W Trail Torres del Paine Report – Survivors´ Tale

Welcome back to the Geezer Blog. Given that you are reading this, you now know that we have completed and, dare I say, brilliantly conquered the last of the ¨Triple Crown¨ of Patagonian trekking.  Parts of this six day blog were written before, during and after the trek, often on scraps of napkins and paper, but I will try to avoid a ¨Cloud Atlasian¨ effect and properly order our trip.

David writing this blog

Warning: A picture is worth a thousand words and Simon´s pictures are worth even more, so for those of you who have a life to attend to please skip reading this part of the blog (but do look at the pictures). Much of what is written here was done in the hours spent recuperating from our daily tribulations and their glorious rewards - a dangerous concoction for rambling introspection.

1.Our days preparing for Torres:  We stayed 2 days in Puerto Natales (PN), preparing ourselves for the W-circuit of nearby Torres de Paine Chilean National park. Our circuit involves 6 days of trekking from refugio to refugio, with the goal of reaching some momentous vista every day.   The town was crammed with backpackers, all drawn to the Torres´ sights and challenges. During our stay in PN, our resolve was severely challenged as the notorious winds and rain of Torres howled and tormented us with horizontal sheets of rain.

2. To Torres:  We hardly recognize PN the day we leave as there is brilliant sunshine and only a mild breeze. As we drive through the park entrance herds of wild guanacos (llama family) are only slightly disturbed by our presence. The park’s glaciers, high peaks, deep valleys and rivers create a panoply of micro-climates, ensuring that any walk is a continually chnaging adventure. We find our bunks at Torres Base Camp and quickly escape for a quick, warm-up hike into the mountains. We are enveloped by a narrow, verdant valley, providing the first hints of the peaks to come.

3. First Stroke of the ‘W’. We leave base camp headed for the crown of the park, Las Torres. As with the visit to any ‘shrine’, an important part is the journey. Our pilgrimage begins on a narrow path that precariously hugs the edge of a steep canyon. A glacier river roars a thousand feet below. Death-defying, horseback-riding gauchos speed past us, carrying supplies to the Chileno Refugio, our stop for the night. After 4 hours of treacherous climbs, we descend to Chileno on the valley floor. We drop our bags at Chileno and head to Torres which sits majestically on the other side of the valley. The terrain quickly changes as we enter a deep forest fed by raging glacier streams. 

Two hours later we reach the enormous rock field (the litter of millions of years of Torres’ erosion) that begins at the valley floor and continues almost 800 meters to its base).  It’s an arduous ascent through a miraculous route that navigates us through boulders and rocks of every shape and size. As we scamper over the last ridge, we are rewarded with the glorious spectacle of Torres’ four granite towering obelisks, bathed by a perfectly clear, sun-drenched sky. The clouds that, even on a clear day, stubbornly cling to the peaks have vanished.  The southern summer sun has become our faithful hiking partner.  Crystal clear lagoons catch Torres’ ice and snow melts that often explode into thunderous avalanches.  (Simon’s pictures say it all).

 {thanks, David, for the kind words - SF }

 

Torres started life millions of years ago deep underground as a lava field and then, as the Pacific and Atlantic tectonic plates collided, Torres sprung like wings, thousands of meters above the Andean landscape. Originally a single peak, snow, rain, ice and wind have masterfully sculptured the rock into four majestic towers. With many others, we spend hours ingesting its mystical presence that shifts with the setting sun. With some regret, we slowly descend back to Chileno.

4. An Evening of Retrospection (as suggested before, this part in particular can be skipped).  At Chileno, with Torres reflecting an almost full moon, we are surrounded by hikers of all sizes, nationalities and ages. We all have travelled thousands of miles, taken nauseating bus rides through endless switchbacks, hiked countless miles with loaded packs over torturous paths. The question I have is ‘why?’. This question quickly engages us along with a young Danish couple having supper with us (especially the young man, a disillusioned car salesman). Like religion and drugs for some, we all long to escape our broken, ephemeral lives by connecting to something larger than ourselves - the ecstasy that the ancients Greeks sought.  For many of us, nature’s strength and beauty allows us to, at least momentarily, flee our ‘mortal coil’. Days later we pass our Danish salesman and he shouts that he is getting closer to the answer. What are your thoughts?

Contemplating

5. The Middle Stroke of the ‘W’:  We have two days of hiking to complete this part. We wake to another brilliant day. Torres, which is gleaming in a dazzling sunrise, towers over our glass breakfast nook. As we leave Chileno, we look back for one last view of Torres and then head to Los Cuernos base camp. It’s another salubrious day, the fertile valley floor lies ahead of us. As we cross a rocky river bed, we bump into the remains of a gaucho saddle and a load of supplies. 

