Torres del Paine Trek

January 23, 2006
Day 117

The trek finally ended today. John and I slept till 10:00, and we thought we were in jeopardy of missing our bus back to town. We quickly packed up and walked 2.5 hours to the next campsite before taking a break. At the campsite, we took another look at our bus tickets and realized that the bus didn’t leave until two hours later than we thought it did. After finding this out, we took it easy and chatted with some other trekkers for an hour or so before continuing on to the last leg.

The last four hours of the trek took us around Lago Nordenskjold, a long, narrow lake that connected the last two campsites. It was one more beautiful scene to see before leaving. Besides the usual mountains, there were also emerald green hills in the background, and the lake water itself appeared turquoise at times.

When I got back to Hosteria Las Torres, I still had three hours before the bus left, so I checked out the wildlife information at the hotel. The area is full of endangered animals, but I didn’t see many of them on the trek. I guess they are too afraid of tourists.

Later, John and I met up with Jackie and Rebeca, the Canadian girls we met on the trek a few days ago. We also me an Argentine guy who was carrying 40 KG with him on the trek! I don’t know what he possibly could’ve needed that weighed that much, yet somehow he managed to make it to the end. The five of us vegged out until the bus left.

We didn’t get back to town until 10:00 PM, so there wasn’t much to do other than get dinner. Tomorrow I’m going to have to get caught up on my personal hygiene before I kill somebody with my stench. I’ll need a few recovery days before moving on.

The photo album for this entry is here.

Epilogue*

I have mixed emotions about ending the trek. One part of me thinks that I could stay in the national park for a month, so I’m sad to leave so soon. Another part of me realizes that at some point, I need to wash my sweaty clothes, shave, shower, and restock my severely-dwindled food supply. It’s kind of strange reentering civilization after being completely away for over a week. You realize that you don’t need to stay connected to the world for it to keep moving. Society will continue on without you.

Now, for some information about the park for anyone interested in going. Your last stop in civilization before entering the park will be Puerto Natales, a small, friendly town located three hours away from the park by bus. There are plenty of places to stay in Puerto Natales, and it’s a good town to stock up on food and gear. It seems that the entire town revolves around tourists going to Torres del Paine. Even though there is a small airstrip near town, as far as I know, the closest city you can fly to is Punta Arenas, three hours south of Puerto Natales by bus.

Getting to the park from Puerto Natales can either be easy or cheap. The official price for a bus ticket is $30 round trip, but the cheapest ticket I found available was for $10 each way. There are at least half a dozen agencies that you can buy from in town, and they’ll probably all give you a different price. All of the buses leave at about 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM, and the tickets are open, so you can return to town whenever you want. Another option is to rent a car, which will be expensive if you are going to stay in the park for a few days without driving, but at least it’s convenient. A final option is to hitchhike. It might be tough to do, though, because the road to the park doesn’t go anywhere else, so you will see few cars. Still, I met a few people who found a ride within few hours.

The park entrance fee is $20. After you enter the park, you can stay as long as you like, but if you leave and come back, you’ll have to pay again.

Once you get to the park, you have many options for places to stay, the cheapest of which is to camp. Campsites are everywhere in the park, and none of the ones I visited were full. Most of campsites cost $7 per person, but there are also a few free ones. The pay sites all include free hot showers, and most have a small store and a shelter for cooking. The free sites are very basic with the only amenity being a toilet. If you want to trek the whole circuit, you’ll need to camp at least one night because there aren’t any other options on parts of the trail.

Another option for accommodation is to stay in “refugios,” or refuges. Don’t get scared by the name; I went in one and it was really nice. There are several located on the path of the “W,” but not as many toward the back of the circuit. All of them cost $38 for a dorm bed without linens. If you don’t have a sleeping bag, you can rent one for $6. You’re allowed to cook at them, but tf you don’t want to carry any food with you, you can have the refuge cook your breakfast and dinner, and give you a bag lunch for $41. So, if you want to hike the “W,” but don’t want to carry anything with you other than a small daypack, plan on spending about $90 per day.

A final option is to stay at a “hosteria,” or hotel in the park. The only one I went in was “Hosteria Las Torres.” The prices for a single room there ranged from $156 to $245; a double room was listed from $177 to $286. Food for the day was listed at $100. If you stay at a hotel, you won’t be able to go on multi-day treks, but you’ll have better access to activities like horseback riding and boat tours around the park’s many lakes.

* All prices listed are in US dollars assuming an exchange rate against the Chilean peso of 500:1. Considering the tourism boom currently happening in Patagonia, the prices can, and probably will, rise in the near future.

