Alright, back to the blog. It has been over a month since Ive been able to find a computer that I can sit at for more than 10 minutes and relay probly the most dense part of Megan and my´s adventures. We had finally arrived in Patagonia in Punta Arenas right on the Straight of Magellan. We have a couple pics of Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine that can be found HERE.
Firstly, Im going to clear up what Patagonia really means. I had a pretty good idea in the states before I left, but only after bumming around the region have I begun to grasp the epic expanse of Patagonia. I run into travelers down here that still ask where the town of Patagonia is and are confused about the whole concept. Patagonia is a region of the South America. Its where the end of the Andes crash into the Ocean at the southern tip of the world before the insane Oceans break up the water between Antarctica and South America. Patagonia if you want to truly define it is Southern Chile and Argentina below the 40th Parallel. It has been described by many travellers and authors as one of the few great expanses of lands that has not been fully discovered. And true to this claim, there are immense stretches of land, mountains, and rivers that are incredibly inaccessible. There is no town, province, or state named Patagonia, its closer to a region (like the Southwest in the USA).
To give a general description from West to East. The West is insanely Lush, fully of a scraggely, wind blown tree called the Lengua and full of broken land, ocean and mountains-It reminded me of the inside passage of Alaska. Then you get to the Andes that at sea level give you the feel of being in the heart of the rockies at 1,000´s of feet. Because the mountains get so much snow and they are so far south Treeline is at about 3500 ft of elevation. And they truly look like the rockies, 1000s of years ago. The Geology is happening in front of you with glaciers, Alpine lakes, and rivers tearing through EVERYWHERE. There is no lightning, but the thunder booms through most valleys in the summertime as glaciers calve off and tumble hundreds of feet and destroying everything. Finally, when you make it east, (Argentina now as the Continental Divide is generally the border between Chile and Argentina) you get the feeling of BV or Grand Junction. I mean that in the way of the Rain Shadow effect. Where all the rain from the oceans dump on the Chilean side or in the mountains and have nothing for the massive Argentine expanse. IT is usually miles and miles of grasslands that go on forever with nothing but the shadows of epically huge mountains and insanely colored lakes and rivers collected from Glacial runoff. So here we are in Patagonia.
So picture this, a small tattered town, the largest of size in South Patagonia (60,000), the best brewery in Patagonia (Cerveza Austral), crazy ragtag houses of every color nestled up a hill of brilliant green and all the way to the emerald sapphire of the Straight of Magellan, This is Punta Arenas. The coolest thing of Punta Arenas, although im going to rush through it to get to even more epic things, was travelling to the Isla Magdalena and seeing 1000´s of Pinguinoes!! (penguins) The first day we tried to go but as was explained to us there was a “little winter” going on so we had to wait a day. It was super rad and the first official “Tour” we have taken in our entire trip. But for 25.000 Chilean we were able to jump on a Ferry for 2 hours and cruise through the straight of Magellan north until we arrived at a Island with nothing on it but a lighthouse and insanes amounts of Pinguinos. Seriously though, nothing else, no vegetation, nothing but penguins. As were waiting to disembark there are flocks(?) of penguins swimming into the island after fishing. We got a couple hours to walk around and literally stand next to tons of penguins. Awesome. Then a gorgeous sunset and ocean ride on the way back. Then we were able to head 2 hours north to the heart of trekking in Patagonia, Torres Del Paine (TDP).
