Puerto Natales -> Torres National Park
Torres National Park - La Torres Hotel
Torres National Park - Frances Camping Ground
Since I was gonna come back to the same hotel after two days in the park, I ended up leaving some items there so I wouldn't have to bring so much. I packed extremely light this trip, it was still heavy as f*ck. There are only a few companies that do buses to TdP. I ended up booking the bus the day before when I arrived in Puerto Natales from Punta Arenas. Adrenaline was kicking in as we got closer to the park. I've never seen so many backpacks in my life.
The beauty of Patagonia really kicked in as we got closer. Once at the park entrance, everyone had to get out and get the park permit. This took forever, ended up taking over an hour.
fyi, leave your backpack in the bus. They don't go anywhere for quite awhile
From there, you had a choice to take the same bus to the other side of the park (depending on your ticket) or take another bus to the La Torres Hotel where I ended up staying for a night. It was very expensive but loved the convenience. Supposedly the bus is free for hotel guests but I didn't coordinate and ended up paying for a public one. Driver spoke only Spanish and I didn't speak a lick of it.
Even worse news, the public one took me to the visitors center instead of the hotel...which was a 20 min trek. Fack. La Torres Hotel is right by the entrance to the trail to the towers hike which would of helped immensely.
walk of shame..
Finally getting to the hotel, I was already behind schedule. Ordered lunch to go and brought out my daypack. Right away, the views were excellent and the weather was great. 10 minutes later, I was definitely huffing and puffing. The glacier water in the mountains are very clean and fresh and encouraged to drink off of. I always carried two bottles of water at all times but it was very nice not to have to carry so much water with me.
Up up up
everything needed to be transported by foot or horseback to the campsites.
Finally came to a nice valley viewpoint, was hard to enjoy because I was afraid of time and the weather.
I had to walk all the way over there..sigh
Still had long way to go... Its by far the most popular route but never that packed in one area. There are always times during these long hikes where you question why you even do this. You promise yourself you'll never do another one but that never holds up. That's pretty much how I felt at that point. Another hour later, I finally reached one of the campsites or the 'halfway point' as I called it to the towers. Most people spend the night here and hike early in the morning to see the sunrise of the towers. You also get the option to drop off your bags and hike to the towers in the afternoon you get two opportunities to see clear views of the towers.
snack time
The second half of the hike was way prettier. You can see the terrain really change and see into the towers almost. I was pretty exhausted by this point but I knew I had to at least get there. The last kilometer was all up hill and it was definitely straining.
An hour later, i made it!
Pretty amazing and the pictures really don't do justice. Felt really relieving and happy to do this hike and trip. Lots of self reflection until i remembered i had to hike back.
all to myself
Times like this when i wish i could hang glide back to the hotel. Some reverse pictures on the way home. Me and a Korean grandma kept passing each other on the way down, she made me look really out of shape.
waterfalls!
brutal...
Felt good to see solid ground. Back to the hotel, definitely ready for a shower and food.
so glad to see you horsey!
Another big reason, I ended up paying over $300 USD for this 'luxurious hotel' was having real hot shower and real food afterwards. Definitely did not want to carry food on this hike or eat camp food. Some pics of the hotel:
room hallway
11pm sunset
guest area
My meal along with some Chilean vino. The views outside were amazing.
Sun still up at 10pm
Wish I had more time to relax but had a nice 15 mile hike tomorrow morning. Joy!. Slept like a baby and packed up again. Had to bring the full bag this time, I really wish I brought walking sticks. Probably the one thing I forgot at home which would of saved my knees.
Morning breakfast:
The hike started off very easy and was incredibly beautiful. Mountains and wild hares running around in Patagonia. Life couldn't get any better than this.
Towards Lake Nordenskjöld. Amazing..
Views
Definitely my favorite trail of the whole trip. Saw lots of ppl really speed hiking. Quite amazing to watch. Time for lunch (bought from hotel)..let me just say, every hotel that sold lunch (Chile or Argentina, was god awful.
About three hours from camp, I get every hikers worst nightmare. My boot literally broke. Really silly rookie mistake from me. Had these boots for 10 years and forgot i bought new ones before this trip. Had no duct tape and nobody had any either. (Even the camp sites and rangers) It was quite difficult to hike after that. I had some mesh shoes with me but i would literally feel every rock. Really fortunate for long daylight hours as i moved like a snail and basically hiked with one foot. Really tried to stay positive and enjoy the views.
