Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We arrived in Puerto Natales late in the evening and scrambled off the bus in an attempt to out-maneuver everyone on our bus in the highly competitive race for cheap accomodations. It was an extremely rainy evening so the quickest way to find a warm bed and a hot meal was what we had our sights on. The Slovakians that we met in El Calafate had recommended a cheap hostel to us but it was packed solid. The manager of that hostel, feeling somewhat sorry for the two Canadians wandering aimlessly in the dark damp night, recommended another hostel that was run by a friend of his. Much to our delight, we arrived at Yagan hostel and they had exactly two beds left. The owners, a young couple with a new born baby, were some of the most accomodating people we have met on this trip so far; they arranged our transportation to Torres del Paine the following afternoon, provided storage for our luggage while we were on our trek, recommended places to buy our supplies for the hike, and did our laundry for super cheap. However, we were most appreciative of their services on the evening of our arrival. The beds were so inviting covered in their brand new fluffy white duvets, and the hostel itself was a welcomed refuge from the cold dampness outside with its wood fire oven pumping out glorious warmth. We layed down the burden of our heavy packs, filled our guts with pepperoni pizza, and headed to bed knowing we would be waking up to a very busy day.
Day 1:
Our transportation to Torres del Paine National Park was at 2:30 and we had a shopping list full of things we had to get accomplished before we could even think about boarding that bus. First and foremost on the agenda for myself was getting some school stuff sorted out. After contemplating my options I decided that applying to the University of Alberta for the spring/summer sessions was the best thing to do. In order to make that happen I had to get a letter of permission from UBC, which required a bit of paper work and some hoop jumping. I got everything done that I could to make going to U of A this summer a possibility in a few hours, and then it was on to acquiring everything we needed for the 5 day trek. We scurried around town for the next few hours frantically trying to get all the supplies we needed; 15 meals worth of food, snacks, warm clothing for Morgan, and ample water for the first few days. We managed to get it all done with no time to spare, as we were just finishing latching up our packs when the bus pulled up to take us to the park.
The bus trip took about an hour and a half and dropped us off at the entrance to the park. We paid the steep US$30 entrance fee, and then got on a combi that took us the rest of the way to Hosteria Las Torres. On the way we had to cross a bridge, and the driver made everyone get out because the bridge was not stable... we obviously felt super safe crossing it on foot. At 5:30 pm we finally reached our point of departure, and headed out with spirits high to face the 'W' (the name of the 5 day trek that attracts hikers from near and far). About a half hour into the hike, which had been a steep incline the entire way, we were already red faced and exhausted. As I looked back at Morgan she gazed up at me with a look that said, ¨How did I let you convince me that a 5 day hike after 2 months of inactivity was a good idea?! Carry me!" But, we pushed each other to keep going and after another hour or so we arrived at our first checkpoint, Campamiento Chileno. We took a quick breather there, and pushed on for Campamiento Torres, which would be our final destination of the day. That portion of the trek proved to be much easier than what we had left behind us- which was a good thing because otherwise I am not so sure we would have made it. The silence caused by the need to focus all our energies on climbing was replaced by a little more chatter, focused mainly on cursing the steep mountainside we had just overcome. It was much easier to appreciate the beautiful landscape around us when we weren't keeled over and out of breath. Just before sunset we arrived at the campsite. Tiredly we set about making camp, and even managed to make a meal of chicken noodle soup and hamburgers under the light of our headlamps. Shortly after it was off to bed- not only because we were exhausted but because we planned to wake up early and catch the sunrise at the lookout.
Day 2:
At about 4:45am we awoke to the irritating sound of my watch's alarm clock. I believe we both laid there in silence for a few moments hoping the other would fall back asleep and forget about the ludicrous idea of seeing the sunrise. It's probably overrated anyways- is what I thought. In the end though, we did manage to groggily drag our grumpy asses out of bed, and lumber up the steep mountainside in the dim light to see the famous Torres at day break. Unfortunately we happened to be following a group of Israelis who didn't have the slightest idea where they were going. They led us quite far astray to say the least- on the opposite side of a steep ravine covered in thick thorny bushes from where we needed to be in fact! Finally a couple girls who had done the hike the day before took us under their wing and led us through the brush to the lookout point. We escaped in one piece, although covered in prickles and my head hurting a little from a tumble backwards. I'm just glad nobody saw… it was quite embarrassing. Daybreak came a few minutes after we arrived at the peak overlooking the Torres, and it was (for lack of a better word) spectacular. I quickly forgot the pains of waking up so early, and understood why so many travelers make it a priority to see the sunrise at this particular spot. I would not go so far as to say that it was the most beautiful sight on the trek as many hikers do, but it definitely was worth trading a few hours of sleep for. We spent about 45 minutes snapping pictures from various angles, and then we made the descent back to camp. