Kyle Berg

Day 7, 3/18/07
After a 2 1/2 hour bus ride we arrived at perhaps the most famous national park in South America, Torres del Paine. Since it was overcast with light rain, we decided to take the boat across Lake Penhoe and do “The W” in a counterclockwise fashion and first head up towards Glacier Gray.

Heading slightly uphill and through a protected valley, the walk wasn’t too bad. But after coming around the corner and heading north along the lake, the fury of Patagonia was in full force. Sunglasses on to protect our eyes from the bullet-like rain drops, we forged on. In spite of my size, more than once I was thrown sideways by the gale force winds. Our best guess is that they were blowing somewhere around 70 mph. Even Mike, who had a great deal of outdoor experience, said those were the strongest winds he´s ever faced. The noise and force of the wind was so strong that I felt like I was in a dream or a movie during that stretch. Our pack rain covers all sustained slight rips as they flapped in the wind, but other than that, no damage done. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached the protection of the woods. There we rested for 15 minutes and chatted with some American volunteers working to repair the trails on that side of the park.

Despite being told it was 30 minutes of relatively easy trekking, the last stretch was an hour of significant elevation gain and a lot of hard work. We reached camp just before dark and set up camp in a hurry. Because of the protection offered by the woods, you never would have known the weather was crap all around us. It seemed like a different day and a different place. I cooked up some pasta in the shelter and chatted with some American students who were in Chile studying Spanish. I was absolutely exhausted and crashed into bed about 8:30.

Day 8, 3/19/07
Wow, did I sleep well. While I can never sleep really soundly in a tent, it was the best 11 hours of rest I could have hoped for. We took our time packing up camp and walked less than a kilometer to Glacier Gray for a photo shoot. For the five days in Torres del Paine, Mike lent me a yellow jacket for some photo shots. That morning he took hundreds of pictures of us along the cliff overlooking glacier gray. He got some great shots and wanted to make up for the lack of photos from earlier because of the bad weather. I also snapped quite a few of my own pics with the glacier and the rainbows arching over the lake. (The number of rainbows in Torres del Paine during our stay was remarkable).

The majority of the journey back down the same trail was much less stressful than the day before. We didn’t have to rush to camp and thus had time to enjoy the forests, lakes, streams, and mountains along the way. We also caught some beautiful view of Glacier Gray from a different angle as we were starting out. I could have stopped and sat along a couple of the rapids for hours. Not that I’ve done much traveling, but I love flowing water and had never seen such beautiful streams in my life. The most beautiful sight of the day came as we began to turn left away from Lago Gray. The clouds were roller over the glacier behind the mountains and one particularly beautiful peak became visible during a break in the clouds. The tip was granite covered in frost from the night before. It was another one of those “Lord of the Rings”, “this is so beautiful I can’t believe my eyes” moments.

Toward the end of the day the wind really began to howl again. Welcome to Torres del Paine. Four seasons in one day, as they say in Patagonia. We were out in the open and had been sweating but suddenly started feeling a chill. I walked as fast as I could to the next shelter of trees, but it took much longer than I had hoped. I should have stopped to layer up because I ended up catching a cold. After eating and hiking another 30 minutes or so, Mike wanted to get some photos of John braving the elements as he fought the wind along the lake. So, we backtracked a bit and went up to the windiest point on the hill for about 10 minutes. I was entrusted with Mike’s lucky hat as they photographed the last shots of the day.

We kept pushing on and reached camp a bit before dark. Mike and John were fine because they all of their gear was absolutely top of the line. Thus their 4 season, mountaineering, able to withstand a hurricane tent was unaffected by the wind. Mine however was a different story. While I didn’t sleep much because of the noise, amazingly enough, the tent made it through the night. I did remarkably well with my gear purchasing, especially considering I did it all in South America and this was my first time trekking. I was jealous of their $500 tent that night but took solace in the extra $400 I had in my pocket.

Day 9, 3/20/07
This day ended up being a mix of weather and beautiful yet frustrating at the same time. Our 2 hour hike to Campamento Italiano wasn’t overly difficult and was fairly warm and full of sunshine. Part way into the journey we caught our first glimpse of the Cuernos del Paine with a mix of beige and black rock. Upon nearing the camp, we heard the unmistakable roar of rapids. This one was louder than any we had heard thus far. I thought I had seen beautiful streams the previous couple days, but this one took the cake. We were all mesmerized not only by the water but also by the wooden bridge traversing it.

Our plan was to set up camp at Italiano, drop packs, and daypack up the Valle Frances. As seemed to be the case during our time here, the weather had other plans. After eating and pitching our tents, it became obvious that rain was on its way. We relaxed a while in the hopes it would pass, but it took too long and we had no choice but to spend the night at Italiano. We’d have to do the second leg the next day. As the light went down, we spent quite a bit of time along the river shooting the water, the bridge, and the mountain backdrop. Absolutely spectacular!

