It was fun starting the hike in the pitch balck using our headlamps to guide through the forest. Once the sun came up we were amazed at how big the snowflakes or snow balls were falling from the sky. The snow continued all the way down to the beginning of the trail head where there was at a privately owned gorgeous horse ranch (great bathrooms too!). We then had another 7 km walk along the road to the Ranger station where we would wait until 4:00pm for our shuttle van. We met some really nice other hikers and all spent time drying our clothes besides the fire in the rangers station.
Ushuaia was a really amazing place to see and we would have liked to visit Isla Navarino to its south and of course Antarctica but we were getting a little too close to winter and the Antarctic would have to wait…until we had more time and a lot more money! Our next destination would be Parque Nacional Torres del Paine near Puerto Natales, Chile. To get there we had to take a 12 hour bus ride through Punta Arenas, Chile where we met some friendly street dogs along the harbour front while we killed time waiting for our connection that would take us the remaining 4 hours to Puerto Natales. When we arrived in Puerto Natales we found our way to a hostel and settled in for the night. When we awoke the next day we immediately started to prepare for a trek into Parque Nacional Torres del Paine since the majority of the services in and around the park shutdown after April 30th. We originally wanted to do the 8-10 day trekking circuit but winter weather had forced one of the higher passes to remain closed and later we would be very happy that we didn’t have the option of doing the longer trek. At 5PM We received an hour long briefing from an employee at our hostel about all the ins and outs of the park and we finally decided to do the infamous 5 day W trek but by camping at only the free campsites in the park. We went out that evening and rented all of our camping gear and bought and prepared food for 5 full days of trekking. The morning was clear and cool when we hopped into the van that would drive us into the park. Before we even arrived at the entrance gates of the park we spotted a lot of guanacas and even two ostriches! The famous towers of Torres del Paine were also visible in the early morning light so we stopped and got some pictures before continuing on. We chose to start the trek from the west side of the park to avoid the larger crowd of gringos starting from the east. We knew that this wasn’t a trek to be taken lightly and so we prepared for it. A good portion of the people starting the trek from the opposite end of us were wearing running shoes and jeans and if anyone who is reading this has peed their pants, you know that it’s very uncomfortable to walk around in wet jeans and shoes. We took the ferry across a lake and started our trek towards Campamento Guardos. The sun was out and the weather was mild, which made for a beautiful day to be outside. We first spotted Glacier Gray from a distance and it was another one of those views that looked entirely fake. This glacier is absolutely massive; it stretches 28km long and has an area of 270 square kilometers. As we approached the monstrous living mass of ice we started to hear its cries as it boomed and thundered as enormous chunks of ice broke off of its great face. When we reached campamento Guardas we walked out to a mirador (lookout) over the glacier where we spent some time watching the glacier calve. In the late evening we joined a handful of other campers out at the mirador again to watch the stars shine and the moon reflect over the glacier. We don’t know why, but the stars were sparkling so much it was as if they were small fires in the sky. We both hadn’t seen anything like it before. The next morning we awoke to another clear day and a beautiful sunrise. Although we had a pleasant rest, we were woken several times throughout the night to the thunderous sounds of the glacier cracking, breaking off and falling into the water. A couple of times the ground around us shook. We had a quick bite to eat out at the mirador and enjoyed Grey Glacier one more time and we set off back the way we came towards Campamento Italiano at the foot of Valle de Frances (the French Valley). Along the way we saw some amazing scenery but some of the most eye opening was the devastation caused by a forest fire set by a traveler only about 2 months before our arrival. The traveler had set his toilet paper on fire on a windy day and the fire blew through the area faster than anyone could stop it. Now every time that traveler goes to the can he is reminded of the fire that destroyed a good portion of park. Anyway, the day was long and tiring but we arrived at camp before dark. We were welcomed by a ranger at campamento Italiano and given some info, "the drinking water from the stream runs from the glacier so it’s safe to drink, the pipes are frozen so don’t use the washroom, and the mice are very bad at this campsite so hang your food." We set up camp, made dinner, organized for the next morning and fell asleep once again to the cracking thunder from another glacier in the French Valley above us. We awoke in the dark and began getting ready