We remembered that the gauchos we had met the evening before were also ‘loaded’ with a few too many Pisco Sours.  Pastures open before us and before long our gaucho friends appear at full gallop corralling a herd (what is a group/team of horses called?) of magnificent stallions.

Seven hours later as we approach Los Cuernos (horns in Spanish) camp we begin to see glimpses of the black cone-shaped peaks that appear to teeter on top of snow covered mountains rising vertically several thousand feet. Seeing Los Cuernos up close is our next day’s objective. 

Our cabins by the waterfall

Luxury awaits us as we have individual cabins nestled beside a raging waterfall with skylights over our beds, revealing a star-studded southern sky.

A primitive hot-tub (really a lukewarm water barrel) with a submerged wood stove could only attract our male contingent. 

We wake to morning sunshine. This is, by far, our most challenging day as we have over 11 hours of difficult hiking with a serious climb up the ‘French Valley’  to get close to Los Cuernos´ horns.  First,  it’s a 2.5 hour trek up and down the water´s edge to Camp Italiano which lies at the base of the French Valley.

 

There, along with tens of others, we leave our heavy packs, bring a light lunch and gear for the always threatening Patagonian storms. At the best of times, it´s 6 hours up and down. Half way up we exit the woods and confront a massive mountain glacier across the valley.

The now familiar exploding ice fields send whiffs of snow down the mountainside. The weather is turning dark and the word is spreading among most hikers that it is not worthwhile continuing as the cloud cover was too thick. We soldier on for another hour to where we reach the decision point every French Valley hiker must make - the next part involves a half hour scrambling up vertical rock faces. We all turn to Esther and without hesitation she points upwards into the clouds and we ascend.  As we reach the summit, high above, the clouds break just enough to reveal Los Cuernos’ horns in a mystical spectacle of rock and mist. We lie captivated by an on-going game of peak-a-boo.

We made it to the top...

...and here´s the reward for making it

We start climbing down knowing that the Geezers never take ‘no’ for an answer and the rewards do always come. Half way down, we face rain for the first time but we are well prepared. We arrived at our next refugio Paine Grande to thundering applause as many of the friends we had met at previous refugios see us marching through the rain as the sun sets behind us.

6. The Last Stroke:  For the first time we wake to rain but we have still kept the ugly wind gods at bay. We put on our full rain gear and head north to Glacier Grey. It´s only a 4 hour hike but the rain makes the up-hills and especially the rocky down-hills treacherous. We meander through pastoral valleys for several hours. We reach then Lago Grey, the huge lake at the base of the Glacier. It is lined with icebergs of every description. The heavy clouds change our usual perspective of looking up to looking downward and inward.  The path on the left follows the lake and the right is flanked by a huge mountain glacier that we could only imagine as all we hear and see are raging mountain waterfalls that stream down its side. We arrive at Refugio Grey, a delightful, modern chalet. We are wet but our weather gear preserved.

Victory dance - we finished the W!

 As we sit and relax in the lounge, the rain intensifies and we watch as more and more desperate hikers arrive. This wretched march continues well into the night with horror stories of swollen rivers flooding many trails.

Esther and Annice in the kayak

The next morning the weather broke and we decided to take a glacier kayak trip. Our guides quickly had us dressed in wet suits, booties and gloves, launching us onto the glacier lake.  We kayaked close to marooned dark blue icebergs, some several stories high; close to the glacier’s edge, looking up its vast ice fields; and past stunning glacier water falls. It was thrilling to be so close and personal with these water sentinels

The mountains as seen from the boat...

By the time we left Grey, the sky was turning blue, all signs of the past rain quickly disappeared. We now had 6 hours to return to Paine Grande to catch the catamaran and bus home that evening.  We tried to hike quickly but we could not resist the views behind us. Glacier Grey was perhaps the most spectacular vista of visit. It looms unbelievably large, its three massive ice fields spilling into its lake. With the clouds of the previous day gone, enormous snow peaked mountain chains ringed our path and the lakes reflected the rich blue skies.

...and as seen by our artist, Annice

 

Some extra pictures 

Goodbye Argentina, hello Chile

So far we have been writing about all the special places we were visiting in Argentina. Now I would like to say a few words about the "in-between" places, like when we were traveling long distances by bus between these special places.

