Chilean Patagonia

Day 7: Get to Torres Del Paine So I'm a little grumpy this morning. I generally hate guided tours and i'm embarrassed I've signed up for one in Torres Del Paine at Ecocamp Patagonia. that being said, figuring out how to camp, cook, and hike the W Trek by myself for 5 days in one of the least forgiving/ toughest landscapes in the world felt like something I was not well positioned to do (especially in late fall/ early winter in patagonia). Im at the BUS station for the 8:30AM BUS to PUERTO NATALes. it took me all of 6 minutes to walk here from my lovely schilling hostel in el calafate and i am markedly early (read: hangry). once boarded, I aggressively snag an empty window seat (pro tip: must request at ticket counter), put my sleep mask on, and turn on some Alberta Cross in my headphones. Please no one talk to me until I've been fed. Puerto Natales is 6 hours away and I'm hoping I can sneak in coffee with my friend Neill.

Despite the weather, the yellowish green hills contrasting with the bluish purple mountains and bright teal lakes start to put me at ease. Our driver with a keen eye spots a juvenile puma and we're told this is a good omen and a rarity. We arrive and I'm relieved to see how beautiful this place is.

We meet our 3 tanned and rugged guides, Pablo, Kati, and Franco. We have a wide age range in our group although we are pretty obviously all from English speaking countries. There are two Texan men that could be my father with one of their daughters, two couples, 3 young Californian girls, one South African guy, 2 English girls, and me. I quickly make friends with the South African and English girls the first night at our delicious 3 course welcome dinner (asparagus soup, hake, and ice cream yum). I crawl in bed and I'm admittedly quite cold, but the rain on the roof is soothing and I quickly fall asleep. Day 8: Start the W trek in the French Valley After being a negative nancy yesterday, I wake up quite cheerful today. that is until I realize I'm in a freezing ecodome/tent and I can't get out of bed. I grab all my clothes and toiletries and run to the bathroom. Shit, there's no heat in here either. Pro TiP: Patagonia in april is freezing. I quickly pile on the clothes, wash my face, and head to breakfast. The same crew of friends from last night is awaiting me at a table for breakfast. Perfect. I load up on breakfast to prepare for the big day and then move to the lunch packing station. They have everything you could ever want waiting to be packed for your hike... AND the food is sustainably sourced and healthy. From here, we load up on the bus to the French Valley at 9:30AM. Our mission: 21 km/13 miles and 200m/660 ft elevation. Today's hike is supposed to be mostly "Patagonia flat" which means with hills and rocks, but flat compared to the steep mountain hikes. We get off the bus and wait for the catamaran in the pouring rain. given the long term nature of my trip, I only have two outfits for hiking packed and if one gets soaked and I don't have heat, I'm screwed (cue first world problems). crossing the lake takes about 2 hours. Fortunately I've been adopted by the two English girls, Elly and Laura, and we're spending most of the time cracking jokes anyways. We start out the hike in the rain and wind, but as our legs get warm, we settle in. The terrain is so rugged that you spend 95% of the time looking down to make sure you don't trip. It's a long hike, but the lookouts are still rewarding despite the weather.

We get to a bridge before Camp Italiano that sways in the wind that I find quite fun. I ask one of the guides about it and he said only one person is allowed at a time because it broke a few months ago. To which I said, "wow, did anyone die?" And he said "yes"...

I was shocked at the shortness of this answer. Later when we clarified with him, we discovered he had completely misheard me and no one had actually died so we had a good laugh.

The way back down feels shorter because the weather is better and the views are incredible. when they say Patagonia can have all 4 seasons during one day, they are absolutely right. Every time I get warm, it gets cold within a half hour and every time I take off my rain cover, it starts raining again. We hustle down the mountain and Pablo and Elly laugh at my ridiculous recount of NYC stories. Im told I should write a book of these exploits and note this is not the first time I've heard this. At this point, one of the really cute old men accidentally rolls down a hill into the bush as I'm telling one of my stories and he laughs the whole way down. This becomes a highlight of my day (He was fine by the way). We stop at one of the Refugios to wait for the catamaran and I cheat and buy half an hour of wifi for $5. So much for digital detox. We are given the rundown on tomorrow's activities and asked to make a decision before we get back. Pablo and Franco tell me over a shared cup of Mate that the "bad ass" hikers choose the highest difficulty hikes every day. I explain to them that I'm fortunately naturally athletic, but I prefer a diet of beer and pizza. not one to back down from a challenge, i sign up anyway. We get back to the camp at 8:20PM and because I'm freezing, decide to take a shower in the ten minutes before dinner. This becomes more of an escapade in no heat and no lights, but I keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be camping and at least I have a shower. I go with my hair wet to dinner and hope I dry before I have to go back out to the freezing air to sleep. Dinner night two is amazing. I didn't know we would have 3 course dinners every night. You choose dinner at breakfast time and it's easier to be healthier in the morning before a long day so I had chosen the vegetarian dish with fruit salad. Everyone else at the table has beef and something that looks like an eclair and I'm quite jealous.

Then they come around to everyone at the table (except me) and ask if they'd like the heater in their bedrooms and bathrooms turned on. i start to pity little old me without heat and i have to stop myself from going to the front desk and asking for an upgrade. No need to be spoiled.