The base camp for the Circuit is a little town called Puerto Natales that really doesnt have anything going of except for the insane amounts of people heading and returning to the National Park TDP. It is insanely gorgeous with mountains, glacies, and the end of a 3 day ferry ride from Puerto Montt arriving, but the town is really just for backpackers. Every single store sells gas for trekking, tons of different food, dried foods, and is actually a perfect place for preparing for a trip. So we arrived at one of the best hostels of our trip, Patagonico Hostel. It is owned by a couple that are both Trekking Guides in the park and around Patagonia. Also this is the first place that we ran into the 100 year old wood fire stoves that are Always hot. There are super cool and used all over patagonia. They stay hot all the time and have a giant metal flat top that is boiling hot on the left and slowly cools to the right where simmering heat is. Always hot, and serves a double purpose of heating the house in the winter. This hostel was an awesome place to prepare for our trek as well as we had the two owners there to answer any questions before we headed off. This was the last place I sent the blog from on the Eve of probly the most epic, and revered backpacking trips on the planet-The Torres Del Paine Circuito Grande. I´m going to try to do the literary impossible and put the Circuit into words. (Ineffable)
The Torres del Paine Circuit Grande is a 100km (give or take 20 km, probly give) loop around Chile and Patagonia´s most prestigious national park. The 100km is a trek around 2 insane mountain peaks the Torres and the Cuernas. You literally hike around the whole thing, desert on the east and a HUGE glacier field on the West. The North is more mountains, lakes, and glaciers, and the south is tons of Lakes, and rivers with distant mountains. A big difference between South American trekking and USA trekking is that in South America all the trails and hikes are in valleys to epic view points in incredible places with almost no summiting and in the USA people only want to climb to the top of things. I enjoy both, but I will take scenery over a summit 9 times outta 10. I love South America. There is a lifelong debate on whether it is better to go Clockwise or Counter Clockwise. After much debilitating and a 2 hour discussion at a hostel in Puerto Natales we decided to go Counter clockwise, which throughout the hike we determined there were about 300 or so reasons why this was the best choice. This is going to be really long, so read if you like or skip ahead to the return and Calafate, but im going to break down our 10 days into the routes we did and the epicness, that is impossible to describe, along the way.
Day 1. Laguna Amables - Campamento Seron --
After a 2 hour bus ride from Puerto Natales you arrive at the park entrance where you have to pay your entrance fee and can choose to keep heading into the park to catch a ferry to Refugio Pehoe, take a shuttle to Refugio Torre, or walk along the road to Campamento Seron across the Desert. Already at the entrance we were greeted with epic views of the Cerro Torres, the beautiful electric river of Rio Paine, and herds of Guanacos (crazy llama looking things). Then we began walking. The first day was 8 hours through desert, mountains, and the highlight was walking off the mountain to golden grasslands sandwiched between epically huge mountains and the sapphire Rio Paine. Just unreal, impossible colors, views, and nature. Then we arrived at the none to pleasant Campamento Seron. A big grass field, that was the most expensive camping, with the worst facilities.
A quick note about the park. Its Euro style trekking, takes some getting used to after trekking the wilderness of the USA, where you have to stay on trail and camp only in designated spots or you get thrown out of the park. This is good and bad. The good, is that you cannot get lost, and you have a set day of walking most days and keeps you moving (which is good and bad). It also concentrates all of the human impact, waste, trash, and crap into one place and leaves the rest of the park pristine and beautiful. The bad is that you are stuck with running into people the whole time, its impossible to find any solace, and that there is trash, and waste, and people everywhere. But once you get into a ryhthm its good, the views outweigh any negative aspect, and you end up hiking with the same people day after day, and you start making friends. Its pretty rad.
Day 2- Campamento Seron -- Refugio Dickson
People say that the first day of trekking is always the hardest because you have the heaviest pack and we had the farthest to go, but that is untrue. The second day is the hardest, because you are now SORE and you still have a heavy pack. We also had one of our longest days and we thoroughly got our buts kicked on the way to the most epic place I have ever slept- Refugio Dickson. The hike there was the worst weather of the entire 10 days we were out there (I will describe the impossibility of this in a minute). But we hiked along the desert, mountain, emerald river combo for a while then hiked straight up over a hill to walk around the back side of the Cuernas peaks. We then walked slowly down the mountain, through a swamp, with just insane mountains and glaciers slowly revealing themselves. There was also a helicopter making trips to Refugio Dickson dropping off training supplies for CONAF (chilean forest service) and fire fighting. But at one point we were watching the helicopter, and then noticed a second helicopter, but soon we realized it wasn´t a helicopter but a bird. A giant freaking bird, the freaking 10ft wingspan Patagonian Condor. It was our first glimpse of this bird and it was surreal and totally mesmerizing. We then hiked up another giant hill and got our first glimpse of Dickson. Refugio Dickson is located on a peninsula nestled between 3 giant mountains, two glaciers and the lake that feeds the Rio Paine. Unnreal.