Lots of waterfalls!
I was really thinking to myself, I'm literally stuck in the middle of Patagonia and the only way out was 30 miles of hiking. Finally made it to the first campsite, Refugio Cuernos. There's no feeling when you're so frustrated and nervous to feel a sense of safety. Drank some water and calmed myself down. The campsite was really nice, was expecting a dump from reviews online. Except I wasn't staying here. They didn't have any duct tape here either. After an hour of cursing, finally hiked the last 30 minutes to my campsite, Refugio Frances. Made a stop here at the beach. Needed to tell myself to relax and enjoy these moments, even if I lose feeling in one foot.
Fortunately with my luck, the campsite house was way down by the water and the tents were way uphill. Which does make sense, but I thought I had to check in down there but nope...had to hike back up to check in. Ugh. And the 'premium tent' I booked were of course at the very very top. Here's my lodging for the night, roughly $150 USD.
The showers/bathroom were of course downhill and quite nice actually. Forgot to take a pic due to fatigue. Felt miserable climbing back and forth just for the bathroom. My premium tent came with dinner and breakfast. Turns out lots of staff from the park were on strike and they barely had any supplies. They bring supplies by foot or horseback only. We were promised a three course meal but all we got were frozen string beans (appetizer) and soup with bread with pudding in the end. Gourmet for sure. Spent the rest of the night chewing on my tongue. Took awhile to fall asleep and it started to pour. Got pretty chilly and wore everything I owned that night. Woke up for breakfast and got bread and jam. The perfect breakfast for another 20 mile journey! Due to me not having one shoe, I decided not to hike the French Valley, very sad. I made my way to the last camp instead and decided to take it easy before the ferry back to civilization.
Route I eventually did. Sad to not finish everything.
Really hurts not being able to accomplish everything, especially because of a damn shoe! Hiking back out had some awesome views and it was quite sad leaving all this behind. Midway through my hike, my shoe finally deteriorated. I tried my best to keep hiking with it to avoid my mesh shoes. My foot and leg were definitely in a lot of pain by that point.
Towards the French Valley
My favorite picture, love the contrast of greenery and snow capped mountains behind it.
Felt like Frodo ha.
The last two hours ending up pouring and was miserable to hike in. Finally saw the lodge (Paine Grande) and felt so relieved to make it with no boots. The cafeteria was closed so I ended up searching their grocery store. This was a huge campsite with actual rooms so they had all the luxury items, even WiFi. Felt weird seeing all these luxury items. Decided to buy my glorious meal and a coke! I ended up having two of each and felt like a human again.
rain coming in..
went back and bought 2 more.
I had about 5-6 hours to kill so I decided to buy their wifi. Yes, I repeat WiFi in Patagonia. It was actually quite fast too surprisingly. It was raining non stop so I really did not want to sit outside in the rain to enjoy the views. The place got filled up very quickly. A little worried not everyone would make it on the last ferry. By 8pm, the ferry arrived an hour late thus making me worried I'd miss my bus back to Puerto Natales and my pickup back to Singular Patagonia. Once the ferry came, everyone ran to line up in the rain and waited in artic temperatures. I literally put everything on and still froze. Finally everyone did make it on but we were definitely breathing on each other in NY rush hour fashion. Literally kissing the dude next to me and everyone had a huge backpack of course. Luckily, the buses were there waiting still. I ended up being the last one on the bus and knocked out the whole way. You get assigned seating so nobody can steal your seat. The ferry ride on the lake was very pretty from what I read, but the weather and space literally forbid me from seeing a thing.
Got back to the bus station by 10:30 and nobody from the hotel is waiting for me. I had no signal the whole time in the park and I did try to email the hotel. I called the hotel said they said I was two hours late. Well duh. I honestly figured the hotel would be aware of things like this. I ended up taking a cab instead because I was exhausted and tired. Dining room closed at 11 but luckily they made an exception for me. Bags down, skipped the shower til after dinner. Make me whatever you can, I'll eat it. Lamb shank and cauliflower soup. Literally devoured in two minutes. Best sleep on my life.
I wish I ordered 2 more...
Tomorrow: 25 miles of kayaking or do nothing? Hmm...