I run back to my dome with my headlamp and crawl under the covers quickly. I look up through the window in my dome at the perfect starry night and drift off. Day 9: Hike Mount Ferrier Okay so night 2 camping wasn't as seamless as the first. I couldn't get warm no matter what I did. I was wearing all the clothes in my backpack already. As I lay awake frozen at 630am, I decide to go to yoga because at least there is heat in there. Yoga is relaxing and I warm up.

Ferrier is steep. Real steep. 2.5 miles each way and 2,335 feet (700 meters/ 6 km). We take a bus at 9am to the bottom of Grey Glacier and I wonder if I can switch to the easy trek the English girls are going on which includes Pisco Sours on a boat. Sounds really nice right now. but I tough it out and do the hike.

...It was rough. One of the Californians and I hold up the anchor of the group. The pace that these people hike at is insane. I thought this was vacation. By some sort of miracle, I make it to the top and we're greeted by 70 mph winds. yes, you read that right - patagonia is wild. It's too windy to stand and every time I try, I feel like I'm going to be blown off the face of the mountain. I attempt to take one picture and I shimmy on my butt back down to safety. That's enough excitement for me. We run the 2.5 miles downhill and I twist my ankle for the second time this trip. Shocking. queen of the clumsiest right here. We all opt out of the Lago Weber hike to go back to ecocamp at 5:30. My feet and ankles are killing me and I need to do some laundry in the sink before it's freezing and I lose daylight (sunset is around 7/ sunrise around 8).

Pablo plays Vance Joy and the Lumineers on the way home and tells me how American music is his favorite. We get back to camp and I take another yoga class to stretch out. I wimp out and go by reception and tell them I'll pay whatever it is to upgrade to heat. No availability. I settle for an extra blanket and charge my GoPro in the community dome for another cold night. I chose gnocchi, octopus, and chocolate for dinner which are perfect after this day. I make new friends with the couple from Sydney, Brice and Amy. They are Travel agents and take the most incredible photos. After dinner, there is a speaker named Amyr Klink, who is ridiculously talented.

Day 10: The Towers I got a great nights sleep, but woke up very anxious for today's hike. The Towers. The hardest and most iconic day. 24km/14 miles and 3,000 feet elevation.

My new English friend Elly loans me her ankle brace AND dries my long underwear in her heated dome and I'm so thankful. I meet an amazing washington couple (ex US NAVY pilots) and spend a good chunk of my day chatting with them. Starting the hike, the first 2 km are relatively steep. Not as bad as yesterday, but I was so anxious not knowing what would come next. The next 8 km were hilly, but totally doable.

We pass a beautiful red fox at Camp Chileno and My spirits rise quickly as we enter into the forests and I'm hit with all the colors of my favorite season, Fall. Winter is approaching quickly in the Southern Hemisphere so the trails aren't as crowded as they would be in the summer months.

I'm told the last km is really steep and will take an hour. After Fitz Roy in Argentina, I'm expecting the worst. It did end up being steep, but not half as bad.

We get over the peak and it's breath taking. The 3 white horns contrast beautifully with the bright blue water. we take lots of embarrassing photos including what we call your typical American tourist selection. We eat lunch on the lake and drink Mate with Pablo. Eventually we get cold enough to want to head back down for the 12 km return. It's way simpler coming down. We pass beautiful horses from Hotel Torres that I think I would love to hire to take me down.

We make it back to ecocamp and everyone is cheering. I rip off my shoes and brace and feel like I've finished a marathon. We take a group photo and we feel on top of the world. High fives all around.

After packing and taking a hot shower, I head to dinner on my sore feet. It's our last night in Patagonia so we drink pisco sours, play card games, exchange emails, and reminisce about our favorite parts of the hikes. We feast on pumpkin soup, lamb, and roasted apple and go to bed full, exhausted, but happy. I'm surprised at how many highs and lows I had in such a short trip. From not wanting to come at all Sunday to making friends Monday to waking up Tuesday hating camping/ dreading hiking to standing at the base of the towers Wednesday surrounded by new friends. Funny how things change. 32 miles and 5,969 feet elevation in 3 days. Bucket list: Patagonia... Check. Day 11: Fly to Santiago After breakfast, we take a 5 hr bus to Punta Arenas where we will fly 3 hours to Santiago at 3:15PM. At one point, we stop in a station to let people use the restroom and we leave someone because we're in a hurry to make our flights. We quickly notice and see the girl running behind us. This is hilarious and I'm so glad it's not me.

I'm eager to have heat, electricity, and wifi. This solar powered charger is not quite cutting it. My new English friends are heading to Santiago too and I'm glad I don't have to say goodbye quite yet.

We make it to Santiago and share an uber to our respective hostels in bellavista. $16 for a 30 minute ride is a steal. My first impression of the city is that it looks a bit like LA - surrounded by dry mountains, but covered in smog. There isn't the same greenery that there was in Buenos Aires. The streets feel a bit grimier.

We meet up an hour later at 9PM in Bellavista to have dinner at Barrica 94. It was delicious and it's nice to sit outside without freezing to death. Exhausted from our travels, we call it a night and head in. Off to Valparaiso tomorrow.