Torres del Paine Circuit, Southern Patagonia, Chile.

Donde el diablo perdió el poncho
I promised myself sometime ago that I would spend my 32nd birthday atop a girt great mountain at the start of damned great adventure and I will always remember the feelings I got when I entered and left Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. But, as I have come to expect, trying to describe such an amazingly beautiful place with all the right words in all the right order has become quite a mission. Perhaps the photographs will give you some idea of our experience. I will never forget this trip. Chile is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I´ve been to.

(for those of you busy busy little weasels who just like the highlights and photos, I have included the highlights and lowlights first and there are a few photographs throughout)

Are you sitting comfortably.....?

highlights
* Ascending John Garner Pass for a devastatingly beautiful view of Glacier Grey below on one side and Lago Paine on the other. I moment I will never forget.
* Eating chocolate surrounded by the Valle de Frances * Seeing three shooting stars cross the Milky Way and a comet (and I was totally sober), whilst lying on a swing bridge, with a very energetic river flowing below us
* Drinking Pisco with Cowboys in the sunshine
* Making friends with Porters (Sherpas) and sharing our walks with them
* Watching ice bergs float past our tent whilst making a lovely cuppa tea snuggled up in my sleeping bag!
* That Condor moment! Seeing Condors soar majestically above the snowy peaks of Torres del Paine
* That vegetarian sandwich at Camp Chileno!
* The best drinking water in the world on tap! (We drank only the water that flowed through the Parque; no boiling no purification tabs). Ah, agua nectar!
* Realising what we thought may have been a clap of thunder and so the start of a wet day was only another ice berg making a splash into Lago Grey.
* Realising what we thought may have been another clap of thunder was merely another avalanche in the Valle del Frances.
* Meeting the boys from Ecuador at Camp Japonese (a camp only for climbers).
* The satisfaction of completing The Circuit when a lot of the locals thought we may be clinically insane!

lowlights
* Ridiculous looking tan lines (I must have always had my right sock pulled up higher than my left the whole way round)!
* Leaving…

Parque Nacional, Torres del Paine lies 100km directly north of Puerto Natales at the South Eastern end of the Heilo Sur (the largest icecap of the continent which covers roughly 14,000 sq km and stretches about 320km from north to south - sorry Brits, work that out in miles)! The Parque covers an uniquely remote area of 1814 square kilometres and unquestionably offers some of the best trekking in the world.

It is impossible not to see pictures of Torres del Paine before you even get anywhere near it as it proudly graces postcards, billboards, calendars and anything mentioned about Chile, but nothing really prepared me for experiencing the place first hand and Liz and I would often sit with a cuppa tea and try and work out how we would explain this trip. Not even in my dreams have I seen anywhere so beautiful and I am afraid my photographs don´t really give this area the justice it really deserves.
The Park gets it´s name from its centrepiece; three magnificent frost-polished ´towers´ of granite. The word ´Paine´ means pale blue in Tehuelche (a tribe that was decimated by another (The Mapuche) in the 1870-80´s). There is some doubt about the origins of the ´Paine´ part, but word has it that the pale blue refers to the large glacial lakes that can be found dotted around the place. History lesson over.

There are two recommended trekking routes in Torres del Paine, one is to do ´The Circuit´ which takes approximately 8 days, but the majority of people do the ´W´ which is the Southern Part of the Circuit and only takes 5 days. You can of course complete either in a longer or shorter period of time or even spend a couple of days there walking only to the Torres.

Before we had even signed into the Park we had been getting a lot of stick from both the locals and other tourists about doing the Circuit. They just thought it was nuts that we would be willing to carry that amount of food over a long period of time and that two girls could manage it by themselves. We had actually packed enough food for 14 days as we had planned to do more than just the circuit and allowed extra rations in case of emergencies!
Now if I was to come clean here, these often condescending comments were actually starting to worry me. I would say I am quite an experienced trekker. Looking after myself in the wilds is not a problem in my eyes, but now I started feeling responsible for Liz, who has not actually done any trekking whatsoever and I had no idea what to expect! We had a bit of a chat about things and felt that our hearts were really on The Circuit! And so it was meant to be...

Day 1 - Wednesday 17th January – Getting there
The day started on a blistery windy morning on the side of Puerto Montt Street in Puerto Natales. We had arranged to travel to the park with a couple of boys from Santiago that were staying at the same campground as us. Mario, our driver, was delivering a small fleet of 4-wheel drives to some rich Brazilian men who were working for Shell Oil and had taken some time off to visit the Parque. They dropped us off at Porteria Lago Sarmiento, which, if we had had the choice would´nt have been the most ideal point of entrance but we were very grateful for the lift and the guided tour along the way.

There were two girls at Porteria Lago Sarmiento that checked us in and were quite impressed that Liz and I were going to do the Circuit whilst the boys we had travelled with were only going to do the ´W´. They told them that if they wanted to have an holiday that they should have gone to Brazil instead! We paid our entrance fee and then walked together a couple of hours to the first camp site.
It felt amazing to be finally walking in Patagonia. I had been wanting to do this trip for a very long time and as we walked through the grazing Guanaco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanaco ) we got our first glimpse of the Torres. I just could´nt wipe the ridiculous grin off my face and somehow I felt really at home with the landscape and the adventure ahead...