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal, PB & J sandwiches and Milo, we packed up camp and headed for the trails. The day before had been a tough stretch, but we had only covered 3 hours worth of the trail. In order to get where we wanted to be the following morning, we had to cover some 24 kilometers worth of ground- which made the day before look like a church picnic. The first bit was a repeat of the day before, as we had to backtrack to a certain point before heading for new trails we hadn't yet covered. I guess that is the downfall of tracing the shape of a 'W'- there is a lot of repetition. Anyways, the first few hours went by quickly without any noticeable aches or pains from the day before. However, once we hit a portion of the trek that was mostly downhill, we both started to notice the burden of our heavy packs. This I'm sure comes as no surprise to any of you, but Morgan and I love our food. No kidding hey. Well, although we simplified things somewhat in planning our meals for the trek, we didn't sacrifice quite as much as most do. Most people carry only dehydrated meals, pasta, crackers etc. We brought all that as well, but also a huge jar of jam, peanut butter, an avocado, sauerkraut, an onion, a pepper and various other non-essentials. What the hell were we thinking?! I knew very well that all those amenities would make our packs heavier, but somehow my stomach convinced me that I needed more variety and flavor. You have no idea how much we regretted that decision for the first few days. Although noticeably slower because of our packs, we made it to a nice flat portion of the trail. The sun was now out in full force so we shed a few layers of clothing, and Morgan took care of a few token blisters. The next few hours went by without any problems- and without any company really. About midday, we stopped at a cliff overlooking a glacier lake, and had a huge lunch- even bigger as a new goal of ours became to lose some of the weight added by all the food we were lugging. Around 2 o'clock we headed out again, only to be confronted by an unexpected challenge. Along with a half dozen other hikers, we were face to face with a raging river. I imagine that it is easy to cross at certain times of the year, but for some reason the stones that one might hop on to get across safe and dry were under the fast flowing water. After about 15 minutes of deliberation and thoroughly assessing whether we could cross it without tumbling into the freezing water, we made our decision. A few other hikers elected to cross in their boots- I guess not minding so much trudging along in uncomfortably damp footwear. We, however, were not too enthused by that idea. So, we took off our boots, threw them across the river, and with the help of a wire crossed the river. Thankfully, we managed to keep everything but our feet dry. In fact, although sort of an inconvenience, it was quite refreshing- due both to the frigid water and the unexpected surprise of having to cross a fast flowing river. Unfortunately the next surprise was a little less enjoyable.
After the river crossing we went along for a few more hours and managed to cover quite a bit of ground. At least that is what we thought. That's when we came around a point which we thought we had passed a long time before. We had read our rudimentary map wrong. We were, in fact, only halfway done the hike for the day. It is a huge understatement to say that we were disappointed. We were deflated- the wind completely knocked out of our sails. I can only imagine how we must have looked to the hikers that passed us going the other way hunched over and dragging our boots in the mud. I'm not too sure how long it was before we made it to the next checkpoint, but it seemed like an eternity. I admit, I was the worst of our motley crew, with my back aching and my hips bruised from my boulder of a pack. Upon reaching Refugio Cuernos, we rested our aching bodies while talking to a couple of nice blokes from Seattle. It was noticeable in their eyes that they pitied us, but they were kind enough to try and lift our spirits and encourage us to push the 2 hours more to Campamiento Italiano. Before heading out, we numbed the pain a tad bit with a beer, and ate some Cadbury chocolate- for energy of course. I won't bore anyone with the details of how incredibly sore and tired we were for the 3 some odd hours it took us to finish the hike that day, but truly any pity that any of you are willing to shower on us we welcome it. Once again we were tossing evil glares each other's way for allowing such a silly idea as a 5 day trek to become "a fun idea". The worst part, however, came when we reached a sign that read "Campamiento Italiano". I screamed out to Morgan that we had made it and she let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it was a false alarm- we had been fooled by the misplaced sign. The camp would prove to be another 45 minutes away- much to our dismay. When we finally did reach the camp, our joy was overshadowed by our exhaustion. We set up camp in the first site we found, ate a quick dinner and headed for bed very glad that day 2 was behind us.
Day 3:
Surprisingly we awoke in good spirits on Day 3. With what we thought to be the worst behind us, we laughed at what we had endured with the others in the camp who had covered the same route. We made our usual breakfast, and headed up the trail to Valle Frances. We bounded up the slope much quicker because we were able to do it without our packs. I suppose the sacrifices and pains endured the day before were worth it in the end after all- or at least more so than they seemed the day before. Valle Frances was labeled a "do not miss" in our guide book and it was immediately apparent why. It was absolutely gorgeous; glacier covered mountain ranges, waterfalls, and a huge valley with a lookout that gazes out at jagged cliffs and peaks. We reached the top long before we expected, and enjoyed a snack up at the Mirador. My only complaint would be that a woman from Spain decided to talk our ears off the entire time- even asking us to take pictures of her with our camera because she didn't have one. That being said, it wasn't that huge of an inconvenience, it just would have been nice to take in the view in some form of silence and tranquility.
