Photos:
The “W”
Torres del Paine – Patagonia Region of Chile
Total: 4 nights, 5 days, 75.1 km (46.6 miles)
December 27th
11+ km – 4.5 hrs plus one hour to the first lookout point of Glacier Grey
Bus departed for the park at 8 am from our hostel Dos Lagunas. Three others from our hostel – Raj, Martin, and Nick rode with us to the park. Cat’s Spanish came into play on the bus when we realized the prepaid tickets were safely packed at the hostel. We arrived at the park where again Cat used her language skills to explain that her carnet was stolen and presented the police paperwork. She was able to gain admission for 4 mil instead of 15 mil ($8 vs $30). We then went onward to the catamaran ferry. At noon, we rode the ferry to the far end of the W near Glacier Grey.
The kicked off our five day walking tour of Torres del Paine. We walked 4 hrs to Refugio Grey, a pay camp area. Refugios in the park include a campsite and shelter…all privately operated and varied greatly. This particular one was fairly bare bones: ground.heated hostel/cabin where we could use a cold shower (broken at the time), but flush banos, a big plus. We guessed that the tour boat that brought individuals to the glacier supplied the refugio. No roads otherwise. We quickly set up our tent and cooked our tomato sauce, pasta, fresh zucchini, and onion. When packing our food supplies, we decided our first day we’d have more fresh food, which is generally heavier to carry. The weather cleared from gusts of pelting rain to sunshine, so we hiked an hour to the glacier mirador, continued down to the lake for a closer look at the icebergs. We scrambled down steep rocks to actually touch the water and pick up a piece of ice. I threw a rock into a large chunk of ice to break it apart. Cat then threw a chunk at a rock to break it apart. We collected a bag of ice for Kyle…but with it melting so quickly, we used it for scotch on the rocks as a celebratory nightcap.
December 28th
5 km each way to Glacier Grey
11 km back to Paine Grande
After a breakfast of oatmeal and peaches, we broke down our campsite and walked 2 hrs to see more of the glacier leaving our bags at the camp. We walked toward the “pass” of the full circuit. Ice as far as you could see with snow covered mountains…gorgeous. I wish we took more photos, but we wanted to conserve our batteries for the upcoming days. This was by far our favorite part of the route.
The hike here was the most challenging of the trip - rope ascents, a steep, 30 foot metal ladder, a rickety wooden ladder, bridges made from tree trunks, and multiple road blocks – but the view made every precarious step worth it. We also ran across four park rangers. We later learned that an Indian woman was lost for a day – separated from her private guide near the pass. We’ve heard that she was found the following day – alive. We returned to camp, lunched on ramen noodles (the warmth of the soup revived us), and walked back to the catamaran landing. On the way, we watched 4 condors soar in circles over our heads. The condors have feathers that stretch out like fingers on the tips of their wings and white rings around their necks. Some have brighter white markings. All of the white is on their back, so you can only see the change in color when they roll to one side to change direction. At this point in our walk, I thought they were waiting for us to drop. They are vultures. We had been walking since 8 am and it was approaching 8 pm. With an 8 foot wing span, we were happy to only see them at a distance.
The camp site at Paine Grande has great facilities, but a terrible location. High winds pummeled our tent. Cat did not sleep. We also realized that night that two of our tent’s zippers did not work. Very windy, very buggy. I had a hot shower...Cat had a luke warm rinse… and cooked inside using the site’s free gas ovens. Situated right on the water and easily supplied by boat, the building has diesel generators and a full store for merchandise and food to buy. We saw many of the same people from our first night at this site – including a group of Spanish speaking teenagers with their German Sheppard, Amigo. At Grey, they took a group picture with the dog sitting patiently…until the flash went off. At that point, the dog took off into the woods like Star did for the vacuum and watched from a safe distance. You can easily tell the tourists (people who camp for one night – then take the boat to the other side and skip the four day walk) from the backpackers. They take half hour showers at the refugios, make elaborate meals with cooking utensils like whisks, cut the line, and our favorite…refuse to step aside as you struggle up a steep incline with your backpack. Most of the hikers on the other hand are extremely considerate of others and are at every bend to lend a helping hand.