As we walked, Yerko taught me a well known Chilean saying, ´Donde el diablo perdió el poncho´ which means ´Where the Devil left his jacket.´ I was a little confused as to what it really meant but was very keen to impress people with my Spanish. I have recently learnt that it means a far away place, which was quite appropriate considering that at times you felt like you were in the middle of nowhere!
Torres del Paine was only declared a National Park in 1959. Before this recognition, farmers had grazed their cattle and cleared forests by using fire which is still evident today. Although regeneration is slowly healing Mother Earth, added whoopsie-daisies from tourist fires has meant that the Conaf Staff (Corporacion Nacional Forestal) has enforced strict camping areas. And so we arrived at our first one. Pitched the tent, boiled up a brew, ate some pasta and attempted a good sleep.

Day 2 - Las Torres to Camp Seron - And we´re off!
The weather was ´perfecto´ and our packs were heavy, but we were both full of energy. Our path started out as a stony lane which eventually lead us on to the trekking path and through some really lovely forests. As we left the forest we came across our first view of the Rio Paine valley below us and declared the site a good place to stop for a break! It was great to think I was walking in the footsteps of Nick and Jane who visited the park last year (guys I thought about you heaps, hope this brings back some good memories for you)!
As we descended into the valley however, we found that the Rio Paine had become so swollen it had burst its banks and we were forced to make like mountain goats and try and find our way up a very steep bank, over a very slippery stream and then down the other side. It made for a few hairy, but very entertaining moments although my legs got a few severe ´scratchings´ from the local Calafate bush (photo left; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calafate ) the berries of which I had been feasting on for most of the way!

Before arriving at Camp Seron we walked through a beautiful grassy meadow full of wild daisies and dandylions. It would have made for the perfect ¨The hills are alive with the Sound......¨ scene but as Parque rules declare ´no leaving designated pathways´ I was delighted that we were´nt able to even think about getting that down on film. We passed a few boys that I recognised from the first campsite and said a brief hello. Liz and I laughed at the amount of stuff they were carrying and wondered where on earth they thought they were going. They had everything but the kitchen sink with them!
Ten minutes after arriving at Camp Seron (whilst we were still resting in the shade) a lasoo of gauchos (cowboys) rode in on their trusty steads and before we knew it we were drinking pisco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco) in the dusky light. Perfect way to end the day! Then it was pasta and bed, but not before being properly introduced to Pato and Claudio, the boys with the kitchen sink! It turns out that they were sherpas carrying gear around for a small French team.

Day 3 - Camp Seron to Camp Dickson - Oooh, it looks just like Nueva Zealandia!
Earlyish start. Porridge for breakfast, we pushed on through the daisies only to be greeted by a gnarly hill way before the porridge had settled! At the top we were greeted by Pato and Claudio who were waiting with chocolate for us. Nice one smilers! The boys walked on and we had the day to ourselves again. As we descended we stopped again to take in the breathtaking views of Lago Paine below us and the impressive jagged peaks along the Chile-Argentina frontier behind Lago Dickson in the distance. Flippin´ lovely!
A few hours later, at the bottom of the valley, we met up with Pato and Claudio again who had stopped for a ´refresh our feet in the stream stop´ and again we were offered chocolate. After filling up the water tanks at the stream the going got a little tougher and we hit some really marshy areas. There were sections of it that I decided to just run through in fear of sinking at any hesitations! My feet were starting to ache but with a little help from Pitch Black on the iPod we both pulled through
About an hour before we arrived at Camp Dickson we met a Kiwi couple (from Christchurch). To my dismay they let me down a little bit with their comments, ¨Oh, it´s just like New Zealand isn´t it?¨ Well yes, I grant that may be over 10 million years ago when New Zealand and Patagonia were part of Gondwana land that we could now see a lot of similarities in either place, but still, on the grand scale of things we were truely in a remarkable place. I am sure that they were still enjoying the scenery but if I had had a wet kipper on me I would have given them a gentle tap about the face!
Having walked over the last ridge and seen how beautiful Camp Dickson was I found a sudden burst of energy, so Pato and I ran the last few hundred metres to the final approach. After we descended (or rather slipped on our arses) down the last part of the path, I waited for Liz and we walked around to find a good spot to pitch the tent. We had´nt realised that Dickson was the home for most of the gauchos in the area and we were greeted with a few friendly wolf whistles from across the paddock from the smilers we had met the night before at Camp Seron!

Tent pitched, we relaxed in the sun and the sherpas came over to chat. Pato, Claudio and Jonathon this time. Not before long we were invited over to one of the huts for maté (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate) which is drunk by the gallon usually in a social circle. This particular hut was home to Alexis (this region´s Park Ranger). After a few rounds of maté it was decided that we´d all chip in for a few litres of vino tinto and then just before nightfall it was also decided that Liz and I would be welcome to stay in the spare room of the hut! I spied the hammock in the room and the lovely looking matresses and just couldn´t say no to that one. So with one girl on each arm Alexis marched us off to our tent to pick up our sleeping bags and toothbrushes! It was a bit of a staggered walk at this stage of the night and Liz and I fell about laughing as we walked into ditches, almost decapitated Alexis on a powerline and crept pass the main refugio where we did´nt want to disturb the gauchos for fear that our little party would turn into something too big!
Back at our little house on the Prairie we listened to music (mainly Pink Floyd and Guns and Roses), had something to eat and listened to Alexis´s very entertaining stories. Whilst all of this was going on I was handing out free shoulder, neck and head massages that were very gratefully received by all, including Liz who was first in the queue of seven! With aching hands and a tummy that ached from too much laughing I fell into bed and it was lights out!

