Torres Del Paine, Chile - Mountains n' Mole Hills

I had serious concerns the ol' tired legs weren't going to hold up for day #5 and had pretty much resigned myself to a lazy day. We got up late and contemplated the strategy for the day. We had a car, so why did I need to drag my out of shape Irish arse up yet another mountain? I was quite content to do the lazy car tour until I spotted a fifty something year old Asian woman with a backpack twice the size of mine, heading up the same trail I was shying away from. I couldn't let it go and thought if she can do it, I can do it. It was another eight to ten hour hike with four to five hours out, then four to five hours back, to see the close up view of the Torres (towers).


Photo: The only was is up!

I set off late morning and was in danger of missing dinner if i didn't make it back in time. This wasn't an option as far as I was concerned so I adopted the previous days tactic of running the downhill stretches and even a few uphill ones. I had no heavy pack to carry today, just water and food, as I'd be finishing at the same refugio. I'm not sure whether it was the fear of not making it back on time for dinner or whether I just wanted to shorten the pain, but I ran like the wind wherever possible. The adrenalin was pumpin' and I was at the Mirador (viewpoint), 90 minutes ahead of schedule.


Photo: Refugio Chileno in the background


Photo: At the viewpoint


Photo: At the viewpoint (continued), now if the clouds would just take a hike!


Photo: On the way back down I discover the easy way up - where were you guys yesterday?

The view wasn't at it's most spectacular due to cloud, but it was nonetheless exhilarating to have gotten there so quickly. I stayed almost an hour, chomping down a sandwich (not Tuna for a change!!) and waiting for the sky to clear, so I could get a good photo. It never did clear however and then in true 'Forrest Gump' style, I ran just for the fun of running and down the mountain I sprinted like a man possessed. I finished, back at base two and a half hours ahead of schedule. I was tired, sore but satisfied having completed the 'W' circuit and I was ready for a beer or two.

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Torres Del Paine, Chile - Foot Rot

Photo: Lake view - Almost halfway!

The previous night passed without any notable incidents, except the tent was set up on a slope and apparently I took up most of what little room there was. The rain and wind musn't have been too bad or we'd have been washed or blown away and the cold wasn't that noticeable. As I got ready to exit the tent, I removed my plastic bag socks which unleashed a horrid ammonia stench that would could have been classified as a W.M.D. I decided that any ideas about patenting this insulation idea were fraught with too many complications. We had a long nine hour hike ahead of us so finished breakfast quickly (yep - tuna sandwiches and chocolate again!).


Photo: A picturesque pebble beach

The weather had taken a turn for the better and it was actually quite hot. It was too hot in fact and after charging down the mountain at a fairly fast pace for an out o' shape paddy, my feet felt they were on fire (they probably were after the chemical saturation they'd endured in plastic all night!) . A foot bath in the cold river water was the only way to douse the inferno, but God help the fish or bottle refillers down stream!). In the limited strategy stages of the trip, we'd discussed the possibility of 10 or 12 hour hikes, but let me tell you, 9 hours is more than enough. At the halfway point, it looked as if there was a dried ice machine hidden in my shoes. There was literally steam coming off them, I kid you not. Longer and more frequent foot baths became a requisite. I took to running the downhill stretches to shorten the agony, but this also increased the burn factor and raised more than a few eyebrows amongst my fellow weary hikers.


Photo: The Torres in the background

We reached an interesting point towards the 2/3rds marker as the only way to continue was to wade into and across an icy river, but at least that helped the ol' foot burn problem. After what seemed an eternity, we reached Torres Norte Base where the car awaited with supplies and a real (bunk) bed and hot cooked food and BEER for the night!


Photo: Footbath #5


Photo: Guanaco's (Lama's) by the lake


Photo: ..and I would walk 500 miles and I would ... ach maybe not!

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Torres Del Paine, Chile - The Ascent

Photo: The hike begins at Paine Grande at Lake Pehoé


Photo: Wobbly bridge at Camp Italiano

After a hearty breakfast, we set off for the first real days hiking. The forecast was for strong winds and lots of showers and we had about 5 to 6 hours hiking ahead of us. Our plan was to get to Camp Británico in Valle Frances and stay the night in the tent. There was a viewpoint a further hike up from the camp that was supposed to have a good view of the valley with potential for great sunsets / sunrises.

To try and be somewhat prepared, I'd bought rainproof leggings which I donned as we began our trek. Unfortunately, all the leggings seemed to do was collect moisture / sweat and drain it into my shoes and after about two hours of walking in showers and sunshine, there was a discernable squelchy noise as I walked and it wasn't the exactly the most comfortable, but we had to motor on to reach base. We reached Camp Italiano which was sort of the half way point and scoffed down some sandwiches and then began the ascent to our base for the night. It's one thing to haul yer arse uphill, but to add a back pack is a whole different animal. I'm a light traveller or unprepared depending on which way you look at, so I had a relatively small, light pack compared to others. However, by the time I'd reached the summit, I'd made all sorts of empty promises about trying to keep in shape, sometime real soon!


