It was five am and I was wide awake at the base of Los Cuernos. A stiff wind pressed the sides of the tent into my face and prevented me from returning to sleep. My late booking prevented having a reserved for me in the lodge so tonight I was a tent. At least I was warm and dry, two conditions you could not take for granted during a hike through Torres del Paine in the southern tip of Patagonian Chile. The park seems to have it's own climate and weather with conditions changing every hour of a hike. Wind. Rain. Sleet. Sun. It seemed at every break layers were being added or removed. Tonight under Los Cuernos it was a constant blow of the wind.
The Torres del Paine, the parks namesake jagged, granite peaks seem to have aggressively emerged from the earth in a single burst rather than a tectonic push over millions of years. The hike through the park crosses different terrain with only slight altitude changes - it's the parks elements of rain, sleet, snow, and at five am in the morning the wind that challenges the intrepid hiker.
The Torres del Paine, the parks namesake jagged, granite peaks seem to have aggressively emerged from the earth in a single burst rather than a tectonic push over millions of years. The hike through the park crosses different terrain with only slight altitude changes - it's the parks elements of rain, sleet, snow, and at five am in the morning the wind that challenges the intrepid hiker.
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Have seen the destruction the wind can cause up close and having felt it push me backwards any protection the tent provided was greatly appreciated. On the drive into the park our vehicle stopped prior to entering a wind valley. At the base of the valley was an overturned bus the wind had pushed off the side of the road. While waiting for emergency vehicles to provide an all clear I stepped outside and leaned thirty degrees into the wind...and could still barely keep my balance from falling backward, not forward. When I jumped in the air the wind blew me backwards and it took an effort to maintain my balance when I landed. The wind outside at five am was gentle by comparison.
I spent three nights in the park completing the "W" circuit which passes through the southern section and features the park's highlights. A complete circle around the park and mountain range takes eight days. |
At the Base of Los Cuernos
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Reaching the park takes some planning. Our group passed through Puerto Notales, Chile where we ate lunch and bought groceries for the next few days. We also picked up our guide and evening entertainer, Antonio. Everyone in the van became very excited with the first glimpse of Torres del Paine - because the mountains are a sub-range they sit off by themselves and rise dramatically over what is an otherwise flat plain - the vehicle came around a turn and there the mountains were dominating the distant horizon. As soon as we spotted Guanacos (similar to llamas and alpacas) everyone on the Dragoman vehicle begged the guides to stop so we could take our first photos.
We camped that night on the southern shore of Lake Pehoe with some of the best views of the range. The next morning we ferried across Lake Pehoe for the first leg of the the W-Hike. We left our bags in storage at a refugio, a "hotel" with dorm style accommodation. We started the hike in a light rain to Lago / Glacier Grey. Fortunately the strong winds from the prior day did not reappear and after the initial drizzle the rest of the hike cleared off quite nicely. Lago Grey was a bit anticlimactic after the initial views of Torres del Pain. That night the refugio served a cafeteria style dinner.
CLICK OR TAP PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
We camped that night on the southern shore of Lake Pehoe with some of the best views of the range. The next morning we ferried across Lake Pehoe for the first leg of the the W-Hike. We left our bags in storage at a refugio, a "hotel" with dorm style accommodation. We started the hike in a light rain to Lago / Glacier Grey. Fortunately the strong winds from the prior day did not reappear and after the initial drizzle the rest of the hike cleared off quite nicely. Lago Grey was a bit anticlimactic after the initial views of Torres del Pain. That night the refugio served a cafeteria style dinner.
CLICK OR TAP PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
Lake Pehoe Views
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Los Cuernos from Lake Pehoe
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On the second day of hiking we went into the French Valley - the middle point of the "W". Most of the group returned to the first night's refugio while a few of us continued on the W Trek to a new refugio. The rain continued for the first part of the hike. Complicating matters was that the wind had picked up and was so strong that any attempt to wear a raincoat would be a nuisance. Hiking in a line as an eighteen person group became a nuisance and I would have preferred to put my head down and plow through the hike rather than stopping every twenty minutes for people to catch their breath.
We reached the turn into the French Valley around noon and after a quick lunch continued on our way through the valley. This part of the hike involved a bit of a climb which the rain made more difficult due to slippery rocks, river crossings, and a less defined / marked path. At the French Valley view point the wind was at its harshest. It was so cold the rain had turned to mini hail that pelted your face every time you looked up to catch a view. It was a beautiful site even if it was difficult to see.
