Torres del Paine....BOOM.POSTED.

Well...if ever in my life I have gone on trip that I would classify as an adventure, then, THIS WAS IT!!!  We just returned from a trip to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.  For those of you who have never heard of it I suggest entering it into this little tool of the interwebs called Google.  Its this very special place at the end of the world where you can see massive Mt. Doom-ish looking peaks, huge granite towers, meadows, lakes and glaciers all within a walkable area.  We would do a route of hikes which is referred to as the "W" and is very famous among people familiar with the park.  So here is a log of what went down...


March 18, 2010 - Coyhaique to Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales - (Total - 1,069km)
We flew out of Coyhaique at 1:30 and a quick 1:20 minute flight later we were in the Punta Arenas airport.  A little wait time and some completely self-inflicted stress about our bus later and we boarded a bus headed for Puerto Natales.  The nice part about traveling between small airports and small towns is that all the services have very limited schedules that gel with each other.  There are only a couple flights a day coming into Punta Arenas and almost everyone is headed for Natales.  Almost everyone from Natalas is headed to the park.  So the buses are easy and consistent.  The ride to Natales was beautiful.  This is a crazy part of the world where the land and the ocean begin and end every where you turn. So you have what looks like praires (called pampas down here) that are cut up all over by the pacific ocean and rock mesas.

 
Just under 3 hours later and we arrive at our hostel...the Erratic Rock.  This place was awesome.  Its run by a couple of guys from Oregon and is definitely a place where a lot of english speaking travelers stay.  Listen, I'm all for staying in places that force me to speak spanish and maybe give me more immersion into the culture.  But when I am headed backpacking for 5 days its really nice to have people to ask questions of and understand their past experiences and not worry about anything being lost in translation.  And this place was great for that.  We went out for some dinner and tucked in for a good night sleep with our arrival at the park slated for the next day. 


Link to "Getting There" Pictures


March 19, 2010 - Erratic Rock Hostel, Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine and Refugio Chileno (147km by bus and 5.5km on foot)
One of the perks of our chosen hostel was its well above average breakfast as hostels go.  We woke to a spread of cereal, yogurt, freshly baked bread, an omelet and REAL COFFEE!!!  To have this included in the price makes this place a must stay in Natales.  Its also a great time to sit with other travelers going to and coming from the park to discuss routes, packing and any other topics.  We opted for the afternoon bus to the park so we had a chance to get some souvenirs in town and some last minutes supplies.

The bus picked up a whopping 3 of us from the hostel and we were off.  There is definitely an adrenaline rush as you ride a bus even further into the middle of nowhere to be dropped off for a few days.  You start out through some desolate but beautiful land and then before you know it the mountains of the park appear in the distance and your pulse quickens.  Granted this is a very well traveled park with many services of which we would take full advantage so middle of nowhere might be excessive but you get my drift.  

We were dropped off at Lago Amarga and then transported by van to Hotel Las Torres.  It was about 5pm on an absolutely gorgeous day and we had only a 2 hour hike to complete to our destination for the night.  We strapped on our packs and started up the hill.  This would prove to be the steepest climb involving our packs and looking back we were really glad we did it first in great weather when were at full strength.  Because my sorry ass would never be at full strength again for the rest of the trek...


We arrived at Refugio Chileno around 7pm and got settled into our tent.  The Refugios in the park are a really nice feature.  They are like mountain hostels with dorm style beds, showers, toilets, a staffed kitchen, eating area and campsites outside.  Also, you can get tents, sleeping bags and mats there if you are coming from far away without your own gear or don't want to carry it throughout.  We met a really nice Dutch couple who we would see every day after as we were doing the same route....Vincent and Elka.

Link to "Day #1" Pictures


March 20, 2010 - Refugio Chileno to The Towers to Refugio Los Cuernos (19 km)
The wind was howling most of the night and when we woke up so we had some breakfast hoping that the wind would move the cloudy weather out of the way.  When it was clear that it wouldn't we couldn't wait any longer to get our long day under way we set out for the Towers.  An hour and forty five minutes later we arrived at one of the three spectacular geological highlights of the "W'.  The towers are these massive granite walls that sit together tucked behind the mountains and over a mountain lake that is almost glowing teal.

It was a three hour round trip to the refugio.  We grabbed our packs and set out for the next campsite at Refugio Los Cuernos.  This was a beautiful walk descending toward the lakes but by the end of this four hour stretch we were cooked.  We did finally make it and this 7.5 hour day of hiking was finished.


Link to "Day #2" Pictures


March 21, 2010 - Refugio Los Cuernos to Camp Italiano up thru Valle Frances and on to Paine Grande Lodge at Lago Pehoe (24 km)
We thought we had felt some wind the day before...but that turned out to be nothing compared to the force of the wind we slept in and would be walking through most of this day.  After a beautiful sunrise and a leisurely breakfast we set out on the first leg of the days journey, a 2 hour hike to Camp Italiano.

