They finally let us go see the mountains. With pressure from the Chilean government, there was no choice but to open up Torres del Paine. We were up early and waiting at the place where we purchased the bus ticket for a long time. For a while we thought that they had forgotten us, but instead they had just picked everyone else up first. We barely got ourselves a seat. We didn't care if we would've had to ride on top of the bus, we were ready to go. After a couple of hours of riding on the bus, we traveled down a dirt road that dropped us off at the park entrance. We were one of many buses breaking down the doors of Torres del Paine. We were told earlier that Park Service personnel from the United States got in for free. That didn't happen when we got there. Instead we got a good talking to about, don't destroy my National Park. I guess after someone else set fire to it, they were upset enough to give us a good lecture. The funny thing that we figured out is that the Chilean people find no value in fire. It is not a natural process to them and thus they only see the negative in it.
We were making the best of the situation, though, as they did let us in. As we made it through the gate, CNN Chile was there to interview hikers. They asked me if I spoke Spanish and I just pointed them over to my dad. He gave an interview talking of how he was hear to see the beautiful mountains. We did see some of the broadcast later and they did not say any of his words, but he did make it on camera with his full pack and 6' 5" frame.
We were ready to go, after one more bus ride up the last of the dirt roads on a smaller bus that once again we had to pay for. So this made 3 plane rides and 3 separate buses just to get to this campground in Torres del Paine. We were planning originally to do a backpacking trip, but with the fire, it changed our plan so that we were only able to do some camping. The campground was quiet, but we knew that would change with time. We were one of the first ones there, so we decided to perch our tent near some trees. We made sure to secure it tightly, had some lunch, then we were ready to hike.
Our goal on this day was to reach the Mirador los Torres, which in English basically means lookout. It was a warm day and the terrain was rather dry. We started out on a dirt road that led us past all of the beautiful accommodations for the people who wanted less of a roughing it type of experience. There were also dorms, but we were going past the hotel accommodations. They lead us across a bridge with a choice of ways to go. One of those choices was out to some lakes that were approaching where the fire was located on part of the famous W. We were going right, though, which was up the valley toward Chileno Camp and Mirador los Torres. I was ready to hike and was slightly apprehensive about how the day was going to go when Dad kept having to take some breaks. He could tell that I was ready to move and sooner rather than later, he said that I should go on ahead and we could meet up. There was an extra section of trail that led out to Japanese camp. He suggested I hike that and meet him back at the Mirador los Torres. I didn't not want to hike with Dad, but it was going to be a long day for me if I didn't, so I took off.
The trail started out high above the river, but soon dropped down. Chileno camp was perched next to the river and you could buy any of the ammenities that you wished to have such as chocolate bars and french fries. That was not my goal for this day, so I kept hiking. The trail took me through the forests and next to the river crossing bridges and going up and down switchbacks. I made it eventually to the junction with the Mirador los Torres. Instead of going up there, I kept going to the campground and ranger station located there.
I kept moving past the campground and the number of people dropped to nearly none. The trail took me to a gigantic boulderfield that I had to use my wilderness sense to know where the trail truly was. I made it through the boulderfield, but not without the thought of, "Wow, this could be such an easy place to break an ankle." They would probably make you pay for it in Chile if you needed a rescue. Past the boulderfield, there was more forest and more river. The time we were here, the water was at its highest of the season so there were places it was just running right over the trail. I started to get to the end of trail and were seeing some mountains.
Japanese camp was built by climbers trying to get to the top of some of these peaks. I could see why because after this spot, the trail would only lead up into meadows and then bare rock and ice. The camp itself was nowhere near exciting, but it felt good to make it to the end of the trail. I wondered why anyone would really want to sleep there. I would much rather bring a tent than stay in a pile of tarps. I turned around and retraced my steps until I got to the junction with the Mirador once again.
I was expecting Dad to be at the Mirador when I got there. Instead, I heard some clinks and clacks of trekking poles as I charged up the trail. A couple of hundred yards up from the junction, there he was still plodding away up the hill. With a bit of energy expended, I was happy to have someone to hike with regardless of how quickly we moved. We did take quite a few breaks, but we continued to make our way up the fairly good trail through the glacial debris. I was so happy to see the towers start to come into play.
Nothing could prepare me for the vision that I would see when I came over the hill to see the gorgeous glacial lake under the three towers. Torre Sur, Torre Centro, and Torre Norte came into view. The difference between Dad and I is that he wanted to see these peaks for many years while I was seeing them for the first time in person. I am not sure who gets to have the better experience, but I was sure happy to be there. We both took way too many pictures. I wandered down to the lake and back up. The challenging part was trying to get a picture without people in it. There were probably about 25 people at the Mirador with us. It was rather windy there, but nothing compared to the stories we had heard of the Patagonia wind.
