On our five day adventure, we hiked 71.5 kilometers, which is about 45 miles. It was up and down hills and mountains, next to glaciers, lakes, rivers and rocks. We survived sun, rain, and lots of wind. One of the most amazing parts of Patagonia is that all the water you drink doesn't need to be purified. You can fill your water bottle straight from the stream and drink it because it is pure glacial melt.
The first day, we took a bus into the park, and took a catamaran across a lake. From there, we hiked up to our first night of camping at Glacier Grey. Here's a little excerpt from my journal to give you some insight into the weather the first day: On our hike today, each of us almost fell over from the wind about five times. On top of that, I was convinced that someone was throwing rocks that were hitting my face, but it was actually water that the wind was picking up and throwing on top of us.
The second day we hiked from Glacier Grey to Campamento Italiano, where we spent the second night. This required us hiking back the way we had been before, and then down next to another lake. When we got to Campamento Italiano, we chose a campsite right next to the river. Listening to the river as we fell asleep was incredibly soothing.
The third day we got to hike with just our day packs into Valle Frances. We hiked to a mirador, which is a viewpoint, and saw mountains on one side of us and a glacier on the other. This was probably my favorite view of the entire trip. Everywhere you looked was something incredible nature had created. On our hike to our next campsite, we stopped at a beach by a glacier lake and put our feet in the ice cold water.
The fourth day was the hardest day. We had 16 kilometers basically straight up a mountain to hike. We left early in the morning and by mid-afternoon we arrived at our campsite. We all decided this was the best place we'd stayed. The campsite was at the base of the towers, for which the park was named after, so it was only a short 1 mile hike to see them.
Day five we woke up at 5:00am and hiked up to the towers in the dark to watch the sun rise over them. We brought our sleeping bags with us and ate the Milky Ways that we had bought in town before we left. The sunset turned the towers orange which was amazing to see. After that we hiked back down to the bottom and caught a bus back to Puerto Natales.
Overall, as difficult and hard as this excursion was, it was entirely worth it. I got to spend five days with four incredible young woman, do something that I had never done before, and see nature in an entirely new light. It was so eye opening to see all these sights and realize how insignificant your role in the world is compared to everything in the park. Compared to these glaciers, mountains, and rock formations, we are nothing.
Tomorrow we catch our flight up to Santiago before our program starts. As astounding as my time in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine has been, it is time to look onward to the next adventure and see what Valparaíso has in store for me.
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