December 29th
7.6 km to Italiano
5.5 km to Los Cuernos
9:30 am – off to the middle leg of the W, the easiest walk of the circuit. We met Andrew (raised in Chicago, living in San Francisco with family roots in Buenos Aires) along the way. He has made the trip several times, so he left his things at Paine Grande and walked to Italiano with only a daypack. He was only in the park two days – he then made plans with a friend (an instructor in the area) to fly fish and camp in a more remote area.
Nice hike, but high winds. Cat was blown off the trail into a pricker bush. After I finished laughing, a gust threw me into another bush…luckily softer. Must have lost too much weight. Need to eat more. Andrew slowed to keep our pace and we talked the rest of the way together. He with his school bag and us with full packs. I thought he was a nice guy until we arrived at the camp and a girl thanked him for carrying her pack the day before… Along the way, a humorous Brit commented on how Andrew was lucky to have a Sherpa like Cat and that he would make a smart son-in-law for me!
The middle of the W has a large stream, waterfalls, and, at the top, a view of the towers. With our extended walk the day before, we did not go to the top. We opted to see the top of the glacier the day before, which put us a campsite behind schedule. The falls were great and mountain views beautiful. We then decided to continue on after a long break to the next site so we could get to the top of the last leg the next day. 3 more hrs. Said goodbye to Andrew and off we went. We found Cat’s favorite walking spot – a nice walk along a lake with a large pebble beach made of black and white stones. The next campsite was situated on the lake. Very nice. Cat’s favorite camping space. The German Sheppard, Amigo, greeted us and we knew we were on track with the others. We also ran into Rustin at this camp and his family. Rustin owns Erratic Rock (hostel and adventure business). Rustin provides a free seminar (which we attended the day before our trip). Martin, Raj, and Nick from our hostel, an English wind surfer, and a guy from Dublin were also at this campsite (same group from the first night). The hostel of this campsite was warm and inviting...even with indoor bathrooms. Cat sweet talked and bribed (with a cerveza) the manager into charging her camera. We also borrowed some duct tape...not sure how this place receives their supplies – perhaps the water, maybe horse back.
Camping spots were tight, so ours was on a slope in the middle of the pathway to the main building. This was fine until we moved. The aluminum ground pad and the nylon sleeping bag slid each time you moved. We wound up in the bottom corner in a nice snug pile. Cat took nighttime cold medicine and was able to regain some of her lost sleep. Yes...on day two we woke with the start of colds. We started to take vitamin c – cold medicine – and zinc nose wipes…which all worked to hold our colds at bay.
December 30th
11 km to Las Torres
9.5 km to the Towers
Hot oatmeal, dried fruit, and peanuts for breakfast with hot vitamin C drink to wash it down. We break down and repack in record time…we’re getting good at this.
Well, off for the longest leg. Of course, up and down. We will have to climb a thousand feet from 120 ft to 1200 ft – then up to 2000 ft to see the Towers. First leg was up and down, but not too radical. We walked to the entrance of Hosteria Las Torres and rested for the next much more difficult half of the day. We dined on tuna, rice cakes, and dried fruit. We then started the 1000 ft climb up up and up toward Chileano. We played tag with a group of three 20 year olds. We saw them at our camps throughout the trip. Two boys and one girl…the girl looked the most miserable on the trek. Possibly Israeli – maybe French. The girl wore multiple layers of fleece and plastic and looked as if she could pass out any minute. The first words of advice from the hiking instructor…do not wear water proof everything – it only locks in your sweat and makes layers of wet clothing under your outerwear. Much better to just get wet – dry – get wet again – dry. The weather changes too rapidly in Patagonia to stay dry for more than a few hours – no matter what preparation.
