Hello friends! Long time no blog posts. My life since March has been a giant whirlwind of teaching, asados, Chilean all day lunches, and other fun. I have been having such a grand old time that I have completely neglected my blog. However, I am determined to finish a recap of my now 3 to 4-month old summer travels. Here goes it . . .
The next stop after my amazing tour of the lakes region of the South was Torres del Paine, the largest national park in Chile. Driving into Torres del Paine was one of the most pure moments of excitement I have experienced. The majestic snow-capped mountains surrounding me, the alpaca and other distinct Patagonia wildlife and the hoards of other tourists and Chileans pouring into the park solidified my sentiment that I was about to do something so incredible and filled me with a natural euphoria.
We began our journey with a boat ride across a magnificent lake that offered a wonderful view of the surrounding park. My favorite part of the boat ride was definitely the two Chileans we met. While all of the foreign tourists boasted fancy super wind-resistant super waterproof trekking gear, these two “gallos” sported jeans and every day sneakers. In place of hydrating up on water and gatorade, they rocked a giant plastic bottle of red wine which they were offering to all of the boat passengers. When we chatted with them, pride for their country poured out in every word they said. Unfortunately, our friends weren’t having such a great time that night, when the park rangers at the campsite had to have a little chat with them about their choice of pre-hike beverage, nor the next day, when we happened to run into them on the trail and their bodies were also questioning their pre-hike beverage selection.
Day 1 Hike
Our first night, we set up camp, had a little campfire-cooked pasta dinner, and started our nightly tradition of a drink in the refugio to escape the cold.
Our first day hike was about 8 hours up and down the first side of the esteemed Torres del Paine “W” trek, so named because the trail is shaped like a W. The hike led to a massive glacier called Glacier Grey. I don’t know if any of you all have ever seen a glacier but it really was stunningly beautiful. I will let the pictures do it justice. That night after a scrumptious dinner of burnt rice and another refugio drink, we turned in early. Unfortunately the “high quality” tent that Garrett had bought for the trip struggled a bit against the high-powered winds of Patagonia. By “struggled” I mean that all of the corners where you’re supposed to stake the tent down broke, making pitching our tent for the rest of the trek quite interesting.
Day 2 Hike
Day 2 was by far the most gorgeous part of our trek in my opinion. We hiked up and down the inner part of the “W” and ended at the bottom inner base of the “W.” The inner portion is called the Valle France and offers a panoramic view of everything: snowcapped mountains, the famous Torres, winding rivers, green forests, and more. Think of everything beautiful you’d ever want to see in nature and put it all in one place and that basically gives you the Valle France. A good part of the hike meandered through a narrow Christmas-scented pine tree forest along a babbling river. Sidenote: we almost lost Garrett in that rive, but thankfully he recovered his balance just in time. That night we stayed at the most windy campsite yet and our busted-ass tent proved to be a significant challenge. When I say it was a challenge, I mean it was a challenge for Garrett and Aislinn to set up, given that I bring absolutely no camping skills to the table. Somehow, we set up the tent and made it through the night, gearing up for day 3, our most difficult trek.
Day 3 Hike
Hike three was challenging: steep terrain, the whole day with our heavy packs (for some of the other treks we were able to leave them at the campsite), and the most kilometers we covered in one day. However, we “beasted it” and really kicked this hike’s ass. We estimated it would take us three hours longer than it actually did. We just cruised. I got such a high from that day. We were all so physically exhausted but just really worked as a team and took care of business. A good deal of the hike cut through a large open plain that had once been a forest but was destroyed when a camper accidentally set the forest on fire.
We stopped for lunch at the final refugio and ran into no other than ex-Georgians, alumni of St. George, who recognized the St. George’s bandana that Aislinn was wearing. The world is indeed small. Up until this point we had had phenomenal luck with weather. Some people fly halfway around the world to trek the Torres and hike the whole thing in 5 days of straight rain. However, we had had nothing but blue, sunny skies. On day three at lunch, however, it really started to rain. Since we were already way ahead of our schedule we decided to lengthen our lunch and take a long break in the refugio. We lingered over warmth, camaraderie, and drinks. I felt as if I were in a ski lodge back in good old Vermont. It was such a wonderful nostalgic feeling. Finally, we beared the cold and rain and arrived at our final campsite. We huddled in the garage-like cooking den that night and chatted with other campers from all over the world. It was so cold that night that we all snuggled up in one tent after diner until it was time for bed. To give you an idea of just how tired and lazy I was after those three days, I will share a little anecdote. Garrett, Ais, and I were in our tent but no one was motivated enough to leave the tent to brush his/her teeth. I had the brilliant idea that I could brush my teeth from inside the tent and projectile spit outside the tent. I went through with this plan to the disgust of Garrett and Aislinn until Garrett pushed me out of the tent, forcing my lazy ass to actually step outside for one minute and finish the arduous task of brushing my teeth. This story probably doesn’t make much sense to you all, but I have to say it was the hardest I laughed during our entire trip, so I just had to add it in here.
