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Published: June 30th 2008
The Winter Wonderland.
The Torres and Macizo PaineWe spend our first aftenoon in Peurto Natales, Chile, trying to sort out excursions and things to do for the next couple of days. We are hoping to catch a ferry on the 1st July that will take us up the coast of Chile, navigating its way through glaciers and icebergs, so once again time is a bit of an issue. Or perhaps not. If we thought El Calafate was quiet, that is nothing of Puerto Natales. Even more quiet than the former, most of the agencies are not only closed but have boards over the windows. Our therfore proposed plan of ice climbing and glacier walking has been shot down in flames...Patagonia has certainly pissed all over our chips as one might say. (well probably just me, but then you would too if you tasted the fish and chips on my local shopping parade!) With Torres Del Paine national park, a mecca for alll hikers some 150kms to the North, we thought well we at least we can get out and do some hiking...even the camping hire shops were closed though. It was starting to depress us coming all this way and being so close to the park, yet having
no gear to go there with. We manage to find one agency, who tell us to forget about ice climbing as nobody operates it at this time of year and that only 2 of the refuges (out of about 9) in the park are open. Most people who hike here walk what is called 'the circuit'. It takes about 7 days and via a tent and the refuges you can do a complete lap of the park taking in all of the awesome views etc.
We mope back to the hostel where I get chatting to an Argentinian guy called Braean (oddly enough pronounced Brian...his mum is an English teacher) who had planned to walk on the glacier. His plans had also been scuppered. He tells us about a bus excursion that he will probably do instead that drives you around the park stopping periodically to let you out for photos....yawn, hello am I 60?! I dont think so.
We chat to the girl in the hostel and it turns out they cant rent us all the gear we will need, sweet! With this in mind, I run a plan past her that goes a little something like
this...
Day 1 - Walk 5 hours from the entrance to to first refuge which although closed allows free camping for the night. It also puts us at the base of the Torres (towers) which are the centre point of the park. (Large granite towers, pinkish in colour that rise up next to the Macizo Paine mountain)
Day 2 - Walk a further 7 & 1/2 hours doubling back a bit on ourselves to reach a refuge, which is open and will allow us to camp or stop in the refuge if the weather is too bad.
Day 3 - Walk 4 hours back to the entrance in time to get our 4pm pick up.
She says its not too bad a plan, but day 1 could be tricky, as you are walking an exposed route, so if there is wind it makes the route very difficult, not to mention rain and snow. As we are discussing the plan it is absolutely pouring down outside...not a good omen. She actually thinks the plan may be a little too ambitious, especially with our packs full of clothes, food, sleeping bags, tents etc...but we are nothing if not
The Fellowship
Darren, Chris and Braeans Excellent Adventure was about to begin! ignorant and foolhardy. We try to convince Braean too, but he thinks there are too many elements against us and we are a tad crazy. It probably didnt help matters that whilst we were having this conversation in the dining room, I suddenly realised I had forgotten to dress myself from the waist down. (just kidding...as if i'd forget to put my socks on)
So Chris and I ran into the town centre and grabbed some gloves, waterproof clothing and food before they shut. We get back to the hostel and Braean sees we are commited to doing it, well with a bit of egging on he says he still thinks we are crazy but 'what the fuck!'....who's onboard??!! Braean in Patagonia, thats who! (you have to be a Zane Lowe listener to get that one)
So we drive up to the park the following morning with a few others, only they are doing the minibus tour and comment on how crazy we are. To which Braean retorts 'I think so too, but I stay in hostel with a couple of crazy Englishmen'. Obviously I am aware that last sentence wasn't gramatically correct, but the guy is Argentinian
so rather than point this out to him I decided to cut him some slack. I still took a little wee in his rucksack when he wasnt looking though...that'll learn him!
Just as us three brave souls are about too set off, we double check where the driver is meeting us for collection. Brilliant, he says he is meeting us at the south entrance. This changes our plans somewhat and what once looks a bit tricky and optimistic now looks like a SAS training day! Day 2 has become a 9-10 hour walk to a different refuge, leaving us 5 hours to do on the final day. Braean who being Argentinian speaks spanish asks him if this is even do-able, he says with a calm piece of piss expression 'si, no hay problema', pero rapido!' loosely translated that means yeah, no problem, but you will have to walk fast....clearly matey hasn´t looked at what we are carrying and what time of year it is. Still we set off and the first part of the walk is ok, nice flat terrain and pretty good weather. A bit cloudy, so we cant get a really good view of the Torres, but
Day 1.....
Clear skies to the south...should be a walk in the park! there's no rain, wind or snow and that is the main thing.
After passing a some builders that are refurbishing a posh looking hostel/hotel, we make our way into the valley, climbing all the time. Looking back there are blue skies in the distance over Lake Sarmiento, which allow for some great views, wish the same could be said for the views in front of us! Its still overcast where we are headed, but none the less we soldier on. From here it gets a little more difficult, as we are a bit higher we now have snow underfoot, which has slowed us a little not to mention the incline with the weight on our back. We reach the first refuge in good time and set up camp as it will probably be dark when we get back. Then we head off through the forest to the view point, where hopefully if the mist has cleared we can spot the Torres. We reach a boulder field and this is difficult to negotiate, as everything is covered in snow, you cant see whats a footing and what is a pile of snow, which basically means you keep falling on rocks,
Guanacos....
watching us in bemusement. (even they were thinking crazy fools) still it was well worth it when we reached the viewpoint and you could see jack shit. Wicked.
