Torres del Paine part dos

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We're scrambling to catch up on this blog as you can see! The last 3 days of our hike were definitely not the highlight, but there were some more beautiful views and only one day of intermittent rain. At this stage, we had come upon the daytrippers so when we had met about 3 people per day on the backside of the circuit, now we were meeting 3 people every 15 minutes! I have to admit we did feel a bit superior having walked all this way when others had taken catamaran and stayed in comfy beds. Some highlights were the Valley Frances with the 360 degree panorama of peaks, and the incredible Ascension valley with narrow scree paths that would send you tumbling to a raging river below with one misstep. Chuck developed a stomach bug on our second-last night and was up all night vomiting while I slept, oblivious with my earplugs! He managed to make the 7 to 8 hour hike the next day up to Campamento Torres and slept for at least 12 hours before getting up at 4am to try to catch the sunrise on the Towers on the last day. Needless to say there aren't very many pictures from that day. Unfortunately, the rainiest morning of all happened to be the one that we spend hiking uphill for 1 hour to try to catch the sunrise. We could barely tell the sun was up. The previous night I had told the Garda about Chuck's illness and he patted me on the back and said "I'm afraid you are next". A stomach flu had been making its way around Puerto Natales and lots of trekkers had been sick. He was right. On the way down, I felt the beginnings of a fever and it took 5 hours to make the 3 hour trek down Ascension Valley. Luckily we were able to get a room at the Hotel Torres at the bottom and I fell into a feverish coma for the next 18 hours. The only good side was the breakfast buffet the next day (I had juice and fruit) and the sunrise pictures that Chuck managed to get the next morning. I think they are incredible and they will definitely find a place on our wall back home to remind us of this adventure.

So for me (Chuck) the last few days when we did the "W" were a mix of disappointment and amazing views. There was the stupidity of the camera battery mix up and I can assure you all that's not happening again; the miserable stomach flu that ruined a day; the rainy sunrise that prevented us from seeing the towers only a stones throw away. Even with all that there were some of the best views of the whole trip like looking back down the Valley Francis and the panorama at the top; the look up and back down the Ascension Valley; walking down the lake from Gray Glacier; and finally the eventual sunrise. I must say that the hotel at the bottom was a big, overpriced disappointment and if you can at all avoid staying there you should. The bus ride back was one of the slowest and most annoying that I have ever been on. The trek was absolutely breathtaking and something that I will remember forever. It really is something that everyone should get to experience.

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Photos

Rach and the towers
This was one of many sketchy ladders

Chuck and the backside of the towers
That's one lame pose, I'm aware

Gray glacier at the eastern leading edge
It was way bigger than it seemed even though we were quite close.

Close up of the leading edge
The front is between 10 and 20 stories high.

Weird tree fungus
At this point I think some of this was growing on us.

Finally a shower
A little disappointing with no water pressure and the choice between scalding hot and glacier cold (good for beer, bad for showers).

Umm ice berg
They had crazy colours depending on how the sun hit them

Ghetto Gato and one sweet glacier
This was basically what got us through the 9 days.

The view from our tent
Rach the towel head after our showers.

Valley Francis
Not the best day but spectacular nonetheless

Looking back down the Valley Francis
The little bit of sun we saw that day.

One of the many "Rach on a bridge" shots
The bridge to campamento Italiano at the base of the Valley Francis