Day 4 Hike: Las Torres
Torres del Paine is so named for the three tall, skinny rock towers that stand out among the park’s mountains for their distinct shapes. The word is that on cloudless days, if you catch the sunrise at the right time, you will see the towers “on fire” because of the way the sun hits them. To do this, you need to wake up at 4 AM and hike an extremely steep, rocky, rigorous trail for an hour in the dark. Of course, we did this. Though I have to admit I very begrudgingly got out of bed, as soon as I was moving I was swept into trance-like determination to reach the top. All around us campers were waking up, headlamps were being turned on, and voices were whispering. We joined hoards of pilgrim-like campers climbing in the darkness towards the “holy grail” of trekking: seeing the Torres on fire. It was cool to finally get to the summit and sit in the obscurity at the base of the Torres as light began to appear. Thank God we had been told to bring our sleeping bags because without the warmth of my sleeping bag I don’t know if I would have survived the two hours or so we sat in the bitter cold and ice rain watching the sunrise. It was breathtaking to watch the golden sun rise. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by such beauty and such great friends and also so accomplished to bet at the end of the Torres del Paine “W” trek. Unfortunately, the towers did not glow that day. Regardless, the experience and the sunrise were definitely worth the early wake up call.
We hiked back to our campsite, took down our tents, and headed down to the end of our trek. Once again we beasted it and arrived at the end about two or three hours before the bus would come get us. Crossing the “finish line” sort of speak and arriving at Hotel Torres del Paine was one of the most jubilant and euphoric experiences of my life. We arrived exhausted, dirty, starving, and with two hours to kill. Of course, the obvious thing to do was get a beer and eat some chorillana (Chilean combination of nachos and cheese fries) to celebrate. My body was in such a state of overuse and dehydration at that point that one beer in and I was feeling like Jan O’Leary does after one “margi.” We had a wonderful little celebration and boarded the bus of exhausted hikers like ourselves back to Puerto Natales, where our hostel was. You can imagine what a big hit it would be if they bottled up “eau de hikers of Torres del Paine” and sold it as a perfume. Luckily, I got to enjoy that scent for free the entire three-hour bus ride back to Puerto Natales.
Back in Puerto Natales we enjoyed rico showers and headed out to get some serious eat on. We feasted on the best pizza I have eaten in South America and decadent home-made ice cream. We slept full, showered, and so happy to be back in beds that night.
Punta Arenas
The next morning, we headed to Punta Arenas, the southernmost continental city of South America. After checking into our hostel, we took a lovely little stroll along the straight of Magellan and lingered over a long lunch. Then, we met up with Lolo, a friend of ours from Santiago who is from Punta Arenas and happened to be visiting her family. It was awesome to have Lolo show us around because she knew all of the places we wouldn’t necessarily know to go to. We visited the famous cemetery where there are huge, ornate monuments above each grave and communal graves for firefighters, policemen, etc. It was neat to see how the Chileans clearly give great honor and respect to their dead. Lolo also took us to a DELICIOUS off-the-beaten-path chocolate shop and scenic lookout point. That night we had some tasty burgers and drank some beers at another local spot that had a cool, I’m-in-my-living-room kind of feel. I personally was exhausted and passed out early for the next morning’s 6 AM wake-up call.
The early wake-up call meant that Garrett, Aislinn, and I went to see Punta Arenas’ famous penguins! We took a bus to a little skipper boat that dropped us at Isla Magdalena, a little island straight up out of the movie Happy Feet overflowing with penguins. The ride to the island was stunning. We spent the whole time in the bow of the boat chatting with the skipper, a Punta Arenas local, as he taught us about different birds and animals we were passing. Hanging out on the island with the penguins was a trip. I felt a little bad disrupting the animals in their natural habitat, but I must admit it was pretty neat to be within an arm’s length from penguins and even have one clamp his beak on my pants!
After seeing the penguins the boat rode over and anchored near a sea-lion habitated island. I totally understand why they’re named sea lions after seeing the manes of the alpha males. I was fascinated by the bestial bellowing of these creatures and the aggressiveness displayed between the males. After about twenty minutes we said farewell to our sea-lion friends and headed back to shore. We grabbed a quick and delicious pizza lunch at the Punta Arenas famous pizza place Dino’s at Lolo’s recommendation and caught our flight back to Santiago. It felt pretty great to head back to Santiago after an entire month (granted a freaking unbelievable month) traveling and living out of a backpack.
