Hey hey, back from Torres del Paine. When we finally crossed the giant river where the road into the park used to be it was about noon on Monday and the fun began from there. Jeff the Antartic science technician and I headed off up the first valley on the W trail and ībout sunset we finally made it up to the viewpoint for the magnificent Torres del Paine. We caught the weather perfect that day, the towers were fucking amazing like nothing Iīve ever seen. We just kinda stood there catching bugs in our open mouths, actually there werenīt too many bugs in the cold, regardless it was pretty incredible. Thereīs a lake in front of the towers that collects all the melted glacier water and after almost falling into it from a heavy gust of wind we headed back down the trail an hour to our tents and dinner. We got up early on Tuesday morning, hiking many, many hours out of the first valley and across a long, warm stretch of hills to the start of the trail up the second valley on the W Trail. It was great, t shirt weather and cows and all pristine and shit, but later on in the day my boots waged a cannibal war on my feet and by the time we made it to Campamiento Pehoe I had to use all of Jeffīs sticky cloth stuff on my feet to keep them from getting any bigger or bloodier. mm mm. We ended up making it another couple hours from there and I collapsed in my tent at 5 or so on Tuesday evening as 39 students from a business school in Pennsylvania showed up. They werenīt too loud, besides the park is practically deserted compared to how it was only a little more than a week ago before the storm. We woke up yesterday morning to see that the weather had deteriorated. Basically, it was either wait around in the drizzle and hope for it to clear up before beginning the 5-6 hour round trip hike up that valley to see the Cuernos del Paine or begin the 6 hour walk in the drizzle towards the end of the W Trail. Jeff opted to stay since heīs got enough food on him for a month, my feet demanded that I hurry up and finish the damn trek before they went on strike. It was really fun hiking with him, heīs 40 and therefore old but he did all of the Pacific Crest Trail in two parts a couple years ago plus heīs 6 foot 3 and therefore pretty fast. I had him up the hills but had a hell of a time keeping up downhill and on the flat. He helped me out a ton with all sorts of things and taught me a bunch of Antartic humor so hats off to him and if I donīt see him tomorrow before I head back to Punta Arenas maybe weīll run into each other down in the Antartic in a few years. Or maybe on some lonesome trail somewhere around the western US. Who knows, weīll bump into each other again. I hiked all alone yesterday and when I finally made it to Campamiento Gray at the end of the W Trail I was sitting inside the refugio when a brit looked at me and said, "Hey, werenīt you the guy singing along the trail earlier?" That was me. Camp was located on the water of Gray Lake which, go figure, is next to Glacier Gray, and man that glacier might be the biggest thing Iīve ever seen. Obviously itīs not really the biggest thing ever, but when I was looking at it near the end of the trail from up above it became hard to imagine how all that great big blue white ice managed to fit between those hills. I bet some good childrenīs tales could be written about glaciers. So I hobbled the rest of the way to camp and set down my pack and took a deep breath of satisfaction because Iīd finished the W Trail. I took advantage of the refugioīs liberal hot water dispersal policy and made mīself some mighty satisfying tomato and onion soup. I woke up this morning and hobbled around camp for a bit just for the hell of it, then packed my things and took the ferry on out of the park.
Back in Puerto Natales now as you mightīve guessed, after I wrap up here itīs off hobbling to the restaurant for a sandwich and a couple pints before coming back here and enjoying the luxury of a mattress for the first time in a few days. I think Iīm gonna skip town tomorrow, promising to return of course, and head back to Punta Arenas and take a penguin sightseeing tour. Something low impact on these old feet. I really missed the cold, after the semester ends mid May and my two month romp through South America begins I think itīs all gonna end up being spent down here in southern Argentina and Chile to help polish off the spanish and try my hand at cross country skiing at Bariloche. Iīm finally developing a taste for some winter activities. Or if not when I get back to Reno in July itīll be the dead middle of summer again. Who knows. One thingīs for sure, next time Iīm down in Torres del Paine, itīs with a different pair of boots and for no less than a month. The parkīs just too damn big for any less. Iīm hungry.