Once we returned to the French Valley turn-off I continued on my way to the next nights refugio. Fortunately the rain and wind stopped for the next three hours of hiking. I was one of the first people to reach the refugio that night so I was able to remove my clothes and place them by the fire while there was still space. I massaged and fluffed my clothes so they would dry quicker and the space could be used by someone else - you'd be surprised how many people (virtually everyone else who entered) just dumped their wet clothes by the fire or on top of someone else's near dry clothes without regard or consideration. Rather than be a bonding experience, the horrible and difficult conditions quickly converted people to survival mode. Fortunately everyone in our group handled the situation well and was a pleasure to be with when dinner finally rolled around.
A few of us, including me, made our bookings so late that the refugio was filled - we'd be camping outside instead. This wasn't too bad except for the fact that since we did not have refugio accommodations we could not use the refugio common room to keep warm. Instead we were relegated to a smaller, less heated, camper's only room. The bright spot was that Antonio snuck a guitar out of the refugio and we all started singing Beatles, Bob Dylan, and pretty much every song from the 70s while we waited for dinner to be served.
Now it was 7:00 am - time for breakfast and the start of an easy walk to the Park's main entrance and circle hike start point. The terrain changed about every half mile from lake views, to mountain views, to shrubbery, to trees, to moonscapes. I arrived at refugio just before the rain started again. I spent the afternoon relaxing and drinking Cerveza Austral. At dinner a huge group of Germans, who had been on the path with us since the first night, went wild when a puma was spotted darting between trees - they all pressed themselves tight up against the dining room windows - I didn't see the puma but watching the Germans look for the puma was just as good.
We reached the turn into the French Valley around noon and after a quick lunch continued on our way through the valley. This part of the hike involved a bit of a climb which the rain made more difficult due to slippery rocks, river crossings, and a less defined / marked path. At the French Valley view point the wind was at its harshest. It was so cold the rain had turned to mini hail that pelted your face every time you looked up to catch a view. It was a beautiful site even if it was difficult to see.
Once we returned to the French Valley turn-off I continued on my way to the next nights refugio. Fortunately the rain and wind stopped for the next three hours of hiking. I was one of the first people to reach the refugio that night so I was able to remove my clothes and place them by the fire while there was still space. I massaged and fluffed my clothes so they would dry quicker and the space could be used by someone else - you'd be surprised how many people (virtually everyone else who entered) just dumped their wet clothes by the fire or on top of someone else's near dry clothes without regard or consideration. Rather than be a bonding experience, the horrible and difficult conditions quickly converted people to survival mode. Fortunately everyone in our group handled the situation well and was a pleasure to be with when dinner finally rolled around.
A few of us, including me, made our bookings so late that the refugio was filled - we'd be camping outside instead. This wasn't too bad except for the fact that since we did not have refugio accommodations we could not use the refugio common room to keep warm. Instead we were relegated to a smaller, less heated, camper's only room. The bright spot was that Antonio snuck a guitar out of the refugio and we all started singing Beatles, Bob Dylan, and pretty much every song from the 70s while we waited for dinner to be served.
Now it was 7:00 am - time for breakfast and the start of an easy walk to the Park's main entrance and circle hike start point. The terrain changed about every half mile from lake views, to mountain views, to shrubbery, to trees, to moonscapes. I arrived at refugio just before the rain started again. I spent the afternoon relaxing and drinking Cerveza Austral. At dinner a huge group of Germans, who had been on the path with us since the first night, went wild when a puma was spotted darting between trees - they all pressed themselves tight up against the dining room windows - I didn't see the puma but watching the Germans look for the puma was just as good.
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TORRES DEL PAINE VIEWPOINT
The next morning I made the best move of the trip, and woke at 5:00am, this time with the aid of an alarm instead of the wind. I left early for the Torres del Paine peak while the rest of the group slept for two reasons: 1) In the early morning the eastern sun lights up the peaks and 2) Later in the day the viewpoint would be choked with other hikers. The adrenaline of the climb overrode the lack of sleep, five hours quickly passed, and I was soon scrambling across snow dusted rocks for the final approach. There's not enough cliches to describe Torres del Paine and there's endless descriptions. The most fitting: destructive. The peaks are "beautiful" and "amazing" but the speechlessness they create is from intimidation. These jagged peaks are pure badass and left me feeling insignificant. I spent an hour watching the peaks as they stood against a bright blue, cloudless backdrop. My decision to wake up early was a great maneuver. In the hour I spent at the viewpoint and there was never more than ten people in the area - on the way back down I passed many groups - all of which had more than ten people. I made it back to the Torres del Paine lodge in time for lunch and ordered a salmon lunch for a "victory" meal. I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in oversized, comfortable chairs by the fire drinking beer and coffee. |
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We spent one more night at the campsite on the south side of Lake Pehoe. I headed out to the lake for a few more glances of the range and finally understood why the range is called Torres del Paine. Paine is the local word for blue - in the early morning sunlight the granite mountains looked a glorious shade of blue.
For additional Torres del Paine photos see FLICKR ALBUM.