An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Woke up in the beautiful Patagonia region of Chile and ate breakfast. Milton went to meet up for the 9am departure of the full-day hike to the base of the Torres, while Wendy went at 9:30 to the half day guardia de guardia hike.
Milton’s day: Boarded the van with only Gonzalo the guide (who’d last year taught snowboarding at Tahoe) and Dr. Rene, a 66 year old French cardiologist and pharmacological expert/teacher. We drove about an hour (including crossing a bridge on which, literally, there was about 2 inches between each side of the van and the bridge railings), arriving at the Hosteria Los Torres, a log structure with a large-windowed dining room and about 30 little rooms/cabins, where we began our hike.
First it was about an hour of pretty good uphill work (with the omnipresent wind and sporadic gusts), then a few hours of ups and downs first along a rushing rocky river then through a lush lenga forest. This was all up through a valley, which had hills of a few thousand feet rising up on the right that were almost completely barren (though with several thin waterfalls streaming down) and were a blackish/reddish color; on the left were similar sized hills, but covered in green forest, and in the distance the valley culminated in a bowl of big dark granite peaks with glaciers nestled in like scoops of melting ice cream.
The last 30 minutes were up a steep rocky incline which required use of both hands at times. But at the top!! As we crested over the ridge atop the boulders we were rewarded with a view of the three 6,000ft-high, sheer granite Towers of Paine (Paine being an old Indian word for blue) rising up like three broad fingers of a baseball glove, set amongst a large bowl of glacier capped peaks, with a bright greenish lake at the base. We scurried down the rocks to near the lake side, where we lunched on a delicious Explora picnic of various sandwiches, interrupted by occasional gusts of wind and dirt. As we dined, we were entertained by periodic deep rumbles as large piles of rocks would cascade down the mountainside into the lake. We just sat and took in the view for a long while before heading back. (Another interesting feature of this area is the cloud formations: the wind swirls the huge clouds into all sorts of whipped confectionary shapes, which move across the sky with a fast-motion appearance)
The walk back, being mostly downhill and with the wind always at our backs, was a pleasure, though a bit long. All in all, about 7 hours of hiking, of which both Gonzalo and I were quite impressed with our older companion’s fortitude and dexterity. We finally arrived back at the Hosteria, where the Explora treated us to a few well-earned beers!!
Wendy’s day: After a 35-minute drive, the group arrived at a semi-arid dessert looking place and began walking uphill. The winds at that point were particularly fierce (in fact, the hotel later this afternoon recorded a gust of close to 70 mph!), but she persevered gamely. They arrived at a plateau that was green and home to many grazing guanacos and circling condors.
Wendy and a small sub-group then did some additional climbing to get to cave with some drawings which dated back over 12,000 years, and even today afforded a welcome break from the wind! They then re-joined the group and walked to a valley where the wind had subsided, allowing unadulterated enjoyment of the views of the vast countryside and the many snow-capped mountains, as well as the opportunity to pick some fresh blueberries. They then walked another few hours through the serene pastures, finishing with a small scramble down some rocks.
Back at the hotel, she lunched with some of her fellow hikers, then did some shopping: two Explora tee shirts. Following a shower and short nap, it was time for a 90 minute hindu/thai massage with Christina that was so wonderful Wendy offered her a permanent job in NYC!
Following his return, Milton took the longest, hottest shower as he attempted to clean off (and out) all the sand that had been blasted onto him. Then it was off to a glorious 90 minutes with Christine the wonder masseus. Meanwhile, Wendy dined with, and said our goodbyes to some of our fellow travelers, including Marian and Dan (the Rye Rabbi to the rich and famous), Herman the suspected Nazi from Switzerland, and our favorite guides.