Torres del Paine
Parque Nacional Torres del Paine ("TDP") lies between the Andes Mountains and the Patagonian-Fuegian steppe in southern Chile. The park has an amazing range of natural beauty from ridges to crags, glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, meadows, evergreen forests and treeless alpine zone. (Source: http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=CHI+03&mode=all)
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| View from L: Paine Grande R: Paine Horns |
When I was there in December, there were abundance of flora and fauna. Of the hikes I have taken thus far, this was probably the trek with the most number of wildlife - from a fox to ostrich looking mummy rheas and their chicks, llama-like guanacos with silhouettes along the hilltops, flamingos eating shrimps in a lake, crested falcons, flicker birds, parakeets and caracaras.
The most special bird we saw was probably the Magellanic woodpecker. The male has a scarlet head and neck while the female has a curled crest and dull red around the bill. It is territorial and feeds on insect larvae.
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| Spectacled duck |
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| The rufous red-collared sparrow which could not stop singing next to our tent |
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| L: A male Magellanic woodpecker we saw R: A better picture from woodpeckersoftheworld.blogspot.com |
Video: Female Magellanic woodpecker
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| Fuchsia |
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| Porcelain or mosaic orchid |
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| Darwin's fungus, a parasite on beeches Looks like little oranges, is crunchy and slightly sweet |
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| TDP circuit Source: www.cascada.travel |
TDP circuit
Ok I cheated again. The TDP circuit is another one of those treks that one can do on his own. The routes are well trodden, the altitudes are not a challenge and there are many independent trekkers around to share information. The key, however, is getting organised.
I was too lazy to organise the bus tickets to the national park, buy and ration food, make reservations for the limited dormitories or rent a sleeping bag and tent and then return them later. Instead, I joined a trekking group. It turned out to be the best decision because my bus tickets, sleeping bag, tent and meals were well taken care of.
I visited the national park in December and we had a great team of 2 guides, 5 porters and 5 trekkers. (Normally, 2 guides are present when there are more than 5 trekkers. Thanks to 2 guys who pulled out very late, we still had 2 guides.) We had cooks stationed at some of the camp sites and the meals was more than wonderful. We had free pisco sour and red wine almost every night.
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| Standing from L: Oreste, Luciano, Julie, Chuma, Fritz, Eduardo, Cottito, Guillermo Bottom row from L: Me, Rebecca, Brujo, Ivo |
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| Source: www.cascada.travel |
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| Brujo's artwork |
We completed the circuit in 7 days. The walking time shown above is for people carrying day packs (ie not for those who are carrying the full backpack with sleeping bag and tent). Our group was quite fast and always finish ahead of the approximate walking time. On days 2 and 4, for example, we wrapped up in 8 hours. On day 7, we finished in 3.5 hours but our incredible porters ran all the way and reached the destination in 2 hours.
Best and worst
Most frequently asked question
"Where is the condor?" by Fritz and "Will we see the puma today? Did you make an order for a puma today?" from the rest of us. We saw a lot of condors (mostly when Fritz was not around) but we only saw the pictures of pumas captured by another guide the week before our trek.
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| Andean condor |
Best drink
Boiled orange in red wine. Without a doubt the best you could have in the cold. Thanks Rodrigo!
Its worthy competitor is the calafate pisco by Mr Anderson:
Most impressive
This is the one and only trek I have had so far where I had a shower every day and they were all hot showers (bar one)! There was no need for dry shampoo and wet wipes. Better still, all the toilets were clean (ok, 1 was not clean) and flushing (not hole-in-the-ground) toilets. Hallelujah! What more can one ask for? (Erm, actually, if I could ask for blue sky everyday, it would be fantastic, thank you!)
Most persistent
Wind. Eduardo called it "breeze". The rest of us were amazed how, on numerous occasions, I have not been airborne and taken to Argentina. One minute the wind was there and then the wind was gone. We were always feeling too hot (from the sun and walk), too cold, layer off, layer on.
We had our first taste of the "Patagonian breeze" on the initial day of the trek in where else but a pass nicknamed "Windy Pass". We could barely walk in a straight line against the wind.
