We thought we´d do this entry a bit differently and do separate accounts of our trekking adventure. Neither of us has read the other´s yet so we hope there isn´t too much repetition! This is Chris´ version...
Day 0
Well, where to begin? It was Sarah´s idea to visit Puerto Natales in the first place and looking at the rough guide the main tourist attraction of the place is the Torres del Paine national park which lies about 120 km away. Although you can do minibus day trips to the place, we´ve done quite a few of those recently so I fancied something a bit different. The rough guide also described a 3-4 day trek in the park which is quite popular as well - called the ´W´. Although we were trekking virgins, we both enjoy walking and I´ve got some camping experience (V-festival and peoples´ back gardens!) so I figured it would just be a case of combining the two for a few days - how hard could it be?
We arrived in Puerto Natales mid afternoon which didn´t give us much time to prepare and go the next day. Sarah was a little bit worried about it but I was feeling pretty good about it all. The guy in our hostel had briefed us on the typical route and the lady in the tourist office said the same. I think we were secretly hoping for a slightly easier introduction than a four dayer but, in for a penny.
We sat down by the waterfront looking out to the mountains discussing whether we should go tomorrow (Wednesday) or the day after (Thursday). Initially I was in favour of waiting for a day giving us more time to get stuff ready and going on Thursday but Sarah wanted to go on Wednesday as she thought we´d end up wasting a day in Puerto Natales which is nice but quite small. After about 10 minutes discussion I agreed to go tomorrow (Wednesday), got up and set off for the camping shop (by now it was about half five in the evening) at which point Sarah decided that we should wait and go on Thursday! We went on Wednesday in the end.
Not having done this kind of thing before we weren´t sure what kit we´d need to take but at the camping shop there was another English couple, James and Nicola who were kitting up and gave us some good advice on what we´d need, which basically amounted to a tent, camping stove, gas and sleeping mats. Nicola had never been trekking before so this gave Sarah a bit of comfort although to quote Sarah - ´She looks fitter than me´.
Day 1
We took the bus the next morning at half seven out to the Torres del Paine national park. The drive out was really scenic as the road wound its way along a wide valley with lovely green hills to either side, lots of animals and snow-capped mountains poking up above the hills to the left. After a couple of hours the Torres themselves came into view - a line of snow capped mountains but sat in the middle were three large narrow orangey rounded mountains with no snow for which the park is named; they reminded me a bit of Weetabix. Apparently the Paine bit means blue indigenously according to our driver (although I´m not sure I believe him as they didn´t look very blue) and torres is towers in Spanish. Soon afterwards we almost ran over a guanaco as it dashed across our path disproving the guide from Peninsula Valdes who said we´d never get close than about 30 metres from one. There are loads of guanacos in this part of the park and we also saw some rhea things too.
We paid our entrance into the park - still having problems with Chilean money and tried to give the guard a 10 thousand note to pay (it cost 20 thousand) because I thought it was a 100 note - not surprisingly he was unimpressed! The minibus dropped us at our first campsite - Las Torres where we pitched our tent next to the stream and dumped most of our stuff (on the advice of the guy in our hostel) before heading off up the hill. The intended first day is a walk up to a view point of the Torres and back. By the time we started it was about 11 in the morning and according to the timings on our map the walk to the Torres was 4 hours in each direction so we should have plenty of time to be back before dark.
Our first problem was finding the start of the path up the hill. After two false starts Sarah was already getting a bit fed up and I quote again ´I knew this 4 day trek was a bad idea´. We found the right path after asking directions and set off up the hill at about 11:30 in the end. According to the rough guide the hill on the first day is the worst part and I think that proved to be the case - especially for Sarah - as we went solidly uphill for an hour. It was ok for me as I got plenty of opportunities to stop and wait for Sarah but there were a couple of times when she thought she might not be able to go any further. It didn´t help that it was boiling hot and really sunny and we were out in the midday sun (mad dogs and Englishmen and all that). We made it to the top of the hill and stopped for lunch before continuing along the next part of the path to Camping Chileno - our first target (should have been 2 hours according to the map). Just around the corner we came across James and Nicola who had decided to camp near the top of the hill and were carrying all their stuff - a decision they were later to regret I think. The next hour was a bit flatter - a few ups and downs but nothing to what had gone before, the challenge this time coming from the path which was along the side of a mountain covered in loose gravel and stones and wasn`t particularly wide in places. We were following the path of a river but from about 100m above it so there was a bit of a drop away to the right. We arrived at Camping Chileno about 2 and a half hours after starting out which was pretty good going we reckoned. Managed to revive Sarah with a can of sprite (cost 2000 pesos though - about 2 quid!) and persuaded her to press on for the next campsite up the hill - Camping Torres - an hour further uphill.