Day 3- Refugio Dickson -- Campamento Los Perros
This was a shorter but no less insane hike. After waking up to an unbelievable morning of swirling clouds, sunshine on surreal peaks, calm lakes, and flowing fog we hiked off the peninsula and along the backside of Cerro Torres and Las Cuernas to the basecamp of Los Perros the night before the most insane day of the whole circuit, John Garner Pass. But before we got there we hiked out of the peninsula to a viewpoint (mirador) that was surrounded by mountains, glaciers, creeks, clouds, and forest. Then the we continued on through the woods and mountains.
On of the ultimate hightlights of all of Patagonia and especially the Circuit are the microclimates. Everytime we would venture over a hill, pass, or across a creek the vegetation and forest would immediately change. IT was crazy. The abrupt and obvious change of tree type, vegetation, moss, and everything else was incredible to witness and kept your mind off the miles and the weight on your back and your attention on the beauty at hand. Gorgeous.
We made it to Los perros which is surrounded on one side the valley and creek we walked up from Dickson. An incredibly lush forest in a narrow valley with tons of creeks, waterfalls and shear mountains all falling over each other. The opposite side was a rocky slope to the inevitable John Gardner Pass over 1500 meters above our heads. Then on the South side was the Los Perros Glacier and an incredible Glacial Morraine holding a huge lake with icebergs floating everywhere. The Los Perros Glacier is huge and stretches all the way to Valle Frances (we´ll arrive there on Day 5), but we were only able to see a little stretch of it up on 300 foot cliff with a little sliver reaching down to lake (frozen waterfall). The opposite side of Los Perros Glacier was another beautiful grey granite valley with a creek coming down from another glacier a couple hours hike from the camp. Here we ate, made camp, and talked to some familar faces about the impending pass in the morning. There was a mysterious air amoungst the hikers because of John Garner Pass reputation for being the steepest, hardest, and worst weather of the whole circuit. It sends people to the frontside, shorter trek (the W) just so they dont have to do the pass. We sat around hearing stories of strong winds, upwards rain, people having to turn back, and somehow all got some sleep for the impending climb in the morning.
Day 4 Los Perros -- Campamento Los Guardas
We woke up at 530 to get an early start and started to leave around 830 (pretty good time for breaking camp actually). Within the first 5 minutes we were trudging through roots and muck knee deep straight up the valley. After about an hour we put our gators on and the next rock field we made it to we were above treeline-typical. As we crossed the rockfields were slowly became surrounded by a narrower and narrower valley with insanely steep, jagged peaks, glaciers, and waterfalls, not to mention the most beautiful blue sky and sunshine ive ever felt. We slowly kept heading towards the saddle. On the way we stopped for some lunch next to a gushing river coming straight from the bottom of a glacier. Best water ever.
One of the best parts of all of patagonia and especially TDP is the fact that all the water everywhere is drinkable. You see a glacier, then it melts in waterfalls and running down the rocks into a lake that flows into a river. It all happens above treeline and the cliffs are so steep and barren that there is almost no wildlife outside of birds and insects which means its the cleanest in the world. I always prided Buena Vista with having the best water in the world. I am now convinced its the 2nd best water in the world. the river we stopped next to on John Garner Pass, after hiking straight up in the Patagonian sunshine was the sweetest water Ive ever tasted. You walk up to the river and plunge your waterbottle in and drink the coldest, sweetest, most refreshing glacial melt. Every town and river is safe to drink in all of Patagonia, and every tap is cool, clear, and delicious. Reason 412 why Southern South America might be the greatest place on earth.
Three hours, 4 false summits, and 1200 meters straight up later we arrived to the top of John Garner Pass. Despite being renowned for the worst weather in the world we had not a cloud in the sky and the golden ball of sun beaming down on us. We met up with the other jumble of hikers we had been traveling with for 4 days now and every one was laughing, eating, smiling and sun bathing in one of the most epic spots on planet earth. Behind us was the narrow valley yawning from glaciers, rocks, and jagged spires into lakes, creeks, waterfalls, forests and sprawling valley. In front of us was, if possible, an infinitely better view, impossible really. Glacier Grey is one of the most unfathomable views I have ever tried to gulp down. I will try to explain it without exaggerating one bit. From the top of the pass Glacier grey spreads out miles and miles below you. It is nearly a mile wide and miles and miles long. On the far side of the valley are numerous peaks (well say 8) and inbetween them are more glaciers flowing down into Glacier Grey, so many Glaciers in fact that not all of them have names. On the south side Glacier Grey falls into the massive Lago Grey the next spot of our hike, and miles later Glacier Grey disappears into more snow, ice glaciers and peaks. Ineffable really.
