Readers. I warn you ahead of time that this will be a long entry.
Most backpackers going to Torres Del Paine are attempting one of two options. The circuit is a ten day trek around the entire park. Many people opt for what is known as the ¨W¨ which is a 4-5 day trek covering most of the main sites. I decided to do the W due to the limited time in Patagonia.
Heather came over to the hostel the day before to plan out the route and the meals with me. We planned for ten meals to cover the entire four days. When we were finally finished with the planning, and the ¨to buy¨ list was so huge that I though our packs would weigh 30 kg each. However, I was excited with the prospects of eating well for this trip. Our trip would start from right to left (looking down on the map). Starting off with the towers and ending with glacier Grey.
Transport to and from the park is well choreographed. Each bus or shuttle waits for the next at each connection. We arrived at the trail at 10 AM, applied the sunscreeen and headed to our first campsite at refugio Chileano. The trail took us up the valley for a couple hours. During our walk, the weather was constantly changing. It was warm, but there were clouds in the direction we were going. I hoped that the towers would not be fogged in later on in the afternoon. Once at Chileano, we stopped for lunch. Heather had made some hummus the night before, so we dug into it with some fresh tomatoes. The clouds descended on us during lunch and it didn´t look promising up the valley. Well I didn´t come all this way not to see the towers, so we loaded up our day packs and started up the valley to the mirador. You never know the capability of your trekking partner when you are hiking together for the first time. Heather proved to be much stronger than me. Maybe it was because of her marathon training, or maybe it was the new running shoes. In any case, she absolutely crushed me scrambling up the last boulder field to the lookout. I mean she was a rockstar on those boulders leaping from one to another overtaking everyone in her path! When I finally caught up to her at the top of the hill. My near heart attack experience was rewarded with blue skies and a clear view of all three towers. Heather suggested that we head down to the lake to get away from the crowd and I agreed although my knees didn´t. The views from the bottom were even better and there was no chatter from other people. After the obligatory pictures, we parked ourselves on a giant rock layed back in the sun and watched the clouds pass through the towers. This would be the highlight of my entire trip in the park.
The second day was just as sunny and warm as the first. We were now on our way to Cuernos for the second night. This was going to be the longest day of the trip. It took as few hours to hit the refugio, but the views along the way were very nice. Heather stopped to pick a few Calafate berries growing along the trail. She planned on making a special treat for later. Once we arrived, we met up with Heather´s boyfriend Serkan and another friend who was working at the refugio. They decided to take me to Valle Bader which is not a marked trail on the map although there is a climber´s camp there. The route to the camp was a long ascent up the the valley. The three threw down a pace that I just couldn´t stay with. At some point the trail was non existent, so we scrambled up a steep scree field, then the some scrub grabbing on to branches to keep from sliding down the mountain. Over one last bolder field and we had arrived at the climber camp. My body was nearly wiped out. The views from the camp were very nice and you could easily see why the climbers set up camp here. The valley was surrounded by vertical towers flanking both sides of the glacial stream. Heather broke out the Calafate berries and made a sort of honey, berry, dark chocolate tart for all of us. My body was able to recover slightly and we backtracked down the mountain to the refugio. The way back was even faster than before. All four of us were running down the trail, sometimes out of control. On the way back I could see some clouds on the horizon. The breeze had picked up tremendously in the past four hours. It was not a good sign for things to come. We were treated to a colorful sunset before bed. I needed all the rest I could get because tomorrow would be the longest day according to the schedule.
Well, it was bound to happen. The crap weather finally moved in over night. At some point I woke up thinking that my tent would be picked up and tossed into the lake. We made an attempt at Valle Frances that morning, but the views from the first mirador were just terrible. I could see the glaciers on the far side of the valley just fine, but the peaks were hiding from us that morning. Cooler temperatures came along with the winds. We were freezing our butts off after stopping at the mirador. Heather wasted no time and cranked it down the trail back to our backpacks. We got the heck out of there and set off for Refugio Pehoe which would be our last night. It took a while for us to warm back up from the walk in. The wind was pushing the rain sideways so strong that when I arrived at the refugio, the right half of my body was wet and the left half bone dry.
Last day. We hiked up to glacier Grey in the morning. The wind was howling directly in our faces on the way up. The going was quite fast due to the bistering pace Heather threw down. We arrived at Refugio Grey in about two hours. You could see huge ice bergs floating in the lake beside the camp site. We sat in the refugio for an hour to warm up. After lunch, we walked the last ten minutes to the mirador. The weather had cleared upon our arrival, and we were able to see glacier grey in the sun. After about an hour, we ran back to Refugio Pehoe for a celebratory beer. I had finished the W and experienced nearly all of the conditions Patagonia had to offer (except snow). With this trek under my belt, I felt even more prepared for Fitz Roy and the other treks I would take on the way back to Santiago. It was nice to share the experience with someone. I don´t get the chance to do this sort of thing too often at home, so it was nice to have a partner with local knowledge and superior capability.
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