Where's Grayleen?

After a week hiking in Torres del Paine, located in Chilean Patagonia and one of the most famous national parks in the world, we’ve taken to calling it simply, “The Pain”.  Here’s a typical exchange:

Fellow Traveller: Are you enjoying Patagonia?  Did you make it to Torres del Paine?
Us: Oh yes, we’ve experienced The Pain!
Fellow Traveller: Haha.  Me too; I know just what you mean.
Us: But it sure was stunning!

With several weeks of strenuous hiking in the Lake District under our belt, we were ready to tackle the big boy: the full circuit of Torres del Paine.  It’s a 7-10 day loop through jagged mountains and fields of wildflowers where you need to carry all of your food and suplies on your back (there are refugios with food and beds but things cost about 5x what you´d pay outside of the park).   BestHike.com, a source I’ve come to trust, says, “If you could trek only one place in the world, Paine would be a good choice. It is unforgettable!”  A pretty good endorsement.

The famous towers of Paine

Why do we call it The Pain?  In our time in the park, we experienced a whole lot of rain, wind, ice, snow, wet, and cold accompanied by just a dash  of sunshine and blue skies.  We were mentally prepared for the “high winds and unpredictable weather” of Southern Patagonia.  Turns out things were pretty darn predictable: predictably bad (some say it’s El Niño).  After rounding the back side of the circuit, with our belongings getting wetter each day, we skipped the last section of the trail and hopped on the first boat we could find to take us out of the park.  Phew!

Aileen in front of Glacier Grey ready for anything Mother Nature dreams up.

After all that, you may be surprised to hear that we had an amazing time.   Really, we did!   (Although admittedly I find it much easier to bring myself to write this with a bit of distance and from warm Buenos Aires.)  Here´s why:

It´s impossible to dispute that the scenery is incredible, rain or shine.  The centerpiece and namesake of the park is the set of huge granite towers (torres means towers in Spanish) that reach straight up into the sky, a real delight for hard core rock climbers.  Even more impressive is the Grey Glacier, a mind boggling river of ice that flows 50km down from the huge Southern Patagonian Ice Field.  And so much more.

Crossing “El Paso”, the high pass between the back side of the park and the Grey Glacier, was an unforgettable experience.  The weather on the pass can be extreme and so it´s recommended to wait for a window of good weather. After two rainy nights at the appropriately named Camp of the Dogs, we awoke to light winds and no rain and decided this was our window.  Or not.  As we climbed the weather turned steadily worse and we were soon in a driving snowstorm with stinging winds.  Aileen had her poncho hood so tight to protect against the wind that she had to follow me by looking at my footsteps in the accumulating snow rather than seeing my back just a few feet ahead.  As we crested the top of the pass we were blasted by the strongest wind I´ve felt in my life.  Amazingly, just a few minutes later, everything mellowed out and we were greeted with a birds eye view of the full length of Grey Glacier.  Wow.

Enjoying a bit of sun in a field of wildflowers

We got to know and then bonded with our fellow circuit-goers.  Because most everyone does the circuit in the same direction (counter clockwise) and there are a limited number of legal places to camp, you end up bumping into the same people over and over again along the way.  Some folks get a bit ahead with a hard hiking day, but then maybe take a rest day later on and you see them again.  With us we had The Chicas (a group of 8 Chilean girls), The Americans (near-retirees from San Jose), The Chilean Family (two parents and two late teenagers who made us jealous with their gourmet food), The Belgians, The Isrealies, and more.  It was cathartic to whine about cold and rain as a group!

I say: Go ahead and visit The Pain; you won’t be dissapointed.  But bring your rose colored glasses, your half full glass, and Gore-tex rain pants.

Photos here.