. I had seen it before in pictures, but the sheer size of the ice field was breathtaking. I took so many pictures of this incredible sight and stopped JJ frequently just so I could stare at it. We began our immediate descent towards the edge of the ice field, Glacier Grey, heading down through a forest on an incredibly steep section of the trail. For the next 3 hours we went almost straight downhill and thanked our lucky stars we did not have knee problems. After a few more hours, climbing down and up some ladders, and repeatedly enjoying the amazing views, we made it to Camapamento Los Guardas, our last campsite. The campsite was really quiet and not heavily populated with campers, so we really enjoyed our stay there, especially with the view of the edge of glacier grey almost all to ourselves!
DAY 9
In the morning, we woke up before sunrise to began heading down to the Catamaran dock in front of Paine Grande Lodge. We were moving incredibly fast, but also enjoying the early morning sights. Within the first 30 minutes, JJ pointed out a small hawk sitting in a branch only about 1 foot from where we were standing! We saw Andean Condors zooming over the hills above us and enjoyed the last views we had of Glacier Grey, the southern ice field, and Lago Grey. After battling more occasional wind gusts, we finally made our way back to Lago Pehoe and to the Catamaran dock. Some really nice Americans we met with a gluten allergy that were staying at the nice lodge and gave us their amazing veggie sandwiches when we got there because they could not eat them, but we sure could! We enjoyed the pretty and scenic ride in the catamaran alongside the park we had just walked through and around! After returning to Puerto Natales, we went out for a celebratory dinner at a local Chilean/American owned Brew/Pub, Bagueles (wild horses). The food was excellent and we talked about the highlights of the trip for hours over our Pale Ales.
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