This is like a base camp for the French Valley and Paine Grande viewing point.   You can leave your packs here and just take enough for the 5 hour trip to the top and back.  This hike had a lot of vertical ascent and scrambling, all the while a glacier up on your left would drop huge pieces of ice which sounded like thunder.  As we made the climb the weather was getting worse and worse.  Three fourths of the way up we could see Paine Grande, but by the time we arrived at the top the entire mountain and vista was obscured by fog, clouds and sideways mix of freezing rain and sleet.  This was really the ONLY disappointment of the trip.  Our longest day of hiking to one of the three major spectacles which was completely invisible to us.  But what can you do right?  When you are in one of the most spectacular places on earth there isn't much to complain about so we don't.  

We climbed back down, grabbed our packs and set out for the last 2 hour stretch with the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick of a bed to sleep in at the end of this hike.  This was our longest day and we were mentally preparing for hours 7-9 of this hike.  We hadn't used our IPods much on these hikes and were saving battery life knowing that they would be needed here.  We essentially said goodbye to each other put the headphones in, put our heads down, put one foot in front of the other and two hours later....the LODGE!!!!  We would have beds for the next two nights which was quite the reward to ourselves.


Link to "Day #3"Pictures


March 22, 2010 - Paine Grande Lodge to Glacier Grey and back (23km)
Ahhh...I slept with a pillow last night on an actual matress...but I cannot get out of bed because my legs are screaming in pain at the moment.  But wait...there's breakfast waiting for me...I think I can move.  We set out for our final day of hiking to Glacier Grey and although it would still be a long 15 mile day like the others...this one would not involve our packs at all which was a welcome bonus.  This might have been my favorite hike as it reminded me of both the Pacific Northwest and the Na'pali coast of Hawaii.  It was a trail that hugged coastline almost the whole way and would take you in out of forested areas....a really really beautiful walk.  

Not to mention that half way out you get your first glimpses of the glacier and its blue coloring which seemed fake.  We got to the lookout for the glacier, took some pictures, had some lunch and turned right back around.  We were both really tired and still had 7 miles back over the same trail standing between us and completing the "W".  I think we both went on pure adrenaline at that point but finished all smiles nonetheless.  The "W" was in the books and our time in the park was coming to an end.  That night we celebrated with our first drinks in almost a week.  The end of the park season also brought a nice liquidation sale on remaining bottles of wine...to which we treated ourselves.  

We spent the evening playing cards and having dinner with our new friends and roommates from Melbourne, Austrailia, Grant and Eliza.


Link to "Day #4" Pictures


March 23, 2010 - From the Park back to Puerto Natales (XXkm)
Today was what many refer to as a transfer day.  Not really any time to get in an activity except relax and wait to get to you next destination.  We would be taking the 12:30 the catamaran across Lago Pehoe and be dropped off to a waiting bus to take us back to the Erratic Rock Hostel in Puerto Natales where we started our trip.  The boat was a really fun way to be delivered out of the park.  It really makes you feel like you were out in the middle of somewhere remote and now being taken across that remote border back to civilization.  It was cold and cloudy that morning but as we boarded the boat the sun came out and made for a really beautiful final trek in the park.  

We chatted with the folks we had met over the last few days, exchanged emails and talked about our next destinations.  A few hours later we were back in Puerto Natales and in search of a celebratory dinner (Yes we celebrated a lot after this adventure...47 miles in just about 3.5 days is a freakin' accomplishment for me so I will celebrate all I want!!).  Now being adventurous eaters in a foreign country we are constantly looking for local cuisine and pretty much up for everything but as Kerri stated in her last post...Chilean food is...well...a little underwhelming.  I've had my fill of completos, churasscos and unseasoned meat/rice dishes.  So when we were told there is an American style Microbrew/Pub in town...that sounded like a treat...and a treat it was.  A REAL PALE ALE AND WINGS!!!  Baguales is a great pub run by a gringo from LA named Chad who was happy to see some gringo drinkers.  The locals like to sip a single pint for two hours but not us. After many rounds of beers, some wings and other delicious pub fare we felt that we had put the period on this little journey.

Link to "Day #5" Pictures


March 24, 2010 - Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas to Coyhaique
This day didn't involve much other than a leisurely breakfast with fellow travelers at our hostel, a bus back to the Punta Arenas Airport and the flight back to Coyhaique.  But I will finish this entry with a few thoughts about the traveling experience in general:

• I think my favorite aspect thus far is definitely the people you meet along the way.  We are very lucky to get to live in a town and socialize with Chilean locals.  But these trips are great for meeting other travelers from all over the world, each with a very unique story, life experience and plan for their journey going forward.  Everyone is there under different circumstances but for much the same reasons which is a very bonding experience.
• The US culture of work is a double edged sword.  I think, as a whole, Americans have one of the best work ethics of any nation of people.  But I feel that we should embrace the idea of travel more in the working world as a reward.  The norm of two weeks vacation made most people's eyes come out of their heads....and when they asked about leaves of absence or sabbaticals....they almost passed out when we said that it doesn't happen.  Granted, I know there are great companies that offer some of these things but I would say they are exceptions and not the rule.

Well Torres del Paine was an experience I will never forget.  Now its back to work in Coyhaique for a couple weeks but a trip to Buenos Aires is rapidly approaching and we couldn't be more excited for that...until next time...CIAO AMIGOS!!