January 21, 2006
Day 115

Today was a long, yet relaxed day. We had to walk 3.5 hours to the next campsite, set up our camp, and do another walk of 5 hours round-trip to a mirador without any gear. On this trek, I’ve noticed that I need a lot more sleep than normal when I do a large amount of walking during the day. Because of this, we got another late start, putting us in somewhat of a hurry to begin the day.

The first part of our day wasn’t difficult, but it did take a long time. We walked around lakes and through forests, up and down small hills. Tourists were everywhere. Along the way, we stopped for some calafate berries. I almost had a Poppler-like reaction when I ate my first one, but was eventually able to quit.

When we got to camp, we pitched our tents, ate lunch, and relaxed for a bit before heading off to the mirador. The best part about this part of the day was that we got to leave our backpacks behind in the tents. There is another campsite at the top of the hill, but we didn’t feel like dragging our gear up there only to take it straight back down tomorrow. Partway up the hill, the river was roaring past us. The glacial ice was melting off of the nearby mountains, and was pouring into the lakes below.

A bit further up the hill was the first mirador. Behind us was a lake, a forest, and some mountains. It looked like someone painted the scene into the background. In front of us were the mountains from which the glaciers were melting. Every now and then, we would hear loud cracks and booms as the glacier broke apart. Rebeca crossed our paths on her way back down, and we all sat around for an hour or so. I easily could’ve stayed there all day.

People kept telling us that the rest of the walk was flat and easy. This was in no way true. It was definitely uphill the entire way. After another hour we reached Camp Britanico. Only two tents had been pitched, an exclusive club for the most hardcore backpackers to go to the remotest campsite on the circuit.

Finally, after 2.5 hours of walking straight uphill, we made it to the mirador. The view was great, and there were no other people in sight, but it wasn’t quite as good a view as the mirador below. At least the weather was nearly perfect: mostly sunny, warm, and no wind.

Andy has to leave tomorrow, so tonight we had our last supper together. Andy wanted to make spaghetti again, but John would have none of it. I fancied the idea of the somewhat bland, yet filling noodles, so we ended up cooking two separate dishes. By the time we finished dinner, it was almost 11:00 and it was getting dark, so our long day ended abruptly.

After discussing how to end our trek, John and I decided to stay another day at the same campsite. We still have enough food left, camping is free, and it’s in the middle of some of the best scenery in the park. We’ve had six tough days so far, so it will be nice to take a day off to recharge our batteries before making the final 6.5 hour journey to complete the circuit.

The photo album for this entry is here.

January 19, 2006
Day 113

We slept late today. It was good to get a lot of sleep for once. Until now, we had to go to bed late, get up early, and walk all day, which made me achy and grumpy. But now, I was finally rather cheerful.

We didn’t seen much of Glacier Los Perros yesterday, so we went back for another look this morning. The weather was a lot more calm, so I was able to relax and take it all in. My pictures turned out much better this time around, too.

This was the day of the pass. A guy we met at the campsite last night who was going the other direction warned us that it would be a 45 degree angle for us on the way down and that there would be mud up to our knees going up. Considering that I didn’t have hiking boots or gaiters, I wasn’t looking forward to more mud.

The first part of the ascent was pretty miserable. There was mud everywhere, which made it impossible to get anywhere. It wasn’t up to my knees, but it did go over my shoes a few times. On the plus side, the trail was usually visible, so at least we were able to get through the bad parts quickly.

Eventually, we got above the tree line and there was no more mud. Of course, without the protection of the trees, it suddenly got cold, windy, and rainy. As we got higher, the rain turned into snow. We reached the top of the pass without much trouble, but the weather was so bad that we didn’t have much time to look at Glacier Grey, which had dramatically become visible from the top. Andy and I snapped some quick, cold photos and started running down the hill before the hypothermia set in.

Once we got back to the tree line, the trail became very steep. Indeed, the slopes at times did hit 45 degrees. When it got really steep, ropes were installed between the trees for our assistance. We walked down the thick forest for about two hours until we finally reached the bottom. A few minutes later, we were Camp Paso, where we stopped for the day.

Instead of having soup again, Andy cooked us spaghetti for supper. He threw in some spices and tomato sauce to make it more interesting. It was still pretty bland, but I was happy because it got me good and full. However, I would later find out that John doesn’t appreciate eating non-spicy food.

The most difficult part of the trek is now over. Other than the bad weather, the pass wasn’t too difficult. I had planned for it to be a lot worse than it was, which I think made it easier to tackle. Now we only have four days left, and none of them should be as difficult any of the last three. We finally had some more time to relax after a long day of hiking, and I think we are done with the muddy parts of the trail. Life is good.

