The Tehuelche Indians, Patagonia’s original inhabitants, called the wind Shamej Gooshe, translated as “The Wind Which Goes Round”. Shamej Gooshe was a mythical being who would drag animals and people into his underground liar and kill them. I thought we had met Shamej Gooshe in El Chalten the night the wind kept us up until sunrise. But it must have been a distant cousin, because at Torres del Paine we got to feel his wrath and experience the full, raw intensity of Patagonia’s unpredictable weather. The week we spent at Torres del Paine we had rain, freezing hail, wind so powerful it blew me off my feet and perfect, warm sunshine. Basically a typical week in southern Patagonia.
This was one of the days with sunshine and no wind. A few days earlier the wind was so strong that this lake had mini water tornadoes rolling across it.
To get to Torres del Paine we had to cross over into Chile again, which would be our third time crossing into Chile. Every time it is was a pain because we had to get rid of all our food. This was not that big a deal in Northern Chile, but when we are crossing rural, remote borders it means we would have to find a town somewhere to stock up again, because there are only so many days I can eat dry and can goods. We chose a very small, remote border where the guard did not even bother to look inside our camper for food (even though we had nothing left to confiscate anyway) which was the only time this happened in our six border crossings into Chile. Because we had no food we had to head away from Torres del Paine south to the pretty town of Puerto Natales to stock up on supplies.
We decided to enter the park from a more remote back entrance near Laguna Azul where we heard from a French overlander there was a free campground with beautiful views of the granite towers.
Not a bad view for a free campground!
We had rain all night when we arrived, but woke up early the next morning to this. We heard on really sunny afternoons you can see the reflection in the water. Unfortunately, the sun did not last long this day.
The only bad thing about Laguna Azul campground was CONAF only allows camping for one night.
A strange couple. Predator and prey just chilling together….
Nandu is what they call rheas in Patagonia. We saw lots of them around the park outskirts.
Torres del Paine is the crown jewel of Chilean Patagonia, and one of the busiest national parks in the country. Most people come here to trek, and the most popular hike is the W. This W hike is basically a 3-4 day trek that goes down the three main canyons of the park (forming a sort of W). Since we did not have overnight hiking gear, we decided to do parts of the W in day hikes, which actually worked out great for us given the weather during our time here. Camping would have been miserable. It was challenging a few of the days we were here, even in our plush XP camper.
Starting the very long (24 kilometer) hike to the Torres Mirador.
One of the things that bothered me a bit about Torres del Paine on the trails was how busy they were. We were here during peak season, but I have never seen so many people hiking in one place. Going up to the mirador, I felt like an ant in a line. The amount of people hiking the trails made them less appealing to me. We were constantly stuck behind large, slow hiking groups, and the areas where the tents were set up looked like refugee camps. There were just too many people and not enough services such as bathrooms or space to pitch tents. However, all the people are here for a reason, the valleys are stunning and the granite peaks are breathtaking.
The bad part of the refugios (camping areas in the valleys) on the W is they need to have horses take in supplies daily, which is really rough on the trails and also makes them full of horse poop.
Looking down at hikers and horses on the trail to the most popular hike in the park.
Hiking down the valley, part of the W hike to the mirador.
We had rain and crazy wind on the hike up, but the sun came out for a small bit and we were lucky enough to have this view. Worth the hard hike up.
These are the actual Torres del Paine towers the park is named after.
Sam can always make me laugh. I asked him to go pose on the rock and this is what I got….
I tried to stay warm. The challenge of hiking over a mile vertical is that I got sweaty on the way up, and as my body would cool, the sweaty clothes made me cold. So glad we brought up so many layers.
On our way down from the mirador the wind began to get so intense that it blew me off my feet. I have never felt wind like that before, it just crumpled me in a pile near the rocks like a toppled tree. Then the hail started and the wind made it feel like little bullets against my face. The crazy thing was that by the end of the hike it was sunny again. The weather here was intense and unpredictable. It felt like I had imagined Patagonia weather would be.
As the weather came and went we did a few hikes multiple times. One we did three times because each day the weather got better and it was so beautiful that we kept wanting to see it in different conditions.
Here is the hike to Mirador Cuernos that we did three different times:
Day 1:
The wind was so powerful I could barely walk at points. I would scream into it at the top of my lungs and it would just get lost. Insane.
The wind was blowing the water off the lake in crazy rain tornadoes that would hit us and get us soaking wet.
I love how the Torres peaks are lit by sun. Glad to know there was sun someplace in the park!
Shadows passing over the lakes.
The mountains were covered in fog and we could not see what was behind them. More water tornadoes.
Day 2
Weather was getting better but there was still clouds and wind. Only wearing one layer today instead of three.
Even with the clouds, the sun made all the colors pop.
You can see why we did the hike three times. It was so stunning we wanted to see it with no clouds.
Driving to the hike the sometimes placid lake had breakers from the wind.
Day 3
A warm, perfect day!!!!!
This was the only day we saw the rainbow. Sun and water are a great combo.
Sam at the mirador. Zero clouds!!! And the Panama hat.
This is a pano Sam did stitching five pictures together. This was the view we hiked to three times.
The colors of the plants made it feel like fall even though we were in the peak of summer.
In 2012 an Israeli backpacker accidentally started a fire burning a large portion of the park. This area we could see the damage of the fire. It was really sad.
What a view…..What a hike.
No wind!!!!
This is what the parking lot looked like when we returned from the hike. So glad we got an early start!
At the far part of the park is Lago Grey and the Glacier Grey which basically runs down from the Southern ice field. The drive to it basically took us through the entire park and the scenery just blew us away. While the park is full of trekkers, the roads are empty. So driving around was a really enjoyable experience. We loved the drive so much we drove the length of the park twice, something that our large gas tank allows us to do.
What a drive!!!!
And a little bit of black and white. =)
Lots of guanacos in the park.
This was the Cuernos Del Paine from the back on the way to Lago Grey.
Lago Grey
Walking on the beach at Lago Grey. Notice the icebergs . This was another windy and cold day.
Trying to take it all in.
Sam doing a little Kung Fu on the hike.
And me sitting….So many pictures of me sitting, I swear I also hiked. =)
The trees in Patagonia get blow sideways by the wind. This pretty much sums up how strong the wind was.
We tried to camp near Lago Grey after our hike but the wind was relentless. So we started exploring the park to find a camping spot hidden from the wind. We found this gem where we had one of the most dramatic sunsets of the trip.
The view out the back window was off the charts!
The wind makes the cloud formations really interesting. Lots of what I called “spaceship clouds”.
One of my favorite pictures of the trip.
And this is what it looked like the next morning!
We were not really supposed to camp here, but we just decided to see if someone would ask us to leave. A gaucho rode by and waved, so I guess it was ok.
Our final day in the park was perfect!!!!
The majestic peaks of Torres del Paine were hard to say goodbye to. Another place we want to come back to.
Especially when the sun is shining. It made leaving that much harder.
We took a small hike on our last day and brought a few Austral beers to eat with our sandwiches. As I was drinking it I realized the mountain range on the can was right in front of me.
Final waterfall on the drive out.
Overall, even with the crazy weather and the crowds on the trails, the week we spent here was one of our favorites for the drives around the park alone. The landscape here pulled at my heart and will bring me back one day.