Torres del Paine Circuit

Bussing into the park, we hit the trail and scooted up the mountain past large clusters of tourists. The cloudless sky allowed the sun to beat mercilessly upon us as we trudged up the trail with our heavy packs. 8 days of food weighs a fair amount, especially when carrying a lunch as exotic as carrots, peaches, avocado, and cheese. Such a feast, however, is reserved only for the energetic legs of day 1. It would be nothing but tuna, rice, beans, and cheese after that. Yet compared to other hikers, we ate like kings, and probably had enough chocolate to survive from it alone.



Really great photo, Will!

Arriving early in the afternoon at our campsite, we napped, ate a quick dinner, and scampered 45 minutes up to the lookout to watch the sun set. Will was bolder than I, and committed to rising at 5 am to watch the sunrise at the lookout. I witnessed one Patagonian sunrise in Bariloche and deemed myself exempt from the responsibility. I had no regrets for trading the sunrise for a few extra hours of sleep, but it was certainly spectacular. With a few basic tips, Will took some fantastic shots (one of which you already saw).



Torres del Paine from Laguna Amarga at the park entrance.

We left the mountains for the trail that would wind through the pampas and take us to the first backcountry campsite, Seron. The going was easy, only one hill (sort of) and the flat river valley proved to be quite pretty. The variety of grasses ranged from soft mauve brushes and delicately carved wheats which whispered as our legs brushed their tips. The attractive scenerycame as a relief to us, as the hike had started out being rather underwhelming. Walking along a poorly maintained gravel driveway for several miles when you paid a park entrance fee of $30 for a world class trek would come as a surprise to anybody.



Sunrise photo by Will

Torres del Paine National Park is a sadly mismanaged park. Will pointed out that there is just as much damage to the famous burn from this past January as the privately owned land... Cattle and horses displace guanacos (an endangered and endemic type of llama) from the pampas in the private section of the park--i never actually saw any wildlife in the park, save for a single condor. Pack horses supplying the refugios with an assortment of overpriced cookies, tuna, and beer erode the hiking trails more than a gaggle of inexperienced hikers--of which there are plenty. I could list the issues for an hour, but I will focus instead on the adventure we had, which despite the faults of the park, was good.




Arriving at Seron, we were quick to identify the insect which would determine what we would be wearing for the rest of the evening and part of our hike the next day: the mosquito. The cloud of mosquitoes surrounding my head made it impossible to think. I donned my rain jacket and pants and pulled the drawstring so only my eyes peeked out from my hood. Even Will was being mauled by the bloodsuckers! Apparently he is not immune to South American bugs, which I took some vengeance based pleasure in knowing. :)

We were in our tent the second dinner was done cooking and stuck for the rest of the night. Before I fell asleep, I counted around 200 mosquitoes and by midnight when Will awoke to a 1 liter water bottle of bladder pressure, he observed the convulsing tent covered in over 800 mosquitoes. We practically ran out of the campsite the next morning, despite our 40 and 50 pound packs.