Day 4 – A day of rest at Dickson - To Walk or Not to Walk
During the previous night´s festivities Alexis had asked if we would like to stay on an extra day at Dickson and to walk with him tomorrow, when he had his four days off and was walking out of the Park. Doing this however, would mean that we would have to combine two walks together the following day which included going over the John Garner Pass, making for a pretty long and tiring day. I was quite keen to have a days rest as my back was´nt feeling the best, but then I wasn´t sure if it could manage such a slog the following day. On the plus side, walking with a Ranger had it´s added bonuses. It would mean we would lose the Sherpas for a day or so, but we could catch up to them if we wanted to. It was a hard decision and one that we kept changing the answer to. As the boys were packing up and moving on they asked if we would walk with them. We kinda thought we´d wait to have lunch with Alexis (as it was his birthday) and then may be catch up to the boys later in the evening, but then as lunch was almost ready we changed our minds again and thought to hell with it, we´ll go with Alexis!

photo left Alexis took us on a little walk to show us Glacier Dickson. Bueno!

...and he was quite taken by my hair and wanted a photograph of him wearing some of it! photo right

We spent the entire day relaxing. I started it off with a freezing cold shower which again received the gaucho seal of approval. I am sure they built those showers with female tourists in mind. The shower doors were only 3/4 in length so you could see ones legs
from the knee down!

After having every cell in my body woken by the blast of cold I exited the shower with a round of applause and when I blew a kiss in that direction I received even more cheers. I was most put out that they had already fogotten my name though as they were shouting Linda at me. All was restored when Liz pointed out that Linda means beautiful. Bless ´em!

There was´nt an awful lot of work going on in camp. The morning started off with a football match with the odd pause to blow kisses in our direction. Then an horse was shod and as soon as his new shoes were on, out came the tight rope walking competition! Hmmmm, they really have a lot of time on their hands here.

Day 5 – Camp Dickson to Campamento Paso via John Garner Pass - Porridge is for chickens!
John Garner Pass lies only 1241 metres above sea level, so it´s ascent doesn´t really seem like such a big howdy-doody but the challenge is braving the almost gale-force westerlies that can seriously freeze off a few balls of a brass monkey at any given time! We came to expect unstable weather conditions from all over the park. The precipitation levels vary so much across reasonably short spaces. One minute you could be caught in a westerly with tiny shards of icecles biting at your face, whilst the next you can be in your bikini, drinking pisco with the cowboys in brilliant sunshine. Rather like the New Zealand weather I suppose!
I was quietly confident that we wouldn´t have a problem crossing the Pass. The weather had been kind over the last couple of days, but the locals had begun whispering that the clouds were starting to descend so I was greatful to be walking with Alexis. Not just for the safety factor in case it all got a bit narly up there but for great entertainment value too!
I woke from the best sleep yet and found that it wasn´t quite six o´clock and the rest of the hut were still sleeping. I took the opportunity to have some time by myself and wriggled my way down to the laskeside still in my sleeping bag. Feeling quite pleased with some Sophs time I meditated for half an hour. I remember opening my eyes that morning, beside the lake and feeling an almost overwelming sadness to be leaving such a beautiful place. I packed up my thoughts and went to find firewood to get the porridge on and to give Liz a gentle nudge in the right direction!
When I offered porridge to Alexis I was only told that porridge was for chickens so Liz and I enjoyed it by ourselves. I remember Liz asking me how I was feeling about the day ahead and what we thought we had gotten ourselves into, but I just told her it was “just a walk in a park¨ and we laughed at what a dirty great big parque it is too!
Well I could have sworn Alexis put vino tinto into his camelpack, but it turned out it was only a flavoured water. Another immaculate flash-pack, a quick photo-shoot with the gauchos and we were off! A two hour walk to Campamento Perros saw a lovely little area of forest where wild orchids grow (photo right). marvelous! A short stop at Perros and then it was off for the Big Kahuna, up and over the pass.

Well really, I´m not sure what all the fuss was about. May be we had psyched ourselves up a little too much and that having Shapeshifter at the ready on my iPod to help me through it was a tad unrealistic. It was pretty easy walking, although long, I think Alexis was quite surprised to see me hot on his heels everytime he turned around.

photo - sillhoutte of Alexis on top of John Garner Pass

I would have to say that this was my favorite day of the whole trip. Nothing really prepared me for coming up over John Garner Pass. I could see Alexis watching my reaction as I reached the top. Quite literally, it was breathtaking. I don´t think I´ve ever seen anything more beautiful than that view, looking down on Glacier Grey with the mountains all around us. It didn´t matter that we didn´t have the perfect day, with blue skies. I was so taken aback by the sheer beauty of it that I had a few tears in my eyes. I think Alexis totally understood where I was coming from. He asked if I believed in Earth´s energy and blimey, was I feeling it! It had taken us three walking days to get there and I hope it will be a moment I will never forget. I took a 360 video which hardly gives it any justice but a poignant reminder of that moment! No wonder Alexis goes there whenever he´s feeling blue.

