So we are finally back in the states from our adventures in South America and we had a great time. After 24 hours of flying and hanging out in airports, we are greeted at Punta Arenas by Sarah's sister Caitlin. Since she got in the day before we did, she had already arrange all of the logistics for us to get to the park. After bumming around Punta Arenas for a few hours, we jump on our bus that is taking us to Puerto Natales. The ride takes about three hours and there is literally nothing between these two towns. It looks like a horrible place to have your car break down.
After getting into Puerto Natales, we head to our Hostel to drop our stuff off and start walking around the town to see what there is to do. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The town is the gateway to the national park and is made up of Hostels and tourist agencies trying to sell you tours all over Patagonia. We end up just walking around and wasting time before turning in for the night.
The next morning we get up early and are picked up by the next bus for the three hour ride that takes us to the park entrance. Upon arriving, a park ranger informs us that there has been multiple avalanches and that the Circuito Grande that we were planning to do is closed. We are told that we are only allowed to do the "W" which is significantly less miles that we had planned for. We pay our fee anyways and jump on the next bus that takes us to the trail head.
For our first day, we head up the trail to the Torres Del Paine lookout. The weather is crappy, a little rainy, with no visibility. The first half of the hike is steep and just straight up the mountain with few switchbacks. Eventually it levels out and becomes easier, but the weather stays pretty bad.
After three hours we make it to the top but we can't see anything. We can hardly make out the other side of the lake, let alone the Torres. Pretty pissed, and fairly wet, we head back down the mountain to stay at Refugio Torres for the night.
The next day, the weather starts out much the same, but that quickly changes as we get on the trail. It starts to rain, then snow, then both. After two hours, we are freezing and my hands don't work anymore because they are so cold. After about 3 1/2 hours, Sarah and I loose track of Caitlin because she ran ahead because she was freezing. Just when I start to think that I can handle this Patagonian weather, the wind kicks up to 50 mph and the sleet turns into little Ice Missiles that shoot straight into our faces. Point taken Patagonia. You win.
At this point I'm a little panicked because we haven't made it to the shelter yet, the wind is literally blowing me off my feet, and we haven't seen Caitlin in a hour. Luckily we come around the corner and see the beautiful green roof of Refugio Cuernos. Sarah and I head inside and find Caitlin, waiting by the warm fire.
Refugio Cuernos was suppose to be our half-way point for the day, but the weather is so bad we just stay by the fire for the rest of the day and spend the night. A lot of other Trekkers do the same and the place is quite packed.
At this point we were seriously considering heading back to town and hanging out in Santiago, but we decided to give Patagonia one more day to straiten up it's weather.
Boy were we glad we did. The next day we were packed and on the trail by 8am and we decided to push all the way to Grey Glacier on the far side of the "W." After about and hour, a blizzard blows through layering everything in 6 inches of now. But 45 minutes later, we've walked out of it and it's warm again.
By lunchtime, we make it to Refugio Pehoe where we stop to eat some lunch and get off our feet. After about an hour we pack up again and push on the next four hours up to Refugio Grey.
After setting up our tents, we head into the Refugio to warm up and sit by the fire. In there is two other couples, one from LA (Patrick and Meredeth) and one from London (Grant and Eleanora) that we end up spending the evening with. They are all just starting to do the "W" so as we head back the other directions ourselves, we end up spending every evening with them and having a great time.
The next morning we get up early again and do the 4 km hike up to the Grey Glacier lookout. This is my first time this close to a glacier and I am filled with awe. The glacier is massive and extends as far as you can see. It's hard to get a perspective of how massive this thing is, but I estimate it's about 4-5 stories tall at the front end.
After enjoying the views we head back to Refugio Grey and pack up camp and head toward Refugio Pehoe. We get there in the late afternoon and decide to stay there instead of pressing on to Campemento Italiano.
On day 5, Caitlin wakes us up at 7:30 again and we head 2.5 hours to Campemento Italiano where we drop our packs and hike up into the French Valley. Since those first few inches on our first dayor hiking, a lot of snow has fallen in the mountains. We get about half way up the French valley and decide to turn around because there is to way we are going to make it all the way to the lookout at the top of the valley.
After getting back to Italiano, we grab our packs and head to Refugio Cuernos for another night. This is by far my favorite of the refugios. The refugio is right at the base of the Horns of Paine and the view is just amazing.
In the morning we head the four hours back to Refugio Torres where our whole adventure started. Since we get there by lunch, we set up camp and just relax for the rest of the day. The weather up at altitude is still not great, and we've now been at the park for 6 days and we still haven't seen the Torres.
That night at dinner, the seven of us plus another Londoner we met named Guy, devise a plan to start hiking at 4:30am to see sunrise at the Torres. Caitlin wakes me up at 4:15am and we get dressed and head to the Refugio to pick up Grant, Patrick, and Guy. It's pitch black and you can see a million stars in the sky because there aren't any lights anywhere. Patrick takes the lead and we set a fast pace up the mountain. We end up doing 9 km and a few thousand feet of elevation gain in only 2.5 hours. We are greeted at the top by about 7 other folks waiting for the sunrise.
The timing ended up being perfect. We got there about 20 minutes before the sun touched the top of the Torres. The day was perfectly clear and made for a terrific ending to our journey.
We eventually head down the mountain once our bodies, as well as our waters are all frozen. About half way down we run into El and Maredeth who are on their way up and they join our group for the hike the rest of the way down.
Once we get to the bottom we pack up camp and begin the bus journey back to Puerto Natales. That night after checking into our respective hostels, we all meet at this fantastic Italian place for one last meal together.
Despite the crappy weather at the beginning, the vacation turned out to be a blast. Patagonia is a beautiful, remote place that I'd love to visit again in the future. All told we hiked around 80 or 90 miles through the park which turned out to be easier than I thought it was going to be. Sarah and I are really looking forward to our next trekking adventure.
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