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Published: December 4th 2010
Its December…and I am currently in Chile again. This 3 week Kumuka trip takes me in and out of Argentina and Chile. Currently it’s Chile…Torres del Paine Nacional Park but let me rewind to leaving Bariloche and the 3 days at sea on the infamous Navimag.
3 days cruising the Chilean fjords is a real endurance test when you are cooped up on a boat with 200 other passengers. Nothing to do except eat, sleep and read….(could be a book in that!). To be perfectly honest the journey south across the ice fields was occasionally like some sort of existential hell. Initially the experience was exciting but the monotony of being at sea quickly kicked in. Clad in warm layers, wind and waterproofs the first 2 days of this experience afloat, the weather was crisp and bright and much time was spent on deck admiring the wind lashed whitehorses, the uninhabited landscapes, and the smoking volcanoes. However, after a rough 12 hour passage in the open sea, the weather changed and a monochromatic hue descended on the horizon. Everything became a wet, freezing grey fuzz… minutes spread into hours punctuated only by inane conversations with fellow passengers exchanging travelling tales of destinations ahead and journeys already made. There was no escape and the 3 school esq meals a day just acted as a sandwich between the interminable hiatus…. I honestly felt my will to live being gradually eroded wondering how long a human could last if they fell into the churning waters of the icy fjords. I guess in an area that gets 8 metres of precipitation a year, it would have been naïve to think we could be on deck enjoying the views all the time…
This is an area of extremes….with three continental plates crashing into each other the tectonic power of the earth is fully evident…the active volcanoes, the watery fjords filled with glacial runoff and the jagged land. Here, the South American, the Nazca and the Antarctic Plates converge creating on-land chaos…. Chile has 500 volcanoes, 150 of which are active. The Southern Patagonian icefield – itself a vast expanse of 13 sqkms with ice up to 1400m deep – this is truly a land of fire and ice.
A sense of excitement shot through the Navimag on Day 3 as we approached the Pino XI glacier – a vast advancing ice mass, over 5kms wide and larger in size than Santiago! Outside the winds were evil and the sleet hit you horizontally in the face splashing the camera lens, each drop stinging as it hit your skin. This is just a taste of the glacial adventures ahead…..although exhilarating it was also rather pleasant to climb into my dorm bunk area of 4, close my bed curtains and snuggle down with the best purchase Ive made yet - a hot water bottle – as the winds of up to 260kms raged outside across the bows of the boat.
In the 1860’s WH Hudson wrote Idle Days in Patagonia and concludes that Patagonian wanderers discover in themselves a “primeval calmness”…… I conclude there is little alternative here. Its accept the solitude, the desolateness, the inhospitable madness of the weather or , quite simple, go mad.
After 3 days travelling south, we approached the port town of Puerto Natales – a low lying settlement dwarfed by the hulking mountains and gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. The wind was fierce – ripping through our clothing layers and creating impressive waves on the harbour waters. Considered South America’s finest National Park, the 2800m high granite pillars of Torres imposingly rise above the Patagonian Steppe dominating the wind beaten landscape. This is what I expected of this country. Jagged, insurmountable and unyielding views. Blue to turquoise to emerald glacial lakes sit at the base of the Paine Massif…their waters literally eviscerated by the relentless winds which whip a fine spray up into the icy air – centrifugally gyrating above the water’s surface. The serrated rock fascia’s sculpted by water and wind erosion into craggy peaks which almost resemble CGI views more reminiscent of a movie screen than a known reality. The plutonic rocks of the Massif resemble giant crystals which seem to awaken as the dawn sun licks their snow topped peaks. We got tremendous views of the formation on our first day in the park – a rare sight apparently due to the low cloud cover that normally clings to them.
A 4am start to drop half the Group to do the first leg of the W walk - one of the world’s famous hikes. This first section was a 17.8kms round trip climbing high into the snowline to view the Torres themselves. This is the iconic view of Torres del Paine - a destination walk which took them up the Rio Ascencio rising to view the 3 towers and Glacier Torres. Sadly, our time in the Park is not long enough to do the entire W trek – a 100kms slog spread out over 4 to 5 days. With only 3 full days it was a question of being selective and knowing the different hiking options available, I chose the middle leg of the W trek – the Valley del Francis – a journey not a destination walk. Thus I wouldn’t feel disappointed if I didn’t make it to the end of the valley and by choosing this option Id avoid the competitive egos of the ‘serious hikers in their serious hiking gear’. 6 of us were inclined this way – a far more laid back mentality but with a potential 30kms round trip ahead of us in winds of up to 120kms, it wasn’t necessarily an easy option!
