Date of Entry: March 23rd 2016
Date of Writing: May 19th 2016, Blue House Hostel, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I wake up early but can hear the rain inside my cozy little tent and can’t seem to make myself get up, still exhausted from yesterday’s hike. Besides hiking all day in the pouring rain doesn’t sound appealing so I drift in that peaceful place between asleep and awake for a few hours just hoping the rain might die out. Dreams you have camping are always interesting too. Plus I’m lucky because I wake up, peel off my very necessary compression stocking to reduce swelling in my damaged right leg and get to packing my day bag.
It’s just after 10 am when I head out of my tent with some trail mix in my pocket alongside a snickers bar which will turn out to be excellent trekking food. (Thank you internet articles on trekking packing) And then I head out onto the trail with just a little national geographic dry bag on my back. Food, music,my camera and a water bottle. Even after just one day leaving the big bag behind feels amazing.
I hurry out past the quickly emptying camp heading up towards the Paso camp site, though today is just a day walk and I’ll be returning to grey campsite by the evening. Either way though the rain has stopped, the skies are clearing, and rainbows are appearing as I head up the trail which will take me above glacier grey,and pretty quickly I’m treated to some rainbows paired with stunning views of the glacier.
Eventually the slightly uphill track winds briefly away from the stunning views of the glacier and into a thin forest filled with Patagonian wind, which, as always is utterly unrelenting. It’s chilly but not too bad since I’m moving at a good clip aiming to get as close to the paso campsite as I can despite my late start to the day. And soon enough I’m back above the glacier.
All through my planning phases of this hike I’ve heard about the two suspension bridges beyond grey campsite and after maybe 45 minutes walking I come to the first one, which is indeed quite an impressive bridge and makes me think back to my parents photos and stories from China. So many hanging bridges, but from these two you can see glaciers!
On the other side of the surprisingly wobbly bridge I’m led back into another section of forest before reemerging above the second suspension bridge to perhaps my favourite view of the glacier yet. It’s stunning and here I also meet two very nice people and get some photos taken offering some to them too before chatting with them. They are planning to go to Puerto Madryn to try to see killer whales, a destination I sadly end up skipping. (Yes I do miss some places.) Still this view is startling.
I cross the bridge slowly stopping for a few more photos as well as some time out in the middle of the hanging bridge enjoying the wind and incredible views before leaving my friends behind to carry on along the trail. My legs are tired and a little swollen but walking without my big bag is very nice.
I continue along the narrow trail which snakes along the mountain side above the imposing grey glacier. The weather is clearing a little and I’m gifted occasional glimpses of the Patagonian ice field in the distance behind the glacier as I keep walking, listening to music and dancing a bit as I go. I’ve found that for myself hiking is made much more enjoyable with music, and this six days has many albums though Bas- Too High to Riot is probably what I listen to most.
As the sun continues coming out the blue of the glacier starts to overpower the largely grey day giving me more strength to carry on. I even get a few visions of the sun break thing through the clouds.
Eventually though the good weather starts to fade and when I’m maybe 1 km from Campo Paso the weather starts to turn again, imposing dark clouds appearing in front of me and a wet snow beginning to fall with some violence making me decide to turn back. It’s getting later in the afternoon and I have a long way to go. The hikes been shorter today but I’ll still have put about 18 km on my legs by the time at back at Grey campground.
Eventually I come back across the impressive bridges and am sad to know I probably won’t see them again. this is my second time in Patagonia, and it might be my last time for a good long while, and that makes me so so sad. The clouds are rolling in but the scenery is unmatched in my experiences and once again I’m reminded of why the Andes are my favourite mountains.
I get back to the camp site maybe an hour before sunset and decide it’s time to make my first warm meal, heading into the cooking area with my little gas stove rented from Yagan house hostel and some pasta, sauce, and a bottle of hot sauce (a trekking must in my opinion.)
The food is surprisingly delicious and everything works well, plus the hot sauce makes me some friends as we sit around and chat about the hike while I again charge my camera battery in the convenient store.
I’m quickly finding out just how tired walking all day makes you and I’m headed to sleep before 10 o’clock ready for tomorrow which is almost 20 km with the big bag, so it should be interesting.
On a side note I’ll be working hard to catch up on the blog for the next little while as I should have been already, but I’ve just spent an incredible three weeks with a german friend travelling faster and more enjoyably than I have in a long time, so there are many, many stories still to tell. Check back soon for more torres del paine coverage though. The park remains to this day, one of my favourite places I’ve ever been.