Photo: Pit stop up Valle Frances


Photo: View of Lake Nordenskjold


Photo: Los Cuernos (The Horns)

We finally reached the campsite and it was pretty basic. No toilets, showers or running water. A nearby river was going to have to serve as water supply / bath.
We set up tent and it was fairly obvious the flimsy abode for the night, wasn't going to stand up to much. Only two other tents (professional looking kits) were set up that night on the summit and to detract from the little confidence we had, a German couple were vocally bemused that we were actually planning to brave the elements in this mere wind breaker of a tent. "Are you sure this is waterproof & windproof and big enough for two people + two packs?" they snickered.
"It's the best tent 45 pesos (usd$15) can buy" I snapped back "and we're Celtic warriors, well used to the elements!". I'm not sure they were convinced, mind you, I'm not sure I was convinced either.

About an hour after arriving, the temperature dropped five degrees and the showers started again. My feet a.k.a. 'sweat trophs' started to freeze over. This was clearly not going to be a comfortable night. What would McGyver do ? I thought to myself. And then the brainstorm of plastic bags on the feet kicked in. It worked a charm to keep the damp away from my feet. When the rain cleared again we headed up to the view point but the real motivation for me was just to keep moving. Exercise = Warmth = Comfort! It was a bit too cloudy for a good sunset photo but impressive nevertheless.


Photo: Mirador Frances


Photo: Eerie dead forest

As it started to get dim, we headed back to the camp for dinner a.k.a. tuna sandwiches and chocolate, then retreated to the tent for shelter.

The tent itself was quite a novelty indeed. When you lay flat out, your head protruded into one wall of canvas and your feet stuck out the other side. The fear was if you stretched out, you would pop the pegs holding the tent to the ground. This was either a two midget man tent or it had been swapped for a kiddies play tent. A picture of Kermit the frog on the side wouldn't have been out of place. To make matters worse, a plague of flesh eating flies/mozzies surrounded the tent . The plastic foot warmers were still working a treat. So much so, I decided I would keep them on in the sleeping bag. After a wee dram for medicinal purposes, I faded into a deep sleep.

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Torres Del Paine, Chile - Arrival

Laguna Azul
It took about 3 hours to reach Puerto Natales (150kms south of the park) and the car had been veering off the road due to a gale force cross wind. The plan was to have dinner and then continue to the park to camp at Rio Serrano about another 2 hours away. I had picked up a cheap two man tent in a supermarket in Ushuaia and other than sleeping bags and mats, we had little in the way of 'real' camping gear. When we got out of the car, the wind was not only gale force but freezing so being the hardened Celtic warriors that we were...NOT!, we quickly abandoned the idea of camping and booked into a hostal in Puerto Natales . At breakfast the following morning, a father and son duo told us they had been in the park the previous day and it was raining hail and snowing. Apparently this park can get four seasons in one day and we were going to need a bit of luck.


Map #1 of Torres Del Paine - Click image above to expand

We set off at about 11am for Torres Del Paine National Park which covers 2400 square kilometers. There are numerous hiking trails that can span a day or even several weeks. Our plan was to cover most of the 'W' circuit which as the name indicates, looks like a 'W' and takes about 4 to 5 days. We were going to travel west to east and since night #1 had been outside the park we were now behind schedule and needed to make up some time.

I had made reservations in the refugios (hostals) for night #2 in Refugio Paine Grande/Pehoé in the west and night #4 and #5 in Refugio Torres Norte in the east. Night #3 was going to be a bit of a gamble with the plan to camp up a mountain in Camp Británico in the Valle Frances which was supposedly great at sunset and sunrise. We needed to dump the car at Refugio Torres Norte in the east, so that when we got there on day #4 we could resupply our backpacks with food etc. There are limited transport connections within the park but after some rally style driving on the dirt road we packed up our backpacks with food and water and we just about made the last connection to Laguna Amarga, where there was a connection to Pudeto where there was yet another connection by boat across Lake Pehoé. The boat left us at Refugio Paine Grande at about 7pm which would be our base for the night, so on day #2 there wasn't too much energy expended.
I'd read a lot of reports of how the refugios were very basic and not overly comfortable but it was actually almost hotel style comfort with a restaurant and bar. It was also half empty which was surprising since this is peak season. Dinner, beers and heavy rain capped off day #2.


Map #2 - detailed - Torres Del Paine - Click image above to expand


Lago Pehoé

Lago Pehoé


Refugio Paine Grande

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Punta Arenas, Chile

Fly south from B.A. to Ushuaia then overland /sea west to Punta Arenas then north to Torres Del Paine then north east to El Calafate for flight back to B.A.