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| View from Windy Pass |
On most nights, we had the tent slapping our faces. At the Los Perros camp, we were sleeping below the beech trees. The wind blowing through the leaves sounded like waves crashing against cliffs instead. The trees creaked so much that Julie and I were worried that they would fall on us.
Recording of wind from my tent at Los Perros
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| Another bad hair day in the office |
It was, however, not all bad. The wind blew the water surface of Lago Grey and water droplets in the air reflected the sunlight, producing many mini rainbows that my photograph could not quite capture.
Scariest/ Most painful/ Most rewarding
Paso John Gardner, often considered the toughest part of the TDP circuit.
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| John Gardner Pass in that direction |
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| Cotito & Bec drying clothes in front of fire |
The day before we went through John Gardner Pass, it was raining hard and we had a short trek to the Los Perros camp. Shortly after we arrived at the camp, many people started to turn up from the opposite direction, completely soaked and looking dejected. Apparently they had attempted to cross John Gardner Pass but failed and turned back to the camp. Eduardo thought they may have started the day too late. We would start at 7am the next day and there would be no turning back.
On the day of our ascent, it was still raining. We first walked through the beech forest and finally came to the snowy John Gardner Pass. This was where the assault started. The painful part was not the walking but what was thrown at us by the wind. I was blown off balance twice and had some bruises from knocking my knees against the rocks.
At the top of the pass, the wind speed was at least 100km/h. We found out later that all other passes in the TDP National Park were closed that day. The high winds overturned 2 buses and 4 people were seriously injured as a result, including a poor man who had to have his left foot amputated. Ice and sediments pelted on my face (the only exposed part of my body) and where it hurt before, it HURT A LOT then. It was micro-dermabrasion to the MAX. 5 layers of skin probably came off my face.
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| Notice the snow/ ice flying away |
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| Here we come |
The idea was to quickly descend from the top of the pass. I got the idea alright but was blown backwards almost right away. I had to sit down with my back against the wind and wait for the exact moment when the wind died down a teeny weeny bit. I saw everyone struggled to take even one step towards me. All were walking with their bodies at 45 degrees to the ground and holding on to everything on them. (After we descended, I lamented that I did not capture the scenes with my camera but everyone told me that my camera would have been blown to Argentina and if not, the ice or sediments would crack the lenses.)
After waiting for more maybe 10 minutes, the wind speed dropped a little and Chuma, el Brujo and I decided to run for it. I staggered 2 steps to the left and 3 steps to the right at any one time. Another disaster struck as my sunglasses flew off my face and my rain cover was detached and instead turned into a parachute behind me. Fortunately, I caught my sunglasses and el Brujo removed my rain cover but Chuma lost his sunglasses to the wilderness. My bag threatened to fly away too (because I forgot to use the chest buckles). That was about the only time I wished I had rocks in my bag or that I was carrying a full backpack which would perhaps, hold me down.
I slid down the snow on the other side of the pass and very quickly reached the beech forest again. Then miraculously, Glaciar Grey appeared before our eyes. A glacier next to a forest? How amazing is Mother Nature!
A cruise on Lake Grey would only give one views of the North and South faces of Glaciar Grey and the icebergs. From the hills, we were able to have an aerial view and get a better perspective of the massive glacier and the crevasses. Crossing John Gardner Pass is certainly rewarding.
I slid down the snow on the other side of the pass and very quickly reached the beech forest again. Then miraculously, Glaciar Grey appeared before our eyes. A glacier next to a forest? How amazing is Mother Nature!
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| Glaciar Grey |
A cruise on Lake Grey would only give one views of the North and South faces of Glaciar Grey and the icebergs. From the hills, we were able to have an aerial view and get a better perspective of the massive glacier and the crevasses. Crossing John Gardner Pass is certainly rewarding.
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| Crevasses caused by stresses from movements of the glacier |
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| Lago Grey |
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| Icebergs |
Most difficult
To capture a good picture of sunrise or sunset. The sunrise at 5am was too early to get out of bed for (especially, to will oneself out of the cosy sleeping bag and be exposed the wind) and the sunset at 10pm was too late to wait for (I would have been in bed). Otherwise, it would be raining or cloudy. I only managed to capture 1 sunrise on Day 9:
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