Bernie's Travels: Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

All through Argentina I had run into other travelers who had already hiked Torres del Paine, in Chile, and they said that it was beautiful, but a government run rip-off. For starters Chile charges more than three times as much to foreigners to simply enter the park. At nearly thirty dollars it costs more to hike through Chile's crown jewel park than any national park in the United States. On top of that the hostel type dorms in the park charge four times the amount charged in the closest town, Puerto Natales, and that doesn't even include sheets. There are a couple of transportation options within the park that are also ridiculously over-priced, such as the 20 minute boat ride that saves a day of hiking. That costs 20 bucks. There are many more examples of how Chile uses the natural beauty of Torres del Paine and it's status as a national park to extort money from both foreigners and it's own citizens. After hearing so much about all of this I made it a point to buck the system. I decided to hike Torres del Paine for free.

It was an adventurous twist to a beautiful hike. The first day I hitch-hiked to the edge of the park with a couple of nice women. That afternoon I camped near a beautiful lookout overlooking the park. The next day well before sunrise I packed up and hiked into the park past the entrance to one of the lower trails. The most popular route in Torres del Paine is a called the “W” since it has three prongs and looks like a “W.” My trek began below the “W” and I finished the day at the top of the first prong of the “W” overlooking Glacier Grey and the beginning of the Patagonia Ice field, the third largest ice field in the world. It was a long hike to the top of the “W”, totaling just over twenty miles. The first day was dreary start to the trip. After a clear night and morning the clouds rolled in and it rained all that afternoon and evening. By the time I made it to camp I was absolutely drenched. And getting to the camp was no easy feat with the rain. There were some creek crossings which were almost impassable. I wish I had photos but it was raining too hard to want to take out my camera.

Luckily the next day was beautiful and everything that had been fogged in on my trip up to the glacier had cleared the next day. On my way back down I didn't hike nearly as far as I did the day before. Along the way I found a nice spot to camp just about the time it threatened to rain again. The wind in Patagonia is something fierce. I set my tent up in a protected area but I could hear, and see, the wind all around. In parts trees were permanently deformed due to the nearly constant prevailing winds.

The next day I made it back to the bottom of the “W” to curl around to the second prong and up to the “French Valley”. At the bottom of that second prong I set my tent up next to a roaring stream, then hiked the rest of the way up and back without my pack. The French Valley was gorgeous. It was like being in an amphitheater surrounded by mountains. The fall colors were peaking as the mountains were being covered over with snow. It was breath-taking. On the way back down I heard and saw huge chunks of ice crashing down from one of the mountains causing avalanches of snow to pour off the peaks. Such an amazing sight.

Back at camp I ate with some other hikers and called it a night. I generally love sleeping next to the sound of water, but the deafening stream ended being a little too much. Eventually I had to find something to plug my ears to baffle the sound to get any sleep at all!

The next day I was up early to hike from the bottom middle of the “W” to the front of the Towers at the top of the third prong. It was a long day but I had beautiful weather. Even though the skies were clear and the wind had come to a stand still the trails were in rough shape. It seemed like there was more water running down the trails than away from them. I finally made it to the camp down the slope from the towers. I set up my tent up and made it up the short but steep climb up to the towers before sunset. They were a beautiful sight. I was also happy to have seen them that afternoon since it was raining the next morning. The “postcard” view of the towers is actually taken at sunrise when the towers take on an orangy glow. With the rain that morning their was no point in making the trip a second time. I had seen the towers and it was time to get back to Puerto Natales, civilization, and warm showers.

So I packed everything up and made my way back down the third prong of the “W” to get to the other park entrance. As I left the weather cleared up an it turned out to be another beautiful day. On the way out I went by the ritzy lodge and kept hiking to the bus pick up. Along the way I picked up a ride the rest of the way to the entrance. From there the next ride was looking bleak. I made it out of the park and started to hitch but eventually decided to take the last bus leaving the park to make sure I would make it back to Puerto Natales that night. It was a fun adventure and it cost me all of 9 bucks to get to and from the park and hike around for 5 days! I love beating the system!