The Big "W" - Wet and wild but mostly wonderful.

First things first, a huge happy birthday to Tania and Bec (recent mum to Noah Lewis - CONGRATULATIONS!!!). Having just returned from the wilds of Torres del Paine its good to catch up on the news...

Hold on tight and get ready for the mother of all blogs, lots of photos and soggy stories!

Starting at the begining, arrved in the one horse, two hundred travel agency town of Puerto Natales. A town whose sole purpose was to pick up excited back packers by the ankles, shake them until all their Pesos fell out and then spit them out into Parque National Torres del Paine.
They told us that "Paine" was the indigenous word for blue, the colour of the mountains, but we had other suggestions when the weather turned foul.

Preparation

Food - As much as you can ram into your rucksack, with the empasis on chocolate on dried fruit. (AU$50 quickly but well spent)

Equipment hire: Now we know where K-Mart off loads all the gear that nobody else will touch with a ten foot pole, is that a sleeping bag or a pregnant pig. Thank god for the yanks at Erratic Rock for knowing the difference between a tent and a wendy house.

Bus ticket - Try explaining to the overbearing Madame Niko´s that you bought your ticket cheaper down the street.

Day One

We’re off, erm, at 6am, with the wind howling outside... With thoroughly bruised ankles, we headed for the catamaran across Lago Pehoe. Fortunately the skies were blue and we had spectacular views of Los Cuernos and the Torres, the two most spectacular rock formations of the park. Unfortunately we didn’t realise that this would be the last time we would see it for 5 days.

Waiting for the boat we battled our way up to some nearby cascades, getting a feel for how powerful the winds could be in the park.

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Set up our real tent at Camping Pehoe, with a view from the door of Los Cuernos. 3 coffee coloured peaks with an ice-magic chocolate topping - pretty spectacular. After fighting the wind to throw the tent up we scuttled up the first leg of the "W" in search of Glacier Grey, 3hr return to the Mirador. This huge glacier drops down into Lago Grey leaving small iceburgs floating down the lake. "Iceberg dead ahead!" All of the lakes around here are an unbelievable milky aquamarine colour due to the glacial sediment run off, called glacial flour, coming from underneath the glacier and helping its movement. The wind is actually holding Kaz up - look out if it stops!

Little did we know, Camping Pehoe with its cooking shelter, mediocre showers and Gato Negro (god bless-box wine you can actually drink) would be our last taste of luxury camping on the "W".
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Day Two

Woke up to the pitter patter of rain hitting the fly sheet and to sadly see the clouds had rolled in and covered our views! Onwards and upwards we set off for Campamento Brittanico at the top of Valle Frances, 5hrs one way. Kaz batted her eyelids at a local to secure 2 much needed garbage bags to waterproof our rucksacks. Told you we needed rucksack covers Stu!!

2 soggy hours through ankle deep mud later, we got to Campamento Italiano - bad weather stop play. Soaked through and shivering, Kaz curled up into her sleeping bag while Stu huddled in the rain to make dinner and heated a rock on the stove to put between Kaz's feet. (what a man! Kaz knew there was a reason she brought him along afterall)

Ducking and diving in and out of our wee tent we hid pretty much for the rest of the day. Although we hadn't laid eyes on it yet we knew we were camping below Valle Frances glaciers as we kept waking up through the night to what sounded like thunder but was the Glacier groaning. Strangely enough we both dreamt of Icebergs crashing into the river 5 meters away and washing us and our tents back to Peurto Natales - aaah to be so lucky at this soggy point in our trip :-)

Day Three

Still raining! Tossed and turned but the threat of cabin fever drove us out of our tent and up Valle Frances, 4hrs return (1/2 hour hiding from the pelting rain under a big rock watching other backpackers get washed back down the valley). Fortunately the weather broke now and then and we got to glimpse the beauty of Valle Frances.

Scutlled back to camp to hide from the rain and assess our options. Thought we were being clever by building a shelter next to the tent but of course it didn't rain again until the next morning!

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Day Four

Woke with a spring in our step as it had finally stopped raining and headed along the bottom of the "W" to Refugio Los Cuernos. Lovely views of Los Cuernos from the eastern side and views of Lago Nordenskjold with the winds whipping the surface of the Lake making for an interesting beach crossing. Refugio Los Cuernos seemed like a great spot but given that the weather had slowed our trip down we were keen to push on and walked 4 hours further along Lago Nordenskjold to Refugio Los Torres. Blessed with clear weather until the final hour we arrived at the refugio drenched (again!) disappointed to find absolutely no facilities at the camp site. Nothing for it but to shelter under the credit card. Refugio Los Torres has perfected the art of picking up tourists by the ankles. You 2 can share a bunk room with a snoring Swede, dine on pasta and tomato sauce for a grand total of AUS$160. We felt violated and not in a good way.

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Day Five

Fantastic! Woke to a beautiful day, the sun shining, no wind, finally the Paine had come good. Set off to complete the final leg of the W and get up close and personal with the Torres. A steep climb and scramble of 3hrs to Campamento Torres. The standard plan is to get up at 6am to do the rocky ascent to the Torres for sunrise. Taking no chances with the weather and being too cold to sit around the campsite we climbed up the boulder field to see what all the fuss was about.

After passing a dissapointed Yank we weren't expecting to see much, but low and behold the Torres were clear for 5 minutes, well sort off.

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The Torres were thrust up by volcanic pressure below, then worn by glacial action to leave huge granite teeth, snow capped with shear smooth faces, amazing in any weather.

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Day Six

Celebratory drinks at the super plush Hosteria Los Torres finished the W. We're Gawn! Well at least to Campamento Serrano and the begining of our kayak trip back to Puerto Natales. Stay tuned for the next installment, we've out done our welcome at Isla Rey Jorge Hotel's free internet access.

Love Kaz and Stu.