Patagonia Pt 2: Torres del Paine

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Three days into our Patagonian endeavour, we arrived in the town of Peurto Natales, feeling somewhat under the weather. Whether it was something we picked up on our flight down or the acclimatisation to our new temperate surroundings, we were both sniffing and spluttering all over the place. With the prospect of 4 nights of camping in the harsh Patagonian wilderness ahead, the apprehension and second thoughts began to enter our minds.

After deciding to go for a stroll around town, we stumbled upon a free briefing on what to do and expect when visiting the world famous Torres Del Paine national park; which included being told to expect 100km+ winds, rain, sun, hail and snow. With advice in hand we had a brief discussion to debate whether we were definitely up for this...10 minutes later we were heading back to our hostel, tent, sleeping bag, hiking poles and cooking gear in hand.

Seven am the next morning, packs bursting at the seams we were on our way...until our bus broke down en route that was! 30 minutes and a new bus later, we were back on board and not too long after we were being briefed on the do's and don'ts and how to keep safe...all in Spanish of course. None the wiser of a single word we had just been told, off we went with our minds pondering over what lie ahead.

Prior to the commotion of the bus breakdown as we were waiting for our original bus to leave, we sat there thinking about the cold nights ahead and what lay in store when it suddenly dawned on us how much money we needed. Just as the bus pulled away, Rich pulled his wallet from his pocket which revealed a measly 86,000 pesos (about £90). With park entry, catamaran and three nights camping to pay for (which we didn't know you had to pay for!!!), we were pretty much stuffed! Thoughts of coming home early without finishing the trek or sleeping illegally outside the camping areas weren't going down well. With the 'not so familiar' sounds of British accents nearby, we saw what seemed to be the only option we had...to ask to borrow money from total strangers! With both of us instantly looking at each other with the look of "I ain't asking!", a short while later Gem politely and puppy eyed asked if we could borrow £30...it was a no (in a polite, excuse ridden way though)! Despite our knock back, we cracked on with the attitude of 'we'll deal with the problem when it becomes a problem'.

We boarded the catamaran with a troop of other brave faced souls, all I am sure who were scoping each other out like we were, hoping not to appear the most ill prepared and feeble. Immediately after leaving dock we were gifted with one of the most iconic vistas of Torres del Paine; a view of what we soon discovered was where we would be spending most of the next 4 days. With a loose plan, we arrived at camp site number one, set up our tent, dumped our bags inside and headed off on the first leg of our trek to Glacier Grey. Three hours later we arrived back to our tent triumphant, albeit a little tired and wind battered. After a yummy stove cooked dinner we headed off for our first night under the stars for what we hoped would be a good nights sleep ahead of the big day we had the next day.

After hurricane like winds over night, we arose with eyes like new born puppies, had our brekkie and cracked on with the day ahead; a two hour hike with full kit then a five hour trek up to a view point situated in the centre of the mountains. Upon arriving at camp site number two, we were delighted to discover it was free of charge. This was great for the budget, but meant our only source of water was the fast flowing glacial river by the camp. So cold that you couldn't hold your hands under the water for more than 30 seconds without ending up with hands like Ranulph Fiennes. Drinking pure water from the river was great but filling the bottle up wasn't; eating dinner was fab but washing the dishes was agony...all in all though, it added to the experience and was great fun. Once we set up camp again, we had time for a quick sarnie then were off on our second hike of the day.

This two and a half hour each way hike took us to a viewing point which over looked yet more stunning landscape. After another 40+ photos we sat down with the sun on our faces and enjoyed the incredible views. Half an hour or so later we braced ourselves and headed back down to our base for the night. Hungry and tired, we arrived back to camp, cooked another slap up meal; pasta mixed with powdered soup. It did the job!

After another sketchy nights sleep and Gem in a rigor mortis like condition almost frozen to death, we woke to our longest day ahead. A splash of freezing cold river water to wake us up, we headed off on our 8 hour hike to the next camp site with 15kg to drag along. Along the way we came across a beautiful black and white pebbled beach contrasting with the turquoise glacier waters of the lake, numerous rivers to refresh and refill our water bottles and the ever changing snow capped mountain scenery. After one hell of a final slog up what appeared to be a never ending hill, we arrived with aches in places we never even knew existed, but all was good once we saw the oasis like Refugio and campsite on the horizon. Now, after the third time of asking, we had become quite the tent pro's, so we quickly threw our tent up again just before the heavens opened and treated ourselves to a nice hot shower. In true mission impossible style, we managed to sneak into the 'Refugio' (a home for the too-good-to-camp hikers) and warmed ourselves up with a shared cuppa and relaxed by the fire.

Our third night in the mountains was no comfier than the last. We woke up yet again feeling sleep deprived and energy starved. However to our delight we realised that being the expert hikers that we are, we would be able to do the last hike in a few hours and head back to civilisation later that day. After our usual porridge, we set off excited about the big finale of our hike; the 3 towers of Torres Del Paine. After an hour and a half of being battered by wind, snow and rain, we prayed for an opening in the glooming grey sky. As if god was answering our prayers, the clouds cleared just enough for a small bit of blue to poke through just as we arrived at The towers. Sitting imposingly over the turquoise waters of the lake below, there stood three huge tower like rocks which had been carved out by the notorious winds the park is so famous for; it really was an awe inspiring site. We braved half an hour of freezing cold winds and occasional outbursts of snow to get the photos we had embarked on this trip to capture. More than satisfied with the results, we headed back down the mountain ready to return back to Puerto Natales very much excited of the prospect of a nice warm bed.

Despite leaving for the trek with barely enough money to get through our first night, we were saved by the free campsite and exceeding our initial expectations and finishing the trek a day early. We arrived back to town with only 1000 pesos (£1) left.

Exhausting but amazing, a truly incredible place.

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Comments

[ritawetton]

Patagonia Torres del Paine
Well what can we say i cannot believe you are so brave. l must say l am enjoying it so much l dont want it to end you both should write a book it is so enteresting Well done you both lots of love and kisses Nan and Grandadxxxxx