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!

To Trek or not to Trek?



Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru

 I had spent a long time trying to decide whether or not to do the trek, and up to a few days before I still hadn't decided.  Balancing my definite lack of fitness, especially uphill, and my troublesome knees, with the obvious feeling that this is something that should be done, was not easy.

There were two trekking options available when we booked, the Classic Inca trail of the kings road, which leads to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu, or the community trek, which does not actually go to Machu Picchu, but instead takes you through a higher pass and spends time with some of local communities on the way.

Smitty at Sacsayhuaman



As you need a permit for the classic, and there are many steps that I knew I would have trouble with, we had booked onto to community trek, with the understanding we could decide not to trek if we wanted to.



I had been concerned by my uphill slog at the ziplining and the walk on the Isla del Sol, and was veering towards not trekking, but was gradually persuaded by others that I could do it after all, so I said yes.  I think what swung it for me was that I thought I would regret not trying more than if I tried and failed.

Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru

So on the Tuesday morning we set off at 6:30am.  The plan was to visit two inca sites by coach in the morning, have lunch, then trek for 3-4 hours to the first camp in the afternoon.  We then had two full days of trekking to do to reach Lares, where we would go by bus to Ollantaytambo and visit the ruins. Then on the Saturday we would get the train for the last stint to Machu Picchu itself.  




Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru

We hit the first site Sacsayhuaman early enough to have the place almost to ourselves.  Our guide for the trek, Smitty explained to us the process they used to build this sun temple from huge great lumps of rock, and showed us the rocks that were, with a bit of imagination, shaped like llamas or other symbolic animals.  Each piece of rock had to be individually shaped to fit neatly into place.

We made our way very tentatively through one of the pitch black tunnels, all carefully holding on to the person in front, mindful of the student who had gone missing and never been found.

Terraces of Pisac, Peru



From there we drove on past the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which is the fertile valley around the river, and on Pisac, with it's huge terraces cut into the hillsides, where the incas would grow a huge variety of vegetables including hundreds of varieties of potato.

Pisac, Peru

We saw the holes in the hillside opposite where they would bury their mummified dead, and the irrigation system they used to get drinking water.

Then after lunch we drove into the valley to start the trek.  By this time, seeing the mountains in front of me, I was seriously starting to wonder whether I was doing the right thing, especially as it had started to rain, but we left our dufflebags with the porters and mules and set off.

Halfway up on the first trek day

And straight away we started up hill.  And more up hill.  And more uphill and .... well you get the idea!  I kept up with the group for a while, but gradually started to fall back as we hit the steeper parts.  Now I had been promised that unlike the classic trail there were no steps.  Technically that was true, there were no actual cut steps, but when you have to clamber your way up from one rock to another, it may as well be steps, so I found it hard going.

So on we went. Up hill to varying degrees of steepness almost constantly, over some decidedly difficult terrain.  I can tell you I was very grateful to have walking poles (thanks again to The Girls for those) but even so I had to stop regularly to recover my breath.  The photo is about halfway up and you can see the valley where we started from way down below.

Three hours in, and quite knackered, we had done the worst of today's route, but I was some way behind the others and the guide had realised that I wasn't going to make it to the camp before it got dark.  So he put me on a mule for the rest of the journey.
 

The mule was fun!  I was assured that it was quite strong enough to carry me, but they are fairly small creatures, so you feel a bit precarious on top as they make their way over gravel and boulder tracks. When they go down hill (there were actually a few downhills in this bit) you have to lean back and it feels like you are just going to slide straight off!  They also tend to walk right on the edge of the path, so that all you can see is a drop down the hillside, which is quite unnerving.  But we made the trip without major mishap, and I have to admit it was quite nice to be able to look around at the scenery rather than just focus on making it up the hill without dying!

Our campsite on the trek



But while I had an easy last section back, poor Nic didn't.  Because he had walked with me, he had to cover the last bit extra fast to catch up and get back before it was dark.  He managed it but he was knackered by the end.
So we arrived at the first camp, which was in a lovely setting, although disappointingly we had no interraction with the local community who we were staying with.  In the photo of the campsite you can see the mountain we would be going up the next day.

The good thing about these treks though is that all you have to do (all!!) is walk with your daypack, the porters do everything else for you.  They put up and take down your tents and cook the meals. And they do a really excellent job.  They made us a three course meal using just a portable gas ring.  And in the morning they brought us tea or coffee and hot water for washing.


llamas and mules for the trek


But however easy they make the practicalities, you still have to be able to manage the walk in the daylight.  And knowing that the walk on day two was so much harder than day one I was seriously worried about the uphills.  I didn't want to have to rely on using the mule, partly because it doesn't really feel like I have achieved it if I get on the mule, and partly because other people might need it.

I also knew that if I was going to get on the mule, then there was no way that Nic could walk with me this time, so I would be walking on my own which would be a bit dull too.  But the final straw was that the guide told me that he was concerned about my being able to do the steep downhills on day two. He felt that they were too steep and slippery for my knees to cope with properly.

So I figured that if I was worried about the uphills, the guide was worried about the downhills, I didn't want to have to rely on the mule, and I wouldn't enjoy walking on my own, then really it wasn't sensible to carry on.  So I arranged with the guide that I would go back the way I had come the next day, rather than carrying on forward.  Nic decided he would come back too.

more relaxed on the way down



So after a good meal and a cold night in the tent - thankfully OK due to plenty of advanced wrapping up well - we set off back down the hill.  We left slightly after the others, but just as we did, one other person from the group started making their way back down the track, having decided to join us.  So the three of us took a rather easier four hour journey back to the main road where we picked up an local minibus to  the nearest main town and then a cab back to Cusco.  By the time the others would have been staggering into their campsite, we were back in Cusco enjoying a hot shower and an afternoon nap! And the others confirmed afterwards that it had been a really hard walk that day, so I have no doubt that I did the right thing in going back.