Day 62 – Torres del Paine, Patagonia (Chile)

April 6th, 2019

After the roughest night we ever experienced, we got up and made the journey to the bathroom where we could use our cook stove to make breakfast.  We had another grilled cheese and were beyond happy to see that the rain had finally stopped.  Taylor’s morning started out bad as she slipped and fell in the mud on the way to the bathroom getting her “bedtime” leggings completely covered with mud.  I was thankful that even on the verge of tears she was still laughing and had her sense of humor.  We all had high hopes that this day could only get better from here.   Since we got a late start the day before, and were exhausted, and the wind and rain shut down the trail up the middle of the “W”, today was the day we were going to backtrack and make it up to that view point before moving on to our next campsite.  We were able to leave our bags in that big bathroom and start our day excited to see our beautiful surroundings that we had missed the day before in the storm.  We backtracked about 30 minutes to the start of the trail that goes up the middle of the W.  We got to that trailhead only to find it closed due to water rising and making the rivers impassable.  My heart broke a little bit when I realized we were not going to make it to that viewpoint at camp Britanico.  We had heard it was the “gem” of the W-trek.  I understood why the trail was closed after our scary river crossings the day before, and I was still sad we would not see that part of the trail.  It meant we had another short day of hiking to go to our next campsite.  We hiked back to camp Frances where we stayed the night before and got our bags.  We had the leisure to take our time hiking to the next camp site.  It was a beautiful day of sunshine and we were in awe of the surroundings. 

I honestly cannot imagine scenery that would be any better and feel I will have to come back one day to make it to the view point we missed.  Although it was still windy, the sun made all the views incredible.  Taylor was incredibly tough as her ankle was still recovering from a severe sprain that happened in Panama.  Her one ankle being a bit weak, she began to have problems with her opposite knee.  She kept on trekking though as we laughed about the fact that even if you want to give up, you can’t because there is nowhere else to go.  At this point of the trek. we were the furthest away from being able to leave the park even if we wanted to.  The guide had told us before we left to not get hurt during this part because you would have to walk at least seven miles in any direction to get out.  As for myself, I was feeling quite good and invigorated by the fresh air, fresh water, and glorious sun.  I kept stopping to take pictures as every angle seemed to be more awesome. 

We arrived at our next camp and showered and went to bed early hoping for a better night’s sleep.  We made dinner which was instant potatoes with some type of red sauce and it was at this dinner I remember making the comment that I felt my hunger was insatiable!  We never had lunches on the trail on any day, just handfuls of trail mix.  After the potatoes, we ended up making rice as well because I was still very hungry.  The wind was so strong that night it sounded like a fighter jet flying right above our heads.  I was quite worried about a tree breaking and falling on our tent.  Luckily nothing fell on us.  The tent survived without ripping or blowing away another night on the W.