Torres del Paine

Our guide, Mariano, an Italian guy who also dives under ice for fun, held a meeting with us to make sure we are prepared for the 3 day 2 night trek.  He predicted fabulous conditions and we had them!  We were all prepared for wind and rain, but instead had sun, 25 degrees, and no wind.

The first day was the longest and toughest trek, 22 km over 10 hours, the toughest part bringing us to the base of the granite Towers of Paine.  Views can often be obscured by clouds but we had perfect photo ops.  Our tour leader carried a bottle of champagne to the top so we could celebrate.  That night we camped at a private camp run by G Adventures, with great food and pisco sours, an iconic Peruvian drink, waiting for us when we arrived around 8:30.  We even had Camanere red wine, a Chilean wine that has been revived after it was thought the berry was extinct.  We had a warm night and full moon, but everyone crashed right after dinner and showers.  I have the start of a blister on my little toe….

The next day we went by ferry to our next camp, a crowded public one, with a few hundred campers, mostly Chilenos on summer holidays.  We hiked to the French Valley for amazing views in all directions, beneath a huge glacier losing small pieces and making thunderous noises.  This was only 20 km and a shorter steep uphill, and 8 hours.  By the end of it I wanted to cut my foot off.  Instead Dennis, the Danish guy in our group who was a wilderness guide in Lapland, performed blister surgery on my little toe.  It was a great relief but still left me limping.  We had another really warm night with a great moon and some of the others stayed up to drink wine, but my stressful surgery sent me off to hit the comfy sleeping bags we had rented.

 The last day in Torres del Paine was a short 4 hour hike to Lago Grey and the base of yet another glacier.  We had to hoof it to catch the ferry back.  The wind picked up to be more what we expected, but we were still very lucky.  The van waiting for us at the other end of the ferry was once blown over by the wind!  Back to where we started in Puerto Natales, we went out for pizza and drinks around a fire behind a restaurant to celebrate!