Back at the camp, Chris has got a fire on the go, Braean is looking for more fire wood (in abundance in this snow covered area) and I sort dinner. The fire is going but we are running low on wood and its still early, that is until Braean finds a locker with dry wood in it that the hostel uses, well as its a survival situation, we 'borrow' a bit to see us through until we go to bed. Well in the end we keep the fire going until 10pm though it could have gone a lot longer if Braean had his way, im sure if it was left up to him he would have torn down the whole refuge and torched it! The fire was so hot at one point that the rocks surrounding it were cracking! Just as well really as my trainers were soaking where I slipped in a bog earlier in the day, still I probably should have kept a better eye on them, then perhaps they wouldnt have started to melt and burnt completely through
The Crested Caracara bird of prey....
well seriously, what did you think it was.....a bloody elephant?! the laces! We break out some tunes, food and wine and let the good times roll, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was camping in summer! Bouyed by how good the day has turned out Chris says 'they said we couldnt do it!' and 'well its easy when you're a couple of faces like us Dal!'.....My reply was 'man, dont mess with Mother Nature, you know what she can be like when its time of the month'...........
Clearly that date on the calender has rolled around again as after a cold nights sleep, we woke to around 6 inches of snow overnight. It was actually covering around a third of the tent door when we woke up. We packed up quickly and donned our waterproofs, knowing that a very hard and long day had now possible got a lot harder. With 9-10 hours walking ahead of us, sundown at 5pm and visibilty poor we were up against it from the get go. Still at first we figured that the snow was probably only up high where we had camped. That is until we reached the end of the valley and looked out to where we had walked
Mount Doom was taking its toll....
try walking this with a full pack....a bit tricky. the previous day. Everything was white as far as the eye could see, which with mist in the air and the snow dropping quite heavily wasnt very far.
Coming down from the valley and crossing the field to our intended destination of Lake Nordenskjold, was like trying to piss into the wind...not funny and we were getting soaked doing it. The visibility was shocking and we were really struggling to see the trail let alone stick to it. The other problem was just trying to stay on out feet as the snow was either very deep in places, slushy or disguised uneven ground. After hiking up a hill to look for a marker, then searching for it back down towards the lake we knew we had to keep on our left, then back up the hill again, sensibly we had to agree to turn back. It was nearing 1pm and we hadnt even walked half of the route we were intending to complete in the day.
Dejected and defeated we followed our trail back to the plush looking hostel where we had seen the builders the previous day. Whilst Chris gets some soup on the go, Braean and
Emerald Lakes....
We were at least able to see them on the first day. I head off to find the manager of the builders, to see if he can contact our hostel and see if there is any chance we can get them to pick us up today, or at least tell them we need picking up from the original drop off point the following day. He tells us its gonna be tomorrow, which is no real problem, we have food and the tents, so it just means we have to camp in the snow again. However, Jorge, the second in command that we have been speaking to offers us a place to doss in one of the labourers rooms. He also offers us some lunch leftovers in the mess hall...which has a stove heating it! well after getting snowed on all day, we took him up on his offer. So we spent the rest of the day, drinking coffee, drying clothes and watching a really bad Jean Claude Van Damme movie (is there any other kind?! well Bloodsport is ok I suppose, but then what do you expect of a Belgian dancer!) They even invite us to dinner in the evening, which we respectfully decline...its pasta on the gas stove for us! To
Stopping for a breather....
leaving civilization behind. repay his kindness, we offer to help the guys out if they have a menial tasks we can do the following morning, but Jorge wont hear of it! (in actual fact they have pretty strict health and safety laws over here too!)
The next morning, good old Mother Nature has seemingly got some action because we've had another fresh dumping of snow, the sun is out, its blue skies and there isn't a cloud in sight! So after some toast and coffee, we get ready to leave. Jorge tells us he is just putting the chains on the tyres of the trucks and will be heading down to the entrance himself. Well the truck is open backed and looks like quite a fun ride, so we agree and jump on board. These trucks arent built for passengers, so we hold tight and enjoy the views! Im busy snapping away at the awesome views out of the back of the truck, when I fail to notice a us driving past a tree, which whacks me on the back of the kisser, sending lots of fresh cold snow down the back of my jacket! (If some of the piccies are blurry,
What lies ahead....
Braean looking down the valley. bare in mind I was bouncing around in the back of the truck whilst trying to take them...particularly the ine of the Guanacos!)
We have to jump off the truck whilst they cross the most narrow bridge known to man, seriously it took about 5 minutes to get each truck over! They then gave us a lift part of the way to the waterfall we were headed to! What a result, we thanked them for their hospitality, we'd enjoyed a real stroke of luck spending time with these guys. Though our experience of Torres Del Paine was probably very different to most other peoples, we had the park completely to ourselves for 2 whole days and we had an experience which im sure nobody will ever have there. Experiences like this are the reason why im sure we all travel.
Our luck got even better, on our way to the waterfall the van that was meant to pick us up at 4, caught up with us en-route as it was a round the park tour bus. Well we jumped on and for no extra cost we got to drive around the park and see some other highlights including
Waterfall......
in the middle of the valley. foxes searching for food, waterfalls, huge lakes, beautiful views ans sunset over the Grey glacier.
Another real highlight in my time out here. One day I will definitely return to do the whole of the park and this time the entire circuit! It will be man against the elements, me vs the savage wilderness, unhelped, unassisted and nothing but a sharp knife to call upon for back up! (of course, I might take Jorges phone number with me too!)
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