Day 10, 3/21/07
On day number 4 in Torres del Paine we dayhiked up the Valle Frances. As had been the day before, it was a mix of weather. The first part of this hike did not have a path per se. We navigated our way up a gentle descent through the scree. Looking down on the valley provided lovely views of the mountains and the lakes peppered by islands. It was really cool to look across the valley and see glacier and snow below us on the opposite mountainside. A little inlet in our mountainside produced a beautiful, almost Hawaiian-looking waterfall.

The hike up to Campamento Britanico was definitely a good workout. We gained over 1400 feet of elevation in less than 2 hours. Mike asked if we wanted to stop and eat or wait until we got to camp. Neither or them had an opinion, so I said I preferred to wait until camp and have our food as a reward. This ended up being the only time in the trip I saw Mike get cranky. He had warned me that when his blood sugar drops he can get a bit snappy. After eating at the camp, he cheered right back up.

The elevation change was very apparent in the weather as well. As we got higher, it must have been at least 5-7 degrees colder. There was a breathtaking view looking up the side of one of the cuernos and other peaks, but it was out in the middle of the open! I took a quick picture, but it was too exposed to rain and cold to stay out there. What a pity as it would have been nice to hang around and take it in for a while. The cold was enough that I couldn’t get my hands to warm up at all! I put them under my cap, swung my arms, and tried to move them, but nothing worked. Only when we dropped back down after about 20 minutes did the warmth come back. What had started out below as a nice day turned out to be a cold, dreary day above that quickly spread to the lower regions. We stopped along the stream/waterfall on the way back as Mike and John shot pics of water flowing over a particular rock. Shortly after, we found an enormous rock sitting in the middle of the same stream. I decided I had to hop up there and get a glamor shot. My Berg agility was on display as I not-so-deftly go up that thing. John & Mike got a picture of me “humping” the rock as I maneuvered my way up. Oh well…at least I got a good shot! The rest of the descent was wet and miserable as the rain picked up and we worked our way quickly toward the refuge of camp.

Day 11, 3/22/07
The last day turned out to be much different than expected. First of all, it wasn’t going to be my last day! Mike & John needed to catch the bus to Puerto Natales by 2:45 and I was going to continue on the trail solo. That morning the winds were really blowing and there was a risk their boat would not be running because of the waves on the lake. This would leave them stranded. So, they decided to make the 5-6 hour hike with me to the next campsite where they could also take the bus. The temperature was much warmer and we set out already down to a base layer of clothing. The beginning of this stint provided us with our most clear views of the Cuernos of Paine yet. In order to pass the time we played a couple mystery games where we had to ask questions in order to solve a puzzle. This moved things along as we wove our way along the lake and up and down and reached the first destination well ahead of the time on the map.

We continued on and talked about books and music while forging ahead. It was interesting to hear the eclectic mix of topics that interested them. After I mentioned one of my favorite books was The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren and what it was about, Mike was very interested. The idea of a coherent explanation of any belief really interested him. The topic hadn’t been broached the entire trip, so politics finally had to come up. While definitely not in agreement, things were still cordial. They probably show up somewhere middle-left on the political spectrum and definitely embraced the multicultural, multireligion mentality in an earlier discussion.

The sights along this section of the trail were nice, but nothing spectacular. We arrived at our destination at 1:30, or 5:30 hours of trekking. While we started out with beautiful weather and even had it until about 40 minutes before the end, we finished this stint with steady rain. The clouds came out of nowhere and ruined the afternoon. I was still planning to pitch my tent that afternoon and head up to the Towers the next day. However, as I waited with them at the pickup point, things got more miserable. The idea of leaving with them got more appealing by the minute. We’d had bad weather and there was no guarantee tomorrow would be better in order to leave the Towers visible. To stay would mean pitching my tent in the rain and staying in it from 2:30 on that day and an additional 1-2 more days in the park. With my food running a bit low and tired of the miserable weather, I decided to hop on the bus and forgo the hike. I had such mixed emotions and disliked the idea of not seeing the landmark from which the park takes its name. But the idea of going back, sleeping well, cleaning up, and moving on to the next phase of the trip was really appealing. I had been told that the cheap flights between El Calafate and Bariloche only ran on Sundays, so leaving that day allowed me to go to Perito Moreno Glacier on Saturday and still catch a flight on Sunday. This had been my plan all along, but the poor weather earlier had caused me to consider staying in the park longer.

On the way home I felt good about the decision, yet still irritated that I would have to carry around that “Should I have stayed?” question in my head. While I don’t regret making the decision given the circumstances, not being able to see the Towers is my only regret of the trip. There is some solace in the fact they are similar to Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy which I saw in Argentina. Even if I had seen them, I’d want to go back to Torres del Paine. Off the W Circuit there is also a large waterfall called Salto Grande that I would love to visit. This just makes that desire stronger. If anyone wants to venture down here to Torres del Paine, I’ll be on the next plane south to join you for the trip!