Roughing it may be OK in theory, but it is
not so
easy in practice. Without a guide like I had in
Nepal, no sherpas to help me jump from boulder
to boulder, no porters to carry my tent or
sleeping bag, and nobody to cook my food when
I reached my destination, trekking in Torres del
Paine tested my strength, fitness and endurance.
It was by no means a light task, but together
with three other women I completed the ‘
extended W walk’ in the national park. I had a
fabulous and memorable ten days.
On the morning of December 1st, Myra,
Christine and I flew 3,300 kilometres south from Santiago
to Punta Arenas. From the window of the plane
we saw the Andes, a massive cordillera,
spreading wide and long and capped with snow.
On arrival at Punta Arenas airport it was raining
and extremely windy.
When we arrived at the backpackers’ hostel, we
were greeted by Ruth, Ana-Lya and Eleanor, who
had arrived earlier that day. Punta Arenas had
some large old houses set behind hedges and
tulips, but it also had a mishmash of sandstone,
concrete and brick buildings, as well as
ramshackle houses. Walking along the streets
that afternoon, I felt myself being pushed by
the strong wind. Later it was blowing a gale. The
trees and bushes bent with the wind. The
electric wires swung back and forth and the roof
rattled loudly. When I went to bed close to
midnight the sky was just getting dark while the
wind was still howling.
The next day we caught the bus to Puerto
Natales, which, at 51° 43’ 39” south, was
the
gateway to the national park of Torres del Paine.
It was a town of makeshift houses, the roofs of
which were scabby, rusty and rattled in the
wind. We stayed in Puerto Natales for one night
and the next day the six of us left by bus to Lago
Amarga Administration Centre, where we had to
register before our walk. Our first campsite was
at Campamento Torres. The Towers or Torres
formed a striking backdrop to this lush campsite. As in Punta
Arenas, nightfall at Torres del Paine was not until after
11pm and the day began at
about 4am.
The next day we left to walk to the Towers. At
the start, the terrain was treeless and the paths
steep. As we drew nearer to the Towers, the
climb was even more challenging. There was no
path. We followed orange dots painted on the
huge boulders. By now, there were only Ruth,
Myra, Christine and myself walking. Ana-Lya and
Eleanor had decided not to continue. The sun
was hot and my legs were tired, but I was
determined to press on After about 40 minutes
of this exhausting climb, I arrived at the edge of
the lake. Three towering rocks rose about 1km
above the lake on the other side, grey against
the green of the lake. The view was stunning
against the blue of the sky, I felt on top of the
world. After a total of 11 hours walk that day we
arrived back at our campsite.
The walk the next day to Campamento Cuernos
was very difficult. My pack was 18 kgs. Although
when training in Adelaide I swore I would not
carry more than 15 kgs, I had not been able to
keep the weight down. The path, which
included at least five river crossings, was
extremely challenging. The view was magnificent
with Lago Nordenskjold always in sight. After six
hours we arrived, and were in full view of the
huge horn-shaped rocks of the Cuernos.
On day four, we walked to Campamento Italiano.
It was a mere three hours walk according to the
map and easier than that covered the day before, although this
was too soon to say. The
path went up and up, around roots of trees and
boulders. There were streams to cross and many
bogs to walk through. During this walk I heard
the rumbling of avalanches thundering down
mountainsides, making snow storms on the face
of the mountains before making a big booming
sound as they entered the lake. I arrived at
Campamento Italiano exhausted and found that
Eleanor had fallen and injured her wrist. I felt
very sorry for her but thought that she would be
all right by the morning. Unfortunately this was
not so. That afternoon at Campamento Italiano
at the foot of Valle Frances, we sat on huge
boulders waiting to see avalanches. In front of
us was the fast running river, its water pristine
clean. Beyond were huge mountains covered in
solid snow, bluish white in colour with vertical
lines of deep aqua blue. A couple of condors flew
gracefully up and down the face of the
mountains.
When we woke up the following day, we found
that Eleanor’s wrist had become worse. Because
of that, she and Ana-Lya decided to walk to
Campamento Pehoe, where they could catch the
catamaran and return to Puerto Natales. Ruth,
Myra, Christine and I left Campamento Italiano
and walked to the head of Valle Frances. The
path was very steep and difficult, but when I got
to the top, the view was indescribable. I was
surrounded by the Cuernos and a row of snowcovered
mountains. Luxuriant beech trees grew
below me. Far away from where I sat, I saw a row
of snow capped mountains. It was a magnificent
view – the sky was blue with some white clouds.
I felt I was very close to the mountains. Time
stood still. Words could not describe the view
and the feeling I had.
Our destination on our sixth day was
Campamento Pehoe. The blue lake accompanied
us again, the clear shadow of the mountains on
its smooth surface. It was so peaceful. The
campsite faced the beautiful aqua blue Lago
Pehoe. At the far end of the lake was a row of
snow-covered mountains with a pointed
Fujiyama-like mountain at the end, and behind
us were the Cuernos again.
The next day, we left for Campamento Grey. As
we walked we suddenly saw the lake again but
this time we could see many icebergs floating in
it. The lake was blue and the icebergs pure
white. It was an astonishing sight. Our campsite
was on the shore of the lake, only a few metres
away from floating icebergs and Glacier Grey. I
never imagined seeing such an expanse of
glacier. It was not as smooth as I thought a
glacier would be, but jagged at the top and full
of clean vertical cracks, giving glimpses of
brilliant blues hidden within. The icebergs
floating on the lake looked like enormous
clumps of crystal. At night when the wind blew
hard, I could hear loud explosions, the sound of
icebergs bumping against each other.
Campamento Lago Grey was the end of the ‘W
walk’. We walked back the next day to
Campamento Pehoe to catch the catamaran that
took us to Pudeto. When we arrived at Pudeto
after a thirty minute ride on the catamaran, it
started to rain. Fortunately, nearby was an old‘
refugio’ we were allowed to use. The wind blew
so hard, apparently at 100 kilometres an hour,
that it rained horizontally. The next day the sky
was blue - not a hint of the raging wind and rain
of the night before. Before long the bus to the
administration centre arrived and we boarded it.
That night, we camped among the tall trees at
the back of the centre. In front of the office
there were clumps of purple, blue, lilac and pink
lupins with the Cuernos in the background. A
row of white picket fences marked the compound
of the centre. Chilean flags fluttered in the wind.
We had been very lucky to have such good
weather. While it had rained during the night,
the rain stopped before daybreak. It was windy,
but not all the time and never so windy that we
could not walk. The days had been glorious and
the mountains were clear all the time. I saw
glaciers, heard avalanches, saw giant icebergs,
rushing rivers and calm lakes. I saw condors,
rheas, guanacos, birds and ducks. I came across
different kinds of berries, flowers and flowering
bushes. I was privileged to see all these, often
at close proximity. I feel quietly proud of myself
to have walked to reach the snowlines of the
Andes mountain range at Torres del Paine in the
far south of Patagonia. |
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