The Towers of Pain(e)

Glacier Grey the next day
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We considered this to be a highlight of South America, on a par with trekking to Lost Inca cities or visiting the Iguazu falls. The fabled W trek. A hard trekking experience in stunning mountain ranges. The best known and most spectacular feature are the three towering granite monoliths (Torres Del Paine) ranging from 2500m to 3000m altitude. This national park has a reputation for extremely changable weather due to high winds.

Day 1. We meet up with Dave and get on the bus to the National Park. We have decided not to walk into the park, this adds on an extra day of trekking, so we get off the bus at the last stop next to a ferry that takes us across Lake Pehoe (pronounced Pay Hoe Eh not the slightly rude way). Whilst waiting for the ferry, Dave decides to try and fit in Mirador Pehoe (viewpoint) in, it sounds like too much hard work so we chat to two girls, Thea (Norwergian)and Beatrice (French) who are doing the W as well. Dave runs up a nearby hill and almost misses the ferry, after realising the futility of his mission almost too late. (he has a problem with missing things) We get amazing views as we cross the lake, our Berghaus gear is coming in very useful in the extreme winds.

... watch the Torres turn golden in the rising suns rays!

A little owl that we met on the way
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The trek from Refugio Pehoe north to Campamento Los Guardas next to Glacier Grey is mostly uphill, Dave,Thea and Beatrice are faster than us so they head off ahead. About half an hour later we catch up with them. Beatrice had sprained/broken her ankle! She was caught off guard crossing some rocks in the winds and blown over. She is very upset that her trekking is over so soon. Tragic. We all pull together and bandage her up, support her and carry her stuff back down the hill towards Pehoe until Beatrice insists we continue on our route. Thea continues with her and the next people we come across promise to help them out when they catch up. Thea soon catches up. She's decided to walk to the glacier and then head back to look after Beatrice. Crazy, as we're talking about an eight hour round trip. We never see Beatrice again but later we heard it was a sprain and she wasn't allowed to stress it for 2 weeks minimum.

A gaucho and his horses
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We reach Lago Grey in the rain, making it difficult to appreciate the largest glacier in the park lurking at the far end of the lake. Our route approaching Glacier Grey takes us to the refugio next to the lake. We make the challenging yet right decision not to camp there but to continue an hour further uphill to campamento Los Guardas next to the glacier. This turns out to be in a far nicer campsite (and free!). Dave and I get an opportunity to scramble down very steep valley sides to get as close to the glacier as we can (50m at least). We could have gone further but we might have got stuck rock climbing back out!

Pretty flowers and beautiful sky
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The days last soooo long here, we had trekked for 7 hours, arriving late evening and the sun doesn't set until after 10:30pm. Crazy but we are way south in Southern Hemisphere summer. Makes the trekking all day possible but feels weird going to bed and it's still light! Our camp has a good shelter and we meet loadsa other trekkers. Including two harcore trekker types who have cheated the system and almost finished doing the complete circuit. They show us pictures of waist deep snow fields they had to cross at the pass 8 hours north of our location. Not for the faint hearted! You needed a 100 litre backpack just to carry the 9 days of food..

close up
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Day 2. The weather gods are smiling on us. No rain and we get better glacier views as it majestically winds it way up the valley. Our route is back to Refugio Pehoe and then eastwards to Valley Frances stopping overnight at the campamento Italiano at the base of the valley. Dave races off ahead as usual, his plan is to camp further north in the Valley Frances so we expect to see him tomorrow at some point. The route back to Pehoe goes without problem or surprises (kinda the problem when you're returning the way you came). Claire is having problems again with her left knee going downhill but she soldiers on. She hired walking poles from Erratic Rock and they're coming in useful. Less impact and Claire can last longer. Our route from Pehoe to Camp Italiano takes us past lake Pehoe and through some quite exposed sections, the wind really picks up here and within minutes the rain hits. The weather here changes so quickly! We shelter behind a boulder and cook up some soup. After soldiering on for another hour in the driving rain and wind, the weather clears again and we start appreciating the stunning mountains again. We can see Mascara clearly, it has this two tone effect, a maroon/grey. Unlike any other mountain we've ever seen before. Soon we reach the base of Valley Frances and camp Italiano only 7 hours after leaving Glacier Gray camp. The camp has a beligerent warden who tells us stuff we know already. I.e. not to leave a mess and to carry your rubbish with you. It's not what you say, but how you say it! Later on we are cooking our feast in the basic shelter and he comes over and tells some other new arrivals his little speech. Unlike us, they actually speak spanish fluently and are not impressed with his manner. We all reckon he's got cabin fever after being stuck on camp alone for too long. The "Wilson" football confirms our thoughts! (From the film "Castaway")