The trail was steep and long. Twice, we had to move over for the supply train – five horses and two riders carrying propane and food supplies. We also ran into Andrew again, who was returning from the towers. A lot of tourists – those with day packs who refused to share the path. The trail gets narrower at spots and the wind picks up without warning. I lost my hat once. Lucky, it blew uphill so I sent my guide up to get it. It was on a volcanic ash pile (at least that is what it looked like) so she slipped and slid up to get it. Saved for another day… Cat’s shoes were full of gravel, which made the next few hundred feet to Chileano a bit uncomfortable. We stopped there for her to empty her shoes. I did not want to waste the time but to make her happy we stopped.
Around the Chileano Refugio – beautiful waterfalls cascading down several thousands of feet. We filled Cat’s water bottle from one (see picture). Most of the mountains have small glaciers peaking through the crevices. The lakes are from run off. Each lake is a different color from the sediment of the crushed rock under the glacier. The water sliding down it grinds the rock into sediment coloring the lake. Different rocks, different colors. We ran into Dublin and Rustin again who took a short cut up a steep cliff and cut an hour off of the time to Chileano. Rustin carried Fin, his 6 year old, on top of his pack. Glad he did not tell Cat the short cut. Sounded like it was right up her alley – another chance to get rid of me…straight up a hill. We arrived at the upper campsite around 7 pm, set up camp, and took off for the towers. Another 45 min up, but the sky was clear…not something to be taken for granted. We asked for directions: just scramble up the rocks. We are talking rocks the size of cars. At a 45 deg angle. When we saw Andrew earlier on the way up and he was on his way down, he said it was rainy and could not see the towers that morning. We hear that about 80 percent of the time, they are covered in clouds. He has not seen them on a clear day yet – and he’s walked the W multiple times. We are lucky because it cleared for us at 8pm after crawling for 1 hr. We reached the top, found a beautiful lake and the towers. What a surprise. Magnificent. The reported best time is in Feburary at 4 am/sunrise (that means waking at 3 am after your longest day of hiking). I believe that is the image you see in books – the towers illuminated in red. We were happy to see it when we did. Rustin’s family and Dublin also made it up and the boy with the bad leg made it up the rocks. It started to sleet and snow. The wind picked up and it was freezing. We went down at 9 pm. There is 18 hrs of day light. About 4 am to 11 pm. So there is plenty of time to get down. We opted to not go up at 3 am in the dark. Hard decision for Cat – a great chance to get rid of me slipped through her fingers. We sleep thru the 3am call (well I did…Cat had another no-sleep night – she could hear people gathering their things to make the climb in the middle of the night).
December 31st
9.5 km to Las Torres
We had breakfast and packed up for the last time. There was a view at 4 am, but it clouded over after that. The walk down was much easier on our hearts, but not on our shins and knees. Ran into a tourist who takes pictures of the flowers. Nice guy from Washington State. He was taking pictures of virgin slippers (the red flowers) and lady slippers (the yellow flowers). They are featured in the flower book of Paines – Cat has a few shots of her own now.
We had to step aside for a horse train carrying tourists – about ten adults and two kids. I don’t know if I wanted to ride one along the narrow path.. Nice way to travel though. The downhill was hard on the shins…at the end of the trail Cat saw a short cut. Her last chance. Shortest distance is a straight line. Other people have walked this short cut so how bad could it be? Nice and flat except for the end straight down 50 ft. Nice. Quickly, remembered the helicopter pad (five red rocks at the top in a circle) and a stretcher at the camp sight. We later heard from Rustin that it takes 24 to 48 hours to evacuate anyone from the park. It is an extremely remote location. There are few bad injuries…you either break your arm…or don’t make it out. You are either dead or just have a scratch.
We made it one piece…and even had time for celebratory beer and sandwich before our bus arrived to take us back to Puerto Natales.
