Jewel in the Crown, Torres del Paine N.P

My fatigued feet are finally free. The boots are in the bin. My hiking days (at least for the time being) are now well and truly done & dusted. What a run it's been. Over the past five weeks, me and my boisterous buddy's have hiked close to some 350 kilometres; visiting five different National Parks, and eventually spending 17 nights out of that elapsed time span sleeping in a tent with no mattress. O' goodie, such a hoot...I couldn't have really asked for more. The weather was grand, the company was gold, and Patagonia was sprung with its pants down around its ankles, showing off like a high school boy with a boner. There had only been one remaining mark left on our map, yet for us to colour in. The prophesied 'jewel in the crown' of this extensive South American mountain range; the pride of The Patagonian Andes. I was glad that at last we were ultimately to become acquainted. Borders were crossed; buses were booked. Supermarkets even sold two-minute noodles!! The stage was set for one final hurrah...so what more is there to say my fellow amigoes?? Nada. ¿¿Vamos?? ¡¡Vamanos!!

Christmas day in Torres del Paine N.P

The bus from El Calafate in Argentina to Puerto Natales across the frontera in Chile, couldn't have been more torturous. The night before we'd indulged ourselves in a traditional Argentine asado, one of the few fine additions to the predominately vulgar broth. Meats of all kind were grilled on top of an open fire, semi-enclosed I guess into the walls of the kitchen. It was practically all you can eat. The tables were loaded with bowls of various salads & jugs of cheap boxed wine. How could we refuse?? Of course we did no such thing; instead drank ourselves silly while an odd bunch of (typically dead-shit) Australian chicks insisted on driving us silly. Poor ol' DCTalk continued to rack up verbal gun-law banter as a direct response of the recent school shooting. Like he's got any say in the matter?!! I guess he didn't do himself any favours when he decided to throw in an 'Abo' for good measure. The dreaded Patagonia balls were getting the better of me by this point; I've got a feeling I would've jumped any of them if they were to give me even the slightest hint of a wink. What was happening to me?? They were all so awful!! True, it could've been worse. I could have been that sorry soul they were stuck travelling with. Even they had a good laugh about that. Then I kind of felt a little nasty. Just a little...

Three cheers were wailed as we crossed back into Chile. I was saved from the wrath of siesta, and the woeful scent of the maté. Maybe Chile could invade?? Everyone it seems would appear much happier. Some smelly hippie called John, met us at the bus terminal on his pushbike, offering us an on-the-cheap-side of a deal for the night at his rustic old, slightly run down hostel (which no one ever seemed to occupy). When someone was home, they tended to sit in front of the television and play continuous FIFA. We filled in time with the usual necessities; bank, supplies, dinner. It had all become quite the routine by then. It felt slightly stranger to be off the trail than on. We were to be off the next day.

I must say, all didn't begin so well. We forked out the most cash we had up until then on park entrance fees, and the weather was a sombre hit & miss OK at best; but that wasn't the blight of out initial misfortunes. To begin with we missed our intended track within the first few minutes. Leaving the Laguna Amarga office, we followed the road until we reached a foot track 'short-cut' off to the left. There was a sign that said 'Torres del Paine,' why wouldn't we have taken it?? In doing so we ended up adding on an extra hour or so of road walking, through (if it hadn't of been for the distant mountains) an otherwise bleak environment. As we got closer, the views did get better. Only then my camera decided to shit itself. I was in panic mode. Day 1 of a 7 day hike in one of the most spectacular areas of the world without a decent camera...I did have a back-up, but it wasn't worth pulling the trigger. I stooped by the side of the road while my mates wandered off in a hurry ahead, bashing & bending the lens (something that in hindsight probably did more harm than good). By the time it cranked back into action, the views of the towers were long gone. I was pretty pissed when I shouldn't have been. Everything would work out fine. I just had to keep telling myself that. Stop acting like a child.

