Day 215: Reaching for the Towers

Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales, Chile

My not having enough time to do the full Torres del Paine trek was indeed a blessing in disguise. Had I attempted the feat, I would have probably died halfway.

I only did the first part of the trek today and without carrying anything but a small pack. I came back to the Refugio, not being able to walk properly. I really don´t know how people do it… trekking fo 5-8 days straight, with giant backpack and camping out in the wild. And I´m seeing people of all ages doing this. I came to learn that age really doesn´t matter. It´s a matter of fitness.

During the day, I trekked with different group of people: an American couple in the beginning, then two German ladies, then an American guy and his family. Main reason was because I lagged behind. Haha. I started off with Chuck and Dawn, then I fell behind and started walking with the Germans, then I fell behind again struggling on the last bit uphill, through the boulders to the mirador. The last guy, whose name escaped me now, was on the same boat and his family had left him behind to get to the mirador first. As the two of us made it there, I joined his family eating lunch on top of the mirador. The view up there was insane! It´s worth every single step. We had the perfect weather. It couldn´t be any  nicer. We were lucky because the day before, it was really windy, with wind blowing at 48km/h (I could hardly walk on flat ground yesterday, I can´t imagine having to climb boulders in such condition.)

Note to self: Train hard and return to Patagonia to do the full trek…. OR be filthy rich and paid my way out for the full trek (ie. stay in Refugios with full package that include meals, guide and massage services).