Today I’m honored to have Tim, an accomplished ultramarathoner and friend with stories to tell, as my guest blogger. Experience the stunning wilderness of Patagonia through his eyes as he reflects on his recent, two-week-long trekking adventure.
“A traveler to Patagonia, a region of legendary wildness and beauty, will find the experience transformative. Here is a landscape of unparalleled natural treasures, one of the last strongholds of wild nature.”
-Doug Tompkins
Having lived in Britain for the first half of my life, I was always attracted to adventures of the high seas. Single-handed circumnavigators in small yachts, historical accounts of explorers and British navy crews, mutineers, and seemingly impossible racing events in the wild Southern Oceans.
I took a beginners’ sailing course in my teens, sailed amongst the Fijian Islands with yacht-owning New Zealanders, then hitched a ride for the 10-day crossing to New Zealand with a retired US Navy commander (although he wasn’t overly impressed by my sailing abilities).
At Latitude 60 degrees South there is no land to interrupt the giant waves and raging winds of the Southern Oceans; and just north of that lies the legendary Cape Horn, Tierra del Fuego, and then the mysterious southern Andes lands of Patagonia. I had also read about the ‘dirtbag’ alpinists who braved the remote granite peaks, such as the lifelong climbing buddies Doug Tompkins and Yvon Chouinard (founders of The North Face and Patagonia Inc. respectively); more to come on their conservation work in Part 2.
Having run cross-country at school, I entered my first competitive road race when I moved to Kanab, Utah in my early sixties, then got into ultramarathons. Now in my mid-seventies, I was in good shape and up for an adventure; I wanted to get a taste of Patagonia while I was still mobile. A Google search found Active Adventures, a New Zealand company, offering a 14-day Patagonia Hiking Adventure’ with local guides.
The first week would be mostly backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, an area of 700 square miles and one of the eleven protected areas of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica regions. The second week would be day hikes in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina, the largest national park in the country at 2,800 square miles.
After hours of airports and flights (Vegas-LAX-Santiago-Punta Arenas) we assembled to meet our fellow adventurers for the next two weeks; a small and friendly group of eleven. Eight of us opted for the challenge of the 5-day W-Trek Backcountry hike with overnight stays in Refugios en route, while the other three chose the W-Trek Comfort option returning to a hotel each night.
We started at the east end of the legendary W-Trek trail at Refugio Las Torres in light rain with our 45 lb. backpacks and poles in anticipation of what was in store for us. Crossing the hanging bridge over the rocky stream, our guide told us that we were now entering a different dimension!
The target for the first day was the Mirador de Las Torres (the viewpoint of the 3,000 ft. granite Torres del Paine or ‘Blue Towers’). The trail was steep and muddy and snaked high above the Rio Ascensio valley leading us to our lunch stop at Refugio El Chileno, one of the privately-run facilities in the national park. It was chilly and rainy as we ate our pack lunches watching the packhorses used to supply the Refugio.
Crossing the river footbridge and winding through the southern beech forest, we started the climb up the boulder field as the snow flurries began. After a steep climb to the viewpoint, we piled on extra layers to stay warm and dry as we looked across the small lake … to a total whiteout – no Torres on view today! The weather cleared as we returned to Refugio Las Torres for our first night stay in dormitory accommodation.
Next morning as we headed west above the shores of Lake Nordenskjold, we looked back to see the sunlit Torres towering above the foreground crags. The day’s major sights were the peaks of Los Cuernos (‘The Horns’) circled in icy mists. After another day of rugged trails, we arrived at Refugio Los Cuernos ready to shed our backpacks.
Our third day’s adventure took us up the steady climb to the French Valley viewpoint, so named for an alpine climbing expedition. After several hours we emerged from the forest cover to a spectacular amphitheater panorama of mountains and glaciers which left us all gasping at the splendor!
One of our party alerted us as a show-stopping avalanche barreled off the glacier, then a few seconds later we heard the ‘boom’ like a giant cannon. Our guide cautioned us to take cover behind a convenient boulder in case the icy blast came our way, but the huge cloud was swept up the valley as we watched in wonder.
After the most awesome lunch spot ever, we headed back down to the lake and westward to stay at Refugio Paine Grande (the largest one) where 200 hikers were stranded due to the breakdown of the Lake Grey ferry; we had our dorms, but all the shared spaces were strewn with sleeping bags.
On day four we headed north on the final leg of the ‘W’ along the shores of Lake Grey with the peaks of the Paine Grande soaring into the clouds to our right. As the trail meandered over higher ground the blustery winds challenged our balance being top-heavy with our backpacks.
Approaching Refugio Grey we got our first views of Glacier Grey, its calving face as high as a 20-storey building. The glacier is one of many in the Southern Patagonia Ice Field covering over 3,600 square miles and feeding the glacial lakes.
Arriving in front of the refugio, we recorded our successful completion of the W-Trek with a group photo. The afternoon saw us braving the wind and choppy waters of the lake as we paddled kayaks towards the glacier under the watchful eyes of our guides.
On the morning of our fifth day, with another two of our party, I opted for the hike on top of the glacier. After a short approach in the Zodiac, we were kitted out with crampons, harness, helmet, and ice pick, and briefed on the safety drill. We hiked up onto the glacier and looked down into deep blue chasms of glowing ice and explored ice tunnels for an amazing couple of hours.
As we all left Refugio Grey in the afternoon, the ferry (back in service) took us close below the face of the glacier as we sipped on pisco sours chilled with glacier ice. The ferry took us to the southern end of the lake for the 5-hour bus ride to El Calafate, Argentina to begin our second week of adventure in Los Glaciares National Park.
5 thoughts on “Patagonia Hiking Adventure”
Tim, I can’t believe these photos!!! The glacier pics are unbelievable! I had no idea there were glaciers that size at Patagonia. Really excited to go some day!
Your pictures make Glacier Grey appear to be composed of marching soldiers, ready to dive off into the water, Tim. With such a choppy upper surface, it must have been tough to find places to hike the top.
The shot of you? inside Glacier Grey makes me think of Slot Canyons.
Nels, back away from the face of the glacier the upper surface is uneven but mostly walkable except for the chasms and tunnels. The face of Grey Glacier is ‘floating’ on water and regularly calving into the lake. It is essentially a stable glacier, i.e. not retreating, but is closely monitored by the glaciologists.
Don’t know if I posted this earlier. Some areas of the Grey Glacier look like they want the leap off, or calve, into the lake.
Unbelievable adventure! Thanks for sharing.