We then hiked down 1200 meters straight down, 2 meter steps, 3 hours more to Campamento Paso. But we wanted to keep going so we had 2 more hours to Campamento Guardas which turns out the craziest 2 hours in the whole hike. We were walking on cliffs right hundreds of meters above the glacier and sporadically crossing gorges with waterfalls and creeks and always, incredible views of glacier, lake, and mountain peaks across the way. Twice we came to such steep gorges that there were huge, super sketchy ladder to descend and ascend. We were also the last people through Paso to Guardas but at the last ladder this old guy caught up to us. We soon found out that he was an old smoke jumper from Montana and was called in by the World Bank to do consulting for the massive fire at TDP a month earlier. He told us of a trail that went down to Glacier Grey. Once we got to camp he disappeared down to Refugio Grey and we were stopped at the Campamento Guardas. It is situated in the forest and a 50 yard hike to a giant cliff overlooking the spot where Glacier Grey meets Lago Grey. The meeting point of these two epic natural phenomenons is over 80 feet high. So we camped and planned on some relaxing days ahead after the best possible day on the Pass ever.
It was here that after we had eaten dinner and played a couple rounds of cards I headed out to the view point and the cliffs overlooking Glacier/Lago Grey and was greeted with the best view the heavens have to offer. The Southern night sky is an incredible treat to be able to gaze at after getting more comfortable with our Northern sky. The obvious treat, the Southern Cross was gorgeous and even has a couple colored stars, like orion, an old red star and a fresh hot blue giant. The red one on the left cross and the blue one at the base, sitting over the lake and the mountain ridge from where I was standing. But the even bigger treat of Southern star gazing is the Milky Way. There is a fatter, more galaxy dense section of the Milky Way that only stretches over the Southern Hemisphere and it is quite a site to see. We were also miles and miles from any source of lighting but it was literally incredible colors of white, blue, and red gas lighting up the sky and just punching out all the darkness. Incredible.
Day 5 Campamento Guardas -- Glacier Grey -- Refugio Grey
So we slept in today because we only had a to hike an hour to our next camp, but after talking to the Montana guy we decided to try to head down to the Glacier. A quick side note. You cannot leave the trails or camp anywhere off trail. Its not patrolled, but if you are caught off trail you will get escorted out of the park. So we headed back along the trail and bummed off the trail into a valley and followed some cairns down and down and down until we got to the massive glacier. Unbelievable. We climbed up onto the glacier with rivers, mountains of insanely sculpted ice, and an unbelievable view of the lake. Also the first time we were by ourselves in the whole park. Awesome. We headed back then made the hour hike south to Refugio Grey and the insanity that was there.
So the difference between Refugios and Campamentos is pretty grand. Refugios are more established camps that have hotel sorta things that people can pay for beds, meals, and you have to pay for a campsite. There are also showers at most of them, and stores to buy insanely expensive food. Campamentos are more rustic and there are two distinctions for them two. There are free ones and pay ones. The pay camps have showers and toliets and the free ones have hole in the ground to do you buisness. So going from the free Campamento to the Refugio was quite different. Refugio Grey is also on the frontside of TDP. The front side is consisted of the hike the W (which looks like the W) that A LOT of people hike then the circuit adds on 3 more days around the back of the mountains. So at Refugio Grey there was an incredible amount of people everywhere. However, we had an epic sunset out on a penisula looking at the Glacier and the lake and an incredibly content evening with our first purchase of the trip. One can of Cerveza Austral.
