Torres del Paine

At the crack of dawn we snaked our way from Puerto Natales to Torres Del Paine National Park to begin our W Trek. Greeted with the most spectacular views of colors bouncing off the eastern wall of the park. The photographer in me was so stoked when our driver pulled off to the side; apparently, he doesn't usually do this, but it had been 10 consecutive days of dreadful weather. Don Juan must have been in a good mood!

With our bags loaded for day 1 we trudged down the valley, 11 ks up & 11 ks back down. A lengthy day of uphill trekking ahead! The start or another famous hike here in Patagonia (now in Chile), so we're kind of hoping for a better summiting experience.

Our guides for the day, Chris & Mario, shared their insightful local knowledge and pointed out some amazing things. Spotted a couple of woodpeckers doing their wood pecking thing. Tasted local calafate berries - though they taste better in pisco sours or in local brews in my opinion. We would learn and joke about the puma and where best to spot them - apparently right outside our cabins for the night. 

As we climbed higher, we met a lady at one of the major rest stops. She's been trekking the O route (a longer version of the W that we’re attempting) and she hadn't seen anything due to the poor weather the four or five days prior. She also missed the spectacular sunrise on Las Torres as she was hiking a section without views so we kept rather quiet on that. To make matters worse, she was questioning herself, should she push to the base today? Another 12 km loop. Or wait for and for the morning and hope for even better weather. We obviously had no idea on conditions, we knew it was to be our only chance. It was a go for us, we just hope she made it up as it was totally worth it!

A thick blanket of fresh snow lay over the top of the pass, making for the most stunning scenes. With crampons on for grip, we went on to find the most jaw-dropping views of the lake and Las Torres. Along with a few hundred friends, we took it all in, had a hearty lunch, and even a hot coffee as we enjoyed our surrounds. Much more civilised than our previous hike. Every two minutes or so, the landscape changed. For better or worse. Clouds would drift in and roll out, smother the tips of the massive rock formations then depart.

After our magnificent day trekking to the base, we thoroughly enjoyed sunset beers from the lawn in front of our cabins. Those pumas could have had a very easy meal that evening; we weren't moving all that fast.