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Published: February 27th 2011
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Here we go!
Torres del Paine in the background Torres del Paine (TdP) is a mountain range in southern Chile, independent of the Andes. Trekkers have been known to experience four seasons in one day - ranging from snow, to rain, wind and strong sun (the ozone is particularly weak in southern Patagonia). In order to visit the park we stayed in Puerto Natales (115 km south of Torres del Paine) before getting a bus to the mountains.
Getting There
Our adventure started with our Journey to Puerto Natales. From our wildlife experience in Puerto Madryn, we got a twenty hour bus to Rio Gallegos in Southern Argentina. We immediately connected onto another bus towards Rio Turbio, a small town on the Argentina-Chile border. In Rio Turbio we met a couple of lovely Austrian girls, Karin & Julia. Julia's Spanish skills were key in negotiating our way to the Chilean border. The bus was full so we had to get a taxi, which could only drop us on the Argentinian exit side. So, after getting stamped out of Argentina we had to walk 4km to the Chilean entrance. The walk was nice and we had a laugh with the girls. Getting stamped into Chile was an easy formality, but
Border Runners
We had a lucky hop over the border to Chile getting the extra 21km to Puerto Natales was looking like a difficulty. The Chilean immigration officers told me there was no bus or no taxis that we could just hop into and when I jokingly asked if we were supposed to walk the distance, I received a more serious confirmation that "yes", that is exactly what we were supposed to do!
Luckily enough, we got a lift from a couple of nice Chilean lads, not long after we started walking. Good on you, random Chilean guys!
Trekking
Torres del Paine has become a much visited hiking destination, especially in the summer peak season of December to February. While you can do a number of combinations of different hikes by selecting various trails, the most famous treks are the 4-5 day ‘W’ and the 8-9 day ‘Circuit’. Visitors to the park have a few options: (a) Stay at one of the nice hotels and drive / hike some trails by daytime. (b) Stay at one of the Refugios (nice hostels) and continue on something like the 5-day ‘W’ trek. (c) Go all out for a hardcore trekking and camping experience and take on the 9-day ‘Circuit’. I decided that
With the breeze in our face...
We jumped in the back of the Chilean truck! Sarah and I were immediately promoted to seasoned hiker / camper status and we opted for the Circuit. No problem, right?!
Off we go
An eight day trek does take at least a little preparation, I noted. In Buenos Aires, we bought hiking boots and filled some general gaps in our trekking wardrobe. We stocked up on food in Puerto Natales and rented our tent, sleeping bags, hiking poles, stove and dining set – “A tent’s a tent” we thought.
The bus picked us up at 7.30am in Puerto Natales. It was a nice ride lasting about two and a half hours including the stops that our driver made for photo opportunities. We met some Portenos and a nice Welsh lad called Darren who was fun to chat with as we exchanged tips on things to do when we headed in opposite directions after TdP. By early afternoon we were on our way for day one!
The Weather was nice. It was actually decently hot as we carried our backpacks up the sometimes quite steep trails towards ‘The Torres’. The views were fantastic. After a few hours we took a quick breather at one of the camping
Gracias Amigos!
We immediately loved the Chilean hospitality! sites where we met Luis, the Gaucho. A Gaucho is basically an Argentinean cowboy. We told him our plan, chatted for a while and he wished us good luck before we continued on our way. Thanks Luis.
Camping
By six o’clock we made it to our campsite at Campamento Torres. We got the backpacks unloaded and readied the tent – it was all coming back to me now; those summers spent camping with my family as a young lad were going to pay off, big time!
Tent ready; Sarah’s cooking pasta; just popped a bottle of red and we’re looking good. Our camping neighbors were Emma from Iowa and Alex from Serbia. We had a laugh with them, chit-chatting and swapping stories before crashing after a successful first day. My plan was to get up early for sunrise, about next day at 5am. If the weather was nice again, we might see the Torres (three mountainous pillars) light up red with the rising sun! Lights out on Day One-
“Beep-beep” and my watch tells me it’s 5am already. Unfortunately it was raining slightly so there goes the red Torres idea. Oh well, back to sleep for a
while! Sarah and I eventually rose by eight o’clock and got ready to head up the steep trail to see the Torres with Emma. The weather was overcast and trekkers we met who made the sunrise mission had disappointing reports of poor vision. But we continued up. As you can see from tour photos it was cloudy, but we had fun with it and got some shots nonetheless.
Starting to go south
After a while we returned to camp and packed up for our second leg to take us 19 kilometers towards Campamento Seron on our way around ‘the circuit’. As luck would have it, the weather deteriorated further and by the time we descended past the Hosteleria Torres campsite, Sarah suggested that we should hole up for the night. I was perfectly happy to keep on rolling for another 12k with the rain beating into my face, but at least Sarah had some sense. We managed to erect the tent and get ready for the night at the campsite. The storm was picking up and quite a few people were trying to secure their tents in the windy rain. Our flimsy rental was looking dodgier by the minute,
so I pulled a park-bench towards us in an effort to increase our wind shield.
It was a long night. The wind and rain increased, and the ground had become so waterlogged that it seeped right through our tent’s ground mat. I remember waking at one stage in an increasingly wet sleeping bag with Sarah beside me: “I’m soaked, Bref”, she sighed…silent thoughts…. “I suppose we can just do the 4-day trek now then” I responded. “F*ck no – we’re leaving tomorrow!” was Sarah’s immediate and final answer. On the bus ride back to Puerto Natales we met the Porteno lads who arrived at the same time as us. We all agreed that the rain had got the better of us and that sleeping in wet tents and bags was not so much fun.
Back in Puerto Natales, we dropped off the wet camping equipment and got a huge discount for our troubles. I’m chalking this one up to a valuable life experience. What do you say, Sarah?!
One bitten, twice shy? Or would Bref & Sarah have a second stab at trek-camping in Patagonia? Find out in the blog editions![
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Julie
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keep the stories/pics coming!!!
Wow...Torres del Paine looks absolutely beautiful!!! Thanks for the awesome stories / pics. I was in a similar camping situation with the ex-husband, where he decided we had experienced hiker status & proceeded to lead us into a valley for a lovely night of flash flooding. Definitely good life experience...but, I can completely sympathize with Sarah's "F*ck No" attitude after sleeping in a wet tent haha! Looks like you guys are having an amazing time!! I'm ridiculously jealous, but enjoy living vicariously through your Blogs :) Miss you guys!! --Julie