The photo album for this entry is here.

January 17, 2006
Day 111

We had to get up at 4:00 this morning. There’s a great viewpoint of the Torres del Paine about an hour from camp, and we wanted to get to it before sunrise. We had walked part way up the trail yesterday afternoon, so we had a good idea of where we needed to go. The problem was that it wasn’t really a trail; it was more of an exercise in climbing up a bunch of rocks for an hour. This was fine during daylight because the general direction was marked by red dots painted on every few rocks. However, before sunrise, the dots weren’t visible. Neither was much else.

We got lost almost immediately. Andy and I also lost contact with John. Still, as long as we kept going uphill, we figured we’d be fine. Suddenly, the rocks turned into sand, which made for a tough climb. Then, then sand ended and we entered the forest. We were definitely far from the trail at that point. The brush was really thick, so every inch was a fight. At some point, I lost my lens cap when it got knocked off of my camera. I was beginning to get frustrated because the sky was getting brighter and I couldn’t see the towers yet. I didn’t want to come all that way just to miss the sunrise over the towers, which was supposed to be the best part of the whole trip. After all, every postcard of the national park features the towers stained blood red by the rising sun’s light.

Finally, I saw the top of the tallest tower poke out above the forest. I got some new motivation and scurried up the hill, about ten minutes before the light was at its finest. Strangely, I didn’t notice anyone else around, but my view was perfect, so I stayed put. The top of the towers did indeed turn red, although it wasn’t nearly as good as in the postcards. After ten minutes of redness, the light suddenly faded and the moment was gone. The day had begun.

It was windy and cold, so I was ready to go back down. Andy and John found me at that point, and we went down together. We also noticed that we were far above the official mirador, so we had a much better view than everyone else. Sometimes getting lost has its benefits.

We went down to camp, ate porridge for breakfast, and took a nap for an hour before packing up and heading out. It was a three-hour walk back to Hosteria Las Torres, where we started yesterday. Until that point, we had spent our entire trek on the “W,” and there were other tourists everywhere. Some were just doing a day or two; others were walking the whole five days. Next, we were going to begin our three or four day section outside of the “W.” Sure enough, as soon as we started our four-hour walk to the end of the day, the people disappeared. We were practically the only ones on the trail, which became a problem almost right away.

Andy and I got a few minutes ahead of John, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but this time, we approached a fork in the path. One part of the path went straight, the other part went left. There were two signs: one telling us to go left, and another stating not to go straight. Andy and I thought the directions were unambiguous and continued on without thinking anything of it. We stopped for a quick drink of water a few minutes later, and figured we should wait for John.

Twenty minutes passed and John still hadn’t shown up. We figured that he either got hurt and needed someone to help him, or didn’t see the signs stating to turn and got lost. Andy stayed behind with our backpacks while I went to look for John. I traced our route back for several minutes, but still saw no sign of him. Next, I went back to the road we weren’t supposed to go down. All there was was some guy’s house followed by a thick marshy area. There was no trail in sight. I figured that he’d for sure know that something was wrong and wouldn’t have gone that way. Still, him being lost appeared to be the only possible explanation, given that I couldn’t find him.

I walked back to where Andy was sitting. We looked at the map and decided that if John kept walking in the wrong direction, he would eventually hit another trail and would be able to continue from there. Then a couple passed us and told us that there wasn’t anyone on the trail who was hurt, so the only possibility was that John was lost.

Figuring that John might already be on the other trail, we continued without him and got to the campsite a few hours later. Just when we were talking about how long we should wait before sending out a search-and-rescue squad, John showed up. He had indeed not seen either of the signs and gotten lost, but he found the trail later. I know it’s not a really exciting ending to the story, but John was OK, which is the most important thing.

After hiking for nine hours, we were all thoroughly worn out at the end of the day. We set up camp at Seron and only had a few hours of daylight left to cook dinner. John made another fantastic soup. We had to pay to camp this time, so not wanting my money to go to waste, I took a shower. It was ice cold, so I wished I had been content with being dirty and smelly.

We had originally planned to go on the trek for eight days, but Andy studied the map today and figured out that it would be possible to do it in seven. It would require hiking for ten hours tomorrow, but it was our only choice because Andy had to get back to Lima soon after our trek finished. (Lima is a loooong way from Torres del Paine. It’s where I started my trip four months ago.) Given how long our day was today, it was easy for me to get the rest I would need for another tough day tomorrow.

The photo album for this entry is here.