Torres Del Paine - rambling at length

After 11 months of travel, it is time I wrote a blog entry. I seem to have been busy with stuff like accommodation & spending. But also I can be a bit idle! This is about trekking in Torres del Paine in Chile, a massive national park, in 26-29 January. This was my first trekking over a several day period, and included some great scenery, so it was certainly something new for me.

Day 1 got off to a bad start - a pretty wet morning, and I forgot my waterproof trousers. The scenery also wasn't that dramatic, including lots of damage from the recent sad fire, but we saw lots of guanacos (llama cousins). By then I'd not eaten any, or else I might have been a bit more eager for lunch. Interesting fact: rheas (ostrich cousins) lay a few eggs, cover them and then lay more eggs on top. This gives better drainage, and the bottom eggs are a first meal for their siblings from the top eggs. That's nature for you.

The afternoon was better, with just me, Margaret (retired, from Edinburgh) & Fernanda our guide trekking for 3 hours on some 'Patagonian Flat', i.e., not at all flat, but rather a bit up and down. The weather & scenery were better, often next to a river and trees as far as I could see. Then we walked to and along the beach at Lago Grey, via a very shaky (fun) footbridge. Very dramatic, mountains one way and the Grey Glacier at the end of the lake, with strong and cold winds making the waves crash in hard on the beach. Also, the 3 of us had a good chat along the way. A good trekking intro day.

Day 2 was my hardest day, about 18k to the base of the Torres del Paine. The Torres are, well, big pointy stone towers. The 5 of us split into 2 groups, me being with Joan, a friendly American from Alberquerque. We chatted for most of the way up - which was fun and deflected the effort - until it got to the steepest and last part, when speaking was definitely best avoided! We even got the offer of a place to stay in Alberquerque if we are in the neighbourhood, which was very nice.

The guide walked ahead and set the pace, which on the way up was good and steady, taking a bit over 4 hours. The weather was very decent, neither hot or rainy, so I thought it wasn't as hard as I feared it could be. Much of the way up gave a clear view from a good height, and there was some variety as part was in woodland and part on paths on the side of the mountain. Of course, this being South America, there were never any fences or ropes next to these paths!
The best part was turning the corner at the top to find ourselves next to a small lake staring up to the top of the towers. Partly it was about the satisfaction of getting there (although it's not exactly Everest) and partly it was just a great view. Also we were lucky that there weren't masses of people around. It was also a great place to stop and have lunch.

Just after lunch and the obligatory photos, the drizzle started and the Torres started to cloud over a lot more, so we were lucky to get there before that. Despite a bit more rain on the way down, having made it to the top and the view there, the effort of the way back seemed worth it by then. We saw a lot of people walking up in the afternoon, including many with big rucksacks - definitely not the way to enjoy it!

Given that I'd not done any real exercise for ages, I was pretty satisfied with how I did. But sadly my feet and legs were not used to so much walking, and about half way back the first of the blisters on both heels had burst. I had to push myself to the end and walk carefully and deliberately. The end took a long time to arrive, and was not helped by finishing the last bit without the guide, not being totally sure of the path, and then on finding it discovering that it was a short but steep path up to the camp.

Immediately I downed a Coke and a beer, then had one of the best showers ever. Then I spent much of the evening hobbling. I didn't really expect to be walking like that for at least another 30 years. I definitely advise doing some short treks to build up to anything as long or challenging as this. Obvious when you think about it, but I hadn't. The few shorter treks we'd done earlier in January were not much preparation.

Day 3 was supposed to be a very scenic trek. My body - knees, balls of feet, and blisters on heels - would however not allow me to go. Sometimes you just have to obey the body. This was one of those times. Gradually through the day I hobbled less. Good to have a day of rest from all this leisure.

Day 4 was an 8 hour, 19 km trek to Los Cuernos (The Horns) & back. They are more pointy mountains, which are very scenic as they are black at the top and a rocky grey colour at the bottom. This walk involved more Patagonian Flat, thankfully only gentle exercise. My blisters were covered up well, so didn't bother me much. But this was a day of impressive and varied scenery, with many lakes and mountains, a few rivers and some different vegetation to normal.