This part of the walk was for an hour, mainly through woodland, again following the course of the river upstream. There were a couple of tricky bits to negotiate e.g. climbing down some rocks while hanging onto a rope and some narrow paths but we were a bit lower down so it worried me less. Having said that, had we not done our mountaineering course with Roberto we might well have turned back but now our danger thresholds have been shifted! The only problems were the down and then up every time we came to a tributary stream, of which there were many. Sarah was really starting to feel the pinch now and once when I asked how she was doing she responded with ´There´s no point in me telling you because you don´t listen!´. I checked how far the campsite was with the next people that passed us and as it was only 15 minutes or so, we made it. They told us we had to go up to the mirador though as the view was really worth it.
I left Sarah at the bottom of the 45 minute climb up to the mirador for a well earned rest and I scrambled up the rocks as I was still feeling pretty fresh. At the top there was a beautiful green lake framed by the Torres themselves - a view well worth the climb. When I got back down Sarah was sat with James and Nicola who had somehow managed to lug their packs all the way up the hill. With the time getting on, we headed back down the hill for the three hour walk to camp, by the end of which we were both completely knackered. Its funny how going downhill isn´t actually any easier than going up and my thighs were screaming by the bottom. Had a very welcome shower, dinner of supernoodles and a pretty good night´s sleep although it did get a bit cold in the tent. Checking on the map later we found that from the campsite to the Torres view point and back is 19km!
Day 2
The target for Day 2 is a walk along Lago Nordenskjold around the base of the mountain. We were hoping for the going to be a little easier as there was no mountain climbing to be done. The walk is split into two - four hours to Camping Los Cuernos then a further two and a half to Camping Italiano. The weather wasn´t so good on the second day and it was quite overcast and we had a couple of light showers as we walked. The views across Lago Nordenskjold were really lovely when we could take time out to look at them. Initially the going was good and flat but soon started to go up and down a bit. On the walk we passed a group of 6 British people (3 couples) who we would keep seeing over the next 3 days and also played tag with 3 American guys as we passed each other several times. I was finding the going a little harder today as we were carrying everything and I had the big rucksack complete with the tent. Sarah was finding it a bit easier now that we didn´t have any mountains to climb. We developed hare and tortoise hill technique where I would go to the top of each hill as fast as I could then have a breather while Sarah preferred to do it in spurts making lots of stops along the way. We reached Camping Los Cuernos at about 2:30 - it having taken a bit over four hours including a lunch stop, and sat in the little hostel they have there for a rest. My left shoulder was in agony ( I think caused by sleeping on it and exascerbated by carrying the rucksack) and as we sat there the weather started to turn. The lake changed from a mill pond to a seething pot of white horses, the grey clouds started to roll off the moutain, it rained and it blew. Far enough for one day we thought (about 9km I think - easy day!), so pitched our tent in a sheltered spot, weighed it down with some rocks to be sure, and stayed the night there.
Had a bit of an amusing incident when I took a shower in the hostel. The doors aren´t very clearly labelled as to which is the males and which is the females. It was quite dark in the corridor and the door off to the right looked like it had a girly sort of picture on it so I went for the left one... which also had a girly looking picture on it. I was wondering whether they were maybe unisex and there was no-one in there, so spotting a free shower cubicle I undressed and dived in. A couple of showers were being used and the clothes outside them looked a bit female and my worst fears were confirmed as I reached out for my towel after my shower, and saw a girl washing her thong in the sink. I hung around a bit hoping she would leave but in the end had to step out. My mistake was confirmed by the surprise in her voice as she turned and said ´Hi´. I said, ´Is this the ladies then?´ although I was now quite sure it was. She said `Yeah, it was lucky I wasn`t naked´ which should have elicited a witty response from me but I was a bit embarrassed so I apologised and made a sharp exit! We cooked and ate in the hostel on Thursday night to get out of the elements and enjoyed lovely hot chocolate before spendig an even colder night in the tent and not getting as good a night´s sleep as the previous night.