So the hardest part of the day was actually the descent from John Garner. Although there were steps made out of the most intracate looking root systems it was pretty much a ´straight down´ path which played havoc on my knees. When I say ´straight down´, there were areas where we had to abseil using built-in guide ropes. OSH would have a field day here! From looking down on Glacier Grey, we were now directly beside it and it was a short walk (2 hours) to our next campsite, where we were greeted by Alexis´ friends. Tent pitched close to the ranger´s hut we cooked inside and I was forever grateful to warm my aching feet on the side of the woodburning stove. Bliss!

Day 6 Campamento Paso to Campamento Grey Grassy-arse Alexis!
It was sad to say goodbye to Alexis, but he had to push on early in the morning to get the most of his break. They only allow male staff to work at the camps (too many girls where getting pregnant through the winter months apparently, silly things)! The rangers work for 12 days and then have a 4 day break. If they work in the northern part of the park and can´t get a horse out it might take them a day to get to the entrance to catch a bus to civilisation. Hmmm, it kinda makes sense why Liz and I were gettng so much attention in each camp then - they simply don´t get out much!! He made sure we were to mention his name to Victor when we reach the Torres Camp who he said would take us on a guided walk to The Valley of Silence (which wasn´t usually open to the public unless guided). With that we were Lexi-less!

Liz making an excellent ascent with Glacier Grey in the background --->

A pretty slow start to the morning. It had rained in the night so we weren´t really looking forward to a washed out path and we knew we had a couple of dicey ravine crossing slung in today´s walk, so we were hoping we´d be ok by ourselves. Our guide book told us to prepare to get wet - joy!

The walk was really beautiful. There was a bit of climbing to be had here and there, but the path was drier than we thought and we were treated to another morning of sunshine. It was really something to be walking beside the glacier all day. I was expecting it to be pretty cold but we were still toasty in just shorts and t-shirts and wondered what the locals thought of us as they strolled by every so often in longjohns and waterproofs! And so the ravine crossings...

...another mountain made out of a molehill! Really, these South Americas are very dramatic. What I thought was going to be a packs-off, wade in chest high water and somehow get each other across moment turned out to be a rock hop, skip and a jump over some pretty gnarly water. Admittedly my ticker missed a beat when I got a foot stuck in one of the rungs down the first ´vertical´ stepladder (which Liz is demonstrating so beautifully to the left) but with a pack on your back and a slight breeze down the ravine it looks easier than it actually was.

The second ravine had a make-shift bridge across it, which was pretty wet. You had to hold on to a pretty wobbly ´rail´ made out of rope to keep your balance. As I watched the white water gushing below me in full force I could see how it could all go horrible wrong with one slip of a foot but we made it across and went on our merry little way to Campamento Grey. Sam (an Irish lad we meet in Puerto Natales) mentioned we should buy a bottle of wine here and enjoy the sunset next to the glacier, so we were pretty excited to get a good pitch and kick-back for a bit.

Campamento Grey was a really pretty campsite too. It was pretty crazy to be camping on a beach considering the landscape we had been enjoying in the past, but the diversity of the park was something we really came to enjoy. You just never know what ´s around the next corner!

After lying in the sun for a bit and making friends with a couple of French guys (they had chocolate) it started to spit with rain. Doh! We got the tent up just in time but Sam´s plan for us wasn´t looking too hopefull. Instead of drinking red wine I constructed a mini drainage system around the tent (preparing for the worst) and made a few extra mini guide ropes with fancy slip-knots. I was quite proud of my work - who needs Girl Guides training!
The Frenchies gifted us with some asparagus soup though, which wasn´t really what we had in mind, but very sweet of them. When will the tuna, salsa and pasta ever end...?? Tonight we went all out and swapped the pasta for mashed potato! I know, it was really very exciting for us too, especially as it was that freeze dried instant flaky stuff you just add water too - such a treat!

Day 7 - A day of rest at Glacier Grey Campsite - ´Porridge with Icebergs anyone?´
It´s a strange but wonderful feeling to unzip one´s tent in the morning to find that the icebergs that are floating past you are different to the ones that were floating past you when you went to bed the previous night! A room with a view no-less! I didn´t have the best of sleeps. Liz (who I swear can sleep through anything) missed the ´rumblings´ in the night. Between 2 and 3am I heard massive ´roars´ and ´ka-booms´ which made me do a quick ´tent-check´ thinking we were in for a big storm. When the roars weren´t followed by massive down-pours it took me a while to realise that it

was just another ice-berg falling off the end of Glacier Grey! Crazy! After a very odd conversation with Liz (she was sleep talking again) I managed a bit more sleep but then the rain did actually come and it didn´t let up until mid morning.
As soon as it stopped, we raced to the bathrooms, brewed a cuppa and just as we were finishing our porridge, on cue, it started to rain again, so we went back to bed! Hmmm, this rain stuff was new to us. To walk or not to walk in the rain......hmmm.....? Sod it, we´re on holiday and like little princesses we decided that the paths would be too muddy (I know, very feeble) and so we decided to write the day off. OK, let me put my hand up now. I AM THE NICKENPOOP THAT FORGOT TO PACK THE PLAYING CARDS! - DOH!
The rain eased for us to get up and make lunch and started again just as we finished so we went back to bed again. Most of the day was spent by me making tea from my sleeping bag.
Cabin fever set in for me mid-afternoon and another break in the rain and the hint of blue skies forced me to air out my thermals and go for a quick walk! I only walked down the beach as far as I could and then back up through the campsite to get another look at the glacier. I was stoked to see that the weather was clearing and that the Park Ranger thought it would be fine for the next few days. Yipee!