Patagonia seen through the window of a speeding bus leaves a very deep, unforgettable impression. I finally realized it on our last bus ride in Argentinian Patagonia, the six hour trip from El Calafate to Puerto Natales in Chile.

You ride for hundreds of kilometers on mostly well paved roads, with very few intersections, very few cars, through a mostly empty desert-like countryside. The terrain is most often flat or gently rolling, with occasional views of high, snow covered mountains in the distance. The dominant colours are brown and yellow, with green shades of the low vegetation and low-lying, wind-swept shrubs. Trees are rare. All along the road, for hundreds of kilometers on both sides, runs a wood-and-wire fence with an occasional gate guarding a dirt road going nowhere you can see. These fences run along every road, big and small. The fences are not high, and they certainly don't stop the guanacos (wild lamas) that hop over them so gracefully. What are they for?

We eventually understood that these are sheep fences of the haciendas that cover most of Patagonia's land. The hacienda consists of a small group of buildings, only sometimes visible from the road, a few trees around the house, and huge tracts of fenced land with some dry vegetation. Most are far from the power grid - they generate their own electricity from gas, and often hours away from the nearest small town. It is hard to imagine the life of a family in this isolated environment. No wonder that many of the haciendas are abandoned.
Since everything looks empty, you can only guess the hacienda is abandoned by the broken roof, doors and windows of its house. Even on the active ones you don't see many sheep, they are spread out throughout the vast spaces needed to feed them. It appears that what was once a huge economic activity is now in decline. Still, the patagonian lamb is served in every restaurant, and it is by far the best lamb I (Simon) have ever had. You can see it through restaurant windows: a few complete lambs cut open, spread out upright on a spit and grilling for hours until so tender the meat melts in your mouth (apologies to vegetarians). I'll post a picture when I take one.

And we cannot leave Argentina without saying a few words about the people.  In one word, they are delightful. Saying hello to passing strangers with a big smile that looks like it's coming from the heart. Always ready to talk to you and to help. In stores and restaurants, no-nonsense service with a greeting and a smile (not fake), answer all your questions whether you buy or not, nobody tried to take advantage of us. Also the children are treated respectfully, and are usually polite and with good manners. We were also impressed by the artisans doing handicrafts in small shops, small markets and on the street. Many very creative and talented. Most are aboriginals and use native themes and materials in their art. Because of our attempt to minimize our baggage, we didn't collect souvenirs, just memories.




Our first day in Chile was spent preparing for the trek but as so often happens a laid back day turns into something memorable. Walking along the port in Puerto Natales gave us a feel for the strong winds to come.

The dock was empty except for a few fishing boats constantly turning in the wind. On the dock we came across an old bus with menus in the window.

The inside was lined with counters and the back was a tiny kitchen. As we waited for our lunch we had a great view and were gently rocked by the winds. Our lunch of grilled fish (conger, a Chilean eel, very tasty) on a plate size roll layered with tomatoes, lettuce and a mayonnaise sauce was one of the top 10 meals of the trip. The owner knows how to live. It is open only on Mondays from 7:30 AM to 2:00 AM, when the trucks arrive, and the rest of the time he fishes and enjoys life.

As a bonus to our faithful readers, here are pictures showing typical houses in Puerto Natales. Note the one with a monkey puzzle tree in front (remember?)

 

 Another small bonus before we go incommunicado for 6 days at least: a video taken from the boat going along the Perito Moreno glacier:

Patagonia on ice

As we leave El Chalten, some parting notes on it's famous Fitz Roy peak. First, it is named after the captain of Darwin's ship, The Beagle. It is considered the holy-grail of Patagonian climbing, and is second only to Everest in difficulty, primarily due to its sheer vertical granite faces, requiring exceedingly technical climbing in death-defying winds:

Fitz Roy from the base

Geezers by the glacier lake at the end of the climb

And for those statisticians among you, Everest is frequently climbed by more than 100 in a day, while Fitz Roy's peaks are not successfully ascended more than once a year. Just getting to the base of the rock face was an exciting challenge for us, rewarded by the surprising discovery of crystal green lakes fed by falling ice from the peaks.

As Simon clicked away, Esther found a small rock shelter where we escaped the wind for a well deserved lunch break.

Celebrating the end of the hike

After a long descent, we ended up right in El Chalten, in time for a dinner followed by a real and improved hot chocolate.

We left El Chalten on a rainy morning that made this frontier town look even more desolate and headed to El Calafate, 220km further south (remember south here means colder and more windy). The winds are so ferocious that the world's record for gliding was set near Calafate at an altitude of over 50,000 ft - a 747 travels at 30,000 ft. We expect that Simon's hat will soon break that record.

