Puerto Natales - Torres Del Paine
Getting Ready to Hike (Can We Do This?)
Tuesday January 8, 2008
It was a bit hectic getting off the cruise ship early Saturday morning and then having only one afternoon to reorganize luggage and rinse out the smelliest of the smelly clothing, but we lived through it without too much yelling and crying, and the incredible packing and stuffing of everyone and everything into the truck on Sunday morning proceeded methodically (if not smoothly) until it was all in there somehow. We pulled onto Highway 3 North a little after 9:00 am, and then sat and listened to an audio book for the next 12 hours, with one international border crossing and a short ferry ride as the only notable diversions during the trip.
The driving was relatively easy and listening to the story helped pass the time for everyone, so when we found our hotel along the waterfront in Puerto Natales a little after 8:00pm (we gained an hour when we crossed into Chile), everyone was still in pretty good shape mentally and physically - except for Lynn. She had been fighting a loosing battle with a cold that kept getting worse and worse all day, and she was feverish and weak. We were supposed to start an 8 day tour of Parque Torres del Paine the next day which included a 4-day trek and Lynn needed some serious bed rest so how this was going to work out was a concern for us all.
A tour company guide met us at our hotel around noon the next day to take us to lunch before driving up into the park (a few hours drive north of Pto. Natales), and we explained the situation/dilemma to him during lunch. At first he didn't seem to understand and/or acknowledge the possibility of one of us not trekking, but later when we stopped by the tour company office, we found someone who confirmed that if need be, Lynn would have someplace to sleep and something to eat inside the park if she couldn't make the trek with the rest of us.
OK, that sounded like we could proceed (and hope for a quick recovery) - so we climbed into a minivan with 4 other tourists and headed for the park, having left our truck parked in a hotel parking lot.
Puerto Natales, Chile. This small town is located on the shore of a long finger of water protruding inland and accessible from the southern Pacific Ocean. It was named Seno Ultima Esperanza (the bosom of final hope or essentially "the last resort") by explorers looking for a passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. They reached the beginning of this channel with only enough supplies and time left for "one more try," named the water passage, followed it till it ended (or narrowed into an un-navigable river), and then turned around and gave up.
This map shows Puerto Natales in relation to the park Torres del Paine, along with all the trails we hiked on and places we visited within the park.
During the drive into the park, we stopped along the way to visit a large cave where the remains of a species of pre-historic giant sloth were discovered. Tom and Anna are posing with a "life-sized" replica of the ancient "Milodon." It was large enough to avoid having to climb trees in order to eat their leaves.
Looking out of the cave.
Finally, we get our first glimpses of the mountains of Torres del Paine.
We arrived inside the park at a place called "Eco-Camp" in the late afternoon in time for snacks and pre-dinner drinks and appetizers. Eco-Camp is composed of a set of 15 heavy-duty platform tents connected by a boardwalk, bathrooms featuring hot-water showers, one very large dome tent for dining and cooking, and another large dome with couches and a wood-burning stove used for gathering and socializing.
After dinner a couple guides explained the essential plan and route for our trek, gave us each a very small duffle-bag that would be carried for us during the trek by porters (enough room for a towel, toiletries, and some extra underwear and socks), and sent us to bed. Lynn was still feeling pretty bad, so we knew she couldn't start the trek with us. We'd be returning after two nights "on the trail," so perhaps she'd be able to join us on the fourth day of the hike. The good news was that there would be guides and other people around the camp and she'd have options to do go sightseeing without having to hike all day.
Another minibus had arrived the same afternoon, and there were 19 tourists altogether doing the same hiking program. For logistic reasons determined by the guides, we were split into one group of 6 which was going to hike with one guide (Eduardo Grande), and another group of 12 which was going to hike with two guides (Eduardo Chico and Roberto). Anna, Geoff, Tom, and I were in group #2 with Eduardo and Roberto for guides. Lynn wasn't going to be with us for the first three days which is why our group was 12 and not 13.
The trek started on Tuesday morning with a long bus ride over to the south end of Lago Grey on the eastern side of the park. From there we rode in a boat up to northern end of the lake, disembarked near the Campground and Refugio Grey, and then walked southward for a little over three hours in-between the eastern shore of the lake and the base of the massive Paine Grande - the largest of the three main prominent ridges that define the mountains of Torres del Paine.
It was a gradual introduction to the trek and the rigors of hiking in this park - the trail was constantly ascending or descending but never too steep, muddy, or rocky, and the intermittent rain never rose in intensity above a moderate shower. The wind did gust up pretty strongly at times, and standing still to take pictures was always a challenge.
This semi-tame Huemel deer (with blue tag on ear) hung out in the forest near the boat launch at Lago Grey.
Hiking towards the boat launch at Lago Grey. Paine Grande is the mountain directly across the lake.
Walking on the trail.
Plants and flowers - I don't know what the left picture is. The local name for the flower on the right is "Campanilla" (Little Bell).
Anna hiking, and looking back north towards the north end of Lago Grey where it is fed by Glacier Grey (which runs primarily eastward over from the Southern Ice Cap of Chile).
In the late afternoon, the clouds cleared enough to allow some good views of Paine Grande.
And shortly before reaching our destination - Hosteria Pehoe (Labelled "Albergue Pehue" on the map and located at the northwest corner of Lago Pehoe), we could look over our shoulders to the left and see the Cuernos (Horns) of Torres del Paine. The Cuernos are the "middle" ridge of the mountain range.
This was a great view of the Bariloche Peak (named after Argentinian climbers who first ascended it in the 1950's) of Paine Grande - taken from the porch of Hosteria Pehoe.
The hosteria provided us with a hot dinner put us up for the night in 6-person bunk rooms that allowed those of us who could tune out snoring to sleep - fairly good comfort after a half-day on the trail. At night the four of us wondered - "What did Lynn do today? Was she any better?"
The answer was that she had gone out for a sightseeing tour and several hour hike of her own in the opposite (east) side of the park - much closer to Eco-Camp - along with two other couples. Her sightseeing was at least as spectacular as ours, as she and the other couples saw far more animals (and had plenty of time to photograph them) than we did!
Lynn's trip started out from Cascada Rio Paine on the Paine River, and she took the following photos during her excursion and hike...
Guanaco and Chulengos (baby guanaco).
These big hares, along with the guanaco are the favorite food of Red foxes and the Andean puma.
What was going on over here? She saw not just two, not a few, but literally dozens of condors flying around in a swirling swarm of soaring scavengers. What was going on? Perhaps there was some sort of dead animal or person down on the ground - and they were waiting their turn.
Yes! There was something like that going on.... a fox eating a chulengo (baby guanaco), and the Cara Cara hawks were watching from a nearby rock.
Lupine along the edge of a lake.
Upland geese.
Silvery Grebes.
The Lesser Rhea (locally called "Ņandu)
Negrita bird.
And her view (from the Eco-Camp) of the eastern prominence of the mountains called "Almirante Nieto," with the signature towers "Torres" sticking up in the background.
So everything went well for everyone on day one of the Trek. There were only two days left before we'd see each other again. Hopefully, they'd pass just as well.
-Rolf