Stopping for lunch at the base of Los Cuernos was one of the best lunch stops I could remember for a while, with a great view up to the mountains in front and a big lake behind, and my legs needed a break by then! I had also made myself 2 particularly tasty and well-seasoned rolls for lunch. I like to think that the view was more inspiring than the rolls, but as I experienced both together I'm not sure. Anyhow, I didn't speak much at lunch, preferring to take in the views.

As with the previous trek there was a small group, 7 of us & 2 guides, which made for good conversation before lunch. On the way back I was instead often by myself, partly so my legs could go at the pace needed to not seize up! Not sure that I had any great revelations, but it felt good to just take in the scenery at times without focusing on anyone else around. My legs were aching from half way back, but in terms of the balance of effort and scenery this was actually a better walk than the one to the base of the Torres.

Overall my trekking experience was painful but rewarding, for the scenery, the sense of achievement and the relaxed chatting along the way. I wasn't really properly prepared, but that didn't stop me seeing plenty. It is a very scenic park, and certainly worth visiting, but it is harder work relative to the views you get than El Chalten in Argentina.

I am also a bit of a fair weather trekker. I will go out if it's wet, as long as I have all the gear, but I'm not going to enjoy it so much in the rain. Or in the bright sun. This was a good enough experience to persuade me to do more trekking, and it certainly helped with my fitness, but I will pick my moments. Especially as the bar, meal and bed waiting for me after the treks will not usually be as good as at Eco-camp!

Viewpoints, wildlife and the Grey Glacier

Torres del Paine national park

On the last full day, the easy option was so easy that even I decided to get off my butt and go with them.  And as Nic had already done a similar walk to the challenging option, and was still coping with his blisters, he stuck to this one too.


Guanaco



Rhea



 We left at a civilised 10:30am and drove around the park, stopping at various different viewpoints along the way.  Obviously the views weren't as good as those that you got if you walked closer to the peaks, but they were still impressive and much less effort. 



As we walked up to one of the lookouts, we passed by a set of Guanaco bones, which had presumably been a puma kill and then picked clean by the various smaller animals and scavengers in the park.  Once at the viewpoint we got some good condor sightings as well as the views of the mountains.

Patagonian fox eating another fox






We also saw rhea, live guanacos and a Patagonian fox.  The fox had found the remnants of a puma kill, which looked like another fox, and was happily if slightly warily, eating while we watched.



Salto Grande waterfall

 



We stopped off at the Salto Grande Waterfall.  The walk up to this was incredibly windy, and it was actually quite an effort to stay on your feet at times.  You could quite see how it was that the wind carried the fire so effectively.  And we saw plenty of evidence of the fire during our drive, but I am posting on that separately.



Torres del Paine national park

After stopping off to eat our lunch we headed for the Grey Lake.  Here we took a short walk down to the beach and got into a zodiac to reach the ferry that was going to take us around the lake and to the edge of the Grey Glacier.


 

Torres del Paine national park







The ferry was back on its normal duties now after having been pressed into action rescuing people who had been stranded by the fire.  The captain had only had about three sleep a night for three days as he made multiple journeys carrying firefighters out to try to control the fire and collecting walkers and staff whose route back was cut off.

Grey Glacier



And all this trying to land the boat on a rocky shoreline, with no piers, in very high winds creating huge waves on the lake.  Thankfully by this time he had caught up on his sleep and wasn't having to cope with such difficult conditions. 

Grey Glacier



The trip across the lake was best done from inside the boat.  The waves were fairly strong, and even going slowly, the icy cold water splashed up over the front of the boat.  When we got to the glacier itself, the water was calmer, so we ventured out into the cold to look at the glacier and take our photos.

Nic at the Grey Glacier



  



There was a free drink included in the trip, I think solely for the novelty of serving the drink with ice from the glacier.  Not that we needed any extra ice by this time.

The glacier was nice enough, but having recently seen the Perito Moreno, we decided to head back into the comparative warmth of the cabin after a while, and look at the rest through the window.

 

Grey Glacier



We were nearly driven back out again by a rather noisy, grizzly and irritating child, and a number of us agreed that we were sorely tempted to throw him overboard.  We just about resisted, but I think we all had our fingers crossed that he would fall in when he started moving around early on the zodiac on the way back!







And the moral of the story is .....

..... don't light fires.

The fire in Torres del Paine started on 27 December 2011 and burned for nearly two weeks. Even when we visited from 25 January some parts were still smouldering.

