80 life changing kilometers

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Torres del Paine was what we had been preparing for since our arrival in Patagonia. We had bought the tent, we had got the camping equipment, we had bought the supplies, and we had even ditched half our backpacks in Santiago, all in preperation for this trip. This was to be a learning experience for us and a step into the unknown as neither of us had done anything like this before. We have to admit up front that we hadn´t even been camping before (well strictly Andy camped one night with cadets, but that doesn´t really count). This time we were on our own, no guide and no-one to show us how it was done, we had to learn fast! It was going to be an experience, good or bad, just read on 😊

DAY 1 - 4 Seasons in 1 day !

The trip began the night before as we packed up our bags and began to realise that we may not be seeing proper beds for another 4 nights. It is difficult to know what you will need and what you will not for a trek, especially when you have never done it before. We both packed light on clothes with 1 wet and 1 dry set (thanks for that tip Ray Mears), but once packed our bags both seems pretty large. 6 days (just in case!) for food for 2 people, gas plus a spare, a cooker, 2 x sleeping bags, 2 x sleeping mats, a tent, clothes, a towel, waterproofs, waterbottles, medical kit, etc...... explains where all the space went. Only time would tell if we could actually carry all this stuff for 5 days in Patagonia. We both slept badly that night, if it was the freezing room or the thought of the days ahead, who knows. We got up early, packed our final bits and headed down for breakfast. It seems someone else from the hostel would be joining us in Torres, Michel from Switzerland, and he proved instantly what amatures we were, as he was doing the whole circuit; a longer 8-9 days trek. The bus pulled up outside the hostel at 8 and we were ready to go, no way back now!

The journey over to the National Park was relatively unevenfull. Perhaps we missed the beauty of the Patagonian Steppe but I don´t think so. On the whole, it is a vast, bleak and largely empty space which seems to repeat itself every 5 minutes. It is like being in a cartoon when the scenery just scrolls by the window, never changing. There were some things of interest on this trip though, notably the Ostritch like birds which live here, and Flamingos! This shocked us both as you associate Flamingos with hot weather, perhaps we had it wrong all this time, or perhaps the wind had blown them here like everything else, but there was a lake full of them. The journey took 2 hours or so, and as we approached the destination the road ran out. This is a pretty common thing to happen out here as you very really run on tarmac for very long before it just stops and is replaced with bumpy, stoney, dirty track. There seem to be a lot of road improvements going on in this area right now, so we can only assume that it will be seeing more and more visitiors as time goes on.

First stop on arriving was an administration hut to buy our tickets. This place isn´t free and we paid about 15 quid each to get in. As it is a national park, you would hope this goes to the upkeep of the place and it´s protection from all the trekkers that walk over it´s paths each year. Knowing your hard earned cash goes to a good cause always makes it seem less painfull. This stop here was our departure point from the bus as we were to take the transfer to Base Torres camp, to start our trek. This was yet another fee to pay but did save about 2 hours walk, so seemed worth it. When we arrived to the actual start of the trek the winds were really blowing and had added an icey bite to the air. Our trek started at Hosteria Las Torres and would take us clockwise along the "W" ending at Glacier Grey. The first section was over gradual grassy hills, up a slight incline. The walking was uphill but quite steady, and as we walked, the wind dropped and the sunshine came out. We went from Autumn to Spring to Summer in the space of about 45mins. As we crested the grassy hill, the path turned to dirt and rocks and the scenery changed to trees. The walking here is pretty relaxed and easy, but with a heavy rucksack with 6 days of supplies in, it can spice it up a bit. We walked on through streams and rocky path, until we got to a steep rocky section with a knotted rope. We all descended this succesfully dispite our packs, and it made our confidence lift as we hummed the theme tune from Indiana Jones (it doesn't take much to make us feel like true adventurers 😊 ).

