La Patagonia- Torres del Paine

Over Spring break, I went backpacking in Patagonia with three other friends. We completed the "W" trail in Torres del Paine, one of the more well-known parks in the region. In all, the trek lasted 5 days, and I absolutely enjoyed it.

Although my knees beg to differ (they're still aching a bit), the experience was incredible. Whether watching the sky light-up al amanacer (sunrise), taking in the snow-capped peaks, or jumping from stone-to-stone crossing rivers filled with glacial runoff, I was amazed by the beauty of Torres del Paine- without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. The sheer diversity of the park was also fascinating. As I like to summarize, the first day we had lunch in the rain, the second day under the sun, the third while it was snowing, then in the shade, and finally strong winds! Backpacking, camping, and cooking in the outdoors for a few days was also a really nice break from all the hubbub of Santiago and end-of-quarter finals.

The park is located about an hour outside of Puerto Natales in Southern Chile. Even though it takes quite a bit of organization to reach, we arrived in style- to get there, we took a 2.5-hour plane ride from Santiago to Punta Arenas and landed around 6:30 pm. From there, it is a 3-hour bus ride to Puerto Natales. Even though all the local bus companies had sold-out of tickets for the rest of the evening, our cab driver was able to hail an earlier bus as it passed by the airport, and we were able to jump on. Once in Puerto Natales, we had to find a hostel for the night.

Since tourism is quite popular in the area, a number of hostel employees were waiting at the bus station. The majority of these are family-run and are quite flexible. The one we ended up choosing, for example, agreed to pick us up in a car and swing by a supermarket so we could load up on cooking gear we needed. They were also able to arrange for another bus to pass by the following morning (at the weee hour of 7 am) to take us into the park of Torres del Paine itself. In all, it cost $10 a night per person. Not bad, considering the fact that this included internet, a shower, breakfast as well.

One would thing it would have been easier to make reservations for all these steps in advance, but I find it a lot harder to make such plans in South America. The bus companies, for example, usually only let clients buy tickets on-site in their office or deposit through a bank account, which is also tricky. In terms of hostels, it's also easier to bargain and compare with the various offers upon arrival. All said and done, we left Santiago at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon and our bus rolled into Torres del Paine at 10:30 the next morning.

I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking!

Day 1:

Starting Off

Even though it doesn't look it in the pictures above, it had been raining just a couple minutes earlier. As it continued to rain on-and-off all day, we quickly learned it was most efficient to keep our rain-gear on, even when it cleared up and got deceptively warm.

The Torres

after setting up camp about an hour's hike below, we trekked up to this amazing mirador (lookout point)

Day 2:

Packing Up Camp in the Morning

Breakfast

Wild Horses

We ended up stopping by lookout for lunch: bread, crackers, tuna, mayo, and peanut butter.

Our Next Campsite

Lucky for my friend and I, the boys were a bit faster and sped ahead so the tents were already waiting for us when we arrived! It was a good move considering the fact that we were pressed for time and sunset came just after our arrival.

Day 3: Oops! Didn't end up taking pictures this day. I think the exhaustion was getting to me- woke up feeling a bit sick, but enjoyed the 4-hour hike to French Valley- a glacial lookout point. On the way up, it started snowing, which was a lovely surprise! From there, we headed to our next campsite another 2.5 hours away.

Day 4:

Sunrise

Amazingly enough, the rivers flowing throughout Torres del Paine contain potable glacial runoff from the mountains up above. In turn, we did not really have to use the tap - we simply refilled our water bottles in these streams. Cold and refreshing!

Glacier Grey

Picture taken a 10-minute walk from our campsite on day 4. Surprisingly, I found it to be the warmest campsite. Possibly because it rained all night and was more humid outside. We were also sheltered by some surrounding hills.

Nights and mornings tended to be quite cold in the park- about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I did fine since I had invested in a nicer sleeping bag and some long under-wear, but a couple friends with cheaper sleeping bags suffered quite a bit more. Considering the strong winds, day-time could get quite cold as well. However, we were mostly hiking so that did not really get to us until we stopped for lunch or longer breaks. (time to put on more layers!)

Day 5:

Arco Iris (Rainbow)

Moss Hearts

We Finished the "W" Trail!

To leave the park, we ended up taking a Catamaran across Lake Pehoe in the afternoon. Considering the great view, the company of some new friends, and the free cookies and hot cocoa, it was definitely a nice way to wrap up the trip.

Before leaving Patagonia altogether, we spent an extra day exploring the city of Punta Arenas as well, but I'll leave that for another entry!

If you're interested in learning more about Torres del Paine, here's a link to a cite with great descriptions and maps: http://www.fslodges.com/en/torres-del-paine-national-park-and-surroundings/torres-del-paine-national-park.html