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Published: December 14th 2006
Torres Del Paine National Park
After our 1 hour hike to the Torres Del Paine - you can see them in the background cant you!So next stop was the Torres Del Paine Nacional Park, something which we had been looking forward to and dreading at the same time as it looked like it was going to be a lot of hard work. We caught an early bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales, and went in search of the Erratic Rock Hostel. This hostel had been recommended numerous times on the Internet, and was definitely worth staying at. It is run by a couple of really genuine American guys who know their stuff, and although being slightly on the expensive side (6000 pesos a night), the breakfast that you got was second to none (cereal, home made bread, omelettes, good coffee etc).
We got all the info from them that we needed, and set out the next day to conquer the park. We had chosen to do the ´W´ trek, which was to take 5 days, 4 nights, cover around 55 kms, and take about 30 hours to walk. Before we left, we picked up an American girl who wanted to come with us (I will not name her due to possible legal action if I did) so we hired a 3 man tent
Torres Del Paine National Park
Me in front of some bloody big mountain and off we went. Now Josh and I are not the most experienced trekkers in the world, so we were slightly interested to see how we would go on our own for 5 days in the wilderness. Of course, it was a debacle! Not really, but it was definitely a good laugh.
The first day involved a bus out to the park, and then a catamaran to our starting point. Things got off to a great start when my sleeping bag fell off my pack within the first 5 mins of hiking, but that was quickly rectified and we duly walked the 4 hours from Lago Pehoe to the glacier where we to camp at for the first night. Due to some bad information that we had obtained, we then left this beautiful campsite (complete with icebergs floating by etc) and walked up an absolute b!tch of a hill for the next hour to what we thought was going to be a stunning campsite. WRONG!!!!! We arrived there and quickly decided that it was no patch on the other site we had been at before, so we packed up shop and headed back down the hill. Did I mention
Torres Del Paine National Park
View on the first day on the way to Glacier Grey. Check out the icebergs. that I was carrying the tent this day! Anyway, we eventually rolled into camp at about 8pm at night, and managed to set our tent up, and cook dinner before the sun went down at about 11pm (as we were so far south, the sun doesn’t set until about 10:30pm, and rises at 5am…..not the best thing when you are trying to sleep in a tent).
The second day we woke up stiff and sore, and headed back the way we came. After walking back for 4 hours, we then headed into the stiffest breeze I have ever encountered for 2 hours to Camping Italiano - a beautiful camping site right on a rushing glacier river. The water from here was so cold and fresh - the most delicious water I have ever tasted. Someone contact Coca Cola and tell them to give up on Mt Franklin, and come to Torres Del Paine instead.
After such a tough day, these two city boys had enough and the call went out amongst the group that the next night we would try and get a room at the next camping site we came to. Along the way, a number of
Torres Del Paine National Park
Our first sight of Glacier Grey. the camping sites are accompanied by a ´refugio´, basically a small accommodation centre that has basic rooms, sells necessities, and also serves meals. This was when we started having issues with our unnamed American friend. I think that she expected that we would be some hard-core Australian trekkers, here to conquer the mountain and leave nothing in our wake. So you can imagine her surprise when we struggled to work out how to put up the tent, when I dropped all the chopped up tomato and onion on the ground, and when I continually whinged and moaned about my sore shoulders and feet. It was hilarious slowing seeing her realise what she had got herself into as she had studied backpacking at university (weird I know) and thought that she was the bomb. She was even giving us tips on how to walk properly when going up and down hills. Did I mention that she was also the slowest walker I have ever come across - obviously those backpacking lessons hadn´t really worked! As you can tell, our Yankee friend and I didn´t get along, so it was left to Josh to make most of the conversation with her.
So the next day rose windy, overcast and slightly rainy, and we headed up the Valle Frances to an incredible lookout over the mountains. It was a tough walk mostly uphill, but it was well worth it to get a true grasp on how truly small you are in this world. From there, we walked for 2 more hours to our camping spot for the next night, Camping Los Cuernos. Now, for those people who are intending on doing the trail, ensure you are prepared for how truly windy this place is. The wind comes howling in off the lake, and buffets the coast line with some of the most spectacular noise and power that I have ever seen. Needless to say, when we were told that there was no accommodation available this night, the tired, cranky Australians were not impressed. Thank God for Josh´s bargaining skills however, as we eventually organised a private room for the 3 of us (much to the disgust of our American companion who was quite happy to sit in the howling wind for the night in our bad tent) and settled in for a relaxing evening watching everyone else get rained on. We were
Torres Del Paine National Park
The bridge to Camping Italiano. A godsend after a tough, windy day. slandered by others on the trail as ´being weak´ and ´being scared of the wind´, and it was all true. However, I wouldn´t take it back for a second! The best night´s sleep of my life!
We woke up on day 4, rested and ready for action. We had a 6-7 hours hike ahead of us, and the weather was not being our greatest ally. It was, however, my favourite day of the hike. We followed Lago Norkenskjold for around 3 hours, and the scenery was spectacular, with the red firebush contrasting with the aqua blue of the lake. We encountered some incredibly strong wind at one stage when we were going through the pass towards the Torres Del Paine, where I managed to lose my water bottle and beanie when they were blown out of my bag and pocket respectively, but I was pretty happy to get away with my life. People have apparently been blown off the cliff (about 100m off the ground) and it doesn´t surprise me as the track was incredibly narrow. We made it to camp at about 6pm, had dinner, and then set the alarm for 4am for what is meant to be
the highlight of the trip, seeing the sunrise over the Torres Del Paine.
We woke at 4am, to pouring rain and impenetrable cloud. We then woke again at 7am to pouring rain and impenetrable cloud. We then woke at 8am to the same again. This time, Josh and I decided to do the one hour boulder scramble up to the lookout just in case we might see what we had come here for. Thank God Karen (oh no I slipped her name) decided not to come, as I don’t think even her backpacking course could have helped her get up there. Of course, there was nothing to see when we got to the top (we got the slightest of glimpses of the peak for about 15 secs) but we got a photo of our efforts anyway which is a classic.
After this, we packed up our camp and made the final 2 hour descent to the final pick up point where we got the bus back to Puerto Natales. We were so proud of our efforts, that we treated ourselves to the biggest hamburger of our lives on our return. A daily diet of cereal, salami sandwiches and
pasta was not the most satisfying thing for 5 days, so getting stuck into a burger was what the doctor ordered.
Although the trek was a real hard slog at times, I will remember it for the rest of my life as an incredible thing to do. It is yet to get too touristy, and it was great getting some time to yourself and thinking about things, with beautiful scenery all around you.
Some things I learnt were:
1. I´m not cut out to be a trekker. I finished 4 days ago and I am still hurting. Knees, shoulders, back and feet are all still aching
2. Going downhill is no easier than going uphill.
3. You can actually see wind.
4. I miss my girl. Although I don´t want to wish my trip away, I am looking forward to seeing her in March/April.
We are now back in Buenos Aires and we are leaving here in a couple of days to go to Uruguay and then to Brazil. We have made some Argentinian friends, and we are going to their house for dinner tonight (only one of them speaks English) so it should be very
entertaining. My sign language could be getting a work out.
Sorry about the long post - so much to tell.
Hasta Luego.
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Irish Dave
non-member comment
Pussies!
Private room! You lads are scum, complete scum. Ooh, my nails hurt, etc. Best of luck in the UK, offer still stands for a pint in Glasgow in 2008, added a link to your blog so better up the standard of chat, pronto. All the best, Dave (travelpod.com/members/dconlisk)