Ferry thru Mageallan Straits




Punta Arenas, Chile

After a few pleasant days in Ushuaia, I hopped on a 12 hour bus ride across the border to Chilean Patagonia. It was yet another drawn out border crossing but this time, for whatever reason we didn't have to offload the bags for inspection. The journey heads north from Ushuaia to Rio Grande on the Atlantic coast. The roads then swings west and the bus literally squeezes onto a ferry which is docked beside a rather disconcerting 'Danger - Minefield' sign. It takes twenty minutes to cross the Magellan Straits into Chile and then its only ninety minutes to Punta Arenas on the Pacific coast.

Punta Arenas is a small colourful city with 100,000 inhabitants (approx the same as Ushuaia). There's not an awful lot to do or see in the city itself (a couple of museums) and most people use it as the landing point before heading north to Puerto Natales and eventually Torres Del Paine national park. I spent the night and the following day, I headed to the airport to meet up with a friend who was coming back from a three month stint working as a weatherman in Antarctica. After a bit of confusion at the car hire desk, and a pit stop to pick up provisions, we set off north for 6 days exploring the national park. The plan was to get to the park the same day (about a five hour drive) and do 2 nights camping and 3 nights in refugios which are hostal style accomodation set up at strategic points within the park. It had been a long time since I had been camping and I hadn't been overly active for a while so it remained to be seen how the the experience would go and weather was going to play a crucial factor, but why did I need to worry, sure I had an 'expert forecaster' in the car!

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Valparaíso and the Pacific Ocean

We heard good things about Valparaíso so continued west another 140kms. It's a picturesque city embedded in the side of hills on the coast and sort of remined me of southern Italy with colourful houses stacked on a series of ridges.
Not to start a theme to this blog but the first thing you notice is stray malnourished dogs wandering around everywhere or just laying in the shade lifeless and dejected but thankfully no 'poo' problem a la Buenos Aires. The second thing you notice is anything on the map not near the coast is a serious uphill hike but luckily they have funiculars or taxis if your feeling lazy.
We hadn't eaten that well for a few days so were asking locals to recommend restaurants but they kept directing us to american diner style places that looked really awful. A lot of people were tucking into massive plates of french fries covered with fried onions, covered with fried eggs, crowned with fried meat (These peeps need to watch 'Supersize Me'). Luckily (thanks to frommers.com) we eventually found a gem of a place called 'Pasta e Vino' on Templeman Street in the historic district and it was superb.
The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda used to live here and they've converted his house (which is beautifully decorated) into a really cool museum called 'La Sebastiana' where you can get a good insight into his life and which is one of the most visited attractions here.
The following day we visited the coastal town of Viña del Mar which has a nice beach and is 9kms north of Valparaíso. There's not much interest in rugby in Chile and we missed the Pumas impressively beat France (for the second time) to secure third place but we found an obliging bar tender who set us up to watch South Africa beat England in the world cup final. He recounted the tale of two Irish lads that drank the bar dry three years earlier so I put his mind at rest, I wouldn't be attempting a repeat at least not pre-meditated.
Sunset on the beach with a beer & then some fresh fish, capped off a pretty good day before we jumped on a 10pm bus for the 8 hour trip back to Mendoza.

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West to Chile

The route west from Mendoza is called Alta Montaña and the scenery is right up there on the 'WOW' factor. We stayed at the rather pricey thermal spa hotel in Cacheuta for some 'R n R' and pampering last year but you can get a day pass to the public 'termas' just down the road for 15 pesos and get some Asado (Argie BBQ) for lunch.
Further west Puente del Inca is a natural stone bridge stained bright yellow by the sulphur in the water and is a good photo / snack stop off point. The locals sulphurise everything from the virgin Mary to coke cans to sell as soveniers
Among the many Andean mountains you'll see is Aconcagua which is the tallest (6959m) in both south & west hemispheres. You cross into Chile thru a tunnel under the Andes and weather permitting will see a six meter statue of Christ (Cristo Rendator) on a elevated spot.
The border crossing is a long drawn out affair with sniffer dogs roaming solo as you submit immigration forms (4 carbon copies) and another separate custom form. The dog stopped and sat beside a guy in the queue and waited until he had the attention of his trainer. Then he raised his paw and tapped the guy on the knee twice as if to say 'this bloke is a dodgy geeza!'. Quite amazing to watch! The guy was then quietly ushered off to the side, most likely for the ol' rubber glove treatment - yikes!
About 90 minutes after clearing customs (which took over an hour) we reached the small city of Los Andes where we stayed the night (not much here). This morning we're trying to figure out whether to continue to the west coast of Chile or head back east. The weather is great, sunny and 30 celcius.

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