Torres del Paine - the grand circuit

Torres del Paine is one of the world´s most famous hiking areas. For hikers its the equivalent to a trip to Mecca is for muslims (or for staunch GAA fans out there it´d be like a trip to see Cork win another All Ireland in Crokers or for the aussies out there a trip to MCG on boxing day ie its a big deal). For more detailed information have a peek here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park as I am too lazy to fill you in on all the details. In a nutshell it gets 100,000 plus visitors a year mostly in Jan/Feb and is on the checklist for most travellers to South America. The Paine massif is like a big M of mountains so imagine there´s a big cake and take a couple of slices out to make an M shape and you have the main range with its 2 main valleys. Surrounding this is the Southern Ice Cap to the west and north, the steppe to the east and to the south more mountains and lakes. There´s 250kms of trails including the famous W circuit which ventures along the bottom on the M, making side trips into the main valleys and then there´s the grand circuit (which we choose to do) which basically goes around the main range and includes the W as well. Most people choose to do day walks from the main access points or the W circuit which has refugios (huts that provide accomodation and meals) and doesn´t require camping altho you need to book these about 6 months in advance. Jan/Feb is peak season altho its allegedly less numbers at the end of February. This area is also infamous for its awful weather and terrible winds (called katabatic or williwaws which are gusts that blow off the icecap at 100kmph or more).

Day 1 : Laguna Amarga - Campamento Seron (15kms - 3.25 hrs hike)
We set off on the early bus from Puerto Natales at 7.30am (after our landlady had even supplied us with brekkie!) with all the other pilgrims heading to the sacred place. Its a 3 hour drive to the park (along with a stop in a little place called Cerro Castillo which has got nothing but some cafes for the tourists on the way to the park). It was a cloudy enough morning but we still got glimpses of the mountains rising up in the distance. Jumped out of the bus at Laguna Amarga where we paid into the park (US$30 each - ouch). There was tourists and buses everywhere so we decided to get a move on quickly. Our packs were pretty heavy, actually make that VERY heavy so we set off towards Campamento Seron at a slow but steady pace. Its a pretty easy 15km hike across the very gentle rolling grassy plain to the first night´s camp which follows the Rio Paine. Nothing much scenery wise altho from Laguna Amarga you can see the Torres ( the famous towers) altho we couldn´t as there was too much cloud. Met a few people on the way and the campsite itself only had about 20 tents that first night. Much more then we´re used to but not that bad considering. The campsite is set on a lovely meadow so easy for camping and chilling out in the lazy afternoon after the slog with the packs. Unfortunately we both got pretty violent and unbelievably rapid food poisoning on the first night. Spent about an hour heaving our guts up in the middle of a field near the campsite - at least the moon was up, the temps were good and the night sky was pleasant ;) Losing dinner was pretty bad tho as we needed all the energy we could get for the next few days. Figured out the milk powder we had in our hot chocs was the culprit as we had had dinner really early (at least 2 hours prior to hot chocs) - must have been pretty bad as it only took about 15 mins to make us both hurl.

Day 2 : Seron to Lago Dickson (19kms - 5hrs hike)
Set off slowly after a gross breakfast of congealed instant oats. Lesson 1 on instant oats here - dont add hot water as it makes a sticky glup that looks and tastes horrible. Still a bit shaky from the previous night´s pukes and not yet confident that it was the milk powder to blame we set off into the next day. We did weigh our packs at the hut tho and Dunk´s clocked in at 26kgs and mine at 21kgs. Ouch ;) This was another pleasant walk altho the first couple of hours was mostly a slog and nothing too dramatic. After that tho we started to get glimpses of Glacier Dickson that drops into Lago Dickson so that picked our spirits up a bit as well. Nice, fine day for walking too altho still quite cloudy. Reached the lovely campsite and hut about 4pm and called it a day as pretty tired. Cooked up a basic rice dinner (cumin, garlic, half a chorizo, stock cube and chilli flakes) as couldn´t face into pasta again. Also dried mushrooms have been removed from our diet as well as just sick of the taste (and retaste - yuch). Luckily everything went well that day foodwise and all stayed down so sat around chatting with the people we had met along the way and at the previous campsite. The lake is also very beautiful with the glacier dropping into it and surrounded by high mountains and lovely forest (and a few mandatory mossies cos if the wind isn´t blowing there has to be something else to get ya in Patagonia!).

