Patagonian trek fest
February 13 1998
Three or so weeks to catch up on, and would you believe I am still in Punta
Arenas. Not that it is that great a place, but it has become home from home. I
have just got back from 11 days trekking in Torre del
Paine, but more of that later. When I last updated the adventures, I was
sitting , foot up watching way too much tv and waiting for my boat to sail. Well
my boat certainly sailed. The trip to Isla Navarino, and the world’s most
southerly town of Pueto Williams is worth at least $100 alone. Hitching with the
navy we only had to pay $35. And had a 4-berth cabin, lounge, bar and Jacuzzi on
board, plus two night’s accommodation and all the meals. Utter bargain. One goes
down the straits of Magellan , past 2000m peaks rising almost straight out of
the sea. Then after a short rough patch, it’s into the beagle channel. A series
of Glaciers carve off the sides of the hanging valleys spectacularly, with one
even dropping its ice into the sea. It’s some of the most stunning scenery I
have seen in a lifetime dedicated to seeing beautiful landscapes.
Pueto Williams is a little of a dump, but we weren’t there long, and after a
morning left on a 6-day trek. I had got together with an Israeli, an American
and a Japanese chap. A truly international little trip. We all got on like we’d
been friends for years, and even Jun, our Japanese fellow who didn’t speak much
English and almost no Spanish, got into the swing of things. His broken English
provided the quote of the trip, after a dog chose his bag as a territorial
marker outside the restaurant we were eating in. Jun ran out and came back in
with a slightly hurt, slightly befuddled expression that Orientals seem to do so
naturally. "Dog, my bag, pee" was how he managed to explain himself. I guess you
had to have spent the last 5 hours playing cards to really get it, but it really
was funny, trust me. Anyway the trek was certainly one of the best that I have
ever done. It’s really remote, with no real path. Yet the scenery is this
constantly changing mountain wonderland. Weather got a little grotty, and we sat
out one day in the tents, but we did even have a little sun, and rain,
and snow, and sleet, and even wind (yes, wind in Patagonia) The circuit is
only 55kms, so 5 days of walking meant that we went fairly easy, and all of us
were no amateurs to trekking. It was great to be with so competent a party, even
if we did keep going off on our own tangents. I got to see a number of the
special bird species, including a flightless duck. I love the idea of flightless
birds, as they are so fragile a species. But Navarino has no large land
predators, so they survive fine. Black browed Albatrosses were as common as
gulls on the boat ride, but no dolphins to my disappointment.
Getting back was little of a hassle and after two days we gave up and flew.
The flight, in a little twin engine 9 seater was not too bad, but landing into a
roaring Patagonia special gale was rather thrilling, and for the final approach
we seemed to point every way except at the runway. I sat around here for a few
days watching the final rounds of the Australian open. Needless to say there was
great interest as Rios is Chileno, but local hopes were not to be fulfilled.
After this, I put together a pack for Torres del Paine again. Having aborted the
full walk last time due to the niggling tendon, I still had three days walk to
do to finish the circuit. But, in the mood for gentle walking and a little
solitude, I packed 10 days of food, and hitched there with the heaviest pack I
have ever carried. The first couple of days were hard going as it really did
weigh a bit, but as compensation I had the most unbelievable weather. Cloudless
skies and no wind were enjoyed 5 of the 10 days and no real rain for 10 days.
Awesome. I repeated a bit of the circuit up to the glacier. Only this time
instead of walking on above it, I donned the crampons which I have carried so
far, and after a couple blows from the ice axe, heaved myself onto a real live
glacier. I have being on supposed
glaciers before, but to me this was the first real glacier experience. its 4
or 5 km wide and must be well over 50m thick. It’s very crevassed near the snout
where I got on, but after the recent god weather, the crevasses were dead easy
to spot. Some had filled with meltwater, to form caves filled with the most
clear and blue water I will ever see. Truly surreal, I count this as a highlight
of the trip so far.
From here I have to clean up, and re-sort stuff to trek in Tierra del Fuego,
and then am off to Los Glaicers park in Argentina, hopefully to at least put a
cramponed foot onto the continental ice cap. Around the end of this month I
should finally start to head north. Looking to get to Santiago and Mendoza in
late April to early may.
