Patagonia Part 2: Torres Del Paine

Let me set the scene for our first real trek in Patagonia...On our marathon bus ride from Ushuaia (Argentina) to Puerto Natales (Chile) I was explaining to Mariah that if we wanted to get a good flavor of Patagonia, we should do 20+ days of hiking over the course of the next 4-5 weeks. We spent the bus ride debating the multi-day hikes we wanted to tackle and day dreaming about all that we were going to experience and see. Then, while exiting the bus at our destination, I sprained my ankle and we watched over the next couple hours as it swelled to the size of a tennis ball...all hopes and dreams flashed before my eyes...

Well, needless to say, we took a day or two to discuss what we wanted to accomplish in South America (and especially in Patagonia) while I rested up and began to recover. Thankfully, my ankle seemed to be healing relatively quickly, so I decided to grin and bear it and get started exploring this special place. In Puerto Natales (the base town of Torres Del Paine National Park) we geared up, bought our trekking food rations and decided to wrap the ankle, take a handful of anti-inflammatories and head to the mountains.

In the National Park, there are a few multi-day treks. We decided to do the popular ¨W¨ route, starting at the eastern end of the park to hike up to the "Torres" and eventually making our way to the western end to see Glacier Grey. As most well planed trips go, it turned out nothing like we planned for both good and bad reasons:

Weather - The first day we climbed for 4 hours in beautiful weather and arrived at the Torres lookout (large rock pillars rising out of the mountain) to find the tops hidden by clouds. The third day of trekking after leaving our camp ground (Los Cuernos) and heading up the center arm of the ¨W¨(Valley Francais) we encountered severe wind and rain. We thought, ¨No problem, we have rain gear and are warm so let's keep going.¨ Like champs we made it to the top of the vista and have some amazing photos to prove it... but the next 4 hours back down the valley and across to Campamento Pehoe we encountered 60km winds and rain (a great way to wrap up our marathon 9-hour day). That night while we slept restlessly in our tent, it dropped below freezing and ice covered our rain fly. We also had a few friendly mice visitors that kept trying to get cover from the weather between our interior and exterior tent walls...we had to knock them off several times. The next morning when the rain and sleet still hadn´t let up, we had second thoughts about heading up to Glacier Grey to finish the trip. When we saw the fog cover and learned the forecast was bad for the next few days, we opted to go pack to Puerto Natales and have a hot shower...we may not have finished the ¨W,¨ but it was a very impressive ¨U¨!!!

Animals - Rats and camping don´t mix. Out durable tent has done a fabulous job with a little ducktape at keeping the little bastards at bay, but we have multiple times in Torres Del Paine woken up to the sounds of them gnawing at the tent. In the morning when we assess the damage, we have found patterns that look like a 5 year old had taken a whole punch to our tent. But we have overcome and we our proud to have a tent with many ducktape patches.

Friends - During our time in Torres Del Paine, we met several friends who made the trip very enjoyable. We had great conversations over hot meals and wine and had fun meeting along the trail to exchange updates and advice. There is a certain "we´re all in this together" feel that makes it easier to pass the moments when your wet and cold, or huffing and puffing up a steep climb with 40 lbs on your back.

Yaron and Dorit - An fun Israeli couple that we met on the bus from Puerto Natales to the National Park. We became fast friends and had a great time hiking and camping together. What we didn´t know at the time is that we would end up traveling with these guys off and on for the next couple weeks. As we say to each other on each goodbye, "Our time is not yet finished." We hope to meet them again further north in Patagonia.

Dave and Dylan (USA, Washington), and Sandy (Germany) - Another group of friends that we originally met on the bus from Ushuaia and that fate would have it we would meet again in Torres Del Paine and later in Calafate to travel with, sight see and enjoy a great all you can eat buffet.

Scenery - While we did encounter a number of weather and animal obstacles during our journey, the incredible scenery and amazing views made it all worthwhile. The hike was strenuous in parts and easy going at other times. The surroundings were constantly changing from impressive peaks and mountains, to green valleys and expansive grasslands, to peaceful lakes and raging rivers. We found we constantly had our breath taken away.

All in all, our time in Torres Del Paine was amazing...and in the end, the challenges made it all that more memorable. Now that we have our first big hike under our belts (and a couple days rest to continue to heal my ankle), we are ready to head north to Glacier National Park back over the border in Argentina!