Day 8 - Campamento Grey to Campamento Italiano - Eggs not Wednesdays
I made up for not bringing the cards by buying some eggs - a real treat since we were seriously sick of the high carb diet! I was greated with a lovely ´Buenos Dias´ by the campshop chap and we both asked how each other were etc. etc. and then I proudly asked him for some eggs. Well, this is where the confusion set in. He replied by telling me how much he enjoyed Wednesdays and that this was possibly his favorite day other than a Sabado or Domingo (Saturday or Sunday) because it broke up the week! In well rehearsed fashion I replied with a questionable ´Que´ (which really needs to be said with a very confused look on your face and with two hands outstretched either side of your face rather like that idiot Manuel from Fawlty Towers to get the appropriate effect)! It took me a while to understand that my pronounciated of huevos (eggs) sounded a lot like jueves (Thursdays) and it wasn´t until I asked if the Thursdays were fresh that it all really sunk in what we were both talking about here! I really am trying my best and my little slip-ups haven´t really knocked my confidence especially as we both knew that this guy actually spoke English quite well. He told me that he thought I was beautiful and wished me a great day - bless! I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek (to the delight of his onlooking friends), thanked him for the Spanish lesson and went on my merry way! ¨Liz, I got the eggs!¨

I couldn´t help feeling a little down by joining the ´W´ part of the circuit. As we were leaving Campamento Grey we were starting to meet a few more people, but I managed to see the positive and confirmed to myself that the people weren´t ever going to change the landscape around us.

From Glacier Grey we followed the water´s edge until we gradually climbed up another 300m ascent to look back on some impressive views of the Glacier and more bergs floating in the water.
It was a beautiful walk but I couldn´t help feeling all ´glaciered-out´at this stage so concentrated more on the ´not as muddy as we thought´ paths.

After about four hours we arrived at a very popular campsire situated by Lago Pehoé. Campamento Pehoé is popular for its facilities which, as an hardened camper, I didn´t really care for. What did float my boat, however, was their camp store which was very well stocked. Since I had a few extra pesos on me I gave Liz permission to go completely nutso and like children in a sweet shop we bought up large; fruit (ahhhh, fruit) more soups, crisps, nuts and Cadbury chocolate (hmmmm, chocolate)! After a pretty massive feast in the sunshine we made our way towards the Valle de Francés. As we left the main path to head north I bumped into Pip, the Aussie girl that I had hung out with in Buenos Aires during my first few days in Argentina. Such a small world. I had no idea that she would be in the area, let alone bumping into us in this here valley! Pip had just got back from Antartica so it was great to catch up for a few minutes. We had the rest of the day to ourselves after that, which turned out to be pretty special as some of the scenery we were treated to was breathtaking (I know, it´s so boring to have more stunning scenery but it just kept getting better). I think this was one of my favorite walking areas of the park. It was here that we got our first views of Cuerno Principal and Norte (two very distinctive batholiths see photo right) and a great view looking back over Lago Skottsberg.

By this point Liz had become quite used to my off-the-cuff comments, but it was really hard to find the right words for some of the views we were treated to. I felt that a couple of adlib Monty Python sketches were in order....¨Right then, come on! Who was it!? Who put that there!? Come on, own up! We haven´t got all day!¨ And no we hadn´t. Dusk was giving us the hurry up.....

Since we were heading into ´peak´ country I made an extra effort to keep an eye out for Condors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Condor) been told that they tend to soar high above most of the Andean peaks but are more dominant in the Chile and Argentinian regions. They are really distinctive because of their size, the way the ´glide´ and that the tips of their wings look like fingers splayed out! They are very highly prized in South America; so much so that they are included in the coat of arms of Bolivia, Chile, Columbia and Ecuador. They´re not actually the most handsome of birds close up but to watch them fly is something else. Sadly they are close to extinction, so I was really keen to see one without injuring myself (note to self, stop walking when you´re looking up at peaks)!

The best part about arriving at Campamento Italiano was the swing bridge. This particular one was strung across a particularly violent part of the Rio del Francés and the noise of the white water bubbling up below you was incredible.

Right on cue, the Park Rangers had formed their welcoming committee in the fashion that we were used to and before we even had the fly-sheet secured Jorge was wanting to know why we hadn´t visited their hut yet, for a cup of maté. That old chestnut. Liz and I both knew what was coming next. After maté, would be the offer of the wood burning stove to cook on and then massages, before being told how much they love us and that there could not possibly be another woman in the world for them (righto, until the next one turns up tomorrow). This aside, the temperature was starting to drop quite rapidly so we took up the maté offer to warm up.

