Torres del Paine!

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I tried to think of something cute and funny to name this entry (I know - it would be the first time) but there is really nothing else I could possibly call it! It's gonna be about Torres del Paine and anyone who has ever been there, wants to go there or otherwise knows about it, those words sum up so much!

It is just a spectacular National Park! Dominated by the three horns (middle, north and west I think - I really should go check) the stark beauty is apparent straight away. Until now I hadn't really commented on the weather, which to be fair is a bit of an injustice to the weather. Patagonia weather is typically windy, windy, windy, rainy and cold. I'm very happy to report that we had ONE day of wind and El Chalten and it wasn't until our last day of Torres del Paine that we experienced any rain. This is to be marvelled at! It made things a little warmer than any of us were expecting and certainly made the views more spectacular than we would have otherwise expected.

Our first day in Torres del Paine involved leaving all our main luggage in the hotel we were staying at and taking our little duffel bags that Ana had given us along with our hiking poles and sleeping bags and taking a 2 hour van ride to the national park. Once there we caught a ferry across to the refugio and our tents. WOW they were small. Hiking tents, which of course is not the kind of tent I'm used to. And of course we were still sharing. The tents weren't actually ready so we put our stuff in storage again and off we went on our first hike of the park. It was a short one. Only about 5 hours in totally. I think it was supposed to be 4 hours, but not everyone in the group was keeping up. Lillian really wasn't in any shape for heavy hiking with still being sick and Sara's shins and Stephanie's knees were beginning to tell. That's fine though we weren't in too much a hurry and only needed to be back in time for dinner.

This hike took us to a nice little look out over Grey's Glacier. Stunning. And HOT. Not just warm. As previously mentioned we were all expecting cold and wet. Instead we had hot and dry and not even windy. I'd worn a fleece and thermals under shorts (not the most fashionable, but it was functional) and I had the fleece off in no time and the thermals were really calling out to be taken off but I couldn't find a place... so I suffered. Probably not silently ;-) I was very grateful for my lukewarm camping shower that night.

When we got back we got a very pleasant surprise! After our showers we were taken into the dining room... at this stage maybe I should explain that the refugio offered dorm style accomodation in addition to the camping and mess style eating. So once in the dining room we were taken to a nice side private room and given snacks and wine! Can't say I complained. We still had to go get our own meals, which were large and filling and not too bad, but... PRIVATE dining room away from the hussle and bussle of a noisy mess! AND WINE! We were happy campers *boom-chk*.

The next day we were on a tight time table. We had to be ready for brekkie at 7 for a 7:15 brekkie then leave everything behind in lockers again and off again to see Franz Glacier. This hike was a little different from all the ones we'd done previously in that we were told that past a certain point the track got a little harder to find as it went up the moraine and that Ana wouldn't let us go back alone past that point. Of those of us who went on, we all had to make it there and back together. If anyone gave up and decided that it wasn't worth it, then we were all turning back. And we had a time limit since we needed to be back in camp by 6 to catch the last ferry of the day at 6:30. Sara and Stephanie decided to save themselves for horns the following day and Lillian was always going to be out. That just left Reid, Ann and myself. Reid was alway continuing on as far as he could and I really wanted to continue. But Ann wanted to turn back so that Reid had a chance to continue on further than the next look out and maybe make it to final lookout along that path. Both Ann and I didnt' think we'd be able to do that since Ana told us that she'd only ever done that with one other group. Result was that Ana talked me into it and so Ann came too and it was well worth it.

Our view of Franz Glacier where we left the others was good, but even just the scenery we walked through on our way up to the last look out was worth the effort of going on. There was this little sand covered path winding it's way through the trees and along a ridge and oh my I can't believe how pretty it was. I wanted to really take my time, set up a tripod and catch the scenery properly, but not to be. I do have the memories though... and the view from the look out... Not shabby at all. We were surrounded by glacier covered mountains and every direction we looked there was breath taking view. Ana said our time was good and we could try to press on to the further lookout if we wanted but Ann was against and I had doubts I'd be able to handle it so we had a long lunch and let the Glaciers put on their show. We saw so many small avalanches (no we weren't in ANY danger) and the sound was great. On our way back down we heard a massive CRACK and we were running to get a view point of the glacier, but missed most of the show. Luckily though it put on an encore and whilst we were there we were standing there it let go again with another big avalanche/calving.

We made it back with an hour to spare and I happily used the time to have a shower and wash the day's sweat off. It was another warm day and I felt icky to say the least. Another ferry ride and an van ride and we were at our night's accomodation. WOW. So what that it was camping again! The scenery was really out doing itself and the food was great. Instead of a refugio and campground this time we stayed at a local estancia (farm) and we got a spectacular lot of nibblies. There was this huge white dome tent thing with a plastic panel with a view out to the horns, beanbags and a jug of pisco sours. Yummy. Oh and some cheese and guacamole and what not. This was of course topped by the dinner. Soooo huge. So tasty. A really nice bean soupy thing which would have been enough on its own. Roasted Veggies. Cous cous. Meat stew. Some caramel dessert... I totally over ate!

The last day we continued on back into the park and crossed this tiny little bridge. I mean that thing was narrow. We had the mirrors in and we only had about 5 cm clearance on either side. Kinda scary but really kewl too. The day was looking a little overcast at this stage, but not too bad. I was convinced that it was going to clear up but it didn't. It just got worse and started raining. Wasn't too cold though as long was you were moving which was a good thing since I was wearing shorts and a singlet with my waterproof jacket over the top most of the time. I only added a fleece layer when we stopped. Like the previous day, there was a point of no return and this time only Reid and I decided to continue. Everyone else decided that the weather precluded making the effort... even Ann because she was getting sick and she's "scrambled up too many wet slippery moraines to risk her knees and her whole hiking season for a view that won't be worth it today".

It was a tough slog and I thought it was worth it. I kept having moments of "wow - if i had time and wanted to risk my camera". Those windswept trees in the rainy over cast diffuse light. They really captured me. Damn not having the time or the inclination to set up a tripod (especially since I'd left it in Peurto Natales). Through the whole hike we didn't have a single view of the horns which were our goal and when we got to the top...!!! Wow. the clouds parted and offered us a partially clear view. Nothing too spectacular. I've seen photos and they look better by bright sunshine, but still I thought it was worth it. By the end of the day my knees were really hurting and I was getting cold from sweat... but nothing a shower, a good meal and a night's rest wouldn't fix. Sadly upon our return to Peurto Natales we didn't repeat our awesome dining experience from the previous evening, but we still had a great night and prepared ourselves for the looooooong bus ride the following day.

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Photos

It almost looks like home.
But not really

Waterfall!
It connects two of the park's lakes.