Just before we arrived at our camp, the seasons switched again and it started to snow! This wasn´t exactly expected in the hight of summer, but this is Patagonia so anything can happen and we were prepared with our hats and gloves. 3 hours of walking on day 1 saw us reach our camp at Campamento Torres, pretty early so we got a good spot. We were greeted here by the park ranger who explained the rules, where the toilets were, and where we could get water. All the river water in the park is drinkable (and pretty tasty) so there is no washing or toileting in the water, so it stays that way. We setup our tent for the first time on what we thought was nice flat ground, and we got ready for the night. The camp was in a really nice spot in the woods, next to a river. There was a little shack setup for cooking in if it got too windy and cold (which it did) and we were happy to make this our home for the night. Cooking was next on the agenda and we eat in style that night, some pasta in a tomato sauce, with cheese! The weather had remained in winter mode and as the sun set the cold really started to bite. After dinner we got our first experience of washing dishes on camp, icey cold water + hands = an unpleasent experience. We got to sleep early that night as we had to scale the rocks to see the Torres for sunrise, wakeup time 5am ish. Once we had settled in our bags with hats on, it became apparent that our flat spot wasn´t so flat and we spent most of the very cold night sliding to the top of the tent.

DAY 2 - Close to breaking point !

Day 2 started early, and in the dark. We had to get to the mirador (viewing point) for the Torres before 6:30am to see the sunrise breaking over them. The night was a chilly one, and we awoke to find the snow still falling. We quickly got up and dressed and were off up the Torres with the other trekkers from the camp by torchlight. The path up to the Torres isn´t marked and for some reason Andy ended up leading the group up the climb. It started following the path of a river but then was replaced by large lose boulders. It turned into a real scramble over the rocks which slowed progress considerably. Much to his relief Andy soon fell back from leading the pack, and we all had our own personal battle with the rocks. As we climbed higher, the rocks got steeper and they began to become snow covered. It was seriously cold up there, and as we got closer to the exposed top, the wind began to pick up. It wasn´t an easy scramble for us too, with relaively little experience and it took us considerably longer than the rest of the group to summit. Once we had completed the scramble, the sun was begining to rise and we could see the Torres in all their glory. There is a beautiful milky lake at their base which looks slightly unreal against the backdrop of the imposing rocks. It was bloody cold at the top too, dispite our full winter weather gear and the wind was so strong it was snowing horizontally. As the sun rose, the show began. The sky turned various colours and as soon as the sun rays hit the granit rocks the Torres glowed orange. Pure magic! Sadly this also encouraged the clouds to form and after about 5 mins "the Towers" dissapeared into the fog. This was a slight blessing as it meant we had an excuse to get down again and escape the increasingly cold and inhospitable weather, and tuck into a nice warm breakfast of porridge.

After some time decending we reached camp again to have our first breakfast of porridge and dried fruits. Doesn´t sound much but it was amazing after being so cold. This was much to the envy of others in the camp who tucked into cold cheese sandwiches and other less than delicous and warming food. It took us another hour or so to packup camp and get on our way, on what would prove to be a LONG trek to the next camp. Our intended destination was Campamento Italiano, the next free campsite on the root. The map said it was about 9.5 hours walking, and about 25km. We knew this will not be easy. The first leg of the trek was back to where we had come from the previous day. We completed this with Michel, our swiss friend, and it was relaively uneventfull. We met large groups of daytrippers with their small daysacks and gave the usual "Hola!" to each one, which is custom in these parts. Once we reached our first destination, it had become apparent just how heavy a rucksack can be, very!