for our day hike up into the French Valley. We had been told by anther traveller to start the hike in the dark and watch the sunrise. It was pretty chilly when we started but after our blood got pumping and the sun began to shine to temperature rose. The sunrise was spectacular; every couple of minutes we would turn around and it would see it lighting up another set of mountains or shinning on the lake making the water sparkle. It was so nice to day hike with no pack (Courtney) or a lighter pack (Andrew). We made breakfast along the river and continued to a mirador for a fabulous view of the glacier which fills every crack of a mountain sides and hangs on just waiting to fall, the blue lake filled with glacier water and steep rock towers with a fantastic contrast from grey to black stone. We returned to camp where we relaxed in the tent and Andrew whipped up a great rice, sausage, veggie dinner. We went to bed pretty early because we knew we had another long day (Over 20km) hiking with our packs to the next site. In the night we were awoken by the heavy rain coming down on the tent. When we got up and began packing, in the dark, we realized it was going to be a very cold day as the rain was on the border or snow. Our packs weighed even more, good thing our hip bones were numb to the pain from the first two days! The first 5 km of the trail were through forest and small brush; it then opened up to a beautiful lake. We arrived a t a Refugio where we asked if they had any more food for sale just in case we were cold and needed more. The friendly staff said they did but there was one small issue. They were closing for the season and had packed the receipt paper so they couldn’t sell it to us. However… we could have everything that was left over as long as we tipped them. We happily handed over a large tip! In total we got a package of spaghetti, tomato sauce, 4 brownies, a can of tuna, and 4 pieces of bread! Now filled with delicious food we set off for the next 11 km’s uphill. The trail continues flat up flat up and over some river crossings. At one point the trail opened to a huge field with rolling hill covered with beef cows and horses. As you would guess this really lifted Courtney’s spirits about walking in the rain/snow! We found it really interesting that some of the parks land is privately owned; therefore, the owners can do what they want with their land. On some of the private land the owners had built hotels or were farming. The hike was pretty but we were socked in by clouds so our views were not too impressive. The trail we took was a shortcut which had very steep inclines throughout. The higher we hiked the colder it got and the rain turned to snow. After a full days hike we finally arrived at campemento torres. With the Patagonian winds blowing snow and us being the only people there we decided we would set up camp in the cook hut and let our tent dry outside in the wind while we made dinner. We know... GREAT idea! After our tent dried we moved it inside the cook hut, set our bags up, cleaned up the food and hung it above our tent on a beam. As soon as we settled into our bags we began hearing the scurrying of mice. They were trying to digg into what sounds like the tent and they were even launching themselves from the beam onto our tent making it sound as if they were falling on us. We had some pretty good laughs and tried to sleep taking turns hitting the sides of the tent trying to scare them away so we didn't have to replace our rented gear.. They were relentless and continued all night long!! On top of the mice tree branches were hitting the roof of the hut and a couple times we thought it was going to fall in. So after a really long restful sleep Andrew went outside to see if the sky was clear enough to hike up to see the Torres. He shouted back that we should pack up and get going as it had continued snowing all night and there was already 4 inches on the ground. We were happy to see that the mice didn't damage any of our gear. It was fun starting the hike in the pitch balck using our headlamps to guide through the forest. Once the sun came up we were amazed at how big the snowflakes or snow balls were falling from the sky. The snow continued all the way down to the beginning of the trail head where there was at a privately owned gorgeous horse ranch (great bathrooms too!). We then had another 7 km walk along the road to the Ranger station where we would wait until 4:00pm for our shuttle van. We met some really nice other hikers and all spent time drying our clothes besides the fire in the rangers station. All in all it was a great time! We enjoyed the hike throughout the beautiful scenery, had fun listening to the cracking glacier, and even enjoyed the adventures in the snow. Although we didn’t get to see the infamous towers we would recommend the hike to anyone who likes backcountry trekking. We were happy we hiked during the low season as the changing leaves and small crowds made the hike very peaceful. We would also highly recommend a warm sleeping bag if you plan to camp in the fall or winter. Check out our travel advice section for a few pointers on traveling to Torres del Paine.
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