We really took our time up there because we knew that this may be the last chance that we had to see this beautiful spot. So we had some M+M's and sat amongst the boulders for nearly a half an hour. Eventually, we did have to leave and it was down the same way we came. We did move swifter than on the way up. It was down to the campground for the evening, which was approaching faster than we thought it would. We put in a long day because frankly we had the daylight as it was now approaching late into the evening. You could not tell it with the amount of light that the day still kept open for us to enjoy. I wondered how they would deal with the fire with all of this daylight. As we climbed up from the river to the hill going down to the road to camp, we could see the fire burning strongly with these powerful winds just a couple of ridges over from where we were. It was slightly concerning, but we at least were happy the fire was not burning toward camp.
We got enjoy some camping and Dad chatted with some folks around camp. It was another night of reading, eating, and playing cribbage before waking up the next day to go on another enjoyable hike in Torres del Paine.
We were making the best of the situation, though, as they did let us in. As we made it through the gate, CNN Chile was there to interview hikers. They asked me if I spoke Spanish and I just pointed them over to my dad. He gave an interview talking of how he was hear to see the beautiful mountains. We did see some of the broadcast later and they did not say any of his words, but he did make it on camera with his full pack and 6' 5" frame.
Our goal on this day was to reach the Mirador los Torres, which in English basically means lookout. It was a warm day and the terrain was rather dry. We started out on a dirt road that led us past all of the beautiful accommodations for the people who wanted less of a roughing it type of experience. There were also dorms, but we were going past the hotel accommodations. They lead us across a bridge with a choice of ways to go. One of those choices was out to some lakes that were approaching where the fire was located on part of the famous W. We were going right, though, which was up the valley toward Chileno Camp and Mirador los Torres. I was ready to hike and was slightly apprehensive about how the day was going to go when Dad kept having to take some breaks. He could tell that I was ready to move and sooner rather than later, he said that I should go on ahead and we could meet up. There was an extra section of trail that led out to Japanese camp. He suggested I hike that and meet him back at the Mirador los Torres. I didn't not want to hike with Dad, but it was going to be a long day for me if I didn't, so I took off.
The trail started out high above the river, but soon dropped down. Chileno camp was perched next to the river and you could buy any of the ammenities that you wished to have such as chocolate bars and french fries. That was not my goal for this day, so I kept hiking. The trail took me through the forests and next to the river crossing bridges and going up and down switchbacks. I made it eventually to the junction with the Mirador los Torres. Instead of going up there, I kept going to the campground and ranger station located there.
I kept moving past the campground and the number of people dropped to nearly none. The trail took me to a gigantic boulderfield that I had to use my wilderness sense to know where the trail truly was. I made it through the boulderfield, but not without the thought of, "Wow, this could be such an easy place to break an ankle." They would probably make you pay for it in Chile if you needed a rescue. Past the boulderfield, there was more forest and more river. The time we were here, the water was at its highest of the season so there were places it was just running right over the trail. I started to get to the end of trail and were seeing some mountains.
Japanese camp was built by climbers trying to get to the top of some of these peaks. I could see why because after this spot, the trail would only lead up into meadows and then bare rock and ice. The camp itself was nowhere near exciting, but it felt good to make it to the end of the trail. I wondered why anyone would really want to sleep there. I would much rather bring a tent than stay in a pile of tarps. I turned around and retraced my steps until I got to the junction with the Mirador once again.
I was expecting Dad to be at the Mirador when I got there. Instead, I heard some clinks and clacks of trekking poles as I charged up the trail. A couple of hundred yards up from the junction, there he was still plodding away up the hill. With a bit of energy expended, I was happy to have someone to hike with regardless of how quickly we moved. We did take quite a few breaks, but we continued to make our way up the fairly good trail through the glacial debris. I was so happy to see the towers start to come into play. 
Nothing could prepare me for the vision that I would see when I came over the hill to see the gorgeous glacial lake under the three towers. Torre Sur, Torre Centro, and Torre Norte came into view. The difference between Dad and I is that he wanted to see these peaks for many years while I was seeing them for the first time in person. I am not sure who gets to have the better experience, but I was sure happy to be there. We both took way too many pictures. I wandered down to the lake and back up. The challenging part was trying to get a picture without people in it. There were probably about 25 people at the Mirador with us. It was rather windy there, but nothing compared to the stories we had heard of the Patagonia wind.
We got enjoy some camping and Dad chatted with some folks around camp. It was another night of reading, eating, and playing cribbage before waking up the next day to go on another enjoyable hike in Torres del Paine.
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