Torres del Paine – Patagonia Region of Chile
Total: 4 nights, 5 days, 75.1 km (46.6 miles)
December 27th
11+ km – 4.5 hrs plus one hour to the first lookout point of Glacier Grey
Bus departed for the park at 8 am from our hostel Dos Lagunas. Three others from our hostel – Raj, Martin, and Nick rode with us to the park. Cat’s Spanish came into play on the bus when we realized the prepaid tickets were safely packed at the hostel. We arrived at the park where again Cat used her language skills to explain that her carnet was stolen and presented the police paperwork. She was able to gain admission for 4 mil instead of 15 mil ($8 vs $30). We then went onward to the catamaran ferry. At noon, we rode the ferry to the far end of the W near Glacier Grey.
The kicked off our five day walking tour of Torres del Paine. We walked 4 hrs to Refugio Grey, a pay camp area. Refugios in the park include a campsite and shelter…all privately operated and varied greatly. This particular one was fairly bare bones: ground.heated hostel/cabin where we could use a cold shower (broken at the time), but flush banos, a big plus. We guessed that the tour boat that brought individuals to the glacier supplied the refugio. No roads otherwise. We quickly set up our tent and cooked our tomato sauce, pasta, fresh zucchini, and onion. When packing our food supplies, we decided our first day we’d have more fresh food, which is generally heavier to carry. The weather cleared from gusts of pelting rain to sunshine, so we hiked an hour to the glacier mirador, continued down to the lake for a closer look at the icebergs. We scrambled down steep rocks to actually touch the water and pick up a piece of ice. I threw a rock into a large chunk of ice to break it apart. Cat then threw a chunk at a rock to break it apart. We collected a bag of ice for Kyle…but with it melting so quickly, we used it for scotch on the rocks as a celebratory nightcap.
December 28th
5 km each way to Glacier Grey
11 km back to Paine Grande
After a breakfast of oatmeal and peaches, we broke down our campsite and walked 2 hrs to see more of the glacier leaving our bags at the camp. We walked toward the “pass” of the full circuit. Ice as far as you could see with snow covered mountains…gorgeous. I wish we took more photos, but we wanted to conserve our batteries for the upcoming days. This was by far our favorite part of the route.
The hike here was the most challenging of the trip - rope ascents, a steep, 30 foot metal ladder, a rickety wooden ladder, bridges made from tree trunks, and multiple road blocks – but the view made every precarious step worth it. We also ran across four park rangers. We later learned that an Indian woman was lost for a day – separated from her private guide near the pass. We’ve heard that she was found the following day – alive. We returned to camp, lunched on ramen noodles (the warmth of the soup revived us), and walked back to the catamaran landing. On the way, we watched 4 condors soar in circles over our heads. The condors have feathers that stretch out like fingers on the tips of their wings and white rings around their necks. Some have brighter white markings. All of the white is on their back, so you can only see the change in color when they roll to one side to change direction. At this point in our walk, I thought they were waiting for us to drop. They are vultures. We had been walking since 8 am and it was approaching 8 pm. With an 8 foot wing span, we were happy to only see them at a distance.
The camp site at Paine Grande has great facilities, but a terrible location. High winds pummeled our tent. Cat did not sleep. We also realized that night that two of our tent’s zippers did not work. Very windy, very buggy. I had a hot shower...Cat had a luke warm rinse… and cooked inside using the site’s free gas ovens. Situated right on the water and easily supplied by boat, the building has diesel generators and a full store for merchandise and food to buy. We saw many of the same people from our first night at this site – including a group of Spanish speaking teenagers with their German Sheppard, Amigo. At Grey, they took a group picture with the dog sitting patiently…until the flash went off. At that point, the dog took off into the woods like Star did for the vacuum and watched from a safe distance. You can easily tell the tourists (people who camp for one night – then take the boat to the other side and skip the four day walk) from the backpackers. They take half hour showers at the refugios, make elaborate meals with cooking utensils like whisks, cut the line, and our favorite…refuse to step aside as you struggle up a steep incline with your backpack. Most of the hikers on the other hand are extremely considerate of others and are at every bend to lend a helping hand.
