Torres del Paine

1009 A.D. sits smack in the center of the Middle Ages. The Western Roman Empire has long since fallen and the Eastern Roman Empire is embroiled in the Arab wars. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is completely destroyed by caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock. In North America the Anasazi culture is building cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, CO. During this year, as it does every year, moisture picked up off the Southern Ocean condenses over Patagonia and falls in the form of snow. This snow accumulates faster than it can melt forming the Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine. Today, 1000 years later Deeanne, Wendi, Laura and I collect glacial ice that started as snow in 1009 and use it to make iced Strawberry Tang. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

After the splendor of the French Valley we hiked from our camp at Italiano to Grey Glacier. The walking was pleasant as we made our way along lakes Nordenskjold, Skottsberg, Pehoe, and ultimately Grey. We stopped at the albergue Pehoe and cooked up soup to have along with our lunch snacks.

Deeanne, Laura, Wendi

Wind & Lakes

The wind between our lunch stop at Pehoe and Grey lake pulled at our straps, hats and coat sleeves making everything hum and snap. After hiking near Fitz Roy though we were used to the drill. We finally crested a rise and there before us lay Grey Lake. Light dappled it ever changing as the clouds moved. The glacial ice coming down from the Campo de Hielo Sur shown white against the grey lake while remnants of previous calvings floated by colored brilliantly blue.

Sun dappled Lake Grey

Nearing Camp Grey

View from our tent

Refugio Grey is nestled in trees on a small sandy beach just below Grey Glacier’s end. We arrived around 5:00pm set up camp and took our first showers since town. Deeanne cooked up dinner and Laura collected bits of glacial ice 1000 years old for our Tang.  We then blissfully fell asleep to the water lapping at the lake shore.

Camp at Grey Lake

Overlook at Camp Grey

Blue ice in a grey lake

The next day was a short walk. We awoke, had a leisurely breakfast, and then laid out on the beach in the sun, thankful that we didn’t have to be anywhere soon. By mid-afternoon Wendi’s thermometer read 81.2 degrees. We took second showers and then dawned our packs for the 2 hour hike to Campamento Los Guardas.

Deeanne eats a 1000 year old popsicle

Grey Glacier's eastern side

We must have spent 30 minutes just enjoying the overlook below the glacier. We collected some more glacial ice and snacked on it as we walked along its eastern side to the next camp. The camp at Los Guardas was hidden in the trees but the view just outside of camp was stunning. You could look up or down the entire glacier as it made its way down the valley.

Grey Glacier from the trail above

Cheered by the sunny weather

The next day Laura had to hike back out to catch the first bus leg of her journey home. Deeanne, Wendi and I had a pass to conquer and so we all started out early. The trail followed Grey Glacier up the valley eventually turning east and up the shoulder of Cerro Blanco over John Garner Pass. The pass had opened and then closed again the prior week. Apparently a group of Americans had gotten lost and used their satellite phone to call for help. This seemed quite humorous to Chileans who chuckled “silly Americans”, particularly since there are no rescue teams in the park. I’m sure they found their way home eventually. We had reports that snow was knee to thigh deep and to bring gators and poles.

Making our way towards Garner Pass

Spring is in full swing

The reports were not far off but what they had failed to mention was the incline. If this had been a pass in the U.S. it would not have been open for another month at least. We climbed from tree to tree holding on to branches through snow that was at least 6 feet deep. It made for a great adventure and the views were breathtaking. From the top all you could see was snow and ice stretching on for miles.

Deeanne just above the really steep tree section

Wendi on the pass with Grey Glacier below

Top of the pass looking back

Having conquered the pass we thought we were through the worst of it. It was easy going on the way down the other side. The snow was just as deep; however, the incline was much better and we could nearly run down the hill taking huge steps and landing softly in the snow. No sooner had it leveled out though than we started post-holing. Post-holing is when you break through the upper crust with your leg(s) sinking in to whatever is below. It isn’t fun and can be quite dangerous depending on what’s below. To make matters worse the trail practically disappeared and we ended up having to thread our way through trees and over streams. This slowed our pace considerably. We had to retrace our steps multiple times to avoid falling through when crossing streams and you never knew when your next step would result in you post-holing.

On our way down John Garner Pass

Beginning of the bad snow section

The snow finally gave way getting our hopes up only to dash them again as it turned into a vertical bog. Route finding in the bog was a serious chore, especially if you didn’t want to end up knee deep in mud. We hopped from dead branch to shrub to grass to whatever looked like it might be semi-solid for what seemed like an eternity. Deeanne finally totally gave up and just mucked through it. Two hours into the bog and twelve hours after we started hiking we hit solid ground. A little further down trail we found a little campsite nestled between Rio Paso and Rio Brian where we pirate camped for the night glad not to have to walk anymore.

Deeanne mired in the bog

Pirate camping after a long day

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