Patagonia
Thursday November 23, 2023
We arrived into Punta Arenas Airport a few minutes early, and our bus to Puerto Natales was still a couple of hours away, so we took our time and had breakfast (which turned out to be quite expensive). Punta Arenas is the furthest south I’ve ever been, at 53 degrees below the equator. The bus ride took three hours, but I was asleep for most of it.
We spent the day doing food shopping for our big hike, and a bit of time being a tourist around town too. A games shop that we passed by was selling Watch Dogs Legion for 25,000 Chilean pesos! I had a delicious lamb dinner at a local parrilla and then it was time to go home and pack.
Our first day of the W Trek was frought with logistical problems. Someone in the group deleted the emails with her bus tickets. Someone wanted to go to the toilet just as we were boarding. No one had cash except me to pay for the shuttle bus (I was hoping to use some cash to pay for food as a nice treat at the end of the hike) but at least the shuttle saved us two or so hours of walking. When we arrived at the Central campsite, I had forgotten to get the campsite reservation number but they were able to find me by name. Also I found out I didn’t book sleeping bags, but thankfully it was easy to add to our reservation. Despite all of this, the hike up to Base Las Torres was stunning. We followed the river through the valley up to the Chileno campsite, had lunch there and continued up the ridge. Along the way, a rescue team was carting away what looked like a body bag in a wheelbarrow; someone later confirmed that that was exactly what it was. The last half hour of the ascent was especially grueling, but at last, the three famous rock towers came into view. It was emotional, after walking that much. I felt it was harder than Gros Mourne, but so much more rewarding. The ice floating on the azure glacial lake was so picturesque. I spent an hour at the top waiting for the rest of the group, they arrived close to 4pm, we took some photos together and I started heading back down.
On the way down, I saw a man carrying his baby in a backpack chair, and a poor park ranger carrying a young girl with a sprained ankle. There was also a team of skiers heading up the mountain. I made it back to the campsite at 7.30pm, checked-in and had dinner, then waited for the rest of them. After an hour, they still hasn’t showed up. I asked passers-by if they’d seen them, with not much luck. Finally at 9pm, I started walking back to the trail to find them and sure enough, there they were, finally making it back to the campsite at 9.30pm. The skies were still clear as the sun was setting and I would have loved to do some star gazing, but I ended up passing out in my elevated tent.
Day two was less intense. We followed the path along Lake Nordenskjöld, another beautiful blue glacial lake, crossing a suspension bridge halfway through. I was out of water by that point, but the water is straight from glaciers and is safe to drink, so I refilled my bottle with freshly melted water. Along the way, I could hear the low rumbling of avalanches occurring on the mountains. I reached Cuernos, the first campsite, at 2.30pm, while the others were an hour behind; it took me another 90 minutes to reach Frances, our destination for the day. As I waited for the others, it began to drizzle slightly. When they arrived, we checked in and had dinner. The next day would be the hardest hike, but I had heard some people saying it wasn’t worth going to the Británico Lookout if it was cloudy.
Thankfully I woke up to some glorious sun on the third day. I was hiking by myself the whole day, free to go at my own pace without waiting for anyone. I walked from the Frances Campsite to Italiano and dropped my main backpack there, then took my daypack up to Mirador Frances, a lookout over a mountain and several glaciers. I heard a few avalanches while on the hike, but wasn’t able to capture any on film. From Frances, I continued to Británico, the final point on the hike, a panoramic view of these stunning mountains and glaciers. I was back to Italiano to pick up my backpack and head to Paine Grande, the next campsite. The whole round trip took me under six hours, including lunch time. The hike to Paine Grande took me just under 2.5 hours, a relatively easy hike past Lake Sköttsberg. On the way, the devastation of a forest fire from 12 years ago was evident, with thousands of barren trees lining the hillside. The wind was strong as I walked, but the sun was out for most of the time, so it wasn’t too cold. As a reward for such a long hike, I treated myself to a buffet dinner at the campsite’s restaurant. Finally some hot, cooked food after three days! Chicken! Beef! Rice! Fresh salad! Chocolate mousse! Strawberry mousse! Hot tea! I demolished two plates (and two desserts), but as I watched people put their trays away, I was appalled at the amount of food being wasted. Naturally after eating so much, I was ready to food coma.
The strong winds continued throughout the night; at some points during my sleep, it felt like the tent was about to be lifted into the air. Luckily, the equipment held strong, and probably all the extra weight from the buffet helped to anchor everything down. However, it was a different story on the hiking trail. As we ascended up the valley, the gusts began to pick up dramatically, close to 100kph. The smallest in my group, a 4’11” 50kg woman, had to tether herself to me to stop being blown away. It was so strong that even I was losing balance at some points. It was brutal fighting against both gravity and the force of the wind. Eventually, Lake Grey came into view and with it, the Grey Glacier. I was taken aback by how big it was, a massive wall of ice stretching several kilometers into the distance. Eventually after the first lookout, the winds began to die down as we descended closer to the lake. What should have taken us three hours took us five hours, and we finally arrived at Campsite Grey after 3pm. While I was waiting for the ladies to check in, I walked up to the nearby lookout to get a closer view of some of the ice chunks that had broken off the glacier and floated to the shore.
After all of that, I decided to reward myself with another hot meal. I didn’t think it would be another buffet considering how small the restaurant was, but I was pleasantly surprised. This time, they only let me have one piece of meat; the previous day, I had managed to get one piece of chicken and one piece of beef after everyone had had their first round. I was ready to food coma again in anticipation of the fifth and final day.
The last day had a slow start because we only needed to be ready to go kayaking at 10.30am. However, we soon discovered that the high winds were too strong so both the 9am and our session at 11am were cancelled. This was really disappointing but understandable. The currents on the lake looked swift and it would have been dangerous to head out. Luckily we get a full refund in case of weather cancellation, and it also meant we could start the hike back to Paine Grande earlier. I walked with them until the halfway point, which took us two hours, then I gapped it for the end, which took me another two hours.
Upon arriving, I discovered that the ferry to the bus station required cash and I didn’t have enough after paying for the shuttle bus for all of us. The campsite reception assured me I could sort it out with the boat company, and that this happens often. Anyway, I bought myself a large hot chocolate to celebrate the end of five days of hiking. A phenomenal 181,295 steps and 113.9km in some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen on this planet. I’m so glad I did it.
The others arrived about 30 mins after me, and thankfully had USD cash to pay for the ferry. We managed to get on the early boat; I didn’t think there would be that many people and they ended up having to turn some people away.
What would I have done differently? Probably started booking accommodation earlier. The refugios (cabins) and domos (domes with bunk beds) were really nice and well equipped. The tents were okay but I wouldn’t say no to more comfortable accommodation. I would have tried to buy a better variety of food and only for breakfast and lunch; the restaurants are excellent and only buying dinners would have lightened the load. Also I should have brought more cash, and somehow I also blame my friends for not bringing their own. This was a once in a lifetime trip and I was reasonably lucky with the weather until the last day.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:07am on Thursday November 23, 2023 :: 0 comments :: 