December 29th
7.6 km to Italiano
5.5 km to Los Cuernos
9:30 am – off to the middle leg of the W, the easiest walk of the circuit. We met Andrew (raised in Chicago, living in San Francisco with family roots in Buenos Aires) along the way. He has made the trip several times, so he left his things at Paine Grande and walked to Italiano with only a daypack. He was only in the park two days – he then made plans with a friend (an instructor in the area) to fly fish and camp in a more remote area.
Nice hike, but high winds. Cat was blown off the trail into a pricker bush. After I finished laughing, a gust threw me into another bush…luckily softer. Must have lost too much weight. Need to eat more. Andrew slowed to keep our pace and we talked the rest of the way together. He with his school bag and us with full packs. I thought he was a nice guy until we arrived at the camp and a girl thanked him for carrying her pack the day before… Along the way, a humorous Brit commented on how Andrew was lucky to have a Sherpa like Cat and that he would make a smart son-in-law for me!
The middle of the W has a large stream, waterfalls, and, at the top, a view of the towers. With our extended walk the day before, we did not go to the top. We opted to see the top of the glacier the day before, which put us a campsite behind schedule. The falls were great and mountain views beautiful. We then decided to continue on after a long break to the next site so we could get to the top of the last leg the next day. 3 more hrs. Said goodbye to Andrew and off we went. We found Cat’s favorite walking spot – a nice walk along a lake with a large pebble beach made of black and white stones. The next campsite was situated on the lake. Very nice. Cat’s favorite camping space. The German Sheppard, Amigo, greeted us and we knew we were on track with the others. We also ran into Rustin at this camp and his family. Rustin owns Erratic Rock (hostel and adventure business). Rustin provides a free seminar (which we attended the day before our trip). Martin, Raj, and Nick from our hostel, an English wind surfer, and a guy from Dublin were also at this campsite (same group from the first night). The hostel of this campsite was warm and inviting...even with indoor bathrooms. Cat sweet talked and bribed (with a cerveza) the manager into charging her camera. We also borrowed some duct tape...not sure how this place receives their supplies – perhaps the water, maybe horse back.
Camping spots were tight, so ours was on a slope in the middle of the pathway to the main building. This was fine until we moved. The aluminum ground pad and the nylon sleeping bag slid each time you moved. We wound up in the bottom corner in a nice snug pile. Cat took nighttime cold medicine and was able to regain some of her lost sleep. Yes...on day two we woke with the start of colds. We started to take vitamin c – cold medicine – and zinc nose wipes…which all worked to hold our colds at bay.
December 30th
11 km to Las Torres
9.5 km to the Towers
Hot oatmeal, dried fruit, and peanuts for breakfast with hot vitamin C drink to wash it down. We break down and repack in record time…we’re getting good at this.
Well, off for the longest leg. Of course, up and down. We will have to climb a thousand feet from 120 ft to 1200 ft – then up to 2000 ft to see the Towers. First leg was up and down, but not too radical. We walked to the entrance of Hosteria Las Torres and rested for the next much more difficult half of the day. We dined on tuna, rice cakes, and dried fruit. We then started the 1000 ft climb up up and up toward Chileano. We played tag with a group of three 20 year olds. We saw them at our camps throughout the trip. Two boys and one girl…the girl looked the most miserable on the trek. Possibly Israeli – maybe French. The girl wore multiple layers of fleece and plastic and looked as if she could pass out any minute. The first words of advice from the hiking instructor…do not wear water proof everything – it only locks in your sweat and makes layers of wet clothing under your outerwear. Much better to just get wet – dry – get wet again – dry. The weather changes too rapidly in Patagonia to stay dry for more than a few hours – no matter what preparation.
