Torres Del Paine, Chile – Day 1 (Post #106)
Mike writes…
We left the pueblo of Puerto Natales at 7:15 a.m. on Monday the 10th of April in a van headed for Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. The van trip to the park entrance took us about 2.5 hours and after we arrived at the entrance we waited about 30 minutes for the transfer van to Refugio Torres (the Refuge and campsite at the base of the trail to los torres (the towers)). Once we arrived at the refuge, we hired our tent, sleeping bags and pads. We were greatful that our tent was already set up. Well, it should have been because we were told that it would be. Does anyone really enjoy setting up a tent? Anyhow, after dropping our big packs down inside the tent and securing them with a lock inside the bigger of our duffle bags, we quickly headed out with our daypacks to find the start of the trail up to the towers.
After bumbling around for 20 minutes, a park employee directed us to the right trail and we were on our way. We had been told by various persons that the trails were pretty well marked and easy to follow. I have to disagree a bit because there are so many “streambeds” that parallel and cross over the actual trail that many times a person can find themselves walking on what is not actually the trail. No matter though because none of these lead too far off track. The trip up to the towers and back was scheduled to take us 4 hours each way but i was determined to beat this time. This has been my game ever since we did some hikes in the Tatras of Southern Poland. The first hour of the hike flanking a valley was of moderate difficulty and provided us great views of the landscape below/behind. Here´s one of those views…
We had a very brief stop for our lunch of sliced sausage and cheese sandwiches about one hour into our hike (around 12:30p.m.) and then continued on for a while until we came across a small waterfall. We had read and heard from many sources that all of flowing water in the park is safe so long as it is not downstream from a Refugio. So, we were running a bit low on water and decided to give it a try. After filling up our bottles (btw, we have yet to experience any negative effects from drinking the water), we pushed on. Along the way and about halfway up the trail we passed Refugio Chileno which was already closed for the low (winter) season. At about 2:00 we came to a boulder field over which we would have to scramble to reach the viewing point for the towers. Here is a picture of me sitting on one of the rocks…
The boulder field was the most difficult and tiring part of the hike and it took us about 30-45 minutes. Just before we reached the viewing spot, we saw our friends Jeff, Michelle and Michelle´s mother May (?) whom we had met two nights before at our hostel in Punta Arenas. When we got to the top (in just under 3 hours mind you) we could hardly believe our eyes. Los Torres were just amazing! And from what we´ve heard, we had fantastic luck to see them in such a clear sky. A girl on the van into the park told us her friend had been to the park 14 times and had only seen the towers twice. While we were up there we took some pictures for Jeff and Michelle and asked them to take some for us. This was the result (notice there´s also a small lake in between us and the towers):
We didn´t spend much time at the top because there was no protection from the wind and we quickly got cold. We passed Jeff and Michelle and mom on the way down through the boulder field and hurried on down the trail taking photos and admiring the beauty of the landscape along the way.
When we got back to camp 6.5 hours after leaving (we believe the 4hrs each way does not account from the time from the camp to the trailhead), it was getting dark and a lot colder. On the way through the camp we realized there was a firewood cash on the far side of the camp and a fire pit and picnic table just beside our tent. After putting down our day packs on the picnic table, we went searching for kindling to start a fire. We actually weren´t certain we were “allowed” to start a fire but figured we´d plead ignorance if we were approached about it. Once we had some small twigs we set to work on getting them lit up. We attempted to use a cigarette lighter we bring along with us everywhere for just this pupose. However, things weren´t really going so well. We´d get a few of the twigs lit up and i´d start blowing on them but we couldn´t really get a good start. A few moments later, a camp groundskeeper came along and gave us some cardboard. That did the trick! After getting us going, he disappeared only to return a few minutes later with some firewood he had apparently just split with a splitting wedge.
Having our fire going strong, we heated water for our dinner — instant soups and pastas. The meal was adequate. The last excitement for the day came when a neighbor camper stopped by to ask us if we had hot water that he could use for his thermos. Of course we did! I proudly reached over to grab one of the pots sitting on the grill over the fire only to drop it seconds later after the pot handle burned a hole through my glove and blistered my fingertip. Oh well… nothing serious. Michele then directed him to a tap at the bathhouse from which pours nearly boiling water.
We went to bed shortly thereafter and had a restless night´s sleep while the tent nearly took flight in the galeforce winds.
Tags: Category #27: Chile
Michele Harmon
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