There were some areas where the forests had been completely cleared of trees and bushes, leaving only charred earth and the burned stubs of the trunks. 

The burned areas looked especially stark at the areas where they met with a lake or pond, and the reeds at the side were still green and bright having been protected in the water.  These devastated areas were sad to see and you can quite understand why the people who work here, and in some cases grew up close by, are so upset at the loss.

But whilst clearly you would never wish this to have happened, there were some areas that we passed where the fire had left something that in my view was absolutely beautiful in its wake.  There were some sections where the trees had not been razed but instead had been left whole and completely blackened.  

Because these trees have such wonderful shapes of their branches, the simple effect of being bare and totally black does itself look amazing.  They were particularly effective where the blackened trees were set against the backdrop of the azure blue of the lakes.  I would have loved to have been able to spend time photographing this, but figured that it would be unreasonable to ask the driver and guides to stop to let me do so when they clearly are upset at the sight of the damage.

I spoke to two of our guides about this afterwards.  One is an artist, and said she agreed that the trees have a beauty of their own, and has herself been out photographing them.  The other could see what I meant, but could not herself see beyond the destruction to find any beauty in it.  I can understand that when you are so close to something it is hard to see anything positive in it, perhaps especially because her partner has lived here all his life and is devastated by the fire.

But even if some of the trees do look beautiful now, the lasting effects of the fire are terrible.  We passed by areas where the fires had been in 2005 and in  1980.  Even thirty years later, the areas of forest that burned have only got grasses and low shrubs.  The forests haven't returned and won't for many years yet.  Seeing the huge amount of lasting damage that the fire causes really brings it home why they ask you to be so careful with even the smallest bit of fire or cigarettes in a place like this.

No one (except for some very sick people) would ever intentionally cause a fire like this, but some people ignore the rules because they think the rules are excessive or just reckon that the rules are meant for others. Many people think they can get away with breaking a rule because they are sensible and will be more careful.  But they are wrong.  It takes only the tiniest thing to go wrong, which may be completely out of the person's control, and a fire like this breaks out.  I for one will make absolutely sure that I follow national park rules in future.

One small point that did amuse us though was the supposedly divine intervention when the little roadside shrine that was in the fire area managed to stay undamaged.  Personally I think that may have had more to do with the little stream of water flowing behind it that probably kept the vegetation around it damp and protected.  Of course if it was divine intervention then it was a little selfish that it allowed all of the area around it to burn so badly while keeping itself safe!

Torres del Paine, Fire and The Eco Camp



Eco Camp and the Torres del Paine



Torres del Paine is the main National Park in Chile and covers an area of around 935 square miles.  It takes its name from its most famous mountain peaks, the Torres, or Towers, of Paine.  In addition to the four peaks that make up the Towers, the park has at least a further thirty peaks of over one thousand metres high. It has eleven large lakes and many smaller ones, with connecting rivers and waterfalls.  It also has glaciers and Magellanic forests.

Tourists come here in their thousands to see these sights and trek around the park, in particular to do the famous W circuit.  Whilst most of these tourists are welcomed with open arms, there is sadly the odd one that the park wishes had never crossed its path.  In December, an Israeli tourist was rather foolishly burning his toilet paper in very windy conditions, and managed to start a forest fire that, driven by winds of over 60 miles per hour, burned for weeks, destroying 18,000 hectares of Magellanic forest and other parkland.  The park had to be evacuated and it was thought that it may not reopen for the whole of January.  Luckily for us it did reopen early and we have been able to take the trip we had booked.

During our trip we saw some of the burned areas and it was quite shocking how much damage one careless person can do.



Our Eco camp dome

Rather than doing a multi day hike and camping, we have decided to stay in one place and do day hikes.  Our home for the six nights that we are spending in Torres del Paine is the Eco Camp.  The camp, like most of the lodge accommodation in the park, is in a privately owned area near to the start of the main hikes.  Whilst most of the accommodation is on the flat, the Eco Camp is on top of a hill, which makes for excellent views over the surrounding area and up to the Torres themselves.