The trail was steep and long. Twice, we had to move over for the supply train – five horses and two riders carrying propane and food supplies. We also ran into Andrew again, who was returning from the towers. A lot of tourists – those with day packs who refused to share the path. The trail gets narrower at spots and the wind picks up without warning. I lost my hat once. Lucky, it blew uphill so I sent my guide up to get it. It was on a volcanic ash pile (at least that is what it looked like) so she slipped and slid up to get it. Saved for another day… Cat’s shoes were full of gravel, which made the next few hundred feet to Chileano a bit uncomfortable. We stopped there for her to empty her shoes. I did not want to waste the time but to make her happy we stopped.
Around the Chileano Refugio – beautiful waterfalls cascading down several thousands of feet. We filled Cat’s water bottle from one (see picture). Most of the mountains have small glaciers peaking through the crevices. The lakes are from run off. Each lake is a different color from the sediment of the crushed rock under the glacier. The water sliding down it grinds the rock into sediment coloring the lake. Different rocks, different colors. We ran into Dublin and Rustin again who took a short cut up a steep cliff and cut an hour off of the time to Chileano. Rustin carried Fin, his 6 year old, on top of his pack. Glad he did not tell Cat the short cut. Sounded like it was right up her alley – another chance to get rid of me…straight up a hill. We arrived at the upper campsite around 7 pm, set up camp, and took off for the towers. Another 45 min up, but the sky was clear…not something to be taken for granted. We asked for directions: just scramble up the rocks. We are talking rocks the size of cars. At a 45 deg angle. When we saw Andrew earlier on the way up and he was on his way down, he said it was rainy and could not see the towers that morning. We hear that about 80 percent of the time, they are covered in clouds. He has not seen them on a clear day yet – and he’s walked the W multiple times. We are lucky because it cleared for us at 8pm after crawling for 1 hr. We reached the top, found a beautiful lake and the towers. What a surprise. Magnificent. The reported best time is in Feburary at 4 am/sunrise (that means waking at 3 am after your longest day of hiking). I believe that is the image you see in books – the towers illuminated in red. We were happy to see it when we did. Rustin’s family and Dublin also made it up and the boy with the bad leg made it up the rocks. It started to sleet and snow. The wind picked up and it was freezing. We went down at 9 pm. There is 18 hrs of day light. About 4 am to 11 pm. So there is plenty of time to get down. We opted to not go up at 3 am in the dark. Hard decision for Cat – a great chance to get rid of me slipped through her fingers. We sleep thru the 3am call (well I did…Cat had another no-sleep night – she could hear people gathering their things to make the climb in the middle of the night).
December 31st
9.5 km to Las Torres
We had breakfast and packed up for the last time. There was a view at 4 am, but it clouded over after that. The walk down was much easier on our hearts, but not on our shins and knees. Ran into a tourist who takes pictures of the flowers. Nice guy from Washington State. He was taking pictures of virgin slippers (the red flowers) and lady slippers (the yellow flowers). They are featured in the flower book of Paines – Cat has a few shots of her own now.
We had to step aside for a horse train carrying tourists – about ten adults and two kids. I don’t know if I wanted to ride one along the narrow path.. Nice way to travel though. The downhill was hard on the shins…at the end of the trail Cat saw a short cut. Her last chance. Shortest distance is a straight line. Other people have walked this short cut so how bad could it be? Nice and flat except for the end straight down 50 ft. Nice. Quickly, remembered the helicopter pad (five red rocks at the top in a circle) and a stretcher at the camp sight. We later heard from Rustin that it takes 24 to 48 hours to evacuate anyone from the park. It is an extremely remote location. There are few bad injuries…you either break your arm…or don’t make it out. You are either dead or just have a scratch.
We made it one piece…and even had time for celebratory beer and sandwich before our bus arrived to take us back to Puerto Natales.
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