A lucky shot from the road

Now I had to catch up with the guys. When I want to, I can move pretty darn fast on foot I must say; it's rare to find someone who can keep up over a great distance, so I powered on in this aggressive state as a means to make up lost time. I couldn't see them for a while, and that made my mind wander. Then I got even madder. I don't really know why. Eventually I spotted DCTalk cruising up the hill, and jogged up to meet him. That calmed me a little; at least until we reached a flock of lingering horses. I'm not the biggest fan of the things; "dangerous at both ends, and crafty in the middle." I'd rather face off with a bull. Dodging their back range, we scooted past, and there I could see Goldilocks up ahead crossing a small creek. A series of wooden boards fed the flowing water down the slopes, and I didn't even think twice about charging across them. Amateurs mistake. Sswwhhoooff!! SLAM!! My feet were washed from under me. Hard to the ground I went - horizontal in the air at first, and now drenched completely on one side thanks to the freezing water. What an idiot!! Aggression gets you no where. When would I learn?? Luckily from here, things got better. The 4WD track we'd been following for the better part of the day, soon transformed into a pleasant foot track, passing through endless fields of daisies. The mountains weren't all that visible, but they provided an atmospheric backdrop. Not far from camp, we intersected with a great raging river, similar aesthetically to those throughout the south island of New Zealand. We followed it for the rest of the day, until we pitched our tents in a paddock plagued by mosquitoes beside Refúgio Serón. It was pretty late by then, and I was pretty hungry. During dinner we were 'entertained' by some young chap from Seattle, who asked as many questions as an out of contexted, overexcited parent.

We slept in the next morning, resulting in us becoming stuck on the trail with an AllAmericanExMarine. "Hey, hey...I think I'm gonna go work in Australia for a while. Teach your boys how to shoot!! Better work on my American accent I guess then for the ladies..." Was this guy serious?? He couldn't get more American if he tried!! I recalled some tale of chicks in Hobart going wild over docked US Navy boys..."I don't think you're gonna have to worry much about that matey. Your accents quite on the money." The day as a whole was a bit of a slog fest for me; I wasn't feeling the best as my leg was playing up for the worst in a long while, and I guess the heavy pack was making things harder. Maybe I was getting old...?? Not the same unbreakable hiking machine I used to be. This made me sad. But I think that this was a whole lot'a lies in retrospect. I was done for the day once we'd reached Campamento Dixon, situated picturesquely on a small peninsular of the glacier fed lake. I washed my socks down at the pebbly beach, then tried in vain to hide from CaptainAmerica in the small refúgio. Before too long he was pissed on wine & out-doing any of our stories with some incontestable bullshit. He was a bit of a laugh, but too much for me. I was kind of glad when they kicked us all out of the hut to make room for the rich paying patrons, so I could retreat to the peace & quiet of my tent. A hella'valotta klicks to cover tomorrow lads.

Lago Dixon

This was our intended 'rest' day so to speak. A short four hours between Dixon & Perros; a prelude to the much anticipated venture over the high pass. I was feeling much better today. Fresh & well rested, with slightly less food mass to carry. By the time we reached Campamento Perros it was clear that we were intending to push further on for the day. The weather was sublime. It would be a waste to hang around. After a brief stop by a small glacier lagoon, and a quick inspection of the camp, we took off up the hill to conquor the supposed worst of the entire trail. Well when I say 'we,' I seriously thought it was 'we.' It took me a while for my memory lapse to evaporate. Generally speaking, DCTalk walks a little slower than Goldilocks & I, so to counter this he sometimes starts ahead of us as we'll most likely cash up at some point. At the camp, this is what he did once again, however this time was a bit different. After an hour or so I still hadn't caught him, and I was fair flying up the hill. There were also some patches of awkward mud & snow which I felt would have slowed him even further, and in which there were no fresh upward moving foot prints. Once I'd reached the clearing my memory had snapped back into action. I recalled him taking off under the sign in the completely wrong direction, following the path by the river unaware of his mistake. I had paid it no attention previously. Now we were in a bit of a sticky situation. I waited for Goldilocks to catch up, and informed him what I believed to have happened. We watched & waited on the snowy slopes for big stretches of time, hoping he'd just pop out and we could venture on. We'd come too far to turn back at this point, so we devised a plan to radio in at the next camp to make sure he was OK. We made assumptions of what had happened, and guessed he'd just chose to stay at Perros for the night. There was little else we felt we could do. I just prayed he wasn't stuck out somewhere alone & injured, waiting to be devoured that night by the pumas.