What a view over the lake
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Day 3. We get up early, leave our tent and carry minimum stuff up Valley Frances (a 3 hour return trip), it's a dream to not be carrying our packs! Valley Frances is ringed by stunning mountains. We were told it's almost always cloudy and so are prepared for the lack of the views. Occasionally the mist clears and we get a view of the horned peak Cuernos Italiano on one side and the sheer face of Paine Grande on the other. At the  highest point in the valley we stop and have lunch and patiently wait for the clouds to clear. We never get a full 360 degree view but its stunning nevertheless. We head back down the valley to our camp and pack up. In the rain. Boo. It's a difficult decision to head out into the downpour but we've got to get to Refugio Los Cuernos (it's only 2.5 hours away). The weather all the way there was pretty bad, my Berghaus waterproof trousers passed their first major test! We lost Claire's in Peru and her hired trousers weren't good enough. We were both soaked by the time we arrived and camped in the trees near the shore of Lago Nordenskjol. We headed into the refugio (basically a hostel) to pay our camping fees, dry off and warm up. First stop was the big canteen area, all polished wood, long tables and a wood burning stove! It was wonderfully warm and packed with lots of wet trekkers. Luckily Hester and Frank were here, they made space for us and we squeezed onto a crowded long table. We hung our wet rainwear up to dry and put our boots near the stove. Bliss! The downside was the cost of food & drink (all supplies had to be delivered on horseback!), Hester & Frank were most of the way through a bottle of wine so we decided to join them. Claire put her foot down and demanded we pay more for a decent bottle of wine. Which was well worth it. We shared trekking yarns and arrranged to meet again the following evening at refugio Chileno. A difficult decision was made not to sucuumb to the warmth and eat there too, instead we forced ourselves back to the tent for yummy pasta & sauce. I am craving chocolate but the refugio tuckshop has run out! Gutted.

Callum fills the water pouch from the fresh stream, yum
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Day 4: A very windy night and not much sleep, we awake to a clear day with winds that literally blow you off your feet! I head down to the shore of the lake Nordenskjol to witness the sheer force of the gale. The winds whip across the lake, picking up spray as they go. You can actually see the wind front approaching! Very exciting! The spray catches the sunlight and forms fantastic rainbows, I try and catch a rainbow by snapping pics at the last moment before getting blown down. Great fun.. We pack up and carefully head off with the lake on the right and huge mountains on the left. It's quite scary/exciting to begin with as our route is exposed to the winds. You just have to stop moving and hunker down every time you feel the wind gusts. Our destination today was Campamento Torres, a long long way away! It's at the base of the Torres Del Paine the highlight of this national park. The weather is beautiful but windy. We pass Refugio Chileno on the way and do have some regrets about not staying in the comfort there! We reach Camp Torres to see our friends Dave, Thea, Frank & Hester sunbathing on boulders nearby. They have all been upto the Torres viewpoint already and recommend we go straight away as the Torres aren't covered in cloud. Frank & Hester are heading back to the luxury of Refugio Chileno. Softies! We camp and head off to the viewpoint before it gets dark. It's a challenging hour scramble up a boulderfield to reach the viewpoint with the torres in view at last. Wow, some people come all this way and it's cloudy but we can see them clearly! Exhausted we return to camp slowly as Claires knee is quite bad, have good banter with Dave & Thea, drink Bolivian Rum and crash.

Scenery change as we hit meadowland
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Day 5: We have been recommended a sunrise scramble upto the Mirador Las Torres viewpoint, Claire opts out because of her knee. Dave, Thea, Cecilia (Swedish girl we befriended) and I set alarms for 4am and climb boulderfield in the dark with our headtorches. It's totally worth it. A clear morning and the Torres look awesome. We get an amazing sunrise and watch the Torres turn golden in the rising suns rays! Breathtaking. We all make it safely back to camp, and breakfast with Claire. Today we walk out to Hosteria Las Torres where the bus to Puerto Natales will pick us up. The route back is mainly downhill and Claire is finding it difficult. Her knee is really sore now. We slowly descend and reach the bus stop with an hour to spare. Frank and Hester are waiting there, Dave & Thea are nowhere to be seen. Turns out they had buffet lunch in the hostria (Hotel). We are all suitably jealous!

The valley heading up to Torres del Paine
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Back in Puerto Natales we all celebrate completing the W by eating at Indigo again. Fantastic food! Though there is quite a strong smell of cheesy feet!