THE TOWERS OF PAIN
(Chillin' in Chile Part 5)
Travel Tales Index - Chillin' In Chile Index - Chile Pix
Every trip that we take has a main goal. For example, in Cambodia/Laos, it was Angkor Wat and in Uganda/Rwanda it was mountain gorillas. In Chile, besides drinking a lot of wine (Lois) and Pisco (Paul), it was backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park. There are a number of different routes through the park and after due agonizing, hemming and hawing, we decided to do "the circuit" and "the W".
On January 28, we headed out from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, the nearest town to the park, where we left everything that we didn't need for our hike. From Puerto Natales, it was another 2 1/2 hour ride to the park. By the time we arrived, it was 5:00 in the afternoon and we still had a 8 mile hike ahead of us! Luckily, the sun didn't set until about 10:00. Unfortunately, the weather was just what we had been told to expect: rainy, windy and ever changing. However, we made good time and arrived a little before 9:00 and found a considerably nicer campground than we expected.
There was a little house with a kitchen containing a wood cookstove and a large table for eating. The 2 people who staffed it were extremely warm and welcoming. Plus, they had a shower with HOT water! Of course, camping cost $7 per person. After setting up our tents, we headed into the house and started dinner. We met a group of 8 students from Santiago who were hiking the same circuit as us. They all spoke some English, I spoke some Spanish and we had a nice time sitting and chatting with them after dinner. The one problem they had was that like many Chilenos we have seen, they had no clue about packing light. For example, one girl was carrying 4 pounds of sugar for them to use during the hike plus a full-sized can of Nescafe instant coffee. We got a big kick out of this since we were planning on drinking hot water in the morning!
 Casita at Camp Seron |
 Let's Go, Paul! |
 Torres Del Paine Scenery |
I won't go into a blow-by-blow description of the hike, but I will hit a couple of highlights and list each day. Day 2 we had a 13 mile hike which took about 6 hours. There was fantastic weather - partly cloudy, in the low 60's and a light wind and another campground, Dickson, with hot water showers (but no cooking area).
 Mountains Over Camp Dickson |
Day 3 was a "rest day", we only hiked about 8 miles but there were two nice extras. The first was Salto Los Perros - as we were hiking, we heard what we thought was a big river in the distance. As we got closer, we realized it sounded more like a waterfall and then, when we rounded a curve in the trail, there it was - about 60' high and 25' wide with an amazing quantity of water barreling over the top. At the bottom was a sort of slot canyon with the water just raging through it. A great spot to rest and have lunch. Later on, the trail which had been through lenga forest turned to a scramble over a large field of rocks. We reached a point where there was a steep incline and behind and above it, Glacier Los Perros. We should have known what to expect when we got to the top of the steep incline of rocks - a huge lake at the bottom of the glacier with all sizes and shapes of icebergs. Totally unexpected and a great surprise, especially since the day's hike was almost over!
 Salto Los Perros |
 Glacier & Lago Los Perros |
 Iceberg Stew |
Day 4, was a day that we will remember and our legs and knees will live in fear of for a long time. The next campground was 7 miles away, but we had to hike over a pass to get there - a 2200 foot gain in elevation to the top and then an equivalent descent. According to other hikers, the first two hours were through a swampy area with "muck up to your knees". The best way to handle it? After putting plastic bags over our bare feet for warmth and protection, we slipped on our tevas and fearlessly waded through the muck. We were an intimidating looking set of adventurers! Upon finishing the mucky part, the first obstacle was a fast running, freezing cold river formed from melting glaciers. We waded across, numbing our feet but washing our tevas clean in the process.
 Intrepid Explorers |
 Ice Cold & Fast Moving |
After switching to hiking boots, the true uphill started. Pretty soon we were above the tree-line, it was getting steeper and we were being buffetted by increasing winds. When we got to the top of the pass, the real winds started! It was like trying to wade through chest level water. However, the view caused everyone to pause for a few minutes. We were about 3000 feet above one of the Southern Patagonian ice fields. We could see the entire 10 mile width and its length stretched for as far as we could see from left to right. Pure solid ice, some of it blue. Formed by wind, snow and rain, its surface was a series of craggy peaks and what looked like rolling waves. Yes, very similar to Perito Moreno. The difference was that we had to work and work hard (4 days of hiking a total of 30 miles with 40 pound packs) to see this icefield and that made a large difference in our appreciation of its beauty.
Having just ascended 2200 feet in altitude to see this wonder, our secondary reward was having to descend 2000 feet to the next camp. It was 3 hours straight down with almost no switchbacks. For the first time ever while hiking, Paul started experiencing knee pain. And it just got worse. When we reached the campground, we were a bit disappointed. It was very undeveloped, a bit dirty and had almost no flat spots for a tent. After a 1 hour rest, we decided to head onward. The trail to the next campground was 4 miles long with a gradual 1000 foot descent and ran parallel to the icefield. Of course, that campground was nice, but pretty crowded. They had a cooking shelter and Lois wandered over there and I hear her talking to someone, laughing out loud and then she says to me, "Paul, it's the Chilean Army". Sure enough, about 40 of them were camping there. They invited us to sit down and join them at their campfire, but Lois and JoAnne decided they wanted hot showers (talk about spoiled campers!) and the next campground was only about 3 miles away...
 Southern Patagonian Icefield |
 Galcier & Lago Grey |
It was probably a good decision to head to the next campground at Lago Grey. It had hot showers and a very nice location by the side of the lake formed from the run-off of the icefield. Again, we decided not to go for a swim, but all slept rather soundly that night. The next day (day 5) we took it easy (7 mile hike), out of sheer necessity. Our legs were in serious pain! Luckily, my knees had recovered. We had finished hiking the less travelled part of the circuit and were now on the "W" which had more people and some of the more famous sites within the park. The campsite at Lago Pehoe had a store which sold a few basic supplies - such as red wine & beer!
 It's A Miracle Water Turned Into Red Wine! |
 Wedding Cake |
Day 6 we hiked to "Los Cuernos" (The Horns) - an unusual set of peaks which towered above us. They had steep, glistening, vertical sides of off-white granite, rising over 1000 feet. This was capped off by a layer of black sedimentary rock. If you've ever seen a bull up close and personal, you'll realize that Los Cuernos indeed looked very similar to a bull's horns (albeit a little bigger!). Day 7 we hiked to a campground at the base of Torres del Paine, the main attraction in the park. The campground was beautifully located - just above a river of glacial run-off and at the base of the towers (Las Torres). There was a lodge with a great dining room for hanging out and big glass windows through which you could see the towers. The towers were similar to Los Cuernos except they were pure granite all the way to the top.
 Los Cuernos |
 Las Torres |
The final day in the park, we hiked up to a mirador (outlook) for Las Torres. A beautiful conclusion to a very nice backpacking trip. Over the course of 8 days we hiked 75 miles, only hit a little rain and in general had much nicer than expected weather. However, it was a tough week and we all were a bit tired and cranky! From the park, we returned to Puerto Natales and had a nice celebratory dinner with a few people we met while hiking.