Climbing up to the pass

So over the pass we went. The Grey Glacier was quite the sight to behold. It was something else entirely from looking out at Perito Moreno, I guess simply because we were now gazing on from above. All the intricacies could be observed like patterns in the ice. In the middle it almost created a likeliness to a slow flowing river. I could have sat in the sun up there for hours. Well actually, we kind of did. Goldilocks & I still kind of hung onto the idea that DCTalk might pop over the ridge, so we perched up in the late afternoon, mesmerised as the sun gradually set over the glistening blue/white valley. We trudged into camp fairly late, and picked up the final remaining flat sites. We all had a little bitch about the supplied map, before curling up into bed (cold, tree-rooted ground).

Looking down over Grey Glacier

That next day was the Chilean day of Christmas!! Yea yea!! We got treated & surprised with some left over sausage discarded by these two Israeli guys we knew. Score!! Into the breakfast noodles they went. Some welcome & much needed protein. We'd slept in as long as we could, and slowly packed up our gear. We thought DCTalk might have got up early & mished over the pass to meet us if all was well. When we got to the camp the night before, we discovered much to our amusement that Perros (the last camp before the pass) doesn't have a radio. A little dodgy in my opinion with the sheer number of less experienced hiking tourists who pass over this exposed route. Anyway, just before we were set to leave for the day, the man himself stumbles in!! Yiieaaa!!! Stoked. "Man, I was like walking down the pass and these rangers were lookin' for me callin' out my name!!?" The posse was back together, and today was another corker!! The scenery was spectacular; hugging the edge of the glacier visible through the wooded forests & the odd opening. It wasn't long until we reached the next camp, a fairly tranquil spot, not far from a rocky outcrop that juts out into Lago Grey with uninterrupted views of the nearby glacier and all its shedded icebergs. These bob around the lake like enormous frosty corks. I took a book down by the water and sat in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. It had been a lazy day, full of slow paced admiration at the wonders of the natural world.

Floating chunks of ice

Later on that night as the sun began to dim (since in practise, this far south it takes an eon to fully set), we snuck into the 'refúgio' for a glimpse of all the chandeliers & shenanigans. I was gobsmacked!! We'd hardly seen anyone for the past four days; sleeping in tents, going without showers, surviving off tomato paste & pasta - and now I'd found myself face to face with an elaborate & elegant buffet dinner...in the middle of the trek...in the middle of the park. I almost felt like I didn't belong. Where had I left that collared shirt of mine?? I was definitely under dressed. Shit, I'm under dressed at the best of times!! It was one of the oddest things I'd ever seen. It just didn't fit. Escaping the mayhem, I crept back outside. I wouldn't have been surprised to walk out onto the restaurant strip along Elizabeth Street; however there were the mountains still towering skywards above me. We drank wine & talked crap to these two French chicks who wouldn't have that their prized clothing brand 'Quechua', may just in fact be named after those indigenous mountain folk of Peru.