Day 3
Woke up in the morning feeling a little bit coldy but didn´t think much of it and once we set off I was fine. A Dutch woman had come in the previous evening saying the next part of the route was hell, would take at least four hours (the 2.5 hours on the map - 5.5 km - was for the opposite, downhill direction apparently) and there was one huge hill that would take an hour and a half to climb alone. We were a little apprehensive as we set off on Friday as a result.
It turned out to be a much easier walk and we managed it in just over two hours. It started off going over some largish boulders and through some narrow bushed paths. The first creating problems for balancing when carrying a heavy pack, the latter trying to rip the pack off my back as I walked through. There were a couple of short steep hills as we neared the end of Lago Nordenskjold which got the blood and sweat pumping before we came to the ´big one´ which took about 15 mins to climb. The views from the top back over the lake were very impressive although in the back of our mind we were expecting there to be a much bigger hill around the corner. From here the path wound its way through some woodland and up the river and soon we came across our target - Camping Italiano - much to our surprise. Overlooking us was Cerro Paine Grande and as it came into view we saw that what we thought had been thunder the previous day had actually been avalanches on the mountain. There is also a glacier on this mountain (Glaciar Frances) and we headed up the mountain a little to get a view of it before heading on our final walk of day three - the easy 2 hours to Camping Pehoe.
All the other parts had been rated medium difficulty but this part was 7 or so km of easy going and very welcome it was too. It was still a little up and down although not as much as on the others and there were steps and little wooden bridges in some places which was an unusual luxury. The path mostly went alongside a lake that I´ve forgotten the name of, affording more lovely views before the end came into sight and we saw the beautiful green Lago Pehoe and the Camping Pehoe where we would spend our last night. With the walking already in our legs it took a little longer than the suggested two hours to cover this section and we decided that was enough for one day and made camp. On Friday night the wind howled, it was freezing and it rained and we had a terrible night. I was feeling much worse - sore throat, aching muscles and the lack of sleep didn´t help. Sarah got up in the middle of the night to check that our tent wasn´t being blown away and we huddled together praying for morning. Our original plan had been to get up at half six, trek up to see the glacier and get back in time to pack up and catch the half twelve boat across Lago Pehoe and back to civilisation.
Day 4
Needless to say, this didn´t happen. At half six the wind was still howling and it was still raining so we stayed put. Sarah was a bit disappointed that we didn´t get to see the glacier, we had a couple of hours to kill before the boat and also the weather seemed to brighten a bit so we decided to set out and try and get to the view point at about 10. Almost as soon as we started the rain started again and we walked up a river valley for about half an hour into the cold wind with rain blowing into our faces. After half an hour more we came up to the top of a hill and looked down over a moutain lake that in sunshine would have been beautiful but looked quite bleak and choppy in the current weather conditions. Another moutain stood between us and a view over Lago Grey (at the end of which stands Glacier Grey) and there were low clouds hanging over everything, so we doubted whether we`d see very much from the view point anyway. I was feeling pretty rotten as well and totally drained of energy so we decided to call it quits and return to the campsite, pack up and catch the 12:30 boat back. Even though the walk back was only an hour or so and was without bag, for me it was the worst part of the whole trek as my legs felt completely done for and I really did feel quite ill - probably a combination of the chill I´d caught sleeping in the tent, the lack of sleep and the exertions of the previous three days. I was very glad when we got on the bus back to Puerto Natales at the end of the bus journey and was feeling much better by the time we pulled into town at about half past five.
Overall I think we both really enjoyed the experience and are really glad that we did it. I think we were quite lucky with the weather generally and didn`t have to spend much time walking in the pouring rain or howling wind which are common at this time of year in the park. I think if we were to do it again I´d quite like to go somewhere a bit more off the beaten track - you´d normally only walk along the path for 20 minutes or so before being met by someone coming the other way, normally offering a hello as well and not an hola. Having said that, it is quite reassuring having so many people around in case something were to go wrong, and it means the paths are well trodden and clear in the main. The Torres del Paine national park is a beautiful place to go walking and the views, when we had the opportunity to enjoy them, were spectacular. After spending the best part of four days breathing mountain air and drnking from the mountain streams I generally feel healthier (apart from the cold) although I must admit the lamb asado we had last night was a very welcome change from super noodles (although Sarah does cook them ever so well!). I´m feeling ok today surprisingly apart from a bit coldy although I think we might leave it for at least a week or so before we head out trekking again!
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