We made the descent back to camp without any problems, and upon our return were confronted with a disgusting smell. Now, in our haste to set up camp the evening before we selected the campsite closest to the outhouse. Overnight it had rained quite a bit, which hadn't seemed like a problem when we awoke in the morning- but when we reached the campsite after visiting Valle Frances it was a different story! The rain water had caused the underground sewage storage to overflow, and due to the lay of the ground had drained right into the middle of our campsite! The awful smell that we encountered as we walked through the campsite was in fact our tent, as it was marinating in a filthy cess pool of urine and god knows what else! Actually, I don't want to think about it. Surprisingly only the ground sheet to the tent was particularly putrid smelling... It is a good thing that our tent is brand new and water proof. We elected to plug our noses, take everything out of the tent, pack the tent up, and wash what we could quickly in the river. Before we knew it we were packed up, and laughing every time we passed other hikers, being sure that we must smell absolutely awful. I'm sure that a hint of urine with tickle our noses everytime we set up our beautiful MEC tent from this day forward.
After our unfortunate encounter with the overflowing outhouse, it only took 2 hours to get across the flat terrain that led to Refugio Lago Pehoe. It was a welcomed break from the steep terrain we had endured the days before, and the "walk in the park" allowed us to actually stop and enjoy the beauty around us instead of just snapping pictures to enjoy later. It also helped take our minds off the dampness of our smelly gear haha
Lago Pehoe is the principle camground/refuge in the Torres del Paine. Most people start their treks from here, so it was sort of an odd sight for us to see everyone looking so fresh and clean after all we had already been through. In fact, we were quite irritated by the hordes of people who had arrived by catamaran and were staying in the hotel-like refuge and enjoying hot meals that had been prepared for them. Somehow it seemed unfair that people were visiting the same park as us but being pampered at the same time. However, we did enjoy the added amenities of Lago Pehoe as well, taking much needed hot showers and cooking our meals in a hut protected from the rain. The little general store also sold box wine so we indulged. We slept like babies…
Day 4:
We decided to sleep in on day 4 as we realized we actually had time to kill in the park as opposed to the need to rush our way through as we had originally thought. We finally headed out by noon time and were greeted by sunny skies. We made it through the first hour or so fine, but soon after getting our first glimpses of Lago Grey Morgan began to feel off. I think that by this point every part of us was hurting in one way or another, but when everything is hurting it starts to feel somewhat… dare I say normal? However, Morgan's shins, toes and ankles were taking a beating above and beyond everything else for some reason. She elected to put on her ipod for some motivation and to distract her from the pain. Thankfully, although the downhill trail was not forgiving, the views of Glacier Grey somewhat overshadowed the ailments. That is, until we got to Campamiento Grey. We initially had planned on making it a few hours further to Campamiento Guardas, but in the shape Morgan was in we decided to stop for the day. We set up camp, and headed the short 10 minute walk to a lookout to take pictures of Glacier Grey. Although we had seen a spectacular glacier in Perito Moreno, Grey proved to be just as impressive. We spent a few hours just boulder hopping and taking silly photos of the glaciers. Shortly after it was macaroni and cheese, hot tea, and early to bed.
Day 5:
The night before I so wrongly decided to neglect the directions on my malaria medication and took the pill shortly after eating dinner. In the middle of the night, after strange dreams, I woke up and ran for the bathroom. Unfortunately I was up all night vomiting macaroni and cheese. It will be awhile before I will be able to stomach that meal again. So, as the day before it was Morgan's turn to be the weakest link, on day 5 it was mine. However, now without any days to spare we had to trek a long way despite my illness. Somehow I managed to make it back to Lago Pehoe on the energy of 2 dried apricot pieces and Tang. I wouldn't advise hiking on such little energy but I couldn't stomach much more than that. We rested for an hour or so at the restaurant at Lago Pehoe, and both ordered the most disgustingly large sandwiches I have ever seen (see photos). Obviously the little bit that I did manage to choke down came up a short while later once we started hiking again. But, despite all the stops to go to the bathroom or attempt to vomit, Morgan did a fantastic job of pushing me onward. Apparently the scenery was quite amazing for the first while too… I wouldn't really remember.
The second half was horrible for both of us though, as the trail seemed endless, passing through flat prairie fields. The only highlight of that leg was passing herds of horses. We did eventually make it to the abandoned camp where I proceeded to fall over… clearly overjoyed. We made camp and went to bed- though it wasn't a very restful sleep as a mouse decided to terrorize us all night by trying to get at our food.
Day 6:
I was thankful to wake up and realize that I was rid of all my ailments. We packed up camp and hiked the uneventful 2 hours to the administration building. We had to hang out for awhile before the bus came to pick us up at around noon. It was strange to see packs of tourists wearing jeans and normal everyday clothes unfit for trekking. They annoyed Morgan- she was excited for a hot shower and clean clothes. Awhile later we were on a bus back to civilization sitting next to a lady with a Macbook playing solitaire. Weird.
I think it is easier for us to appreciate our time in Torres del Paine after the fact. As is often the case with time, it washes away the bad and leaves the good. Refined if you will. Right now, all I remember is the beautiful views and the time spent away from the business of cities- not the sore back or fatigue. It was such a nice break from the pandemonium that is Latin America cities- at least the big ones we were in in Brazil. I would recommend Torres del Paine to anyone who is into hiking- maybe next time we will try and conquer the circuit (which takes 10 days)… Vamos a ver.
- comments