Patagonia is famous for its wind and the fact that one can endure all seasons in 1 day. It is very unpredictable, almost as though the place has meteorological ADD. It’s a question of layering up so I started out with 4 layers on the bottom half and 5 layers on the top half. The wind was howling across Lake Pehoe making the Truck literally rock as we waited for the 930am catamaran to traverse the turbulent waters of the Lake and drop us at the Refuge at the start of the hike.
Having done the calculations of time, we set out knowing it would be physically impossible to get to the end of the valley and back to make the last ferry of the day. None of us were bothered one iota as we wanted to amble along in our own time, taking in the textures and colours of the landscape, gazing up at the icy peaks of the Cerro Paine Grande, listening to the wind as it ravaged through the trees and scrubland whilst watching the waters of Lake Skottsberg balletically dance under its power.
It wasn’t a particularly strenuous walk but my god, could I feel it in my butt, feet and shoulders when we got back to camp later that day. Sleeping in tents in sub zero temperatures is a challenge at the best of times but the Kumuka tents defy imagination. I managed to score one of the ´new´ ones purchased in Punto Natales. It is a cheap Coleman issue with no proper flysheet and a mesh inner top which just sucks the billowing Patagonian gales through. In my silk liner, my goose down sleeping bag, thermals, trackie bottoms, trousers, pyjamas (the cow ones are out and proud), fleece, scarf and hat it’s still an effort to mentally condition your brain to sleep time. My hot water bottle is a source of much envy amongst the Truck!
1 Dec 2010…… After a c 20kms walk yesterday I decided to opt for a more mellow Day 2 in Torres and so checked out Lago Grey and its icebergs. Great hulking chunks of ice bobbing in the almost freezing waters. Icebergs go bluer as their density increases as the ice compacts and here I was witness to the most perfect turquoise bergs. A taste of possible Antarctican adventures ahead???? In the shallows of the Lake a cacophony of clinking filled the air where bits of the bergs had dropped off and been washed into the beach. Under the sun these tiny pieces chinked and sparkled like diamonds. Suddenly from up by the Glacier, a new weather front swept down and horizontal malevolent sleet and snow blew across the Lake and a thick fog descended enveloping the mountains, rendering the view non existent. Walking in the headwind back to the start of our trek made me think about the utterly unrepentant London winter I hear you are undergoing… I cant say its warmer here in Patagonia but somehow its more doable…even in a tent!
My last day in Torres del Paine was spent atop a horse, galloping past glacial lakes, literally breathless from the winds and the exertion. My entire body is suffering today…muscles I had forgotten existed ache but I wouldn’t exchange the pain or discomfort for anything. I am now in El Chalten in Argentina, a climber´s paradise and did a few hours hiking today in beautiful crisp sunshine to view the mountains of Los Glaciares National Park.
Patagonia is a fascinating place… vast tracts of nothingness broken up by the Earth’s fight with itself. It’s a land of contrasts…of Fire and of Ice . It’s a place to think and contemplate and it takes a special sort of person to choose to live here. 12 hour drives with views from the truck windows that yield nothing…just unending flat land with the occasional sheep or cow looking a little perplexed in the malicious wind. This is an area where Butch Cassidy hid on the run. It’s a land of outlaws…and outcasts and some truly memorable mountains.
I am very grateful for hot water and a bed to sleep in now as we are in a hostale for a few nights and of course the wonders of the world wide web… in fact have started investigating last minute deals into the Antarctic. Its all a bit overwhelming as there are so many choices but I think Im going to do it. The price is over half what you would pay from the UK and word on the street is if you tout yourself round the agencies in Ushuaia, you can get it down even further. Trust me, in all my warm hiking gear, Peter Stringfellow will be begging me to work for him! hehehe
So, my time on the computer is up and I am endeavouring to upload pictures for you to see what I have been describing… being in a town where there are no banks or cash points, I feel privileged to even be online at all.
Hope all is well and stay in contact. Ill be in touch again after my Kumuka experience (I use the word loosely) ends and I get to Ushuaia….at the very end of the world.
Love Hannah xx
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Jo Thomas
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WOW
Hannah your writing is absolutely amazing !!!!!!!!! You should be publishing a book about your adventures !!!!! Can't wait for your next edition !!!! How brave of you to undertake this journey alone too and can't wait for the photos !!!!!!!!