Torres del Paine

"This is not my idea of fun... but I am enjoying myself."

I said this to my friend and fellow trekker, Martha, as we maneuvered through muddy, waterlogged trails while being punched in the face with heavy winds and drenched with cold rains as we carried 30lb. packs. It was Day 4 of my hike on the "W" trail in Torres del Paine National Park in the Chilean Patagonia, which was one of the most beautifully arduous adventures I have ever had.

Las Andinistas (The Hikers):
Jordan Crabtree (super-outdoorsman), Martha Thomas (showtune singin' Iowan), Johnny Anderson-Hermann (backpack jerry-rigger), Jess Wartenweiler (li'l wena), Kelsea Anderson (1st to puke), Lee Meryash (2nd to puke), and myself (3rd to puke). Must've been some bad water. No bueno. We also picked up 2 more andinistas; Jon from Hawaii who is doing a 6 month exploration of Sud America, and Andrew, an exchange student from England who is studying in Santiago.

Before making the epic 6day/5night journey, we spent the night in Puerto Natales, a small town 2 hours southeast of the Torres; the gateway city for tourists and backpackers. Omar, the owner of our hostel, outlined and ideal route for us to take. After breakfast on Sunday monring, we bussed out at 7:30, making it to our starting point around 11:30.

El Viento (The Wind)
Tremendous, unrelenting, gale force winds were a frequent obstacle/spectacle the first few days of the hike. Leaning into each step, it seemed as if the wind was trying to obstruct my path, warning me of impending hardship and pain.

La Lluvia (The Rain)
Constant, unforgiving, cold rains made for an awful experience. I discovered one of the worst feelings in the world is putting on cold, wet clothes on a shivering body. The rain had seeped through my outer layer jacket, infiltrated my upper layer, soggied up my undershirt, and found its ultimate victim.. my thermal longsleeve. Brrrr...

El Sol (The Sun)
The morning of the 5th day was one of the happiest moments that I've had in recent history. AFter two straight days of rain, and hiking with a sick stomach, I woke up to clear skies and an inspirational sunrise. Things are so much more enjoyable when the weather is nice.
Sunscreen is a necessity, however, due to an immense hole in the earth's atmosphere in the southern hemisphere. Muy peligroso! (very dangerous!)


SUMMARY
The first day of the hike was cake; a simple four hour hike to our first campsite, Paine Grande. Within that time though, Johnny managed to get lost and ended up hiking by himself for the last couple hours. Apparently he was a minute behind and didn't realize we had stopped for lunch at a nearby campsite. Oops!

The second day was more challening. It was about five-and-a-half hours to Camp Grey. Steep hills climbed us to great lookouts of luminescent lakes and blue glaciers. It was as if I was on another planet, the lake displaying some sort of green-blue color; a sort of olive-azure hue that was riddled with white rips of splashes. A one-hour hike after setting up camp, I found myself on a cliff overlooking a massive glacier spanning for miles and miles. A mountainous background, topped with thick clouds under a setting sun set the scene for a sobering sight.

The third day was rainy, cold, and windy, At least the wind was on our backs this time, pushing us in the right direction. Heavy winds and flooding prevented us from making the trek to Camp Italiano in the middle valley of the W.

The fourth day brought a constant rain and was probably one of the worst days I've experienced in quite a while. Having not slept much because of my sick stomach, I was exhausted. The trails were muddy and flooded and parts were so submerged in water that it was difficult to see where the trail lead. I went to bed wet and cold.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night. I woke up around 2. I could hear the wind coming from a mile away. It came in waves like the ocean, the leaves of the trees spashing in the air.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I felt something sucrry across the side of my head! I sat up in a hurry and started shouting "Something just crawled across my ear!" Jordan and Martha woke up and tried to get more information from me, but I just kept yelling "Something just crawled across my ear! Jordan ignited his flashlight and whipped out his knife, which he handed to me for some reason. "What just crawled across my head?!"
After some minutes, we finally spotted the culprit. A field mouse had chewed through our tent and was enjoying a bag of M&Ms and oatmeal.

The morning of the fifth day was the glorious morning, aforementioned. I woke up to clear skies and a sun beaming its soulful rays on the worn, wrinkly mountain faces that towered over our campsite. A most beautiful treat for the human eye. And ahh.. no rain.
It was a long hike to our last campsite of the hike. Camp Torres.


At 5:30 am on the sixth day, I woke up to Jordan moving around in the tent. In two minutes we were conquering a mountain, hustling up one kilometer into the sky to catch the sunrise. It was one of the hardest climbs I've ever done. But in the end, it was totally worth. The sky to the east was scattered with clouds, the sun bouncing vibrant reds and awesome reds that weaved through the stratus.
It was pure beauty.

I left the park that day feeling an overall sense of graciousness. Not many people have had the opportunities that I have had. I don't take for granted my adventures here in Chile, or on Earth for that matter. I am thankful for everyday that I'm alive. And so should you. You never know when a natural disaster, like an earthquake, could change your life.


(I am currently in Angol, Chile at a high school where I've been teaching for 2 weeks now. I will update you next time of my adventures teaching kids who don't want to study English.)