Days 67 - 72 Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine

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We had a fabulous if not fairly challenging few days in the Torres del Paine national park. We set off to complete a particular circuit in the park (the W!) with 45 litre rucksacks filled with food for 4 nights, clothes and sleeping bags. It was our plan to camp every night, there are a series of refuges on the circuit where you can either sleep inside in a dorm or outside in a hired tent. After a bus journey into the park we found a tent for the first night and then walked about 20kms round trip to see the famous Torres of the park. We were warned about the strength of the wind in the park which turned out to be unlike anything we had experienced before, it was enough to lift you off your feet and was up to 95km/h at times. The climb was steep and rugged, wet and cloudy and although we didn't get a perfectly clear view of the towers it was well worth the climb for the slightly misty view we got!

We had a tasty tinned bean stew cooked on our little portable stove outside the tent which tasted much better than it looked both from the outside of the tin and on the plate and we treated ourselves to a glass of red wine in the warm refuge next door.

The strong wind continued overnight and there was some rain too but by the time we woke up it was clear and sunny and after a hearty breakfast of porridge cooked on the stove we headed off for an 11k walk to the next refuge/camp, not very far but quite hard with heavy rucksacks. We got to the next camp and had our lunch (a tasty soup cooked on the stove!) just before the heavens opened. We sheltered in the tent for a while but given the rain showed no signs of stopping we decided eat in the refuge instead of cook in the rain and just slept in the tent.

The next day was the longest day of the circuit, 22kms in total, most of it with our packs. It was a mixture of wind and rain with a tiny bit of sun and it was quite possibly the most challenging day of walking either of us has ever done but amongst the most scenic. Fortunately by the time we arrived at the next nights camp it stopped raining and was a beautifully clear if not very windy evening so we managed to camp again and cook our own dinner.

The only problem was the next morning neither of us could walk, Rick's ankle was bad and I had damaged my knee on the last part of the walk the day before, plus it was very windy and very wet! So instead of heading off to the next camp for the last night we decided to call it a day and head back to Puerto Natales a day early. It had been amazing walking for 3 days, it is an incredibly beautiful place to be but I think we underestimated how challenging it would be. So instead of completing the W we kind of did an N. The hostel was surprised to see us a day early but fortunately they had space and we treated ourselves to a delicious roasted lamb with red wine for dinner!

The next day we were able to plan out the last 2 weeks of our trip and we also managed to find a spa with hot tubs and a sauna that offered massages for tired legs and sore backs which was a perfect way to end out trip to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine. We also managed to celebrate our last night in Chile with more delicious lamb and red wine.

We loved our time in this part of Patagonia, it really felt like being in the middle of no where the scenery was breath taking. We have also loved being in Chile and were sad to leave. Next it was a bus ride north and back into Argentina to the town of El Calafate to explore Los Glacieres National park and more of Patagonia from Argentina.

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