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Published: February 25th 2010
We survived the ´W´!
This blog is being written from a nice warm hostel, where we slept in a an actual bed last night, bliss! We are both a little achy and tired, but then walking 90 km with a backpack and sleeping in a wind swept tent will do that to you. We have just completed the ´W´circuit around Torres Del Paine which is probably one of the most famous treks in South America, obviously after the Inka Trail. We covered the 90 kms in four days. The terrain is quite mixed, up to the main view points it is pretty hard going lots of ascents and descents, even steep descents didn´t turn out to be the easy ride we thought, as it is actually quite hard to to keep yourself steady with a backpack on. You have options of how to do the trek you can stay in refugios and get a dorm bed and have your meals cooked or be self sufficient. We opted to be self sufficient so that meant carrying all our camping gear and food, but it gave you a much better experience and alot more independence as you could choose when and where
to stop for the night. Down sides were obviously you get a bit fed up of packet soup, rice and pasta to eat, and sleeping in a tiny tent on gravel when the wind is blowing 50km per hour and mice are scurrying around just outside by your head is not a good combination for a good nights rest! However enough of moaning it was a fab experience and the scenery was worth every single step!
The main highlights were Torres del Pan, Valle Frances and Grey´s Galcier, but on your way to each of these you are surrounded by 360 degrees of beautiful scenery. The lakes are beatuiful shades of blue, from turquise to electric, surrounded by snowy mountains and 3000m granite spires, pretty spectacular to see.
Torres del Pan was the first place we headed as we had a glorious day and the park is notorious for being hidden in clouds sometimes Torres De Pan can be hidden for days. After four hours of ascending we set up camp, and headed to Torres de Pan for sunset. We sat there for 2 hours just soaking up the incredible sight, it is a series of granite spires
with three main ones jutting out of the mountain, above a small cloudy turquise lake which they reflect perfectly into. As the sun sets the spires slowly change colour as the different lights refect of them.
We then headed to Frances Valley which is glacial valley which carves the two mountains in half. You rock scramble up with a glacier on one side and rock spires on the other. As you are walking you can hear the river created by the run off from the glacier pounding through the valley intersperesed with the thundering crash of chunks falling off the glacier about every 30 minutes.
The last day we hiked up to Grey´s Glacier. The winds were so strong that they had blown icebergs away from the glacier so you could see them along the lake as you were ascending towards the glacier. The glacier was bigger than we both expected and probably bigger than the ones we saw in New Zealand. The glaciers empty into huge lakes in patagonia which makes them spectacular to look at. It was blowing a gale and freezing cold up near the glacier so we headed to lower ground at the far
side of the park and waited for our lift back to the hostel.
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Paul P
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All you can eat buffet
I'm shocked that you've been to an all you can eat buffet Adam. Is that why you've gone to S. America, cos you've been banned from all of the UK ones?