Day 13 – the famous Torres del Paine trek

Today’s trek was absolutely my favorite! We set out at 9:15 to another perfect day. Just a few puffy clouds in the otherwise clear blue sky; temperature in the 50s. The conditions were ideal for the “hardest” trek. We were going to the base of the towers. It would be a 22k trek – about 13 miles – with an altitude change of about 400 meters. Basically there were to be some tough climbs on this one.

A lot of us were having knee problems so one of our guides managed to find me a trekking pole. And off we went. The first 20 minutes were easy and then we started climbing. Over gravel and rocks and boulders – loose ones. And then through the forest and lots of mud. And then the final climb over boulders and SNOW.

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Everyone who passed by made a wish and added a rock from the trail.

Similar to the past few days, I was mesmerized by the sounds. They were different today. There was a constant backdrop of running water in the streams created by the melting snow and the glacier. So the peace of that and then hiking boots tromping in mud, heavy breathing and trekking poles hitting rocks as the climb became steeper. It was so exhilarating! The air was so cool and crisp that each deep breath felt amazing. The last hour was a constant uphill but what we saw at the end was worth all of the work. A stunning, turquoise lake, halfway covered with a thin sheen of perfect ice creating a lighter turquoise area of the lake. And surrounding this were majestic mountains including the 3 towers. The melting snow at the top created stripes in the rocks coming down from the towers into the lake. Words can’t do it justice! It was absolutely remarkable. We sat and basked in the beauty for quite a while, shielded from the wind by giant boulders.

IMG_2742IMG_2739We took the same route to get down and although it was a killer on the knees, the trekking poles definitely helped. All in all, this trek was relatively easy for me – especially compared to the French valley trek two days ago. It was tough and gorgeous and challenging and peaceful all in one amazing day. I had so much positive energy that at the end, I managed to convince two of the other girls to sprint up the final two hills back to Ecocamp.

To celebrate we all went directly to the bar for a Chilean beer. As with every trip, I’m a bit of a loner and usually join the younger group for one drink or two. But tonight I was going to make an effort to join the group and stayed until the early hours of the morning drinking wine with everyone, laughing and getting to know them a bit better. It’s amazing to me who you think you’ll click with at the beginning of a trip usually aren’t the ones that you actually do click with. Worth noting for the future…

I awoke at 4 am to use the bathroom and was greeted with an entire sky full of stars! It was a glorious sight – something I’ll remember in my head when I’m back home and can’t see any stars in Charlotte 🙂

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