Day 3 : Lago Dickson to Campamento Paso (21kms - 7.5 hrs hike)
Woke in much better spirits and full of energy (now confident that the evil milk powder was the cause of sickness and not any of the rest of our food plus knew we wouldn´t have to go back due to sickness). Decided to double up on sections and go straight thru Campamento Los Perros and on over the most difficult section of the John Gardner pass to Campamento Paso. The section between Lago Dickson and Los Perros hut is beautiful hiking - forest, mountains, streams and glimpses of glaciers on a gentle incline all the way. After about 3 hours (10kms) we reached the moraine from Glacier Los Perros near the hut which has amazing views back down the valley we had come up, up onto Glacier Los Perros (which drops into a little lake) and on up towards the John Gardner pass which was to be our task for the afternoon. Found a sunny spot for lunch and crossed our fingers hoping the weather would hold for the pass crossing. The pass is 1241m and infamous for the gales, snow, rain and cloud which can hit this area at any time without notice. The track up out of the forest is rough and muddy enough, despite being rerouted recently but we managed a good pace up and reached the scree where the going became easier as we could see our goal ahead. The view back down the valley was just immense and we had high mountains with glaciers on both sides as we headed to the pass. Nothing however prepared us for the view at the top. We had read and heard about how amazing it was but being well worn by over expectations (and slightly cynical about everything by now) we didn´t really know what to expect. It was just incredible tho - one of the most amazing sights I have ever hiked into. As we ascended into the pass we began to get glimpses of snow clad mountains in the distance and then as more of this was exposed to us as we continued upwards over the last 100m of the pass, glacier Grey suddenly appeared in all its glory. I cannot stress how big this glacier is. Any glacier I have seen to this point is like comparing a puddle with a lake - its immense and just blew our minds. Its 6kms across at the point we could see and probably we could see 20kms plus of length as it stretches from the ice cap into Lago Grey. We were speechless and ecstatic, the weather held and there was hardly a breeze (seriously this is so lucky - kind of odds like winning the lotto). Stayed there for maybe 20 mins before starting the descent which was also just incredible as more and more of the glacier showed. Mike and Rick (2 aussie blokes who did most of the walk in the same sections as us) were also there and all 4 of us were just hyper about the view. Its a long slog up from Lago Dickson but I dont think I have ever had a reward so fantastic as this on a hike before. The hike down is very steep and slippery altho not quite as awful as we had heard and feard. This pass has a reputation for danger and lots of injuries but Conaf (the chilean national parks admin) have done lots of good work on the clay, steep sections with steps and handrails. It would still be slippery as an eel on a wet day tho so we got lucky there too. Once into the trees, the hike to the camp was only about 45 mins. We did met one Chilean girl walking backwards as her knees were clobbered - it must have taken her (and her friend) 10 hours at least to get over this pass but they still were in good spirits. The campsite has a great view thru the trees over the glacier and we also found a lookout further down on a rock which was great for sunset too. Very small campsite and very relaxed night as everyone there was pretty high from the day plus by now we knew the other groups hiking pretty well. There was one bunch of idiotic young israelis who didnt arrive til 10pm in the dark (5 hours after us) as they didn´t leave the other side of the pass til 4.30pm and were very slow hikers. No wonder there´s people get hurt in Torres del Paine. These idiots were just a disaster waiting to happen (no torches, etc).

