Patagonia (Part 2): December 2015
Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
Los Perros: We woke up nice and early. Once I was packed and ready, Tim offered to help Javier with our tent so I could start on breakfast. It was another oatmeal morning, but since we had a 10 hour day ahead of us, we wanted to start it out right. I went ahead and cooked almost all of the oatmeal. Subsequently, we had enough for everyone (Annette and Jenni included) and then some. I was happy to be starting with a full belly, and happy that everyone else had something a little more substantial to start our big day. Jenni and Annette went ahead while we finished up. Tim and I started before Javier, but he caught up to us in no time. It was REALLY muddy. We were constantly trying to find any patch of semi dry land to step on, and since Tim didn’t have trekking poles, he had to be even more careful about where he stepped. None of us are afraid to get a little dirty, but this mud was no joke. Javier maneuvers better than I do in these situations, so it wasn’t long before he was right next to me.
The day was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining, it was warm, but not hot. There were a few puffy clouds, but no rain, snow or hail, so we were very happy. With lots of mud comes lots of tree cover. So even though we were getting nice and dirty, at least we had shade. Did I mention the hole in the ozone is right over Patagonia?
Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
After an hour or so, the trees opened up and we saw mountains and snow. As we stood there, we could see Jenni and Annette in the distance climbing the mountain. They were two little orange dots in the distance. For the next couple hours, we covered terrain that was mostly rocks and snow. I personally, don’t like either. As we hiked I saw some people head off track. One person picked up a big stick, I assumed it was for walking, and returned back to the trail. As we started to ascend the mountain, I could make out the family from the night before. They were the next group ahead, and what I thought was a walking stick turned out to be a tow-stick. One of the sons was walking in front of his father pulling him up the mountain. As we walked along, the pass started to become clear. We passed the family, who had decided to take a break, and at the top, Jenni and Annette were waving at us and cheering us on.
Wow, The Grey glacier
I realized how close we were and picked up the pace. We walked through more snow and over more rocks until we finally reached the pass! At the top, it was a bit windy, but we stayed a while to take pictures. Annette and Jenni were sitting in a little rock-bunker of sorts, protecting themselves from the wind. After a few pictures, Tim went ahead with the others to the other side of the pass. The family we had passed showed up, and Javier took some pictures for them. When we were satisfied (and a little chilly) we hiked down and met with the rest of our group who had found some rocks to sit and relax while looking at Grey Glacier.
Gray glacier.
We were pleasantly surprised that there was no wind on this side. We had heard rumors that it can be very windy, and that the wind comes off the glacier making it biting cold. We had some snacks and enjoyed the view. We truly could not have asked for better weather. If we didn’t have another 7 hours of hiking ahead of us, I would have loved to just sit there and be amazed by the massive ice field in front of me. But, that wasn’t the case for us, and we needed to keep moving. The plan was to meet up again at Campamento Paso for lunch before continuing on to Grey.
Grey Glacier. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
Jenni and Annette went ahead again, and the rest of us slowly trickled down. We walked alongside the glacier for a while before entering more trees and yes, more mud. At a few different points there were ropes and handrails that were very necessary. Having made it over the pass, Javier, Tim, and I were in great spirits. We chatted most of the way down, I fell (of course), but other than that, nothing too exciting. After walking for a little over an hour, we passed by a park ranger. He told us that Paso is only 40 minutes away. We were so excited! We didn’t realize we were moving so quickly…
Amazing
We weren’t. After over an hour, we still hadn’t arrived at Paso. We decided that it probably takes him, the guy who lives here, 40 minutes to hop through the trees with no backpack. Before we arrived in Paso, the trees opened up to a rocky river area. Jenni and Annette were on the other side, sitting and having lunch. It seemed like as good a place as any, so we all sat, warmed up with the sun, and had lunch. Oh, and we had an absolutely magnificent view of the glacier too! Lunch was over too quickly, and we were on the move again. After only a few minutes, we arrived at Paso, and the rumors were true. We had heard that Paso was not a very nice camp. Extremely basic to say the least, and once Jenni declared the toilet was the worst she’d ever seen, we didn’t bother to stop. Grey was another 4 hours away, but we were all feeling good, and knew there was no way we would stay at Paso.
