Glaciers, Trekking, Torres del Paine, and . . . .

Well, I have lots to recount! Fortunately, I have plenty of time.

So I left you here in Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park. Our whole group awoke very early for breakfast with ¨real¨coffee (as advertised in the hostel) before our bus to the park. The 5 day, 4 night trek we planned to take was called ¨The W,¨as that is basically its shape. Once we were in the park, we had time to take a 40 min round trip hike (without packs) to get our first good look at the Cuernos, a very impressive mountain set. Here we experienced the first of what they talk about the wind here. It literally blew me UPHILL, all I had to do was move my legs! Then we all boarded a catamaran, which took us to the left ¨base¨, if you will, of the W. On the catamaran we had the first glimpse of many folks we would probably see again on the trail, including a couple of older Japanese women, probably in their 60´s, with a guide, dressed to the hilt with ¨Gear¨. We were dropped off at Refugio Paine Grande, a nice campground and hostal, with a store and small restaurant/grill. (This park gives travelers quite posh options.) A quick lunch here of PB&J, and we were off to Glaciar Grey, which was the top left of the W. Whoa, what a way to start out. Quite a lot of elevation change, and though Tim does have experience reading topo maps, either the skills were rusty or we just had an awful map. But do you know the Japanese ladies cruised right past us! However, we got to a river crossing with rather high water and used a rope tie to scale across (reminded me of the Goonies bridge - ¨It´s our time, down here!¨) where they were resting. So we passed them again here. Eleven kilometers we hiked on that first half day, and scaling down some steep rocky faces made it even more interesting. The map said 3.5 hrs., probably took us a good 4. But we made it, packs and all, to a crowded Campamento Grey, a paid campsite very near the enormous Glaciar Grey. A short hike to a lookout that evening (without packs!) let us get up close and personal with some glacier ice! From our vista point, the glacier looked like a big backyard covered with played in snow! Amazing! Dinner that night was yummy tuna melts, courtesy of Jorli. Sleep that night came easy for some, others were disturbed by the camp hosts who came to get our money, the noisy neighbors yelling ¨¡Amigö!¨ for much of the night, and I could have sworn I heard a ¨cuatro y veinte¨ reference . . . . Also rather chilly that night, I think Tim wanted to try to acquire frostbite on the rest of his toes. (P.S. - the ladies got to the campsite ahead of us! how did that happen!!!)

However, we survived quite well and enjoyed a hearty oatmeal breakfast, which we needed for the trek back! (Because it is a W, we have to backtrack to move on to the next trail.) I thought it was better than going up; the day was beautiful and many surfaces had dried which made things easier. Lunch at the same place as the day before, although we took advantage of the store for cheese, salami, and bread for an unplanned meal. After a short rest, Tim, Kelly and I trekked on ahead to the next campsite as the rest of the girls stayed for the free showers and would follow close behind. Knowing how crowded the last site was, we wanted to reserve good spots for the next night. This took us to Campamento Italiano, at the bottom of the middle upright of the W. Another 7.6 kms, with amazing views of the Cumbres to the north and lakes to the south, took us across the raging Rio del Frances and into camp for the night. Our tents were pitched about 15 meters from this beautiful river, and the rest of our group arrived soon after. Dinner of mac and cheese with hot dogs, green beans, and boxed wine (also a store purchase) was a nice end to the evening.

Monday was our ¨easy¨day! We slept in a little, then after a cocoa puff breakfast (don´t recommend this, not very sustaining) we took a day hike further up the middle W upright into the Valle de Frances. Reaching the peak of this trail, Los Cumbres are to the left, Los Cuernos on the right, and the aqua colored lakes behind! ¡Que rica! Not too much time to gaze, as we planned to leave after lunch for our next campsite. Again, Tim and I pick up the pace a little to reserve spots at the next campsite. We very much enjoyed this hike together, as it took us along Lago Nordenskjöld, which was aqua blue, and sprays whipped up to greet you as wind gusts built up against the mountains and rushed down. Hiking a good ways down the bank, which was all rocky, we experienced more of the massively strong winds. Going across another rocky river that fed into this lake, we literally had to squat down and hold onto boulders to keep from falling! The Los Cuernos campsite was not excluded from the gusts, which made setting up tents quite a challenge! A warm, nice refugio here at the site with wine and cookies for sale and hot showers made up for our inconvenience! As it began to rain a little, and the wind would have made a gas stove rather difficult, we settled for the common stove inside to make our pasta and marinara dinner, with a side of slurped mashed potatoes passed on by a chilean. Another packed place, but that just increased the number of cool people to meet! (Of course, the Japanese ladies were here, and luckily our friend Phi speaks Japansese and had a conversation. Indeed they were 60 and 63, and they came with a group that was going to climb Aconcagua!) The wind raged later that night, but our tents stayed intact! The wind did do us a favor by blowing away the clouds to reveal a UNBELIEVEABLE starry night sky. I thought I would never see anything to top Calafquen, but this really did. Millions, all over - amazing.

We woke up to another beautiful day and chose oatmeal for our last BIG day. It was our goal to see the famed Torres del Paine this evening. This was the last upright of the W, and I remember it as rather rocky and dry, and we dodged lots of horse poo as many riding trips were led up this way. We stopped for a tuna lunch on an outcropping into a small lake, then Tim and I took off again to get camp set up asap so we´d have time for the Torres hike. This was definitely the toughest pack hike for me, as I basically kept Tim´s pace uphill, on an exposed dusty mountainside. Fortunately, it was not a long hike, and we finally turned north along a valle that would take us to torres. Much of this portion of the hike was along an 8 foot ledge that looked like above or below would avalanche at any moment! The frequent horseback trips here without problem somewhat reassured us. We quickly saved our spot in this campsite called Chileno by setting up both tents - we were pros by this point! Our group soon joined and we had a hearty snack (some had ramen, other had apple and hot cake from the refugio here - you decide who chose what!) before our hike to the base of the Torres del Paine. The first hour was pretty easy, but the last was a straight uphill climb for what felt like a mile (or a least a kilometer!) over huge boulders. None of us thought we would make it after our intense day. Tim shimmied up, I was quite a ways behind. But it was worth every single step. I don´t believe I have ever seen any natural work so amazing in my life. The 3 clay brown ¨Torres¨ or towers soaring over to the right, thin waves of earth frozen high above us. The rock face below was vertically striped brown and black layers, like the ¨legs¨ of wine on a goblet. But what made it most spectacular is the surprising greenish-blue salt lake that lay below. The three distinctive features came together in what was for me truly a breathtaking, once in a lifetime experience!

Our final morning was an easy hike down to the Las Torres hosteria where we were to catch a transfer to our bus back to Puerto Natales. Sad as I was for the trip to be over, my left little toe was grateful! Sore, blistered, swollen, and a little sun and windburned, we left the park. I think it´s fair to say that none of us knew what we were getting into, but for Tim and me it was for the best! We found ourselves easing back into our backpacking/camping selves of years before and ready for more.