Torres del Paine

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After leaving Tierra del Fuego, a busride led me to Punta Arenas, the first real city i've visited since Buenos Aires. It's quite the likeable town, both classy and shabby. Old colonial buildings, palaces and houses in that pretty weird chile-meets-scandinavia style make you forget the less interesting newer architecture. After a night here (with a whopping breakfast, in Hostel Independencia) and meeting Lesley, who soon became my travel companion, the road went on to Puerto Natales.
Puerto Natales is fairly uninteresting, and serves mainly as a planning, transport and recovering hub for those visiting Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. After buying the necessary food and supplies for the trip (we intended to survive on chocolate, Gran Cereal cookies, mashed potatoes, polenta, prepackaged sauces and dried mushrooms), me and Lesley set out to Torres del Paine. We paired up because both of us wanted to do the Big Circuit (a 7 day trek around the park), instead of just the more touristy 'W', and we didn't want to go there alone.
The first day in the park hosted a short walk, with soaking rains and waist deep rivers (we didn't find the bridge) making sure we got as wet as we could be. We spent most of the evening by the stove in Camping Seron, trying to get our boots dry and whipping up a first meal. The next day was surprisingly sunny, so we set out on a 30 km walk to Los Perros. We feasted our eyes on wide views of Rio Paine and Lago Paine and the surrounding wetlands - and the snow covered mountains behind that, while trying not to be blown off the face of the mountain by the gusts of wind. I took a swim in Lago Dickson, a ridiculously cold but very scenic lake, right before meeting Dave, a 54 year old software engineer from Ohio, who joined our little troup for the next days. Though sporting a completely different lifestyle than my own, Dave's passion for everything he does and our shared adoration of the nature around us made for a swift bonding. Our walk led us from swampy valleys over rocky viewpoints and through mystic lenga forests with spectacular waterfalls. When we finally reached Camping Los Perros, we improvised a chickpea-mushroom-tuna stew and passed out.
Day three promised to be the most demanding day, we had to get over the John Gardner pass, by climbing up to 1200 meter on a rocky, windy slope. Luckily, the weather kept on loving us, and when we reached the top, the massive glaciar Grey unfolded before our eyes. A blue icefield 5 kms wide, calving into a lake at one side, and going off into the horizon on the other, with cloudy mountains bordering on both sides. A steep descent tested our muscles and joints, which were happy to relax when we came to Las Guardas. In the kitchen area we met Andy from Bristol and Joe from New York, who were cooking up a stew with ají, chile's chili sauce (bardzo tasty). They were running along the trail rather than just walking, and we would team up with them in the following evenings.
A strong craving for bread and the inability to find it -even chatting up refugio hostesses in improvised spanish didn't help- coloured my fourth day in Torres del Paine. We walked by the side of the glaciar, getting evermore impressed by its size, and came down to Lago Pehoe. The shores offered pleasant hiking through shrubs and berry bushes, and Campamento Italiano made a nice stop for the night.
In the morning, me, Lesley and Dave went up Valle Frances, though clouds, rain and snow obscured the alledgedly supreme views. By this time, we started to feel pretty weathered, an elite group separate from mere day hikers. Yet we weren't free from cravings for the civilised world, and when we got to Refugio Los Cuernos, we rejoiced in hot showers, a big meal, wine, whisky and beers. It felt very nice and warm, but also a bit like cheating.
The sixth day saw us going to Las Torres, our final campground, right at the base of the Torres del Paine. The sun made Patagonia feel less windy and wet, and i stripped down to summer clothes - only to get dressed again some hours later, when a light drizzle would set in. I was amazed by the geological structures on the islands in Lago Nordenskold. It looked surreal, especially with the clear sky and still waters around them. A completely different sight from the forests, glaciers and jagged peaks we'd ben taking in during the past days, and that is what makes this park so magnificent: there's so many landscapes in the area. When arriving at the camping, rain had set in, and my not so weatherproof tent began drinking eagerly. Me and Dave didn't feel like sticking around, and we took a walk to Japones, over boulder fields, past menacing mountains, getting really wet. Back in the kitchen area i improvised mashed potatoes with chili and pepper sauce, and then we got into our wet tent.
At 6 o' clock, Dave, Lesley, Joe, Andy and me set out to see the sun rise over the Torres. The night had been way too cold for my sleeping bag, and snow covered the trail up the mountains. When reaching the base of the towers, they got their legendary red colour, glowing pink on the snow. Andy started melting snow and created whisky-chocolate porridge, to celebrate our presence, in the company of these iconic rocks. We felt victorious, and the walk to the exit of the park was a breeze.
Parque Nacional Torres del Paine may not offer the solitude and wilderness i was expecting, but has nonetheless given me the finest walking i've ever encountered. You're definately not alone, but the crowds of summer had left, and gave way to small groups like us, growing into a cosy community making love to the surroundings.

Possibly interesting stuff...
-some years ago i bought a very ligth scarf in Marrakech, and it serves as nearly everything you can imagine. at night it's an extra layer in my sleeping bag (Patagonia is cold), in daytime it served as a scarf (hah), a turband, a protective layer between me and my backpack's straps, and with some ingenuity, a bag could be fashioned from it as well. Nice!
-more modular stuff: a light fleece blanket (the one you might get on the plane). Nice to have in your sleeping bag, nice to wrap around your legs in your pants in case you forgot to buy waterproof pants and are walking through knee-deep snow (i know), and it makes for a good picnic or beach blanket as well.
-i'm very glad i did some research on how to pack a backpack, we almost like each other now
-El Picador Carlitos is a cheap and really nice restaurant in Puerto Natales, and they won't let you starve if you're a vegetarian.
-polenta proved to be a superb travel meal. Half a kilo gives you at least six meals, and preparing it doesn't take long. For breakfast, compressed muesli cookies (in Chile they're called Gran Cereal, in Argentina Frutigran) are not too shabby and nutricious. About 100 gramm kept me going until the afternoon.
-in the park, you don't need to carry more than one liter of water, all the streams offer perfectly potable liquids.
-The Golden Dragon in Punta Arenas is a ridiculously cheap and tasty Chinese restaurant.
-don't expect to find bread in the park (even if you really crave it, it just doesn't come your way).

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Photos

Paso John Gardner
with a fine view of glacier grey
Courtesy of Lesley Kao

trekking the back of the circuit
Courtesy of Lesley Kao

making my way to the pass
by Lesley Kao

the fellowship
by Lesley Kao

Dave explains something
by Lesley Kao

Porridge Club
by Andy Baillie