Our next leg on this days trip was the 11km to Albergue y camping los cuernos. This took us along side an enorneous lake Lago Nordenskjoeld. It started off beautifully with sunny skies and low wind. It was a real pleasure to walk here as there were fewer people than on the other path and the scenery was varied. We really began to feel lucky to be experiencing this, and our first nights camping had changed us forever. We now saw the point of all this trekking lark, and realised that it really was worth the effort afterall. The path here followed the line of the lake but was very up and down. In sections you had to climb over rocks and then descend again. We walked like this for 2 hours, and the wind became stronger reaching near gale force. The sun stayed out so it was pleasent, but the more we walked, the heavier the packs became. As we willed the end to be near, we passed a sign that said Los Cuernos was 2 hours away! Seeing this sign was like being shot in the chest. Our spirits sank to the floor as we had walked for hours and the timings on the map said we should be there by now. Surely the sign wasn´t right, but it proved to be right. Andy wasn´t sure if he could take another 2 hours, but we had to push on, we had to. To add to the pain Josie´s knie started to rebel once again and caused her serious agony with every step she took. The next 2 hours would prove to be some of the hardest and most torturous of our lives. The path was never ending, you would come to a corner hoping the end would be around it, but the path stretched on and on in the distance. We crossed over rivers, up steep sections and down the other side. Each time we hoped the end would be near, but it was not. Time was getting late and we had another 2 hours walk after the next camp to Campamento Italiano, it was like torture. We resigned ourself to pay for a night at the next camp, but it didn´t seem to get any closer. Finally we got close and we could see the huts in the distance, but it took us another 20mins or so to reach them. At this point we were both sore and broken, and it was the biggest relief ever to reach the camp. The walk on day 2 had seriously challanged us, and the though of cooking some food and sleeping the night was bliss. This being a pay camp meant it also had a hot shower. The refugio here wasn´t the nicest but the water was hot and Andy bought a real treat for the night, A PACK OF BISCUITS! It was like Christmas and Easter on one day! We setup camp with a gale blowing, our tent flapping violently in the wind. This was all nothing though after the days walking we had just done, a bed was all we wanted that night and we both slept well. If the rest of the W was going to be like this, it was going to be sheer hell, only time would tell.

DAY 3 - Taking it slow!

The third day of our trek saw us wakeup to find our tent had not blown away in the gale during the night, and had taken the storm on and won. This was a pleasent surprise and gave us some confidence in our new found camping skills 😊 After the torture of day 2, we had decided our planned 5 day trek was going to become a 6 day trek, as there was no way we could walk to Campamento Italiano then up the Valle del Frances and back, that would be just too much. We decided to reach Campo Italiano, setup, and then just take the rest of the day easy to recover. The first aid kid proved very useful as it had an elastic bandage and so we could support Josie´s knie, fixing the bandage with a bit of duct tape. This has taken most of her pain and we could continue the journey. The trek to our next camp took us about 2 hours, and there was no way we would have made this the night before, so we were relieved with our decison to stay. We had got a tip off the night before about Campo Italiano, that it was in 2 parts. The first part was next to the trail and had the toilet block, which is not so nice. The second part of the camp is about a minute further along the trail and goes right back into the forest so is peaceful an private. We got there without trouble and as we were early, we got a great spot to camp right in the forest. This place was really nice and we got the tent up in super quick time, and began to make ourselves comfortable as we would stay here for 2 nights. Unlike our previous camps, we managed to pick an actual flat pitch this time, so there was no danger of slipping about in the night. We treated ourselves to lunch (which is a sheer luxury on this trip as previously we had to walk all day long) and happily sat down to rest our weary feet.

The rest of the day was spent pottering around, taking pleasure in the fact we could walk without the weight of our packs. We took a walk a little up the trail and then a scrable over the rocks to get our first taste of the Glaciar del Frances. This one was high on the mountainside and decended into a river. You could hear crashes every now and then as ice and snow fell off the mountain dislodging rocks as it went. The snowfalls looking tiny but the noise was large, it is deceptive but there must be some serious falls of rock and snow with some increadible power behind them. Needless to say, you wouldn´t want to be anywhere near it if it started to drop.

We cooked early that night and went to bed with a full stomach and a better mood than the night before due to our restful and sunny day.

DAY 4 - Going up, just because it is there!

