The Towers of Pain

The name evokes a daunting image. Torres Del Paine - an iconic symbol of the fierce Patagonian winds that have carved away the faces of these Andean mountain peaks. This Chilean national park is a large reason why Patagonia has been on my to-do list for so long.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

The experience of hiking in this region comes with its own set of memories that pictures cannot capture. I met my hiking companion, Michael (21 yrs old, England), in a hostel. He is in the middle of a 9 month journey which started in Nepal and has led him to here. We were both looking for a competent hiking partner and I feel we both lucked out in finding each other.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

Gear shops outside the park offer tent rental and other camping equipment necessary to camp for the 6 days we'd be hiking. We picked up a load of angel hair pasta, tomato sauce and canned tuna at the local supermarket and hit the trail. The weather was cooperative, which is notoriously fickle. In lower altitudes it warmed up to 60 deg during the day and didn't drop much below 40 at night.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

The wind is what made this hiking experience more unique than any I've been on. It's hard to describe how windy certain sections of the trail were, or how much wind the tent endured every night. I can only offer a few anecdotes: At times the wind was so strong that I couldn't walk, and without a trekking pole to lean on, probably would have been knocked over. Other times, leaning into the wind and walking sideways was the only way to travel in a straight path. An unfortunate couple setting up their tent were shocked when the wind picked up their tent, blew it 100 feet up in the air and 60 feet out to the middle of a lake. Greeting other hikers on the trail was sometimes futile as the sound of the wind drown out any other audible sounds.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

One of the more interesting phenomenon was the way the wind whipped up mists of water on one of the lakes. In the afternoon sun, the surface of the lake erupted into random explosions of rainbow.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

We had one day of really foul weather where the rain was coming in sideways all day long. After 6 hours of hiking I was soaked and freezing. My right arm was nearly numb from the cold. Lifting your head meant needles of water hitting your face. It was great.

From Chile - Torres Del Paine

That's it for now, something short and sweet to get started.