As opposed to El Chalten, El Calafate is a hub of activity as it is the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and perhaps the world's most famous glacier, Perito Moreno. (Calafate is the name of a common Patagonian bush with yellow flowers and deep blue berries that is an excellent ingredient for ice cream and liqueur - but that's another story). As soon as arrived we quickly signed up for a glacier tour and trek.

First view of Perito Moreno

A glacier is a complex geological structure -- but basically can be defined as a place where the accumulation, over a long period of time, of snow and ice is greater than the amount that melts and sublimates. For those of you left in Montreal, no - the sidewalks of NDG are not scientifically considered glaciers yet.

The first step in touring the Perito Moreno Glacier is a visit to a network of decks perched just in front of the glacier's edge, feeding Argentina's massive Lago Argentino. At this point, the glacier's edge towers over 50 meters high and several kilometers wide.

The ice field extends back through high peaks far into the horizon, and there it is in a constant cacophonous state of groaning, crackling and exploding as the ice field drifts to its demise into the lake. It moves at an incredible rate of two meters a day so pieces are continually breaking off in front of the galleries.

Crampons on

We spent a few hours running along the galleries trying to catch the glacier in action. We then bussed down to a boat that ferried us along the glacier's edge to the other side where we began our glacier trek. We donned crampons and were led away to the actual glacier.
First we walked on moraine which is the 'garbage' of rocks, sand and tree trunks left behind by retreating glaciers. Arriving at the glacier, we were not prepared for the surreal landscape of its surfaces. Deep crevasses, high peaks, cracks, blue water streams, rolling hills - the glaciers continuous shifting and rupturing create an ever-changing dreamscape of colours and topology.

 We spent almost every minute of the the
1.5 hour walk being astonished by the new variety of ice and landscape. Our guides ended our trek with a glass of 8-year aged whiskey, cooled with well chosen 400-year aged ice. We could strongly recommend the ice (see below)

From El Calafate we continue our adventure to an even more southern destination, Puerto Natales in Patagonian Chile, approaching the tip of South America. We are set to start our 5 day trek in Torres del Paine National Park. The entire town is flooded with serious backpackers as the park treks are for the serious (or seriously foolish) hikers. The winds howl unabated across thousands of miles of cold Pacific water. We are steeling ourselves for one of our major challenges.

We will be completely unwired until next Monday or so, until then, ciao.

On the main street of El Calafate

One more things before we go off-line: remember the question in the last blog? Well, here is another one in the same spirit:  what are the most important cities in the world, according to El Calafate residents? The answer is in the picture, so no prize for guessing right.

Hiking around el Chalten, thanks to cypro

All digestive systems were in good order for the flight from Barriloche and bus ride to El Chalten, The 3 hour bus ride was through pampas. In the front window were the approaching peaks of Fitz Roy which were topped with fluffy white clouds against a bright blue sky. The clouds would occasionally lift to reveal the sharp peaks crowned with snow. El Chalten feels like a town out of the old west, populated almost entirely by all variety of trekkers. Trekking is easy here; the trails start from town and there are no park fees.

Walking intgo el Chalten

El Chalten is perhaps what Banff was 70 years ago-- three paved streets, maybe 10 in total, with a permanent population of 300 hardy souls who live here year-round, many of them climbers who own small outfitting or guiding operations, and whose wives run 3-6 room hostels, or coffee shops like the extraordinarily good Chocolateria whose melted dark chocolate milk with Tia Maria almost cured David of his cold and stomach cramps all at once.

Like the earlier Banff, El Chalten is almost a ghost town in winter--a time when locals make artesanal jams, crafts and chocolates or decamp to larger cities like Buenos Aires. The architecture is nothing to speak of -- ramshackle slap-togethers and add-ons and yet....it's welcoming and warm with homespun wood furniture everywhere, often with the rough bark still on.

But it's the wind that defines El Chalten, and much of Patagonia. The most surprising feature of all buildings? Windows that look out onto the Andes but don't open! The first night we were incensed to realize our large window was just a framed glass the only ventilation a cracked bottom corner. Taking a walk around town, we realized every single building is the same, and it's because of the wind. Most buildings use their doors for ventilation and all houses and hotels have large rocks available to keep the door from blowing open and smacking the person on the other side.

Lying in bed at night listening to the wind you'd think there was a full-scale winter storm on, complete with howling, shaking and rattling -- But thats just a regular summer day in Patagonia, rain or shine. Climbing up beyond street level for hikes therefore, quickly becomes challenging, with photos blurred by the wind gusts and sandwiches virtually snatched out of your hand or off your lap.