Tree trunks after the fire.
We continued our walk through the trees and all of a sudden, the trees were gone. It looked like the badlands. I remembered reading about this area. Back in 2011, there was a huge fire that was started by some guy who decided to cook in an unauthorized area. Now, the whole area is burned with only small bushes providing any sort of green.
The sun was intense. Hiking to Grey was not a downhill hike, but rather peaks and valleys. We all were actually very hot, and it was the only day where a T-shirt was appropriate. As we hiked, we approached the infamous “ladder.” It’s basically two metal ladder-esque things that are tied together and held up by cables at the top. As you walk up, the whole thing moves, because nothing is secured into the mountain. The thing is oddly shaped, and very awkward. It wasn’t dangerous at all, but rather strange. We passed by the family again, and again the son was pulling dad up the hills. It actually made us all really happy to see the family working together so that dad could accomplish the hike. There was another area where we basically walked up the face of a rock using a rope that was secured at the top. There were two very flimsy suspension bridges that swayed in the wind- once at the other side of one of them, you had to climb down a rather high ladder. When we came upon a stream, the girls decided to stop and refill our water while the guys went on ahead. While we were refilling, the family caught up to us, and while the children refilled their water, the father dropped down to his hands and knees and stuck his face in the stream to drink. His kids rolled their eyes and smiled, and we all had a good laugh.
so close to us.. the condor
Once we caught up to the boys, they were very excited. Apparently, there was a condor sighting. Not only a sighting, but the condor had landed just feet away from the guys. They had stopped to watch, and noticed the bird flying close. All of a sudden, it dipped below the edge of the cliff and they couldn’t see it anymore. When it reappeared, it had decided to take a break only a few feet from the guys. They were all in shock and awe. We were able to see both photos and videos from both Javier and Tim. For Javier, this experience was a huge highlight, I’m sad I missed it.
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A condor!
We walked together the rest of the way and before we knew it, we had arrived in Grey. The first thing we noticed was that it was really REALLY crowded and noisy. Grey is actually part of the “W” so it is a place where many people start their trek. We were happy to have arrived, but sad at the same time. This meant that our hike was pretty much over, and we all missed the small groups of people the backside had to offer. We had forgotten the madness and mayhem of the “W.”
We checked in and decided to have dinner at the lodge. It took a while to find a place to set up our tents, and we ended up having to separate. Annette, Jenni and Tim were close together, in a very popular area. Javier and I set up camp further away, in a quieter area. As I walked through the campsites, there were a ton of 20-somethings. They were really loud and obnoxious. It felt like a college party. When I arrived in our area, I noticed many familiar faces from the backside, and knew this area was more our speed.
Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
Our tent was wet from the night before, so we opened everything up to let it dry. Many of our neighbors had come from the same wet place we had, so the perimeter was covered in wet clothes, tents, and sleeping bags.
There was a rumor that there would be hot water for the showers at 6:30pm. By the time Javier and I finished cleaning and setting up our tent, it was hot-shower time! There was already a line by the time I arrived, and since Javier and I share soap and shampoo, I gave him the stuff while I waited. I was still in line when he finished, and turns out, he didn’t get a hot shower after all. The men’s shower was cold, and this isn’t normal cold, this is straight-from-the-glacier cold. Yikes!! Not to rub it in, but my shower was scalding hot, and felt soooooo good.
We ended up having dinner with a Canadian couple we had met and trekked with for the past few days. We had good conversation, and ended dinner with a few gross ER stories. Always a good time.
We were all pretty exhausted from our day, so we didn’t stay too long, and before you knew it, we were asleep before the sun went down.