Day 4 was going to be a walk in the park, no packs to carry as we were staying at Campo Italiano again that night. All we took with us was waterproofs and water. A short 2.5 hour walk up the valley and the same back, it would be a piece of cake. The walk took us up to the nose of the glacier we had viewed the day earlier and up through the forrest in the valley. The weather this day was ok, but it soon turned dark and cloudy. Today was the day we would get wet, but how wet, we didn´t know. The walking here was mostly uphill on the way out, with some steep sections. We have to say that it wasn´t all that interesting either, as you are surrounded by trees for most of it. You can see the peaks all around you here, which I guess is the attraction. So a few hours of walking got us to the Mirador, where you get a panorama of the peaks in Torres. Once we had reached here, it had begun to rain, so the mood dropped a bit. We donned our waterproofs and hoped that it wouldn´t rain too hard and not for too long. The trail seemed to continue after the mirador and up the side of the hill to the top. The map also seemed to suggest this, so we trekked up the steep and muddy hillside towards the ridge. On our way up, we met a soggy bunch of Japanese, who told us that it was pretty slippy and hard going up there, with driving rain and nothing to see becuase of the clouds. Logic stated we should turn around and go back to our warm and dry tent. HOWEVER human nature kicked in and we had walked 2 hours to get here, we wern´t turning back now, we were going to the top of the ridge because it is there! Who knows why people do things like this as the next half an hour or so was not pleasurable at all, it was wet and slippery and probably a bit dangerous. At this point Andy got grumpier and grumpier as it got wetter and windier. The trek up was getting more and more difficult and was proving to be utterly pointless. Joise wanted to go all the way to the ridge to see what was on the other side, but on a wet, windy and exposed mountainside, grumpy won over, and we went down never knowing what was on the other side. Interesting how human nature pushes us to do things, just to find out what is on the other side when there is no logic to it. I guess this is how explorers discover things and scientists drive on the progress of the human race, doing this which seemingly has no point or purpose.

The way down was slippery but we made it in one piece. As we got to the Mirador we noticed that the way we had gone further was actually supposed to be fenced off, but someone had broken it down. It seemed we had actually reached the end of the trail afterall, so we didn´t feel so bad after that, and the grumpyness blew away with the clouds and it stopped raining. We had another 2 hour trek back to camp where we made dinner for the night, and settled into our camp. Trekking and camping like this isn´t conducive to late nights and once again we were asleep when it got dark at around 10pm, arn´t we exciting!

DAY 5 - Off to glacier Grey!

Day 5 was to see us leave our Campo Italiano and head off for a 18.6km trek to Glacier Grey. We started out early and we packed and eaten before everyone else in the camp. Our idea was to get walking early on a full stomach of porridge (which Andy was still loving but Joise beginning to hate), and miss all the traffic. After our experience on day 2 with such distance, we started with some hesitation. If it was to be a trek like that one, we could be in for some trouble. Thankfully, the majority of the food was gone from the pack so it wasn´t such a heavy weight to carry. We had also become more experienced over the past 4 days and we now considered ourselves to be true trekkers.

The first leg of the trek was 2 hours and it took us to the end of the lake Pehoe and to Refugio y area de acampar Paine Grande. We managed to head off at a good pace due to the early start and we blitzed it in only 1:30 which felt like a good achievement. A quick chocolate stop here, and we headed off for the longer 2nd leg which would take about 3.5 hours. The weather was once again smiling on us that day, and the sun was shining. More of the up and down paths took us closer to our camp. Towards the end of this trek the wind grew stonger and the path steeper. We had a sneak preview of the glacier and saw various, deep blue and big chuncks of ice floating in the beautiful Lago Grey. Our hearts jumped at this site as we never experienced anything like it. We marched on, driven by the anticipation of what is there to come. Our first taste of the glacier was some distance off as we came out of a valley, and crested a hill to be greated with a great view of the glacier and a blasting icey wind. It was so strong it was difficult to stand, but the view of the glacier was astonishing. Ice as far as the eye could see, decending on two fronts into a blue lake. This spured us on to complete the walk, and we decended a huge section to get to the camp. All we could think was "this is not going to be fun to climb tomorrow" but it didn´t matter as we had avoided the pains of day 2. After a long but not too torturous walk, we arrived at Campo Grey for the night.

The camp was in an amazingly beautiful spot on the beach next to the Lago Grey. Getting in early meant we had the pick of the spots and got one right next to the lake. There cannot be many places in the world where you can camp next to a lake, on the beach, with pure blue icebergs floating in the water next to you, and a glacier just over the hill. This place is truly divine and the facilities are really good. We would recommend paying the cost to camp here, it was well worth it. The shop here was also really well stocked and we treated ourselves to another pack of biscuits and some other pleasures as it was our last night.