I slept great that night. Cheers for the knockout vino. DCTalk must have been a bit more on the wobbly side. He woke up at some point in the early morning freezing his balls off, since he'd forgot to make it into his sleeping bag. Today was our Christmas!! A double whammy!! We had a lot of ground to cover; still of course we dozed until the early afternoon. The first part of the trail was a bit of a disappointment. Last December, some Israeli guy decided to burn his toilet paper like they do in the army, and as a result set fire to a significant chunk of the park. The aftermath was devastating. The entire area is fucked. Where there should have been track through scrubby beech forest, black & broken trees littered the landscape. At times it was kind of creepy, like something from a horror movie. I tried my best to put my imagination into work overload; attempted to picture what this place must have looked like. Despite the carnage, it was still beautiful. I just hope the dick that did this keeps a curse on his conscience. Don't light fires. Don't ruin nature. Please.

Destruction caused by a bushfire

After a few hours we reached the magnificently turquoise coloured Lago Pehoé, where we'd planned a short side-trip. The effects of fire continued around the lakes shore, but were countered by the increadible views across to the major mountains of the park. We posed for a few Christmas snaps for friends & family, before returning the way we came. I felt like jumping in a couple of times. The lake water looked unreal. The day was getting on by this point, and we still had a lot still to do. I hate pushing & rushing. It never places you in the best mind frame. By the time we'd reached Campamento Italia, we were wrecked. The day had turned out bigger than we'd expected. We all contemplated skipping the Valle del Frances section as a result; disappointing, but it was simply turning out that way. After a bit of a choco hit along with some soup, I felt at least that I should wander somewhat up the valley to explore. DCTalk came along for a few minutes before heading back. I didn't appear to be too far from joining him. Then I ran into a few groups coming back down the track to camp. They all boasted on how worth while their day had been, and insisted on me making the journey. Something in me snapped, and I went ol' berserk style. I hadn't run for a good eight months, but I guess now seemed appropriate. Soon I was gunning up the hill!! I'd forgot how much I enjoyed it. I passed a few more groups of walkers and they all looked at me a little oddly. At the first mirador, there was a mighty CRACK!! and avalanches began tumbling down from the adjacent mountain. There I was trail running beside this shit, in Torres del Paine National Park, on Christmas day, of easily the best year in my life. I couldn't have been happier!! I reached the top lookout with plenty of daylight to spare. I'd be up & back in less time than it was meant to take one way. I bellowed out to the wilds. I had it all to myself. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Sunset from the 'Valle del Frances'

Now all we had left to tackle were the towers themselves. This was to be another big day of distance, but would also be the last of its kind. After some hours hugging the shores of another giant lake, we reached the shortcut to our next camp which took off steeply up the hill. I was in power mode again, and smashed that sweaty section in no time. We were about to intersect with one of the most popular tracks in the park, and I could see a bunch of horses making their way towards me. I made sure I broke out in front. I wasn't having a replay of the Huayhuash fiasco. The final section was short but tedious. I'd had enough walking for a good while, and was ready to finally call it a day. We set up camp for the last time, before climbing up to the 'Towers of Paine' themselves. It was a little more cloudy than I would have liked, but who could complain?? Torres was done!! Patagonia could be well and truly ticked off!! Heck, the entire Andes it felt had been conquered!! I could rest easy that night. Snug in the reassurance that I was awesome.

The 'Torres del Paine'

Once out the following day we celebrated with a mob of cool Americans who apparently I'd met in Bariloche?? This happens all the time. I'd better start paying more attention. Either that or I get myself a haircut so people don't so easily remember me. I bought fanta, beer & a whole carton of out of date strawberry milk; a deadly cocktail when we still had 7 kilometres left to walk along the dusty road. It was a relief to be done. Somehow my boots managed to survive. By the time they got binned, the soles were practically peeling off. It was time to return to reality; in a way a kind of depressing observation. The 'end of the world' was all that remained, before clicking my heels together & heading north for the first time in ten and a half months. We'll be saving that for the next chapter...and another year. Happy Holidays!!

As far south as I'll be going!!

Enjoy the holidays everyone!! I'm sure you've all earned them (unlike some)!!
Thanks to all the people who've made 2012 so incredible!!
Easily the best time of my life!! All the best in the coming year!!

Much ever lasting love, Nicko. xxx