Day 6 Refugio Grey -- Campamento Italiano -- Valle Frances
Today we cruised through the burn that happened in Mid January and burned for over 2 weeks. So what happened, there was an Israeli that wanted to use the bathroom off trail and lit his toliet paper on fire. Then in the windiest place on earth the fire burned over 115,000 acres for 3 weeks. We got lucky and the park opened 2 weeks before we opened. But it was a massive problem. Today we had no option to head to Campamento Italiano because we were walking through the area of the fire and there was no camping between R. Grey and C. Italiano. Only minutes after leaving Grey did we reach the fire and all the haunting trees and fire remains. For 5 hours or so we walked through fallen and charred trees and ground incredibly scorched except for the little mounds remaining from the grass roots. Incredibly sites and pretty eerie. It gave the place a different type of otherworldly feel. We walked South until we reach Lago Pehoe which was another insane version of blue-green-grey combination. We walked over a small pass dividing Lago Pehoe with another lake and were greeted with one of the most beautiful views of my favorite peaks in TDP- the three Cuernas Peaks.
The Cuernas peaks are three huge scraggly peaks that are this beautiful dark rosey brown sandwiching a GIANT band, now blocks, of perfect white granite. The top band, and much softer rock, of the brown has been eroded away to leave jagged spires at top each peak and the much harder white granite is arrogantly refusing to eroded leaving massive domes of spectacular colors. We walked along an insanely colored lake and now we had the end of the burn in view to the base of Valle Frances where, at its base, Campamento Italiano lay. After a couple more hours we crossed a couple rivers on really cool/sketchy hanging suspension bridges and arrived at the camp.
Campamento Italiano is an awesome free Campground at the base of one of the highlights of TDP, Valle Frances. We quickly set up our tent to sounds of thunder then took off up the valley to catch a Mirador. Valle Frances is unbelievable as it follows up a river then breaks off towards the Cuernas peaks. On the East side of the Valley are the 3 Cuernas peaks, on the West side is a HUGE, 1000 meters or so, wall of rock and ice that constantly had glaciers breaking off and tumbling and thundering down until they smashed on another glacier feeding the river. It was one of the most incredible things to witness. Then the far end of the Valley was where the Cuernas peaks ran into the Valle of Silencio, Cerro Torre, and more towering granite domes creating the most epic Amphitheater on the planet. We made it to far side of this unfathomable amphitheater before we had to head back due to time. But the view down the valley was of insanely colored lakes, islands, and mountain peaks in the distance.
I need to talk about Glacial Flour. This is the fine powder of granite that glaciers grind as they slowly move, but this sediment is what is responsible for giving glacial melt such an insane color. They create minty blue waters as beautiful, if not more so, than any carribean beach with many different colors of blue. I love Glacial Flour.
Day 7 -- Campamento Italiano -- Campamento Torre
Not much going on today. We just set off, across gorgeous forests and streams to hike up the Valley behind the Cuernas peaks. The highlight of the day came as we were walking up a hill to get to the valley and a HUGE shadow falls over us, then as we look up a GIANT condor soars only a couple meters above our head. The biggest bird ever. There were a couple that followed a little bit higher up. An amazing site to behold, a bit of natures best.
After climbing straight up and straight down we walked along the eastern edge of the valley North towards Campamento Torre and the Torres peaks. All the peaks were so massive we couldnt see them above the mountain we were trekking along until we made it to the Camp. The were stunningly gorgeous only poking about a giant glacial moraine. Only an hour away and straight up the side of a mountain was the Mirador Torre. Which we eagerly awaited so we went to bed.
Day 8 -- Campamento Torre -- Valle de Silencio
Today we woke up at 430am and packed up our sleeping pads, sleeping bags, breakfast, and all the warm clothes we could find and took off for the mirador with our headlamps on. We took our time up, with the stars bragging overhead, up higher and higher. We werent alone and there was a constant snake of bobbing headlamps far below and far above as we went up which was an eerie yet incredible site unto itself. We made it to the top just as the sky was beginning to change and lighten up. We found a spot on a rock, pulled out our sleeping pads, jumped in the sleeping bags and put the kettle on while we waited for the show to begin.