After setting up camp we decided to head up to the glacier mirador as the weather was so nice. The place was not to dissapoint and as we reached the edge of the glacial lake, the stunning blue glacier Grey showed itself. We were truely shocked the first time we saw it due to its colour, scale and beauty. We sat here in the sun for a good 20 mins before even moving, just staring at the ice in amazement. We had never really considered that ice could be so impressive, but it proved itself to be just that, and we both realised this was the highlight of our whole trip so far. The weather was rewarding us richly for our 5 days of effort to get here and it was cloudless, sunny and still, further adding to the beauty of the glacier. Even better we shared this expierence with virually nobody, only 2 or 3 other people, and we felt truely privileged. The icebergs floating in the lake have a movement and beauty of their own, which cannot be captured in photographs. To get a closer look, we scaled the rocks on a point in front of the iceberg, and after a short scramble, we were treated to a view which only us two shared. There was no-one else to be seen, and we were rewarded with a near silent and private view of Glacier Grey. We sat there for a long time just staring at the ice, feeling so honored to have been able to be here and experience such a view, which not so many people have a chance to witness. It is things like this that make travelling seem so worthwhile, as you cannot have an experience like this in many places in the world, it is sights like this which we will remember forever and we will hold with us for long after we return home.

The wind eventually began to pickup (we wouldn´t have expected anything else) and forced us to get off our rocky perch or be blown off. We returned to camp that night extremely happy with a real sense of contentment. Life can be so great! If that wasn´t enough, we sat on the beach that night and enjoyed an amazing sunset over the lake, with icebergs just floating by. We went to bed early again, for another early start, and to our surprise discovered that sand is not as comfortable to sleep on. However, nothing was to destroy our euphoria that day and for days after.

DAY 6 - Farewell Torres , hello Real Food!

Day 6 was to take us back to Paine Grande, where we had come from the day before. Once again we were up before virtually everyone else. Our camp was packed in super quick time, due to all the practice we have had. One thing about camping that can be really frustraiting, is knowing you have to packup home everyday and strap it to your back. However, that is also one of the great pleasures of camping as you feel totally free, and you can carry everything you need to sustain yourself. The first section of the trek was the massive uphill, which proved to be hard and hot work, but not as bad as expected. I think by this point we had become a little more trained in trekking and we knew how to tackle it a bit better. We stormed back to our destination keeping up a real pace. We managed to be the first people to reach the catamaran point with over an hour to spare. We spent our time here enjoying the view, finishing off our biscuits and basking in our achievement. Neither of us had ever attempted anything like this before and we have completed it. We had trekked about 80km in all which was an unimaginably high figure to us before the trek (I am sure that is nothing to some people but for us, it is). The sense of achievement from reaching our endpoint was amazing. We both felt content with life, like we had really achieved something amazing together, and like we had learned and changed so much along the way. It was a totally new experience for us and a totally amazing one. We had spent 6 nights on the trail and enjoyed every minute of it (well except day 2 and the top of the hill on day 4). We would both never be the same again after it, and we had a new spirit of adventure in us. We felt like we could now achieve anything, it is Andy and Josie against the World from now on!!!!!

To end our trip we took the catamaran to meet our bus, and shipped off back to Puerto Natales. The bus trip home seemed like nothing and we arrived back at the hostel to a very warm welcome from Omar, the hostal owner. The place was warm and inviting and Omar congratulated us on our achievement. It was really nice to be greeted like that and made us feel like someone else knew what we had achieved. That night we went for the meal we had both dreamed of for 6 days, Steak and Chips in Pepper Sauce for Andy, and a massive Beefburger for Josie. A glass of wine completed what proved to be one of the most satisfying meals ever. Being deprived of propper food for a week and being on rations really does make you appreciate being able to get whatever you want whenever you want.

When the sun set on Puerto Natales that night, there were 2 happy trekkers in bed, full of warm food and a fantasic sense of achievement. The "W" trek may not be the longest or hardest or most wild in the world, but it had given these 2 travelers so many good memories and necessary experience that will remain with them forever.

