Torres del Paine - final story

To finish the Torres del Paine story, I left off on a bus ride into Puerto Natales after my hitchhiking adventure with Maren and Kara initiated by a cracked rim on my bike. To make a long story a bit shorter, I arrived at the Erratic Rock hostel with a gimp wheel (after unsuccessful rebuild #1), and still no sign of Markus or Joe.

There at the Erratic Rock, I passed the time meeting new friends including Monica, Roanna, Rainbow (his birth name, no kidding!), Mark, and some of the staff including Bill, Mauricio, Rustyn, and Bo among others. Between screenings of movies such as A Brief History of Time featuring Stephen Hawkins or the classic Pulp Fiction, sitting in on the sweet info sessions about the Torres del Paine National Park, and preparing for a mega trek in the park, I waited and waited for any word from Joe and Markus for two full days.

Finally on my third night at the Rock, Joe walked in after sunset looking pretty tired from the day's ride. He basically said Markus went straight into the park. On the next and final day of preparations, Joe and I gathered supplies for our respective hikes and later learned that Markus would be starting his hike that day. Joe only wanted to do the 'W', a 5-day hike, while I planned to do the full circuit, the 'W' plus the backside of the park.

I entered the park with Rowanna and Monica, each carrying a fully-loaded (and by that I mean overloaded) pack. Rowanna probably had a kilo or two of excess food, mostly due to the gigantic avocados that she carried in addition to the two liters of red wine. Monica, on the other hand, would prove that she ate like a bird the entire trek and as such also carried an excess amount of food which would later be given away. I probably had half a kilo of excess pasta and/or rice, but everything would be consumed including the two liters of wine that I was also carrying. Having borrowed a pack from Sofia, a girl Joe met while cycling through Central America and who now worked at the Torres del Paine, I was off with my new companions for the trek toward first campsite: Serron.

Day 1: Hosteria Torres to Serron We dealt with a light drizzle for about an hour while hiking toward the first campsite. Though we got a bit of a late start because I had to find Sofia, our starting point was only 4 hours away from the campsite instead of 5 hours. Most of the time was spent adjusting to the pack, I believe mine weighed around 24kg at the start. The hike involved a bit of climbing, but we were all full of energy made it to campsite no problem. There we met two Australians, James and Mark (aka Team Oz), who we would hike with for the next few days. It was a little cold at night, but I fell asleep quickly after a wonderfully hot shower. One liter of wine, gone.

Day 2: Serron to Dickson This was a long day, 18.5km of hiking. It started with a bit of a climb and there at the top of the ridge along which we would hike toward camp we discovered what the Patagonia winds could do. At least once Monica was knocked off her feet, while I had to brace myself with my hands on the ground to avoid the same fate. Because of the conditions, the rate of progress was slow, but steady. Monica and I had been following the trail of other hikers ahead of us as we formed the tailend of the group. Through the valley, we finally spotted campsite surrounded by a glacial lake and swarming with thousands of the legendary Dickson mosquitoes. That night Monica was able to score a warm cabin in which to cook dinner because of her Chilean heritage, so Team Oz and Team America ate well. Hats off to Monica! One more liter of wine gone.

Day 3: Dickson to Perros It was a short day through a forest with James as we decided to book it. The 4-hour hike took a mere 2.5 hours and we had plenty of time to relax in the sun, explore the nearby glacial lake, knock off another liter of wine. In the meantime, I talked to some Americans (English is the spoken language on the trail) who were taking a lunch break before heading up the John Gardner pass. The day after, we would make the ascent up toward Glacier Grey. That night, another liter of wine was consumed, two kilos less weight!

Day 4: Perros to Las Guardas I started walking with Rowanna, keeping pace more or less with Team Japan while scrambling over and up the scree field leading up to the pass. We had been lucky the past few days with sunny and warm weather, and today was no exception. It was a relatively easy climb, especially with the lighter pack on my back, down to about 21kg. At the top, it was a windless, partially sunny party with Teams Gemany, Israel, Japan, Oz, and of course America. We ate and admired the expansive field of ice below us. It wasn't hard to fathom how it took one guide a week to cross from one side to the other because of the dangerous crevasses along the way. It drizzled for about 3 minutes as we started to descend, just enough to create a rainbow over the glacier. The descent was the hardest part of the trek, and the stress it put on everyone with the drop of about 2 feet with every step. Fatefully, it would be this day that aggravated Rowanna's knees. Passing Campamento Paso, we hiked up and down the mountain even over ladders at times along with Colin from Team Ireland. Tomorrow, Team Oz would leave the park and we would be immersed in the hordes of regular tourists and the 'W' hikers.