The torres peaks are 3 giant spires, all at several 1000 meters, of perfect white granite that create the most perfect ampitheater with a glacier at their base that streaks water down into a lake that eventually feeds a river. We set up on the far side of the lake with a bunch of other fellow trekkers and just sat and watched. At first there were mist and clouds covering the bases of the Torres and only their peaks could poke throught. But as the violet sky began to transform to navy, and closer and closer to slate then blue, the clouds began their insane swirling dance first up the peaks, then down to the water until finally the sun came to join. At 703 exactly, the sun hit the first middle Torre to cheers from the crowd. From our spots in the sleeping bags we felt the rush of cold air as the last of the night air got sucked into the valley, running from the sun. The colors were impossible. We basked in the glory of this view for hours and were the last to leave close to 10am after the sun was high in the sky, the colors gone, and the first day trekkers only just appearing.
We had enough food so we decided to stay another night at Campamento Torre. We headed down, got a nap in, then decided to walk a bit more. There was a trail that went further north from the camp, but on every map it was marked for rock climbers only. So I decided to check it out, while Megan sunbathed on a rock near the river, basking in the shadows of the Torre peaks. As I headed North up the valley. After an hour I made it to Campamento Japones and a sign that stated “Fin de sendero” Do not continue. So I continued up the mountain to the West as the valley I was in ended and the Massive Valle de Silencio came in from the west. I climbed up a creekbed and straight up a bit more before I began to traverse around to the West and follow the mountain with the Valle de Silencio far below. After walking for another hour I met up the Valley and massive, multi colored morains, of just spectacular rock. After a bit more I was soon in the most remote place I had been in all of TDP with no one else in site and spectacular views of the backside of the Torres, Cuernas, and the massive peaks we had seen at Campamento Dickson 6 days earlier. IT was a place with such massive earth that it made you feel small.
Day 9 -- The Return
On day 9 we continued with the perfect weather. TDP and patagonia is renowned for its insane weather. The only thing more epic than the views is the weather. We were warned of the two most dangerous parts of the whole park, wind and sunshine. But somehow, after 9 days, we only had 1 night of rain, and a couple windy spots. The majority of our days were full of insane sunshine and swirling clouds. PERFECTION. We headed down the mountainside past lots of day hikers heading to Mirador Torre for their only day in the park. This is one of my favorite parts of backpacking. After we were 9 days dirty coming down, smelling ripe, giant, filthy pack on our backs and passing people in perfect white t-shirts and nothing on them but a camera around their neck and reeking of perfume/cologne. Hilarious. One of the highlights of the whole day is when we were only 100 meters or so from the beautiful, road accessible Refugio Torre there was a perfect, brandnew wooden sign that states “DO NOT BURN YOUR TOILET PAPER”. Awesome.
Puerto Natales
Another great park of Backpacking is once you return to civilization you get to eat tons of awesome fresh food that was impossible the last half of your trip. These were a couple meals that Megan and I pondered over for days while just walking for the hours on the trail. I had mine set up as a whole bunch of homemade burgers and we were going to go to an incredibly awesome Vegetarian joint for Megan to feast on (which had an avacado, ginger, walnut smoothy). However, when we arrived in PN Megan realized that our little bathroom stop between the park and Puerto Natales she had left her Ipod, Journal, and all the little amount of cash we had which put a little damper on our reunion meal. The Ipod had all of our pictures from before TDP, and her Journal had everything she had worked so hard to write about our trip. So using our awesome Hostel owners we tried calling the store where we left the prefects, but there wasn´t even a phone, let alone electricity, at the place. So luckily, Andres (the other hostel owner), was out guiding in Argentina and needed to be picked up at the border (right where the stop was). So the next day Megan headed to the border and the little elderly lady that owned the pastry/empanada stop had kept her things in her purse. The lady wouldnt even allow Andres to take it back to Megan, she wanted to return them in person! It was a great reassurance of humankind.
The rest of our time in PN consisted of some delicious food cooked on the woodfired stoves, including my new culinary love- Empanadas. We also had an incredible trip where we rented some bikes and went on a 34mile (55km) bike ride to a national reserve called the Cueva de Miladon. It turns out the first fossil of a Giant Sloth was found in these sweet caves out near PN. The ride was really the truly epic part in gorgeous valleys, insane winds, and not a short distance. We were then given a farewell with our Hostel owners as they surprised us with a shot of Calafate liquor. Its a tart blueberry type fruit that according to an old patagonian folk song, ensures ones return to Patagonia after eating them. Then we took off for Calafate the next day.
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