Thank you Torres del Paine for everything, but remember we beat you!!!!!!

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Photos

The Torres del Paine at sunrise
DAY 2 - The things in the clouds to the right are the Torres

View on the way
DAY 1

View up the valley
DAY1

Indiana Thompson
DAY1 - The brave adventurer descends a rope down some rocks that are all of about 10ft high. WOW my hero!

Gnome-tastic
DAY1 - Dinner at the first camp. Andy looks like a beardy gnome

Sunrise at Torres
DAY 2

We made it to the torres!
DAY2 - VERY early in the morning

The way down from the Torres
DAY2 - The camp was all the way down in the forest at the bottom

Chillean Fire Flower
DAY 2

Berries
DAY 2 - Apparently all berries in Patagonia are edible, so we tried all of them :) Sweet at first but bitter aftertaste.

Never ending lake
DAY 2 - We walked for a torturous 4 hours by this lake, it was nearly the death of us.

Burnt Tree
DAY2 - This is quite a common site in the park. Burnt wood due to forest fires

Wakey Wakey
DAY3 - Home for the night on day 2

Glaicer
DAY 3 - This glacier was in Valley Frances

Our home
DAY 3 - Camping at Campo Italiano

Mountains in the Valley
DAY4 - In Valley Frances

Forest Path
DAY4 - The trail on day 4 looked like this, nice uh!

Ice so blue
DAY5 - The Ice is so blue it looks totally unreal

Iceberg up Close
DAY5 - The intricate cracks look amazing

Glacier grey
DAY 5

Glacier grey
DAY 5

Rocks, our view point
DAY 5

Iceberg Dead Ahead!
DAY5

Sunset at the beach camp
DAY 5

A chunk of ice swept to the beach
DAY 6

Glacier from afar
DAY6 - The glacier has 2 fronts and is HUUUUUGE

Mirror Lake
DAY6 - Amazingly the air was totally still giving the lake this mirror effect. It was destoryed shortly after when some tit threw a rock in the lake (Andy!)

We Won!
DAY6 - This was the end of our trek waiting for the boat

The End
DAY6 - Farewell Torres

Comments

[Jamie]

Well done guys!
I was hoping you'd do something like that - hard, but really worth while. My guess is you'll want more now you've tasted the hills

[Neil]

Funny how .....
Funny how we had to drag you around Southport in years gone by . Funny how the simplest of things can be life changing sometimes and where you find real beauty . And yes , we do realise that you will want to stay in the garden from now on .

[The Walfords]

Stupendous
Just when you think things couldnt be any beautiful. You send these photos back. Absolutley breath taking. I am lost for words and thats saying something. All our love you lucky pair. x x x x

[Ian]

Congratulations!
Well done on your fantastic experience. I'm sure you have slightly more idea now why I sailed across an ocean twice...? Mostly just because it is there!

[Michel]

For adventures we came...
...and adventures we shall get! And you did it! Well done, well done! But why are your photos nicer than mine...?!? Better camera plus better photographer - hard to beat ;-) A pity i didn't make it to Bariloche in time! Maybe we will have our steak dinner later somewhere else then... Saludos de Cochrane (Chile), Michel

[Simon]

April/May
I hope my last minute travel plans turn out good. Would love to hear your thoughts on checking out Torres del Paine and/or Perito Moreno Glaciares the end of April (4/28-5/1).

[Ginger nuts]

Patagonia in April
Perito Moreno in April should not be a problem as you take a bus or some kind of transport to get there and back. We went to Torres in mid Feb and had excellent weather as for Patagonia. Apparently people do it even in Winter. However, I heard also about people who had to turn back as it was raining the whole time, but that was in September. April/May being late summer/autumn might be a wonderful time. You really never know with patagonian weather. Just pack warm and waterproof clothes. Good luck and ENJOY!!! :)))

[barrygahan]

Great Blog
Fantastic description of your hike, there's lots of helpful tips here. We're doing the "W" in the same direction next week. I'm not looking forward to Day 2 though!