The cabin was stifling hot. The wood burner was chucking out enough heat to melt a Polar Icecap and the all too familiar sounds of Pink Floyd (which I was rapidly getting very sick of hearing), along with the outdoor-loo sized seating arrangements was all too much for me. I made my excuses and decided to go for a walk before it got too dark. Just before I was able to make my Great Escape, Jorge asked if he could join me. Since he wasn´t as annoying as the other rangers and spoke excellent English, I let him.
After a quick ´bounce´ on the swing bridge we walked down beside the river. I could tell that Jorge really loves this place. He had the choice of working at a few of the other camps but I could see why he chose this one. Much of the park had a magical way of making me feel at home too.

Jorge´s currently studing English at University and hopes to travel overseas to work in EcoTourism. He reminded me of how hard it is for the majority of South Americans to make ends meet. Good jobs (if there is such a thing on this continent) are very hard to come by. The fortunate ones learn English and look for employment overseas. It must be hard on them as I know they are very family orientated people and often all live together in the one home.

<--- me collecting water on the way up The Vallé de Francés

As it was starting to get dark, I was keen to head back to camp and by the time we did the Milky Way was doing its thing just above the silhoette of the batholiths. Absolutely marvelous! I ran to the bridge and lay just on the half way mark with my legs dangling over the edge. With the energy coming off the river below me and the gentle sway of the bridge treating me to the stars above I was having one of those ¨Ain´t life grand moments¨ when I was rudely interuppted by Jorge screaming at me to get off. He was too scared to join me in case he ´bounced´ me off, so I settled on the safer option by lying on the rocks to one side of the river.

It was a beautiful clear night and the sky looked amazing. I was treated to two shooting stars, an amazing comet (that looked like a waterfall of orange stars) and a marriage proposal from Jorge. He was obviously not enjoying the constellations as much as I was (although he did name a star after me) and with that, I let him down gently and retired to bed!

Day 9 - A day trip to Valle de Francés - Has the sky fallen down?
Not the best of sleeps. It was pretty darn cold in that wood. Even though I had the tent to myself and the added luxury of Liz´s sleeping bag, it was pretty darn Baltic even in my thermals! I was also treated to a lot of rumblings from the valley above me - mini avalanches from the mountains that reverberated around the valley which made me think that the sky had fallen down on a couple of occasions! I reminised about the time my dear mother told me the story of Henny Penny who saved the day when the sky actually did fall down on a camping trip we were on in America and fell back to sleep!

Today was going to be an easy day though. We were going to treat ourselves to a little day trip up into the Valle de Francés. This would mean no taking the tent down and only a day pack to carry. Yipee!

It was a particularly beautiful morning and a walk just to match. Most of it was under the cover of trees through a particulary pretty forest which we were very grateful for as it kept us out of the hot sun.

After an hour or so we passed through Campamento Britanico (Great Britain represent) and onwards to a Mirador (a lookout) that showed off the valley below. Absolutely marvelous! We then followed a stream to walk even higher and enjoyed the obligatory bar of chocolate on a suitable rock. The panoramic view of the valley around us was tops so we sat there for quite some time. Well, until we ran out of chocolate anyway!

No guesses what we had for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent keeping out of Jorge´s way. I´m convinved he was off in the woods chopping down ´beams´ to make a log cabin I briefly mentioned I wouldn´t mind living in one day!

A wide angle lens would be gratefully received for Christmas or a birthday!

Day 10 Italiano to Hosteria Las Torres
Hmmmm, too much time lying about yesterday and may be with the accumulation of carrying a reasonably heavy load made for a very sore back for me this morning. Even with a few stretches before we left Italiano did nothing for me. I had warned Liz that I was feeling a little grumpy and as the day went on I just couldn´t find any relief. My pace was the same but I had made a few more stops than I usually would have. As soon as I saw ´that´ rock as we arrived at Campamento Cuernos however, I somehow knew that relief wasn´t too far away. Excitedly I released my pack and eased my way into a backward arch over it - click, click and click! Thank you very much, saved myself another visit to the Osteopath! I was delighted in my instant fix and felt an hell of a lot happier. We celebrated by cooking double portions of pasta!

photo left - Liz, do you recks them thur black birds be Condors? Just as I was beginning to think spotting a Condor here would be like spotting a Grizzly Bear at Yellowstone my hopes were increasing!


I felt my pace slow down considerably over the last couple of hours of walking between Los Cuernos and Hosteria Los Torres. Every so often I´d stop to take a moment to look back at where we´d come from. I reminisced about all of the very happy memories and couldn´t help feel an heavy heart. We were finishing the hike off at dusk, my favourite part of the day and the setting sun was now dappling its light over the hills and it suited my mood down to the ground. It was so beautiful and calming that it reminded how insignificant I felt at times in the Parque and how grateful I feel for everything I have and to have had such an experience; I´m not afraid to say I shed a few very happy tears.

I waited for Liz to catch up. Her body language described exactly how I felt and we stopped to share our mutual thoughts - why does this ever have to end!
I knew, over the next hour or so we´d be back into semi-civilisation and it felt horrible. I wasn´t looking forward to seeing cars in the car parks nor the increase in tourists, but I also felt a great sense of achievement and I knew that fresh food wasn´t too far away! More so, I felt extremely proud of Liz. For a bird that hasn´t done any hiking before (seriously, none) to have completed the Torres del Paine Circuit as your first adventure deserves massive ´big ups.´ I let Liz bring it home and walked behind her. Where the path allowed us, we walked side by side, stopping quite a few times for last glimpses of where we´d come.
When we found a lovely spot to camp next to the stream, we released our packs and gave each other big ´congratulations´ hugs. We had finished the Torres del Paine Circuit and it felt bloody good!

