Doing the W
We´re back in Puerto Natales after a fantastic few days in Torres del Paine National Park. We caught the afternoon bus which took us to the entrance to the park where we had to part with 15,000 pesos to get in. Then on the Lago Pehoe where we got on board the catamaran which took us to the campsite at the start of the W Trail. On the way we saw lots of guanaco. We also met a Norwegian couple who said they were in Chile studying architecture. This struck me as equivalent to going to Switzerland to study deep sea fishing! However they were enjoying themselves travelling around South America. The campsite was quite civilised with toilets and showers and you could even get a beer. We bumped into the Aussie girl we had met on the boat. The backdrop to the campsite was superb with huge mountains and the lake. The mountains are two tone; pale granite up to a certain point and then topped off with dark rock – a bit like a Neapolitan ice cream without the pink bit.
The next day we were up early and away from camp at about 8am to hike up to the Glacier Grey. It was cold initially but we were soon down to shorts and T shirts. The valley was beautiful, through low shrubby trees and then woods. Lots of wild flowers; I had bought a chart with birds and flowers on it so had fun identifying things as we went along. After a while we reached a lake and had a rest and then the path switch-backed through woods with glimpses of the mountains beyond. That woman who said the Milford Track was the best walk in the world had clearly never been to Chile! Eventually we reached Lago Grey where there were lots of icebergs that had broken off the glacier. And then we saw the glacier itself for the first time in the distance. After about 3 1/2 hours we reached the Refugio Grey and climbed to the top of a rocky outcrop for views of the glacier. Then on for a further hour to a point where we could look down on the glacier and see crevasses etc. A big chunk broke off the glacier while we were sitting there with a huge crack and splash. Then we retraced our steps back to the campsite – quite a long day of about 10 hours altogether.
On Sunday we set off early again for the Campamento Italiano about 2 hours or so away. It is at the bottm of the Valle Frances and we pitched the tent there, dumped our gear in it and then set off up the valley. All day we encountered large guided parties of French people who seemed to be unaware of anybody else on the trail. They blocked the way having drinks, eating, taking photos, arguing loudly (!) etc right on the path. But the walk was great along rocky ridges, through woods, with views of the mountians and glaciers all the way along. At the head of the valley you could see the back of the Torres and lots of the other mountains which have great climbing routes but way beyond our capabilities. We went back down to the tent and were both blown off our feet by a huge gust of wind. Fortunately we were fielded by a party going the other way! As it was still early we decided to move on to the next campsite, Los Curenos. Here we met a group of Aussies, from Canberra. Some little mice showed great interest in our food as well.
The next day we set off for the campsite near the Torres themselves. We walked for about 8km along the side of a lake, the track going up and down a lot. There was an interesting river crossing. Then we went steeply up to Campamento Chileno where we had lunch by the river. Another hour and a half saw us at Campamento Torres. This section of the trail was quite rough and there was one bit with a fixed rope. We bagged a nice shady site for the tent and after a bit of a rest went up to the base of the Torres, a scramble up boulders of about 40 minutes. There is a glacier at the base of the Torres and then they rise straight up – very impressive indeed. The plan was to get up at 4am to be back at the Torres for sunrise so we had an early night.
Then up in the dark, headtorches on and back up the boulders. We arrived in the dark and it was really stunning sitting there all by ourselves in the silence with the moon and the stars and a red glow in the east. The sun gradually came up, the light changing by the second as we sat watching. Unfortunately by this time other people had arrived, shouting and eating crisps etc which rather detracted fom the atmosphere! Have they no souls at all? We sat there for about an hour and half before going down for brekky. Then we made our way down to the end of the trail where we waited for the bus back to the park entrance and our bus to Puerto Natales.
Last night we had a meal out – food you had to use a knife on which made a change from noodles and pasta. And pudding too!
We have dropped large bags of dirty clothes off at the laundry and tomorrow will be going by bus to Punta Arenas where we will stay until we set off on our treck to Cabo Froward on Monday. This looks to be an exciting outing with chest high river crossings – the guy who described it was a good bit taller than me so I guess I will take my snorkel!
Interestingly, we were talking at breakfast this morning with a couple who also just done the W and they said “Did you have trouble with the French?” So it wasn´t just us! It´s funny how you get big groups of certain nationalities in different parts of the world.
All for now.
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