Day 4 : Campento Paso - Paine Grande (21 kms - 6 hrs)
Decided to double up on sections again as Paso to Refugio Grey was only 3 hours hiking. Another pleasant, warm day plus the views along the way were stupendously cool. We basically hiked down along the glacier edge (well above it) for 3 hours. The track here was rough enough in places as there were a number of steep, scree gullies but Conaf have put in ladders on the worst bits so its safe and easy going now. The old wooden ladders looked so dodgy! There´s another camping area just at the snout of the glacier where there´s a tremendous view over the glacier and you can see chunks falling off. We made it to Refugio Grey and the lookout back up the lake towards the glacier for lunch. We heard a massive thump from our sheltered lunch spot and rushed out just in time to see a massive 70m iceberg pop back out of the water - unfortunately we missed it falling off the glacier but it was pretty impressive seeing it float back out of the water. We were now in serious ´gumby´(Matt W´s term for people who have never hiked before) territory as this is night 1 on the W circuit. The number of people on the track was suddenly in the 100s (rather then the odd 2 or 3) but the scenery was incredible still as we hiked down towards Lake Pehoe. Didn`t take us long to click that saying "Ola" to everyone was no longer possible (unless we wanted to overtake them; Side rant: sometimes I wish hikers had rear view mirrors - if someone steams up behind you as you struggle up a hill slowly then let them by!! Coughing and further rude noises the longer the blocked path is held usually helps ;) ) Took us about 3 hours to reach that nights campsite next to the turqoise Lake Pehoe which has a great view of Cerro Paine Grande (massive, craggy, angry, black rock mountain range with its own little mini icecap on top) and Cuernos del Paine (the classic granite coloured mountains with black toppings of rock - so beautiful). The lake is stunningly turquoise as well (even if thats not my favourite colour - some people out there remember that with clarity!) Was a bit of a shock to the system to reach this camp as there´s a hotel there, probably 80 plus tents and people everywhere. Mike and Rick had saved us a great campspot next to them so saved us the hassle of trying to find one. Spent a pleasant night there watching the mountains and lake. Did a food swap with the lads too - 1 chorizo for them - 2 tins of tuna for us - bloody awesome for all of us (I have to throw in some aussisms to keep Dunk happy uploading photos as I not patient enough to do this). We now are so tired of eating the same food that tuna pasta was a treat (Dunk even said I cant wait to eat some tuna, I´m sick of eating chorizos). Another lovely day walking.

Day 5: Paine Grande to Campamento Los Cuernos including Valle Frances (29kms - 8.5 hrs)
Started this morning with rain (altho it held off long enough for us to pack without getting our stuff wet) and the first 3 hours to Campamento Italiano was a bit of a trudge thru the rain. From Campemento Italiano dropped our packs in a good potential campsite in case we decided to stay there that night and headed up into Valle Frances which is about 17km return side trip. We could also have camped at the head of the valley but at this stage our knees were beginning to feel the effects of heavy packs, hard long days and many long ascents/descents. As we ascended into the valley the clouds bgan to lift and clear and the most incredible views appeared all around us. Its a hard enough slog up but the sights are more then ample reward. Cerro Paine Grande and Glacier Frances dominates the west side of the valley, the head of the valley has Cordillera Paine with some astoundingly beautiful peaks and the eastern side is a row of peaks belonging to the famous Cuernos del Paine. Each in the their own would be an outstanding draw but all together its just unbeleivable. We hiked all the way up and past the mirador onto the scree and a little pass on the eastern side so the whole valley opened up in front of us. I know I might be repeating myselft here but omigod it was jawdroppingly beautiful (altho the gusts at the top were strong as hell and we kept a very watchful eye for any sudden weather changes). I will leave the photos speak for this section altho they dont really do it justice. Hiked back down and decided to do another 5.5km stretch to the next section as otherwise we would have to stay another night in the park and we were over eating crap food. It was a very peaceful section down into Camping Los Cuernos with very few people as it as after 6pm. Got to camp absoutely wrecked (biscuits and dulce fueled the last few kms!) so made a quick dinner and slept soundly altho our site had a huge slope. Incredible day and the gods of weather were on our side again.

Day 6 : Los Cuernos - Los Torres (the end) plus Torres del Paine sidetrip (31kms - 7.5 hrs)
Woke feeling a little fatigued after the previous day plus the weather was damp. Dunk dragged me thru the hike to Los Torros as it was pretty boring, I was knackered and the spirits were down. There was one hilarious river crossing tho which was the best example of gumby carnage I have ever seen. It was a fairly fast rocky river but only knee height at most yet there was a people blockage and shoes, socks, hikers and people everywhere. We just took off our shoes (golden rule for us is one river then keep the shoes dry, anymore then just get the boots wet), carefully crossed, put back on our packs and off we went. It was funny watching some people tho. One girl took a cigarette break on the island half way across, other people were wading back in for better shots of the ´drama´, the 2 aussies told us they saw one bloke in water upto his chest - all in all quite comical to watch ;) Reached Los Torres camping at 12.30, set up the tent and had some hot soup and 6 day old bread, dulce and biscuits to get us ready for the 19kms (including 1.5km vertical ascent/descent) side trip to see what is the park´s most famous attraction - the towers. The weather cleared and the food picked us up so off we set up the big hill at the start. We reached the first hut on the hike in about 1 hour and then from there to the lookout in another 1.5 hours so not a bad effort altho the last rock scramble was tiring with fatigued legs. The view was very spectacular and despite the crowns of the towers being obscured due to some frantic cloudmaking, we had a great view of the lake, moraine and Monte Almirante Nieto. All in all tho we thought not really comparable in stunning factor to the Valle Frances. Wearlingly hiked back to camp and finished off our hike with a quick dinner and sound night sleep. We did get some ferocious wind gusts that night - the only time we really experienced the infamous winds of torres del paine - which hammered the tent, woke half the campsite but the tent held well so happy days for us. It really made us respect and appreciate the luck we had with the weather thou. Nothing like sitting in the dark in a tent hearing the massive roar of the next gust heading for your tent, not knowing what direction (as it seemed to change all the time) or even if it would hit at all (as sometimes the gusts swept off high above the trees).

