Puerto Natales
Saturday, 11 December
The next day after visiting Pali Aike we spent a lazy morning in Punta Arenas and then left to Puerto Natales which is situated like Punta Arenas in Chile. Puerto Natales is a small fishing village, a bit overflown by tourists which get ready for treks in "The" national park of the continent, Torres del Paine. We took a great hostel Singing Lamb with a cosy and home-like atmosphere (con desayuno hermoso, with self made bread and self made marmelades, grazias Susanne!) and spent here three nights when preparing for The W-trek, five days in Torres del Paine.
 |
| Arriving to Puerto Natales |
 |
| Everybody says the same: patagonian clouds are very unique |
 |
| My great hostel. One night it was so windy, that the whole building was shaking... an interesting feeling. |
Torres del Paine
This national park was created in 1959 and appointed World Biosphere Deserve by UNESCO in 1978. Its area covers 242242 hectares with hight ranging from 200 to 3050 m in Paine Massif. The park has phantastic sights and paths for trekking that meander diverse pampas areas, deep mmagellan forests,lakes and lagoons with ice floes and impressive glaciers, all encircled by gigantic rocky stones.
Tuesday, 14 December. In total: 11 km. Sunshine, few droplets of rain, windy sometimes.
Breakfast at 6:45, bus to Torres del Paine at 7:30. I am very suitable for travelling - while some travellers cannot sleep on buses, I can sleep just wherever I want to... I managed even to fall asleep between argentinian and chilenian control points at the border, and they are really close too eachother :). Sleep is the best way to shorten bus rides when the worst for admiring landscapes.
We arrived to Guarderia Pudeto where we got on the ferry - we had to cross Lago Peheoé to start our adventure. Amazing views, already seen from the ferry, were promising a great time in the reserva national. Our W (called so because of the shape of the trek which leads to three different valleys) we started with walk to Campamento Grey - actually we planned to go to campamento Los Guardas, but one of our three-men-team had incredible injuries already after 2-3 hours of trekking... thanks to horrible shoes he rented it was impossible for him to walk. Such a dissapointment... We spent our first night in Campamento Grey. I did on myself a short walk to a great mirador Glaciar Grey.
And I did not know that on this day I got a E-mail from Elsevier for the very last corrections of my accepted (!) cannabis-paper which should have been done in 24 hours... I got this joyfull message in Rio de janeiro, I was doing first proofs in Buenoa Aires and everything went well. Just I missed this very last deadline; maybe it is not sooooo bad, I will write them an E-mail...
 |
| Torres del Paine, we are coming! We did not know yet they will turn out to be Torres del Pain for one of us... |
 |
| Lago Peheoé |
 |
| To have four legs in this windy weather would be much better |
 |
| Patagonian clouds... |
 |
| stretched UFO-cloud |
Wednesday, 15 December. In total: 17,8 km. Cloudy, sunny, windy.
We left Campamento Grey and went to Refugio y Área de Acampar Paine Grande. Our friend made a decision to go back to Puerto Natales - we regarded this very much, but it was better for him. Poor Wayne. You cannot do trekking with open wounds... So my dutch friend and me - we splitted the food and the tent for three persons and left for campamento Italiano at the beginning of Valle del Francés. We were nicely hosted by on guard, got from him plenty of hot water for cooking and were invited for a hot tee... The temperature outside was circa 5 degrees, in the night colder, so we appreciated this evening very much. At all, the wheather here is like four seasons not in one day, like elsewhere in mountains, but in a few minutes. The wind is so strong that it can easily blow you away from the trail. And I have to admitt - as we had really good food, on that day we had even a dessert (chocolate with dried bananas and red wine) - we, two tuff girls had a kind of buisness class backpacking :). With style :).
 |
| It would be my favourite way of travelling. I have to do some horseridung soon... |
 |
| Luxurious: chocolate, bananas, red wine... man lebt nur ein Mal! |
Thursday, 16 December. In total: 20,5 km.
We left our backpacks in the camping and went along the Valle del Francés, having a great view of Cerro Paine Grande at the left. We climbed up, up and up to reach the Mirador.
After we picked up our heavy heavy backpacks and went to Campamento Los Cuernos situated at the beautiful and amazing and impressive (I am sorry but all views here are beautiful and amazing and impressive, aha, and hilarious and awesome - and I am run out of positive adjectives in my english... ) Lago Nordenskjoeld. We had some rain and snow on our way there, but at the same time sunshine, what a combination...
At Refugio Los Cuernos we had a real fiesta: we took a three courses dinner to celebrate more than 50% of our trek.
 |
| The glacier is moving constantly. Parts of it, falling down, create an enormous sound... |
 |
| Ciruelillo, Firebush, Embothrium coccineum |
 |
| Sunshine and rain in one |
 |
Some time ago a one tourist caused a very big fire in the park which destroyed ca 8% of the surface.
Now the nature is recovering slowly... |
 |
| Shortly before we reached Campamento Los Cuernos, at the Lago Nordenskjoeld |
 |
| At Lago Nordenskjoeld: the rain is coming and going away within minutes |
 |
| Lago Nordenskjoeld - and the sunshine comes |
Friday, 17 December. In total: 20 km.
It was out longest day, we walked alond the coast of Lago Nordenskjoeld. We entered the Valle Asciencio, took a short break in Campamento Chileno where i had an illegal hot shower... and we slept in campamento Torres, not far away from the famous mirador, Aussichtspunkt of the Three Torres: Torre Sur, Torre Central and Torre Norte.
Saturday, 18 December.
I woke up at 4 in the morning and by maybe zero degrees, still with a very few daylight, with a lightsource mounted on my head (head lamp maybe ;)), asking myself why I am doing it, I went out of relativ warm tent to climb um to mirador des Torres. A few persons were already on the trail so I hurried up to catch them and not to climb the steep way alone in the dark. If they were no clouds, I could see an amazing sunset light, purple-orange light on Torres. If they were not clouds. If. But they were from the east side so I could not see the Torres in this amazing, beautiful, incredible e.t.c., you know, light. But still, it was amazing and touching to be there, so early, with a very few people around. I put on my ski jacked, packed my sleeping bag out and wrapped myself in it and spend three hours gazing at Torres. Soon everybody left so I was sitting there alone, packed like a Christmas present in 6 layers (or like a homeless in a front of cheap supermarket), sitting on rocks and enjoying being alone with these impressive rock gigants... Amazing, hermoso!!!
I have never been a person who likes trekking a lot. Yes, I have done a very of them, some in Tatra mountains after school or during my studies, the last one, which I enjoyed a lot in 2008 in swiss Alps (we called that in lab: the conference, am I right??? ;)). But here, sitting next to Torres I started to love it so much, enjoing extreme conditions - such a wind like here I have never had live before. The power of nature directly on your (frozen and dried...) skin...
It was pretty cold, so after this three hours tete-a-tete with Torres I went down to the camp, had a breakfast (into avena, Haferflocken with rasins and dried apricoses I have put salt instead of sugar, I was so hungry and in such a hurry, so the breakfast was breakslow and took longer as planned) and we left to the park exit. It was a great adventure... Grazias Mayke, we were a great team :)
