We left the Galapagos with a 2 day journey ahead of us to our next destination – Patagonia.
Galapagos to Quito to Lima to Santiago to Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales.
With 2 flights being early morning ones (02:00 and 04:00) and 2 airport layovers of over 10 hours, it was a tough and exhausting 2 days of travel but eventually we arrived at the town of Puerto Natales – the gateway to the Torres Del Paine National Park.
Our hostel looked very unassuming from the outside but opened up into a delightful place with friendly and helpful owners, from whom we rented all our camping and cooking equipment. The day was spent wandering around the quaint little town gathering supplies and equipment and going to a talk put on by another hostel called Erratic Rock, to help you plan your trek logistically. This proved invaluable to trekking novices like ourselves.
The following day, armed with our 60 litre and 110 litre backpacks and all our food and equipment for 5 days, we took the 2 hour early morning bus into the park. After a lengthy registration at the park entrance, we were due to take the 11am catamaran across one of the lakes but at 10:45am it decided it couldn’t take anyone else and so we were left to wait for over an hour until it came back for us!
Finally we made it across and started the 4 hour trek to our first camp, Refuggio Grey. The guides and guidebooks had all spoken about the strength of the wind and the 4 seasons in one day type weather. And they weren’t wrong! In the first hour we experienced a torrential 20 min downpour in blustery conditions which left us cold, soaked through and questioning our decision to trek carrying so much. Only for the sun to come out and us to be dry and happily smiling just 30 min later!
We walked through fire damaged forests of burnt trees until we came across our first viewpoint and it was the glacier that we were walking towards. Even from such a distance it looked fantastic, so we were excited to continue walking towards it.
After 11km our first camp approached and we put our tent up for the first time – a good effort I think from 2 people who are not campers!! As the wind howled around us I soon learnt a) our tent was not one of the better ones b) lying in a tent when it sounds like the wind is going to blow it over is quite scary!
We survived the night and the next morning took a 3 hour round trip minus backpacks across 2 impressive lightweight hanging bridges to a view point above Glacier Grey. The wind was so strong at the top it was knocking us over but it could not detract from the stunning beauty of the glacier and the icebergs that had broken off from it. Mesmerizing, edge of the world beauty, and like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
As we made our way back down the trail now carrying all our weight again, the wind followed us and for an hour or so the walking was quite unpleasant as you tried to keep your balance and could only focus on the floor and where you were walking! Unfortunately this was not going to let up and we arrived at the second campsite renowned for being very exposed and therefore windy all the time! After walking 16km, putting a tent up in high winds was a frustrating experience but we rewarded ourselves with an expensive beer and glass of wine from the bar that had a simply beautiful view over Lake Pehoe.
Our 3rd day started with a picturesque walk by a lake, a little wind and rain followed us but nothing too annoying. We decided to head to our next camp and pitch our tent earlier than usual and arrived at camp Frances to find large wooden platforms hidden within the tree for you to pitch your tent and surprisingly the best bathrooms we have come across on our travels so far!! We then set off for an afternoon walk up to a nearby viewpoint. This was part walk, part climb as we clambered over rocks and rivers until we arrived at Mirador Frances. The path to and from the viewpoint was fantastic with a powerful impressive river running alongside us, but our destination for the day was a simply stunning view point with amazing back drops at all 4 corners – lake, mountains, rivers, glacier, snow – you could see them all and it really highlighted the variety of beautiful landscapes this park has to offer. This was a long day – 20km – but this amazing 360 degree view, made it totally worth it.
Day 4 was the longest (?) but best days in terms of weather. Aside from a couple of short light rain showers, the sun shone all day as we walked alongside Lake Nordenskjord – an incredible turquoise lake with mountains behind it. At times, on this trail, it felt like we were the only people in Patagonia and the sheer tranquillity of our surroundings was unbelievable. At others you would pass or be passed by other solo trekkers or couples doing the same route as us and stop for a quick chat, which added to the whole experience. Breaks were by one of the many rivers or streams where we would fill our water bottles between the rocks – it’s hard to explain how amazing this pure mountain water tasted!
We arrived at our last camp and cooked our final meal of instant noodles and cuppa soup on our camp stove! Not being natural or regular campers, we both found the camp cooking and tent living a bit of an adventure but I’ll admit I was pleased to get back to a normal bed after 4 nights in a tent!
Our plan for the last day had been to walk to another view point but after a terrible nights sleep (lots of wind and rain, causing the tent to leak in parts and a pole to continually bounce off Dan’s head at particularly stormy moments throughout the night ) we woke to continued torrential rain and decided in our warm sleeping bags that neither of us fancied walking in the downpour for half a day. We made a spontaneous decision to try and get the early bus back to Puerto Natales. We rushed to get ready and put the tent down in the unpleasant rain only to arrive at the first bus stop and be told we’d missed it by 5 mins!
We waited 45 mins for the next shuttle and arrived at the park entrance to be told we’d missed the bus connection and the next busses didn’t leave until 2:30pm – a 4.5 hour wait!!!
Cold and deflated, our options were to go for a walk in the rain, wait for 4.5 hours in the wooden rangers office or try and hitch a ride with any private minibuses or cars who might be travelling back to Puerto Natales. Dan did a sterling job for an hour, flagging down cars who looked like they were heading that way and asking for a lift in Spanish. Thirty cars later and we were beginning to lose all hope, and resigned ourselves to another 3 hours waiting in a hut when a very colourful graffiti covered campervan pulled around the corner. Dan ran out to speak to them and after a short conversation, I couldn’t quite believe it when he smiled and motioned to me to get the bags.
TJ and Brittany were on a 3 week holiday in Chile and agreed to make room for us in the back of their van and give us a lift back to Puerto Natales. Officially our trek heroes!! Their anti-Trump graffitied van was not their choice (the company Wicked Campers covers all their rental vans with controversial murals) although they were anti-Trump and were great company on the 2 hour drive back to Puerto Natales. Soon we were back at the hostel and we headed to a great bar called Base Camp, to have a well-deserved pizza and beer/wine!
Tiredbuthappytravels 