So where does my birthday come into it? Well, we were keeping our fingers crossed that we were saving the best until last - The Torres del Paine Lookout hike. It would mean a steap three hour climb the following morning to Campamento Torres and then another steap ascent at 4 o´clock in the morning (on my birthday) to try and capture the ´Holy Grail´ of the Parque - the first light touching the Torres, which, according to many ´filtered´ postcards glows every shade of red, pink, orange, indigo and violet at the start of each morning! (We would have walked straight there, but we wanted to ensure all of the camera batteries were charged before heading that way)!

Day 11 Hosteria Las Torres to Campamento Las Torres Up that Thur Hill!
Since we only had to walk for three hours today, we gave ourselves a lie-in (yeah, like that was a first)! After a leisurely breakfast (of mash potato and soup - we were starting to feel the porridge shortage), we decided to procrasinate and talk to the neighbours; a couple of English blokes from London whom had just finished the ´W´ and shook our hands on completing the Circuit. ¨Ah, it was nothing!¨ we replied. When we explained our disappointment in not seeing a Condor or a Puma yet, they cheered us up by saying that they had seen millions of them and that even the eighth time they´d seen a Condor it was carrying a puma in its talons!! We let them get back to their card game and we climbed that thur hill!

The climb wasn´t really that bad, apart from Liz almost being taken out by a stampede of gaucho´s horses at the start, we arrived at Camp Chileno in one piece!
There was a lovely atmosphere at the Chile Camp and it was situated in such a position that you could look up at the Torres from the many picnic tables lying around. We decided to stop for lunch as I just couldn´t get past the fact that they had sandwiches on their menu with tomato, lettuce, cheese and beans and I just had to have one! It cost me half an arm but it was my left arm and it was worth every greedy little bite. I made another note of how grateful I am to usually take fresh food for granted.

Packs back on and cheery goodbyes to the boys in the kitchen, it was not long before we were at Campamento Torres. We jokingly bet each other that we wouldn´t get the tent up before we´d be invited in by the Conafs! Sure enough, right on time, we had just got the poles in and were starting on the pegs when Barnaby managed to get the first invitation in - tea at his 10 trees to our right! And as usual we were just finishing off the tent pegs when we were questioned why we hadn´t accepted the invitation yet! Blimey, give the girlsa chance mate! So we drank tea and ate a sandwhich made by Baranaby. In his absennce I joked with Liz that I would like to get to bed before a massage was offered as I was keen for an early start in the morning. When Barnaby returned I made my excuses and Liz and I almost fell about in stitches when he looked most disappointed that I was calling it a night and asked if I would like a massage! Liz and I are sooooo on to that little chestnut!

Day 12 - Torres del Paine Lookout - Happy Birthday to Me!
I woke up naturally at 3.45am and checked the back door of the tent for a weather report. I couldn´t see any stars so wondered if it was worth getting out of bed! I lay awake for about an hour and even heard others get up around me. The decision was agonising. It was my birthday after all, surely it would be worth it. I got up for another look at 4am and feeling like a leaping nun (for those Pete and Dud fans) I went back to bed again at 4.30 realising I had got up waaay too early! Yup, birthdays were met for lie-ins!

<---- making birthday porridge!

When we eventually got up and digested the spaghetti and tuna we had for lunch, Victor (one of two Victors working as Park Rangers here) took us on a guided walk to the Vallé del Silencio (The Valley of Silence photo below, no smart comments please bro)! The last 20 minutes of which was quite demanding because of the extremely strong winds howling down through the valley. The highlight of the trip, however, was stopping off at the Japonese Camp (that is only used by climbers who are mad enough to want to climb the Torres). Here we met four climbers from Ecuador (brothers Micha, Thomas, Martias and their cousin José) who had set up camp in hope of a summit within three weeks. Well really, they were just the most beautiful people I´ve met so far. Apart from being absolutely drop-dead gorgeous hearing about their passion for climbing and the view they have on life has convinced me I need to move to Ecuador and take up rock climbing! On hearing it was my birthday they broke out the pisco and cooked us popcorn on the fire and liz and I enjoyed their company for the rest of the afternoon. Before it got too dark, we thought we´d better head back to camp...

...hmmmm, I wouldn´t admit it to any of the Conaf staff, but we kind of forgot how to get back and so we spent a good hour fumbling around the massive boulders we had walked across hours before. Our back up plan was to follow the river back down to camp but we eventually found the right path and made it back just before dark.

