The "OW" in Torres del Paine

Elihc? No...Chile!

I finally did it. I visited place pictured on the cover of my Chile guide book... Torres del Paine National Park! Located in the Patagonia region in southern Chile, this place is a trekkers and nature lovers paradise. Thanks to a lot of planning on my Dad's part, we were able to backpack the famous circuit trek, or the O, and include all parts of the shorter, more popular W trek . Therefore you have  the "WO," to express our amazement at the beauty here or the "OW" to express our pain after the trek of 9 days. I decided the best way to approach this post is to do the classic day by day breakdown, to create a timeline and prevent myself from rambling on(which I may still do!).

There was obviously some build up to getting to the park. My dad flew into Santiago first to spend a few days to see the sites. It felt pretty amazing after 8 months apart to see him coming through the sliding doors after customs :). Then we woke up reallyy early the 14th(his birthday!) to catch our flight to Punta Arenas. Once we got there it was a few hours exploring before a 3 hour bus to Puerto Natales, the closest city to Torres del Paine. After a night in Puerto Natales, it was another bus ride (2.5 hours) to the actual park. So over 2 days it was about 9 hours of traveling to get there! So now the adventure begins... 

 

Day 1: Laguna Amarga to Puesto Seron

We opted out of the shuttle that takes people to the normal start (Hotel Las Torres) and hiked an extra hour. From this first day I noted two things: 1. It is incredibly windy! 2. You can drink the water straight from the stream, without getting sick! This is not possible in California's national parks, where you can get giardia(ick!) from drinking freshwater.

First shot together day 1

We got into camp by 6:30, since we had started at around noon that day. Now, as a quick explanation the stops along the trail have a camping option, full board option, or a combination. The refugios(cabins essentially) have to be booked far in advance, and there are two companies along the circuit that run them. This first night my dad and I opted to camp, but have our meals provided for. This system is a good way to hike the trail,without having to pack all your own food. Plus, if you really want to enjoy the trail it sure is nice to have a hot meal ready when you come. However, it's definitely not the kind of system for a group of college students on a budget.
Day 2:Puesto Seron to Refugio Dickson

After breakfast, we set out at about 9:30 and followed a thin up and down trail that went along the a river. We took it pretty easy, especially on the downhill to save my dad's knees. There was plenty to look at along the way...

One of many lakes

After many hours and many songs sung to pass the time we made it to Refugio Dickson, on the border of Lago(Lake) Dickson, just in time to escape the downpour! This night we had our meals and stayed in the refugio. It was quite something to hike all day, then have a warm bed to sleep in!

Refugio Dickson from afar

The table all set up for breakfast(Refugio Dickson)

Day 3:Refugio Dickson to Campamento Los Perros

Today was the first glacier sighting day! I realized before this trip, I had only seem glaciers on t.v., in  documentaries or what not.The beginning of this day was mostly through a forest, which can drive you a little crazy after a while. You feel like you will never get out! Finally we came to a suspension bridge(or rather what the guide claimed to be a suspension bridge but was replaced by something sturdier) and saw the massive glacier from afar. After climbing a steep hill we came closer, to see the glacier in its entirety dipping into a lake. We couldn't stay long to take photos, because the wind was INSANE! My hood flew off and my hat was ripped off my head, and then the wind knocked me over when I went to chase the hat...well that could have been my own clumsiness, but let's just blame the wind....

Glacier(view from the bridge)

From the top of the hill

After escaping the angry wind, we hiked another hour or so and made it to our campsite. Tonight we camped and cooked. This was a better way to really chat with the other hikers. There were a lot of couples, a few parent-child duos, and groups of friends. The best part was the majority of the people we met were heading in the same direction on the circuit, so we got to know them as the days went on.

Getting gourmet! 

Day 4: Campamento Perros to Campamento Paso

This was the toughest day yet. The beginning was again what felt like an endless forest, with a really muddy ground. At one point I stepped down and sunk down to my ankle! The horses who bring materials to different sites definitely do not go on this part of the trail! After leaving the forest came the climb to Gardner's Pass. If high school cross country taught me anything it was when I see a hill I have to climb it and keep climbing it until it's over. So I stubbornly pressed ahead of my dad, with the occasional look back down and wave the trekking poles to signal "I'm o.k.!" Pretty good system actually. Finally, I came to the crest of the hill and my eyes were honestly unprepared for the site I saw. Glacier Grey, a hundred times bigger than the glacier from the other day was spread along the horizon line of Gardner's Pass. My mouth dropped open and I practically shouted in amazement, although that was drowned out by the powerful wind. Seriously, what's with all the wind in this place? I snapped a couple shots, then had to press on without my dad, because the wind was seriously too strong to wait there comfortably.  

Glacier Grey. A monster of ice!

After the 800 meter climb, it was a 600 meter descend. I would have preferred three more uphills instead of this. Downhill is slow, tedious, and more painful on the legs! Finally I made it to camp, claimed a campsite(although my dad had half the tent with him), and waited for my dad to show up. When he did, we had to set up the tent in the rain which wasn't too fun. It was also another cooking night, and everyone was crammed under the cooking shelter with their portable stoves, escaping the rain. Note: Torres del Paine is notorious for sporadic weather. One minute it's sunny, the other it can be raining, and strong winds change direction constantly. Although it can be slightly frustrating to deal with, it doesn't take any of the beauty away! 