For me, it was a sad morning. It would be our last day in the park, and while my legs needed a rest, I didn’t want it to end. I looked forward to hiking everyday, and actually grew to love our little tent and the coziness of my mummy sleeping bag. I had gotten used to getting up early and going to bed early. I didn’t want to stop.
ICE. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
Our hike to Paine Grande was a short 3.5-4 hour hike. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it was short enough to not really notice the slow climb and steep down. We decided to try and catch the 12:30 catamaran back to the bus, so we left just after 8am. I let Jenni, Annette, and Tim walk ahead. Javier stayed back for a while, and I needed to get moving before I became too cold. For the first 30 minutes, I was by myself. Javier had caught up, but I told him that I wanted to hike by myself for a bit on our last day. It was very peaceful. Every once in a while, you could still catch a glimpse of Grey Glacier, and large icebergs floating in the water.
Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
The trees provided shade from the sun, but the weather was gorgeous again. As I walked, people began to pass me on their way to Grey. The more I walked, the more people I encountered. After a while, there were so many people, and I was constantly moving to the side to let them pass, I decided that my peaceful hike was over and it was time to get back. I picked up the pace and met up with Javier and Tim. We passed this massive rock that had so many different layers of colored rock, it looked like it had been painted, and a family of ducks.
The last day of the trek.
We arrived at Paine Grande just after 11am. There were so many people milling about. Annette and Jenni went to the souvenir shop to buy T-shirts and snacks, while Tim charged his electronics and Javier and I just sat. We shared a cup of hot chocolate while waiting, and at about 12:15, we went and stood in line for the catamaran. When it arrived, we waited for all of the people to disembark and remarked on how clean and fresh they all looked, before climbing aboard. On the catamaran, we sat on top and took lots of pictures as we watched the mountains of Torres del Paine for the last time.
Bye Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.
Back on land, the buses were waiting. We boarded and waited for ours to fill. There were actually too many people, so some had to sit on the floor for the 5-hour journey back.
Back in Puerto Natales, we returned to our guesthouse. We didn’t book ahead because we weren’t sure when we would be returning. Unfortunately for us, they were fully booked. We had noticed on the walk back how many more people there were compared to before. We asked them if they had someone they could recommend. They made a phone call, and told us they had a place for us for the same price and almost the same comfort. 🙂 They even drove us, which was nice. We were further away from the commercial area, but it was only for two nights, so no big deal. The woman’s name was Sandra. Sandra was about half our size, had a raspy voice and was feisty. The room wasn’t ready, so we dropped our stuff, Javier and Sandra argued over prices, and left to eat. Jenni and Annette also needed to secure a place to sleep, so we sent a message letting everyone know where we would be eating and went to the Grey Dog to eat a big, fat, burger. We didn’t see the trio for lunch. They had all decided to take a bus the following day to El Calfate to view the glacier, and had spent the afternoon doing laundry.
We returned to Sandra’s to check in. The living room smelled like cigarette smoke, so we were already dreading our room. We had actually asked at a few guesthouses along the way, and no one had any vacancy. We were pleasantly surprised when Sandra showed us our room. It was large, comfortable, complete with TV, good internet, and smelled fresh and clean. We showered and relaxed for a bit before meeting the trio at a restaurant for dinner. By the time Javier and I arrived, they were almost done, plus there wasn’t room for us anyway, so we agreed to meet at the brewery. Javier and I sat and ate and the others arrived later for a drink. The three had to get up really early the next morning for their day-trip to Argentina, so they turned in early while Javier and I stayed and had dessert.
Puerto Natales. With Sandra,
We took the long, leisurely, route back home, and were greeted by an excited Sandra who was talking a mile a minute. As we climbed the stairs, she told us that the airports in Chile were on strike, and that two other couples’ flights were cancelled. What?!? She started hollering for the others, knocking on their doors, and waking them up. Some young people came out and told us that yes, their flights had been cancelled and they were stuck. Sandra was laughing and saying that we’d all be spending Christmas together…please, no.
To see more pictures of Patagonia, click HERE.