Day 13 Campamento Torres to the base of The Towers - The first sunrise attempt
As I unzipped the back door of the tent to check on the stars and weather conditions I felt like the first intrepid explorer ever to be in the area and whos findings today would make the world a better place. OK, so millions of people have actually gone before me and failed that ´postcard shot´ but I was keen to give it a go. I could see stars and it wasn´t raining, so that was good enough for me! I put every warm item of clothing on, secured my headlamp, packed up my sleeping bag and went to find Liz!
Liz, not being a morning person, had stayed up all night hanging out with the Victors and wasn´t that impressed on the early start but like most Jordan´s I wasn´t taking any chances of missing anything! The walk was really easy right up until the first ten minutes of it. Navigating large boulders in the dark was proving to be a little difficult in the dark. We had a few other pilgrims on our trail who seemed to have all faith in us leading the way. We knew what direction we should be heading but we also saw some torches going off in all sorts of other approaches and I got a little confused if there was something we were missing. Christian the German saved the day though. He had been up the day before and knew the route. He had a very uncanny nack of finding the orange dots (route markers) in all sorts of nooks and crannys so I happily gave him the lead and like moutain goat lemmings we proceeded to the top to wait for the glory of another day.
We were absolutely roasting in the layers of clothing we had cocooned ourselves in. Right up until we stopped! Finding our viewpoint was a different story. I´m not sure if I´ve ever been in winds like that before. It was bloody freezing! No sooner had you found a boulder to hide under, the wind would change direction and find you again. My hands were numb and I am sure my face turned blue at one point. The three of us huddled together with our sleeping bags wrapped around us, but that still wasn´t enough. Liz was the first to see sense and headed home for warmer climates. Christian and I sat there for what seemed like an enternity. Other people were starting to give up too, but I was more than determined to hold my position and see this one through. When Christian gave up half an hour later, my hopes of seeing that postcard shot diminished even more but I was still determined to ignore the ailments against me. I changed my position and crossed the same path as a professional photographer ¨Be patient. I reckon this one is going to happen,¨ he almost convinced me. When he finally gave up, I sat there by myelf, although I felt my brother sitting next to me in spirit. Memories of his determination to see a bear in Yellowstone National Park that summer gave me the courage to battle on through. It was the gale force gust of wind that actually lifted me off the rock I was sitting on and promptly plonked me down in a ditch a few meters away, that gave me the hint to give today a miss! No problem, I´ll just get the shot tomorrow. I returned back to base knowing that it wasn´t over yet!
Thanks Christian for being Tour Guide and Photographer! Best Wishes being sent your way!

Day 14 The second sunrise attempt
Another early morning after hardly any sleep. The wind storm I had experienced last night was something else. I could hear it start possibly miles away and heard it sweep down through the valley towards me. As it was getting closer I was scared that it might break a bow off a tree and squash me. I got up to do a very quick tent check. All of the trees around me were creaking in unison and I was half tempted to join Liz in the Ranger´s Hut. When the wind actually did reach camp I hung on to my knicker elastic and held my ground. The tent walls actually collapsed in on me on more than a few occasions but I kind of enjoyed the energy of it all and somehow knew that I would be fine. It eventually died down in the early hours of the morning, but I knew (after yesterdays attempt) it would be suicide for me to ´make another summit´ so attempted to sleep instead. Liz woke me later in the day to say that they had just made some fresh bread. Ah, comfort food! I chatted to a few new arrivals throughout the afternoon and then decided to walk back up to the Torres with Remy and Jonathon. photo right

Remy (from Lyon, France, who is going to buy an horse and ride all the way to Costa Rica) and Jonathon (London somewhere, who will probably get talked into buying an horse too - what a trip) added light relief to my somewhat doomed mission and I pointed them in the right direction of the fated sight. Absolute disaster! Just as we ´summited´ I opened my camera to find that my screen had cracked. Gutted! Comforted in the fact that I still had a view finder, gone are all my settings and custom modes. From now on all photographs could only be in Auto mode. Unfortunately Liz´s camera had suffered the same fate only two days previously and I couldn´t help feel that that blow off the boulder yesterday had something to do with mine giving up the ghost. The mistery was that it was working a few minutes before we left on this little trip. Like me, it had given up on ever catching that silly sunrise.
All I got was this...
When really I was looking for something like the start of this...

In the afternoon, Liz met a couple of girls from Blighty (Flo and Ali) who had run out of wine and were trying to find a way on how to rectify the situation. We offered to walk down to Camp Chileno for them which made for another little break from camp. We treated ourselves to a hot meal and completed our mission on return.

Day 15 Campamento Torres to Puerto Natales That Condor Moment!
I was over the sunrise thing. Fresh food and an hot shower was a more than achievable objective and so with one last pack, we left the side of the mountain. As you might have guessed the walk ´home´ was a little relentless. I was very sad to leave, but then I hadn´t had a shower for 6 days and I was more than keen to cook up anything other than tuna and pasta! We stopped off at Camp Chileno to, um, get some more chocolate and enjoy the sunshine for a bit!

Whilst Liz was comparing cold sores with a chap from New Caledonia I looked up and saw a black bird soaring above one of the peaks. Could it be? I pointed it out to the chap´s wife and she said ¨Oh yes, that´s definitely a Condor. Gosh, they´re everywhere around here aren´t they!?¨ I think I might have actually bounced. On our last day too, you little weasel, or rather, Condor! Everything ticked off the list as far as I was concerned. Sod the sunrise!
We finished our descent and walked to the entrance of the Parque. Whilst we were talking to one of the Park Rangers I was given one last little treat. A pair of Condors flew right down into the valley we were sitting in and I got a really good look at them reasonably close. I´m convinced they tipped their wings in my direction and with that I said farewell to one of the best adventures I´ve ever had!

¨Th-Th-That´s about it from me!See you in Puerto Natales!¨