We have just spent five days walking in the Torres del Paine national park in the south of Chile. Its a very beautiful place that looks almost too magical to be real, the lakes are too blue, the mountains too oddly shaped. In the end we decided it most resembled the films of the Lord of the Rings, so I guess like a digitally enhanced version of New Zealand!
The main access town for the park is Puerto Natales, just across the border from Argentina. A small, cold and windy place set in a beautiful bay it feels slightly gloomy and trapped in the 1950s, perhaps because of its remote location.
In Puerto Natales we stayed in the warm and cozy Hospedaje Gabriella run by a lady in her 60s, who unusually for the owner of a B&B actually seems to enjoy having guests. Over breakfast Gabriella was happy to refute the stereotype that Chileans are more reserved than Argentines, by spending a couple of hours explaining to me her whole family history, illustrated by the black and white photos on the dining room wall.
Having heard that it was impossible to take too much food to Torres del Paine and not wanting to waste money in the overpriced refugios that sell food in the park we stocked up on food in a super market in Puerto Natales.
By the time we added large quantities of pasta, packet soup, dried soya, cereal, mashed potato powder, dried Parmesan, milk powder, hot chocolate, nuts, biscuits, cake, dried fruit and chocolate bars to the tent, stove, cooking utensils, sleeping bags, rollmats, waterproofs, water bottles and warm clothing our packs were seriously heavy!
The next day we set off at 7:00 in a bus going to the park. Our plan was to walk the five day trek which is known as the `W´, due to being approximately the shape of a very large `W´.
The bus dropped us near Guarderia Pehoe where we took a boat across Lago Pehoe to Refugio Paine Grande arriving at lunch time. From here a 13km trail leads up past Lago Grey towards Glacier Grey, the largest glacier in the park. Pretty soon it started to rain and the clouds and the craggy, black mountains to the right made the scenery look very dramatic.
After a not too difficult walk, we arrived at Refugio Grey in the late afternoon. There are six refugios in the park, which are like quite basic youth hostels with hot showers but without sheets or blankets, but that take advantage of their location in the park to charge the same price as a nice hotel anywhere else in Chile!
We had taken the strategic decision to spend the first and last night of the walk in refugios which I was pretty glad of when we got to Refugio Grey, as it was freezing cold and drizzling with a very strong wind blowing. We did however bravely stand outside with our hands going numb preparing ourselves a not very delicious dinner of tomato soup mixed with pasta and soya.
On Day Two we managed to get going at 10:00, which was pretty good for us, though the other people in our dormitory were gone just after dawn. The weather was much better and we started by walking up to Campamento Los Guardas about 4km from the refugio. From here we clambered down some rocks for a wonderful view over Glacier Grey. We could see the whole ice field stretching out into the distance with snow capped mountains behind.
The first stroke of the `W´ completed, it was back to Refugio Grey to pick up our heavy bags and retrace the route of Day One. By the time we got back to Refugio Paine Grande it was late afternoon and in the sunshine Lago Pehoe was gleaming a beautiful and weirdly strong shade of blue.
We took a rest by the lake and had a chat with a middle aged Frenchman who I vaguely remembered overtaking the day before. He had a very large and unbalanced pack, which basically wasn't a proper pack at all but two large rucksacks tied together, and was worried he was too tired to walk the 8km along the lake to Campamento Italiano. After assuring him the walk was supposed to be dead easy and that he would have no problems we set off along the trail.
Soon we could see Los Cuernos, the distintive horn shaped mountains of the middle section of the `W´, rising up in front of us. About half way through the walk I started to feel extraordinarily tired, clearly the result of walking over 20km wearing a heavy pack, and started walking more and more slowly. Now it may surprise anybody who knows Steve from London but recently he has become quite fit and has taken up striding ahead of me on his newly acquired Nordic walking poles. With Steve nowhere in sight I was close to sitting down and starting to cry, when fortunately I spotted him coming back to look for me. Having transferred a sizable quantity of food into his pack I was then able to walk to Campamento Italiano without too many problems.
We set up the tent and just as it was starting to get dark, Steve had a horrible thought. What had happened to the French guy we had given such bad advice to? Should we go back and look for him? Fortunately just as Steve was getting ready to put on his head torch and go back down the trail, the Frenchman came staggering past our tent in the twilight, having gone the wrong way and started heading up the mountain.
As soon as nightfall came it was bitterly cold and there was nothing to be done but get into our tent where I slept in my thermals, fleece, hat, sleeping bag liner and sleeping bag and still didn´t feel particularly warm!
On Day Three we couldn´t be bothered to get out of bed for quite a long time. It was overcast and raining a bit so rather than rushing up the Valle del Frances where we thought the mountains would probably be covered in clouds we decided to stay in our tent and drink hot chocolate. This proved to be rather a good idea as the sun came out shortly after we started our walk at 13:30.
It is hard to describe or even to photograph the beauty of Valle del Frances as it is a kind of 360 degree visual experience. Walking up, on the left is Glacier del Frances. Every now and again a big bang comes from the mountains above and an avalanche of snow flows like a huge waterfall on to the top of the glacier in the most amazing spectacle. To the right are the huge black tipped Cuernos that tower above the valley. Behind is Lago Nordenskjold and in front are black snow covered mountains.
We reached a viewpoint near the top of the valley in the late afternoon. At this point a previously unknown form of summit fever came over Steve and leaving me sitting on a rock eating nuts he headed up a slope to a ridge between the mountains hoping to be able to see into the next valley. Unfortunately after a long climb to the ridge all he could see was another ridge and he was forced to come back so that we could get back to Campamento Italiano before dark. After a bit of speed trekking down the hill we made it back to camp with plenty of time to spare.
Day Four and it was back on with the packs for an 18km walk down Lago Nordenskjold to Refugio Torres. The afternoon was very clear and looking behind us we could see as far back as Glacier Grey.
The scenery was very pretty but the strain of walking for four days was begining to tell and by the time we reached Refugio Torres my ankles and knees were throbbing. At the refugio reception was a sheet with the day´s menu saying that they had tomato soup, salmon with vegetables and chocolate pudding for dinner. At the thought of going outside to prepare mashed potato with cheese we instantly caved into temptation and ate in the refugio. Never has a shower or a bed felt so good. We were soundly asleep by 2030 and not awake again until 0900 the following day.
Day Five was clear and sunny and we could see the Torres, after which the Torres del Paine National Park is named, from our bedroom window poking up behind some black snow capped peaks. With our packs safely stored in the refugio we started the 800m four hour climb up to the Torres viewpoint. The last hour involved a steep climb scrambling over rocks but just when I thought I couldn´t take it anymore the three Torres suddenly came into view, the rock sloping sharply downwards into a beautiful light blue lake.
After lounging around taking photos in the sun by the Torres we began the descent back to Refugio Torres feeling rather smug. We had nearly done the `W´! We passed the Frenchman on the way down, still struggling with his pack but looking rather pleased with himself. He knew he was going to make it too!
So 80km after getting off the boat at Refugio Paine Grande we had made it to the end point back at Refugio Torres, happy but with aching limbs. We still had about half the food left, including despite my best efforts quite a lot of the chocolate!
Next move is Ushuaia back in Argentina and nearly but not quite at the end of the world.