Day 5: Las Guardas to Italiano Together with Monica and Rowanna, we continued the descent toward Campamento Paine, where the catamaran takes people back to the bus and out of the park. Along the way, we met many day-hikers and those just starting their trek. I hadn't shaved nor showered in a few days and though we looked beat, my pack felt light and I already felt a sense of accomplishment. Too bad the peace would be lost among the hordes. Rowanna was suffering the entire way, so when we got to Paine, Monica stayed there with her to see the next day if she was fit to continue. If not, it would be the catamaran option for Rowanna and Monica would come join me the next day. I continued on toward free camping Italiano at the same pace I did with James a few days back to see if I could make it to Britanico. In the end, it was a good idea that I chose not to push on because the hike up Valley Frances would prove to be hard enough without a pack.

Day 6: Italiano to Los Cuernos During my hike up into the Valley Frances, I was wondering whether or not I would see Rowanna, or if Monica came alone. Because I had left my pack at the campsite, I felt as if I was flying up the valley. Passing a major glacier that broke apart before my eyes multiple times, I was treated to a spectacular view of the surrounding formations of the valley including my favorite, the shark's fin, after having arrived at the viewpoint just past Campamento Britanico. Though I believe I got a late start, I was still ahead of the horde and was able to enjoy the viewpoint in peace with a German, a few Brits that soon left, a French guy, three Israelis I knew from the start, and a woman from Holland. They all respected nature and as such, their company was pleasant and we took pictures of each other. On the way down, I discovered the speartip of the horde on its way up. Perfect timing!! When i encountered Monica working her way up, I was disappointed to hear that Rowanna had left and it was down to us two. Shame. I waited for her and we hiked toward Los Cuernos about 2 hours away from Italiano. That night, it did rain a bit, but not before we had already set up our tents and ate dinner. Alongside Lago Nordenskold that day and the next, we saw one rainbow after another. We really couldn't have asked for an easier season to do the trek.

Day 7: Los Cuernos to Torres Monica had slept in a bit, and so I started the trek out of camp passing those who camped in the open and had wet tents to pack up. The hike was a beautiful one along Nordenskold, one in which I was lost in thought for much of the time. The sun came out, and the winds picked up again at the junction in which I could either continue toward Campamento Torres, or Hosteria Torres. I snacked a bit and started hiking up the next valley. Along the way with an extremely light pack, I passed dozens of newbies fresh off the bus and still adjusting to the new load on their backs. Thank god the wine is gone and food almost sharing the same fate. Upon arrival and ahead of mostly everyone else, I had prime pick for my campsite that night. After pitching tent, I made my way up to the finale, the Torres del Paine. It was a scramble up through a forest, and then a scree field to the top. what seemed like hours, I finally caught sight of the towers in their spectacular sunlit glory. So far, the trip had been basically perfect. Tomorrow, we planned to go up at 5am to see the towers at sunrise. I went down an waited for Monica with a pasta dinner. She arrived too late to make the climb up to the towers, so we hoped for the best tomorrow morning.

Day 8: Torres to exit! We were told if at 430am the alarm went off and we heard rain, roll over and go back to sleep Well, we heard rain, so I did just that. When at 830am or so I rolled out of tent, I saw an incredible sight, snow falling. Just days before I could walk around without a T-shirt, but now I would exit the park in true Torres del Paine fashion along with our new friends, Lauren and Kendall. I was wet, nearly slipping all the time in my cycling shoes, but truly enjoying myself on the way down. At Hosteria Torres, we waited for the bus to take us back to Puerto Natales along with about 60 other people. I felt sorry for those just arriving in the park, but didn't think too much about it as I tried to get dry and warm myself. I chatted with Sofia and gave back the pack. Everything was coming together, and finally after 10 days or so I would see what Markus had been up to so we could continue our way south toward ushuaia. In the coming days, Joe would help me rebuild my wheel, we would buy supplies, and say goodbye to our new friends. Puerto Natales had certainly treated me well, and maybe later I would meet up with Monica elsewhere in South America.