The rooms here are individual domes.  They are metal frameworks covered in insulation and plastic, on a wooden base.  They are based on a combination of safari lodges and the nomadic constructions that the indigenous people of the area used to build.  They are apparently built to withstand winds of over 130km/hour, so they clearly could cope with the comparatively low winds we had, but it still did sound like the wind was going to tear right through them a couple of times.  Still, with our experiences so far I had made sure I knew what we were supposed to do should we need to evacuate due to strong winds or fire.



Eco camp bathroom



The camp has dome suites which have a stove to heat them and an ensuite bathroom, but we just had a standard dome and used the shared bathrooms.  But our dome was quite warm enough and the bathrooms were nicer than many of the hostels we have stayed in, so we were very happy.  The entrance is hobbit size, but once inside it is nice and roomy and you have a proper double bed and bedside tables.  And the window in our dome looked directly onto the Torres, so we had a fabulous view even without leaving the room.  This is a kind of camping that I could get used to.



Eco camp dining room

As well as the dormitory domes, they had three core domes for communal use.  There was a dining room, a small lounge, and a bigger lounge with a bar in it.  All of these areas were great and as I decided that I was not going to kill myself walking when Nic had plenty of other people that he could go with instead, I made this a very nice home for myself.  It was fabulous just being able to lounge around in the warm and dry, have a few cups of tea or beer, and read or draft a few blogs, knowing that everyone else was struggling up some hill or other in the wind and occasionally the rain.  And I didn't get any blisters either!

Life in the Eco Camp



View from Eco Camp



Those of us staying at Eco Camp and not doing the multi day treks were put into Safari Group.  The members of the group changed as people left and arrived each day, but most days there were between eight and twelve people.  The age bracket tended to be a bit older, because the younger and more energetic people were all out in the Refugio's and campsites, but there was an interesting mix none the less.  The good thing about a place like this is that the people who go are interested in travel and new experiences, so are the kind of people that you can have a good conversation with and make the time enjoyable.



Ecxo Camp core domes

Each day, there were two walks available, a relatively easy one and a challenging one.  Nic generally took advantage of there being people who could walk with him and opted for the more challenging route.  As I wasn't doing these walks, he  has promised that he will blog on them separately, which I personally think will be even more of an achievement than the walking as so far he hasn't done a single blog in the whole time we've been away!  Don't hold your breath!


Being an Eco Camp, we were expecting a lot of rules and restrictions designed to be environmentally friendly, but in fact the camp made it very easy for the guests.  The loos were composting toilets, but these were a nice surprise for being very 'normal' and not at all unpleasant to use.  You had to use biodegradable toiletries, but they provided them so that was easy, and they did all of the sorting for the recycling so that was easy too.  There was no electricity in the sleeping domes, but they provided a little light and we had torches for the night, and by the morning the sunlight lit up the inside nicely.  They used a combination of water turbine and solar power so that we could charge up camera batteries etc, and the fact that there was no internet or phone coverage was actually quite nice for a change.  This was definitely an easy was to be Eco.



Eco Camp lounge



And the food was pretty good too.  Breakfast and dinner were served up in the dining room and as most people we walking during the day, lunch was a DiY job, where you made up your own rolls or wraps from a buffet put out at breakfast time and took it with you.

Overall this was a great place to stay.  It wasn't cheap - aside from the camping and refugios, nowhere in the park is - but it was very comfortable, friendly and in a fabulous location.

What is it with us and fire?

So those of you who have been reading the blog for a while will already know about our fire experience at Shangri-la when the lodge that we were in burnt to the ground. You may not know that we just missed a fire in Argentina too. Apparently the estancia we were staying at back at the end of August suffered quite a serious fire just after we left too. And no, we didn't start that one either.

So we had one that happened after we left and then one while we were there. Now we have heard that the fire has overtaken us and is getting to places even before we do.

We were planning to be in Torres del Paine, which is a national park in Chile famed for its mountains and trekking routes, for about six days towards the end of January but we have just discovered that there is a major fire in the park. The people that we booked our accommodation through contacted us yesterday to tell us that the park has been closed and everyone evacuated; obviously we were hopeful that by the time we were going to be there the fire would be out and as long as it hadn't hit the accommodation, we would still be able to go. But having done a bit of internet searching we have just found some news articles that say that the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has now announced that the park will remain closed for the whole of January. So much for that then!

Will now need to rethink our plans slightly. And we have another reason to come back here at some point in our travels.