Day 5: Campamento Paso to Refugio Grey

This was the fastest day yet. Well, it started with a slow descent until my dad finally handed me the reservation paperwork for the next refugio and told me to go on. He really needed to take time with the downhills, especially with his knees. I got to Refugio Grey by about 2 p.m., stopping to snap shots of Glacier Grey which stretched on and on. I got checked into the refugio, which was amazing! Nice beds, a hot shower, and a whole lounge area and bar to hang out in. My dad ended up coming in sooner than I thought. A nice German guy  on a day hike with his girlfriend offered to carry his pack the last 4 kilometers. My dad thanked him with a pisco sour, in good Chilean fashion.  Again, it is strange to feel out in the  wilderness all day, then sit down at a refugio and have a pisco sour. I enjoyed it a little to much to question it! We chatted with the German couple a bit, and found out both of them had applied for jobs at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California...9 miles from our house. What a small world! 

My favorite shot of Glacier Grey

Day 6: Refugio Grey to Lodge Paine Grande

This day was really quick. We started at 9:30 and I got in by 1:30, with my Dad following soon after at 2:30ish. We camped out this night, in what looked like a sea of orange and yellow tents.

The nice part about this being a short day was that we had some time to nap and explore around Lago Pehoé, which was a gorgeous blue. 

Day 7: Lodge Paine Grande to Refugio Los Cuernos-with a side trip to Valle Frances!

Longest day of the whole trip, with about 12 miles in total. Part of it was without our backpacks though. And this was the first day my dad hired a porter. He finally decided if he really wanted to enjoy the trip and keep up a decent pace (in other words my pace with a pack), he would pass on his heavy stuff to a porter. His porter was a really nice guy, who gave us tips about the rest of the trail and his favorite spots. So on this day,what we did was hike to a campsite called Campamento Italiano and from there to ditch our bags for what ended up being a six hour side trip up the Valle Frances. It was worth the trip, since this is technically part of the W and not the O circuit. We wanted to do it all! Along the way we saw a hanging glacier that cracked so loud it sounded like gunshots! Then we continued on until the mirador(viewpoint) which practically gave us a 360 degree view of the cuernos(horn shaped peaks) and the valley. The best part of this day, aside from the amazing views, was the old British man who burst into song when he got to the lookout point. He was something straight out of a British sitcom. He sang out "I'm on top of the world lookin' down on creation, and the only explanation..." before interrupting himself and turning to a couple napping nearby exclaiming "Oh my! I'm sorry I've woken you up! I had a moment...I'm a child of the 60s you see!" But the lyrics were appropriate...from that viewpoint you really do feel on top of world!

The hanging, cracking glacier

"I'm on top of the world, I'm looking down on creation..."

After the side trip up the valley,we picked up our packs and continued on to Refugio Los Cuernos. That night we actually stayed in a dome tent, which was pretty neat!

Day 8: Los Cuernos to Campamento Torres

Originally this was going to be our last day, but in order to truly include everything in the W we hiked out to the campsite closest to the infamous torres(towers) of Torres del Paine. By the way "Paine" is a Tehuelche Indian word meaning blue. So instead of heading from Los Cuernos to Hotel Las Torres, we took a shortcut that led us up to Refugio Chileno(where we stopped for a break) then up to a free campsite called Campamento Torres. We slept early this night, with plans of doing a morning hike to see the sunrise on the towers as so many do...

Day 9: Ultimate epic hike to the towers in the rain 

We woke up to rain and fog. Not exactly ideal conditions for seeing towers, but we got our buts out of 

the warm tent anyway to the one hour scramble up to the towers. Unfortunately this was the one day where the weather inhibited my reality from surpassing or even matching up with my expectations.

Expectations

Reality :( 

I'm glad we at least made the effort to hike up there and imagine the towers' immensity behind the fog. Besides, every other view over the past 9 days was more than enough. Of course, if I really want to see the towers I could just come back ;).

After hanging out at the towers for not too long, we went back to camp and picked up our stuff, and hiked another couple hours through the rain to Hotel Las Torres. From there it was a short shuttle to Laguna Amarga(where we started), where we picked up the bus heading back to Puerto Natales. The raininess made it easier to say goodbye to Torres del Paine, but as we pulled out of the park there was still a sense of nostalgia you get after spending time in a place so memorable. 

We spent the night in Puerto Natales, and treated ourselves to a delicious meal. I had chupe de centolla, which is essentially a creamy crab stew under a layer of baked breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. It was so good that my dad and I came back the next day for lunch and ordered it again!

At the end of the trip came the only bad event, with rather ironic circumstances. The morning of the 25th, in our hotel in Punta Arenas, my dad fell down the stairs and hurt his right knee so badly he couldn't walk or bend it. We had our flight that afternoon, so we had to get him in a wheelchair at the airport.  We also got our seats changed to the front and plenty of ice from the nice flight attendants.    Once in Santiago, we headed straight to the hospital which is conveniently located one block from my apartment! There were no doctors on call that spoke english, so despite the bad circumstances I had some fun playing translator. But then again if I don't know what antithrombin means in English, how would I know how to say it in Spanish!? I soon learned it's an anti blood clot medicine...much easier to translate! After 3 hours of waiting and tests, it turns out he had a torn quadricep tendon in his right knee. So after surviving the rough terrain of Torres del Paine for nine days, the irony comes when he busts his knee on a flight of stairs. It was just good it happened after the trek, when he had only four days left in Chile. It's also good that the injury wasn't so severe to require immediate surgery, meaning he could wait for his doctor in the U.S.  Hanging out in the hotel with a leg brace wasn't his idea of ending his time with me, but I enjoyed the downtime. Plus, we were still spending time together, which really what matters! 

Torres del Paine marks my final summer adventure and another item off my bucket list. 

Next Wednesday is the start of semester, and I'm not sure how I'm feeling about it yet. I am expecting that classes will be easier to follow along with, but that also puts pressure on me to improve from last semester.

Well, this post is already too long. I'll have  updates later on my new apartment, classes, and all that getting back into the swing of things business. Chao for now!