Los Torres del Paine, adventures in Chile!

Hi Everybody!

Guess what?  I'm in the motherland... Minnesota.  I got here yesterday after a big, solo road trip across from Seattle.  A far cry from Patagonia, seems like ages ago!  So I am happy to update my blog & revisit some of these fun times :)  I am hanging out with my mom for a bit while I regroup & continue to move through my transition period.  This life transition has been dragging on for a couple of years now, I'm over it!  I am really looking forward to settling down in Portland, Maine for a while & having a place of my own.  I haven't really felt I've had my own home full of my own stuff since I left for Rome in...  2011!  

Let's get back on track- Torres del Paine, Chile!  Woo hoo!  This is a place I'll bet many of you have heard of, it is a place that I have always wanted to go!  I took a bus up from Ushuaia.  I was headed to Puerto Natales, Chile & I had to do a border crossing which always has potential to be a treat.  I had been warned that Chile is super strict about letting many types of food in.  This applied to dairy, meats, fresh produce, dried fruits & nuts as well as other stuff.  I was worried because I had a bunch of nice backpacking foods that I thought might get taken.  In reality, it was fine, and it was also comical.  Everyone was eating a ton of food at the last minute because they didn't want it confiscated.  We were all pulled off the bus & a dog was sent to sniff our baggage, etc. for contraband.  To me the dog seemed to be a bit on the older side & also disinterested but, the dog did jump up on a couple people & paw at one or two bags.  The dog was MOST excited about finding its water bowl! :)  So, all my foods got in.  Everyones foods including meaty sandwiches and yogurts got in.  No biggie.

Here's a couple maps for your orientation.  You can see Torres del Paine at the southern end of Chile.  On the lower map you get a better idea about the geography at the tip down there.  I crossed the Strait of Magellan on a big ferry, it was crazy windy!

here's the Strait of Magellan & one of the ferries.  there were only 2 ferries in operation & they were going slow because it was so windy.  we waited for about an hour to cross, despite tourist buses going to the front of the line.

here's all the cars lined up.  TONS!

finally we walk onto the ferry

the crossing is about 30 min & apparently you may see dolphins in the strait.  not today though, we only saw heavy winds

and these poor sheepies 

Sometime in these past few days I had gotten sick.  Really sick!  I arrived in Puerto Natales and holed up there for a couple days to try to get well & prep for my hiking trip in the Park.  It sort of worked but, I was still feeling pretty rough the day I started my 5 day trek.  I was setting out on the "W Trek", the most popular trek in the park.  It is about 75km long & takes about 5 days, depending on weather.  I was carrying all my gear & food so my bag felt hella heavy!  I had befriended a couple of English gals to hang around with.  You actually see about all the same folks if you are doing the trek so you end up having some pals at every campsite.

salto grande

first views of Cerro Torre (on L in cloud) & Los Cuernos (on R)

took a catamaran ferry across the turquoise Lago Pehoe

and then I set out on the trail!

route map of the W,  I did it west to east

look at those bright blue icebergs!

first view of Glacier Grey

this glacier is gorgeous!

after my last trek the signage, trail markers  and huge, obvious trails here were a real welcome bonus.  

Calafate berries

Glacier Grey, closer up!

the campout scene was interesting.  you must camp in designated areas, sometimes they are pretty crowded like here, a little tent village.  some of the campgrounds are free, some you have to pay for, some you have to reserve online ahead of time!

aha!  i had finally found the white gas for the whisperlite stove in Puerto Natales, after searching far & wide.  i was happy to be able to boil my water for my simple teas & foods on the trip.  it was a really cold trip & it is nice to look forward to a hot meal even if it is the meager, dreaded items such as oatmeal and dried soups/cous cous.   I may never eat oatmeal again.

my views seemed always slightly obscured by weather...

this was a stellar campsite on the river

heading up the valle frances, lots of hanging glaciers

here is an epic view of the back side of the Torres del Paine from a nice mirador

boom!  me!

can you see the rainbow?  at times it was sunny, raining and windy as hell all at the same time

it was so crazy windy at this point, you could see the wind gust coming across the lake at you & you'd just have to brace for it.  once it threw me into a rock!

I arrived to my next campsite & struggled to set up the tent despite gale force winds, it was insane!  I ended up putting huge rocks on all the stakes & also four huge rocks INSIDE in the corners of the tent.  Fortunately, I had these wildly tasty cappuccino sandwich cookies to reward my efforts!

there's my typical look, wearing every item of clothing i have & feeling extremely weathered

snow on los cuernos... brr!

lenticular cloud

heading up to my final camp below los torres.  this day was also heinously windy.

The last day.  I had toiled up to this high camp near to the base of Los Torres del Paine.  The goal of the hardcore is to wake early & hike up (steep!!) 1 hour to have a view of the Torres at sunrise.  Despite having rain & snow through the night & awakening to one of my hiking boots being totally full of icy water...  I could not back down from the sunrise challenge!  It was cold & it was also snowing & slightly cloudy for the views of the Torres but, it was still awesome & worth it.  :)  

there is the best, grainy, low light, photo that i got

it was pretty magical up there with the lovely sunrise & the dusting of fresh snow

ooh la la

on my way down, out of the storm

and here I am, throwing up my sign for The W trek :)

Completing the W!!  Wouldn't really be complete without me hamming it up a bit :)

On a side note, I was sick the whole trek!  Feeling about 60-75% of wellness.  Boo!  It is fortunate that I was still able to power out the hike!  Also, for those of you travelers who may be interested...  because when you are backpacking everyone is always interested in costs & Chile is not a cheap country to travel in (well, relatively).  You don't have to spend out to do Torres del Paine, you just have to be willing to carry all your gear/food & sleep in a tent Vs. rifugios.  Including all transports/entrance fees/camping fees/1 tiny bottle of shampoo to take a luxurious shower, I spent about $100 for a 5 day trip.  Not bad!

An interesting thing is the social aspect of the trip.  Since you have to camp in designated areas and the trek is extremely popular there are always people around!  The fire danger is very high there ( someone burnt down a huge section of the park by misusing a camp stove several years ago) & everyone is required to cook in a designated cooking shelter at the campground.  Inevitably, everyone is huddled into the shelter area & having a good old time.  Most of my backpacking has been done as more of a wilderness experience but, here in Chile, I enjoyed the camaraderie & meeting lots of cool travelers.

the little town of Puerto Natales, very windswept, this is the base for Torres del Paine trips

The blog would not be complete without documenting the frontera scene.  Here, to enter back into Argi, everyone on our full bus piles out into this tiny building and crowds (NO LINE) at this one window with one employee working there.  Yes, that's right, it took about 2 hours for us all to manage getting our passports stamped.  Just like that a 5 hour bus trip turns into an 8 hour bus trip.  

also this sign, helpful information to keep everyone happy 

That's it homies, Torres del Paine!  I was down there at the end of the summer season & felt I just caught the beginning of fall/winter weather.  Some of the high trails were closed the day after I left because of safety concerns due to high winds.  Patagonia is hard core, that's for sure.  I will have another blog to finish out my Gonia adventures coming along shortly.

Hope you are all well! xo