Parque Nacional Torres del Paine - Part 2
Day 87-89 (27.-29.01.23):
Every day the weather got a little better and we could enjoy our breakfast on January 27 at a picnic table in the sun overlooking the lake Nordenskjöld.
For this day trip we planned the shortest route and the least elevation gain: only 16km and 400m up and down. But there was a catch: we were going to hike the whole way with all our equipment and stuff. Fortunately, most of the hike was with a beautiful view along the same lake where we had had breakfast.
After 15 minutes, we decided that all the waterproof and insulating layers of clothing we had put on were absolutely unnecessary, and we continued on in shirts and shorts. We were not the only ones :). Along the way we met many other hikers who were getting rid of their down jackets and long pants, all of which they had needed the days before.
Be prepared for any weather condition and temperature in Torres del Paine, even and especially in summer.
When we arrived at the facilities of Las Torres and its campground several hours later, we were exhausted and happy to pitch our tent in the sun on the large and beautiful campground.
We were also super-excited to get a prepared meal in the refuge and not have to cook for ourselves. As mentioned earlier in my rant, the food was a big disappointment and unfortunately the campground toilets and showers were also in very poor condition. We have now seen some campground facilities in Chile and Argentina, and this was the worst so far in terms of hygiene. But we were only two days there and you take what you get.
We were looking forward to the hike on the next day, January 28, to the Torres del Paine and their viewpoint with a distance of about 20km and 1000m in altitude, starting from the refuge Las Torres/Central.
If you only have one day available and have to decide where to go, this is THE choice. As a result, not only everyone doing the multi-day O or the W trek are visiting the famous viewpoint of Las Torres, but also ALL day visitors carried to the Welcome Center in Las Torres refuge want to experience this hike. For this reason, it was incredibly busy on the trail. It is a matter of courtesy to always greet and smile when meeting other hikers, and so many "Hola" were exchanged that day.
What surprised us: It seems that everyone needs trekking poles these days, for whatever reason. For many type of hikes and tours, they are a wonderful tool. If and when properly used. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems that poles are just a trend to look more athletic (than you actually are) and a tool to keep people at a distance. A person's width is doubled when they wear the poles like a fashion accessory, making it impossible to pass them on a narrow path. There seems to be a correlation between the incorrect use of the poles and slowness of the hiker (I wonder if there is a study on this…). And if you walk behind them when they swing their poles as high as your face, you have to keep a safe distance if you don’t want to lose your eyesight.
With or without poles, either way the hike was challenging: We passed by a very windy pass (called "windy pass"), where you had to watch every step, and the last 1.4km to the Las Torres viewpoint was a steep, narrow, gravel and later boulder covered path. Unless you are at least in a good physical condition with some trekking background and/or have problems with your knees, I would strongly advise against this hike. We are far away from a perfect physical condition, other people can probably trail run the whole way, but it is neither as easy as you could be led to believe by the advertising and popularity of the park, which almost suggests this was a trip for the whole family.
Speaking of family, some of the families we met along the way did not look happy. Many stopped every 100m to catch their breath. Sometimes it’s better to walk like the tortoise in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, slowly but steadily with moderate effort (and heart rate), rather than running up the hill and needing a break every 5 minutes to lower your heart rate.
On the way back we also met two Canadian pensioners with whom we had had breakfast earlier that day. One of them skipped the last hundred meters of the hike because she knew that her knees would not make it down again. Other hikers looked less reasonable and instead seriously overburdened. Some even limped on their way back, some wore sneakers instead of trekking shoes, and in the middle of the way down we met two mountain rescue service men with a stretcher coming up to get someone :(.
I completely get it, we made it to the top and the view is breathtaking, you want to see it. But we all have only one body to live in and we were wondering how many people are rescued or have to be hospitalized after visiting Torres del Paine because they underestimated the hike or overestimated their capacity.
To admire the view of Lago Torres and the beautiful Torres del Paine behind it, we sat, and later lay, on a huge rock for more than an hour enjoying our lunch. We also observed other visitors trying to take souvenir photos from a rock in the lake without falling into it. Later we took a little nap on the rock in the sun (and the Insta360 is a really fun camera).
We chose a busy time for the way back. Since we had arrived on the viewpoint, more and more people arrived as well, and around 2:00 pm many of them also wanted to go back. The descent of the 1.4 km took much more time than the ascent. On the one hand, you have to wait, as it is only possible to overtake slower people in a few spots on the narrow and steep trail. On the other hand, because there were still people climbing up and sometimes there was not enough space for a flow in both directions.
After those famous 1.4km, the crowd spread more and more along the way and we could move faster. Due to those busy hours with the large number of visitors (and the extraordinary view), many hikers choose to experience the viewpoint at sunrise. This means starting the hike at 1 am at the refuge Las Torres or at 3 am at the closer refuge Chilenos. Another couple we met started their hike at 6:30 am from refuge Las Torres. At all these times you don’t have the viewpoint to yourself, but of course it is less crowded and busy and you get up and down faster.
Since we like to sleep, we purposely chose rush hour for our trip. We were in no hurry, it was the last day of our multi-day excursion and the weather was nice as well.
Once again we were exhausted and happy when we arrived back at the refuge Las Torres. After three days of hiking (the first day with 1h hour walk in rain and hail doesn’t really count) we felt challenged but not overwhelmed, a perfect balance.
On the last day we took it really slow. The shuttle bus back to the park entrance was scheduled to leave at 2 pm and the bus from the park entrance to Puerto Natales was booked for 3 pm. During breakfast we chatted for quite a while with a Chilean family about all kinds of things: our motorcycle tour, life in Spain and Germany, the social and political situation in Chile (heavy content) and of course the disappointment about the refuges catering.
We sat at the breakfast table for so long that the waitresses even brought our lunch box to the table so they could start their breakfast break. At least the waiters and waitresses shared a breakfast buffet including not only ham and cheese, but also tomatoes and with a huge bowl of scrambled eggs. At that moment, we planned to indulge ourselves at dinner when we got back to Puerto Natales.
After breakfast we took a nap in our tent and then packed our things and walked 10min to the shuttle bus station in Las Torres. They even sold real coffee there! From there we had to take two busses. First the shuttle to the park entry and then the bus back to Puerto Natales which we already had tickets for.
At the park entrance, the 2:30 pm bus to Puerto Natales was already waiting for its passengers. Around 2:40 pm some passengers were still missing, so the driver asked if people with tickets for the 3:00 pm bus wanted to take the opportunity to hop on and leave earlier.
Just as everyone was seated on the bus and ready to leave, another shuttle bus arrived from Las Torres bringing the remaining passengers for the 2:30 pm bus.
What followed was a backflip, a nice entertainment for all those waiting and for the park attendants drinking their mate: the 3:00 pm passengers got off the bus and unloaded their luggage again, and the late passengers of the shuttle boarded the bus.
At the end the 2:30 pm bus left at 3:00 pm. Only with a small delay, our bus arrived shortly after and we were on our way back to Puerto Natales by 3:15 pm. As a nice extra, we saw some flamingos in the Laguna Amara when we drove by.
It was an amazing trip and an amazing hike, including all the obstacles, seasons, weather and food circumstances. If there was no challenge, it would not be as satisfying afterwards.
We were looking forward to changing our status from hikers to bikers again and even more so to the 80min massage I had booked before the park as a birthday gift for Helge for the next day. Of course I booked the same massage for me too :).
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