The last word
The next day we just relaxed at Camping Los Torres waiting for the bus back to Puerto Natales. Had a massive steak and beers last night with Mike and Rick - all in all well deserved I think. We completed the grand circuit in 6 hard days (traditionally takes 8-10) so altho tired today, very happy and content.

This is an amazing place, truly better then what we expected and despite the crowds its a brilliant hike. We met some great people along the way which also made it good fun to share the tales and pain with and truly enjoyed the experience. The private campsites are managed very well altho some of the free campsites tend to be very crowded and not well managed at all. Some of the loos were awful - some people seem to forget their manners when they go hiking. We could have stretched the hike out over a couple of more days to make it easier going but found that we would have had some very short days if we did this and its not really what we like to do ;) We were also pissed off yesterday when we went to get our park pass extended as they only gave us a 2 day extension so if we want to go back next week (which we had planned) its another US$30 each which is a bit steep. There are a minority of people on the track who are muppets but mostly its a very friendly, sociable walk. The weather was incredible for us - once again we are haunted with good weather luck. The view from Glacier Grey is probably one of the best we will ever experience followed closely by Valle Frances. Its worth doing the walk anticlockwise just for that view over Glacier Grey - hopefully we will never ever forget it as there is no camera in the world can do it justice.

Quick note on our equipment and food
Dunk´s 9 month old Asolo boots are falling apart and he had to use gaffer tape to keep them together. They are now in the boots repair shop where the guy is hopefully working a miracle to glue them back together. We saw lots of people with new Asolos on this hike but funny enough no old asolos. Grace´s scarpas have a bit of sole wear at the heel (probably from scree slides and previous walks in central Australia) but other then that perfect despite being 2 years old. Our exped venus extreme tent rocks - stood upto rain and wind altho it does have condensation problems if we dont make sure its ventialated properly. We saw heaps of people with crap looking tents - dunno how they survived thos gusts but wouldn´t make for a good nights sleep. Our poles are knee savers!!

Our food was good but its very hard to get any variety here in Chile so we usually have rice or pasta with stock cubes, garlic and either cumin or oregano, lots of salt, protein (usually chorizo or tuna), always have plenty nuts, biscuits, soup packets, etc. Our bread held ok for 5 days but was pretty crap on the last day. The private huts especially the one on Lake Pehoe sell reasonably priced food for campers so maybe we should have carried less and restocked there. After 2 months of hikes we´re sick of rice and pasta so might have to move onto instant mash - ah ye gods thats bad!!!! Losing our milk powder (and dinner) on the first night was a beatch - no more hot chocs, black tea altho we did start adding milo to our instant oats and raisins in the mornings which drastically improved the taste (from no taste to milo taste!). Dulce de leche is like super quick energy for the exhausted ;)

Taking a break from hiking for a few days now to restock on protein and energy levels, fix boots and rest tired knees.

Some funny stories
These are some bits I have remembered in the last few days that deserve to be recorded.

Mike and Rick have named a new circuit - its the underscore ;) - its for people who do the `W`but are too tired, lazy, exhausted, sore, whatever to do the side trips to Valle Frances and Torres del Paine which are the 2 best bits of the W. Its a bit like going to the World Cup Final with a ticket but not bothering to go to the match as you just didn´t have enough `whatever`for the last bit. Might as well stay at home, save the cash and walk around the park really.

One guy did the circuit (assuming W) (we never met him but met 2 people yesterday who did) with a 35kg pack that had ALL his stuff as he was afraid to store his extra gear anywhere. This included carrying that same pack on all the side trips - where did he think everyone else left their stuff but in huts, tents, etc. I dont think I have ever heard of theft on Torres del Paine but maybe we´re naive or maybe or clothes just not worth stealing (actually their not - if they last the next 2 months then its staight to the bin for them) or maybe he had gold shirts or something. Nutter!!