Trip to South America: THE HIKE

This trip is brought to you by Advil.

Advil: because everything hurts.

We did a beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, and painful backpacking hike in Torres del Paine, doing the W trek.  It's called the W, because it looks like a W.  It took us 6 days and 5 nights of hiking, camping, and eating some pretty good food too.  The experience itself is mixed, but looking back, it is rewarding and we felt quite accomplished.  So, here's how it went:

Day 1: December 21st  
Hike time: 4 hours

Early that morning, we left the hostel and took a 3 hour bus ride into the park with some awe inspiring views.  We were so excited and ready.  The day before, we attended an informational meeting at Erratic Rock, the hostel, and learned much about the trail.

The trip was also sponsored by body slamming wind and erratic (really, just plain old bipolar) weather.  It rained 4 out of the 6 days we were there, but it wasn't a constant.  The wind was the most unpleasant part.  Especially when we first got into the park.  That's when I started to worry.

Oh sure, it's gorgeous...but look closely at me...

We got to a high wind area and I thought I was going to be pushed down until I wouldn't get up.  The info session wasn't kidding: the wind has a mind of its own.  Sometimes, it would pick up rocks to hit you.  More times, it would pick up walls of water to blast you with.  Not the best party I've been to.

But let us continue on to more positive things.

After the excursion to the area of the park with the high winds, we took a catamaran to the westernmost part of the W.  By the time we finally got to our hiking starting point, it was 1 PM.  But don't worry, we had plenty of sunlight.  It was the summer solstice.  The sun didn't set until 11 PM!

The beginning...we look so clean.

The trail

Glacier water

Look at my hair and that tree...absurd wind.

Glacier Gray

We made it to the spectacular Glacier Gray, part of the 3rd largest Southern Ice Field.  This is where the camera had to go away though because it started to rain.  And it rained until we got to Refugio Gray (the campsite and cabin where we ate).  And it rained while we put up the tent.  And it rained the rest of the night, eventually in the tent too.  Don't get sick of that, 'cause it's a common theme throughout the trip.  The food however was superb.

Campsite.  Not a bad view, huh?

Day 2: December 22

Hike time: ~7 hours

We woke up the next day to clear skies and got to have a day without rain (yay!).  We packed up and ate a hearty breakfast and went to the glacier look out.

After looking at the glacier, we made our way out of the first part of the W.  

The water was so clean and pure that all you had to do was fill up your bottle.  No chlorine tablets necessary.

No, I didn't do anything fun to my hair.  That's the wind again.

These flowers are strange, but we liked them.

We ate our lunch at our original starting point (salami and cheese) and then continued on to Refugio Italiano.  

First sighting of the famous towers in the park name Torres del Paine

Camping in Italiano.  We tried (unsuccessfully) to dry our rainfly.  But at least it wasn't raining!

View from the campsite

Glacier

Day 3: December 23

Hike time: ~5 hours

Today was not a happy camper day.  We woke up and started to hike up the middle part of the W, called Valle Frances, or French Valley.  However, it had rained all night and was still raining.  So much so that halfway through, we cut our losses and turned back because the clouds were so thick that it would be impossible to see anything.  We did see some lovely waterfalls and rainbow though.

We didn't take so many pictures at this time because we later just got drenched on and it stayed that way until we got to Refugio Cuernos.  We hiked next to a lake and literally were clobbered with rain and wind.  Ridiculous.  Here is what we did later that day:

Paul explored and took pictures when it cleared

Rachel stayed inside where it was warm and dry

He stayed most of the time too

The refugio was right on the lake, so it was nice.

Our campsite for the night

Day 4: December 24, Christmas Eve

Hike time: ~4 hours

Christmas Eve and it was the best day ever!  The sun was clear and we weren't feeling the pain.  30 lbs on your back is not fun to trek around.  However, on this day, we really hit our stride and the backpacks didn't feels so heavy.  It was great fun!  Just imagine all this with a hint of B.O....lots of it actually :).

Morning pictures

Paul is drinking from the stream, like a dog...we were told to do this.

I did it too.

Sound of Music, anyone?

We camped at Refugio Chileno that night...and every night after...

Towers!  Almost there!

The Christmas Eve dinner was DELICIOUS!  The staff went all out and had loads of sweets and 4 different types of meat.  We loved it and they had the best bread rolls I've had in a long time.  Chileno was a great respite...we just wished it could've stayed.

Day 5: December 25, Christmas Day

Hike time: None

Unfortunately, the sunshine went away and rain came back.  And it was cold.  We couldn't do anything that day to finish up our trek, so we decided, we will stay one more night in hopes that the next day will clear and we can see the infamous towers up close and personal.  We watched movies in the tent and snuggled in the cold.  It was a cold and wet Christmas, but we decided we would celebrate Christmas later.  When we weren't miserable.

Christmas card next year?

Day 6: December 26

Hike time: 3 hours

It. still. rained.  We could not see the towers that we had so longed for and that would have made a wonderful cap to the trek.  It was fine though, because we knew that we had accomplished the hike in general.  Score.  We packed up and hiked out to the hotel where we could pick up the little bus to take us to our big buses that would lead us out of the park.

                            

The mountains were not snow capped when we got there...

We did it!  ~50 miles of hiking!

 We took our 3 hour bus ride back to the little town and when I took that shower, I cannot tell you how amazing that felt.  6 days of grit and gross is nasty.

But that was Torres del Paine and you know what?  It was great.

Hope you like the pictures, and happy February!  Or for Paul, happy start of the semester!

For the record, I was stretching my foot in this video....

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