The first day here we took a long but flatter hike to the most accessible glacier lake, maybe 18 km through the wind-stunted forests to the most perfectly turquoise glacier lake, fed by a waterfall and ice that breaks off the surrounding mountains.

It was good practice for the next day's extravaganza hike almost 25 km of continual but manageable climb up a neighbouring mountain to get as close as possible to see up close la grande dame of south america, Mount Fitzroy. Fitzroy is the 2nd-most technically difficult peak to climb after Everest. While our hike was nowhere near the top, (which can only be climbed by professionals, a few of which lose their life each year trying), it was very tough. The last hour or two was very steep and on very stony rough terrain above the tree line, in very cold windy conditions. The Geezers were amazing!! We saw two young ladies from our bus ride sitting discouraged an hour from the top; i'd say were were definitely among the oldest of the bunch we saw that day, but we were also impressed to see a family with young teenaged girls and boys slugging it out to get to the beautiful views where hikers reached their limits.

We reluctantly left el Chalten on a rainy afternoon, after a day admiring the Viedma glacier. To reach it we crosses the blue lake on a catamaran that veered between the broken off pieces of the glacier. All of us felt we could happily return for a longer stay. ....next up...our glacier adventures.

Regarding my riddle about the dinosaur tree - a couple of people identified it in their comments! it is called the monkey puzzle tree. Congratulations Lysanne, Lisa and anonymous.
Another question: what are the three most spoken languages in Patagonia? The picture below contains the answer:

How to find our last blog

This is just a short note to say that our last blog entry, Parque Nacional Los Alerces, got somehow pushed down, so it appears below the previous one, in case you were looking for the new one.

We are now in el Chalten, a beautifully situated tiny town between mountains and glaciers, but with very poor internet connection. We are all well enough now to have had a long spectacular  hike today. A full report with pictures will reach our faithful followers when we get to a place with better connection.

Slip sliding away in Valdes

We try not to bore our loyal readership with daily updates
But yesterday's mountain biking was so exceptional we couldn't wait. Mario, who runs the local restaurant, giftshop and bike rental, was our guide, together with Nahuel,his childhood friend and brother in law. (Mario is also a committed tennis player and fan, but that's another story.)

Our adventure Through the Valdes inland and unknown beaches began at 2 pm in order to catch the amazing sunsets from various island vistas around 8:30 in the evening. Mario and Nahuel have put in six years (with the help of google maps) mapping out routes to an amazing variety of secluded beaches -- the "white beach" was a milky landscape covered ankle-deep in white sea-shells, and with bright yellow flowers poking through, a once-in-20-year miracle. Other beaches were surrounded by fossil walls millions of years old, from when Argentina lay at the bottom of the ocean. Check out Simon's pictures and coming soon are some video clips of our trip filmed by Mario and Nahuel.

Even more amazing were our female cyclists, who were a bit apprehensive about their abilities. Watched over by Nahuel, Esther and Annice soldiered up and down steep niches, often in deep sand -- usually on their bikes, sometimes on foot, but always doing much more than they had thought they were capable of.

We rode across low-tide seabeds, shellcovered beaches, along canyon riverbeds, and through thorny bushes which gave us a couple of flat tires, but nothing more serious. Guanacos ran wild in the bushes around us. The 4-inch needles on the thornbushes kept us on guard and changing tubes 3 times. We swam in two magnificent beaches and watched the gorgeous red sunsets as we cycles the last of our 30 km adventure.

The cycle was thrilling and exhausting for Esther and myself. The last climb seemed to go on forever. Mario was well prepared for the trip, including a feast of bananas, cold watermelon, juice and water at the end of the trip.

The day gave us a unique opportunity to be immersed in stunning cliffs, valleys and canyons in subtle shades of beige and grey, described by Esther as "greige". The "greige" that would be suddenly contrasted by a majestic blue ocean as we came to the top of a cliff or turned a corner. In this place there is always the opposite of the dry mountains made up of the visible layers of shells and sand with the clear bluish green deep waters. It is a magical place that gets under your skin like the fine grains of sand.

We became good friends with our guides Mario and Nahuel, who sent us many pictures and videos taken on the trip. Their web site is: www.traccion-asangre.com.ar
The poor internet connections we deal with don't always allow us to post everything we want when we want. We will try to put the pictures and videos on when possible.

And finally, we have received some comments on our blogs, and we loved reading them. Keep your comments coming!