At this point, many of you may be wondering why all the writing? Yes, it takes a lot of typing, and a few thousand Chilean pesos spent at internet cafès to keep this updated, but in addition to keeping everyone informed about our well-being, we wanted to have a full log of the trip for our own keeping. So, apologies for any wordiness or esoteric details...but on with the show.
For the last week, we´ve been going without a proper alarm clock. And since my phone battery finally died, we had to rely on some tricky TV programming to get an alarm set that would go off to get this day started.
Although really, we were both so excited that we were up before the alarm. With the bus scheduled to pick us up at 7am to head into the park, we got an early start and did some last minute repacking of our packs.
The `hostel` (not really a hostel if we have our own bedroom and bathroom is it?)that we stayed at provided breakfast as part of the deal, so we were sure to have some full bellies when we set out. Omelettes, cereal, yogurt, bread, jam, and Nescafe con leche (Nestle has done an amazing job convincing nearly all of Chile that Nescafe is superior to regular coffee).
The Via Paine bus (round trip fare 7500 Chilean Pesos each for anyone interested in planning) picked us up at our door at about 7:20. Overnight it had rained (a lot), which, we were assured, was an improvement over the previous windstorms that had knocked out the satellite uplink for the internet for the entire town. Coupled with the `do you have enough gear?` comments of nearly everyone we talked to before the trip, we had our doubts about how well we would be able to handle the trip. One of the few positive voices immediately prior to heading out was Bill, a very helpful and friendly former Oregonian who works at (owns?) the hostel/store (Erratic Rock I)that rented us the stove and gloves.
Anyway, it was still raining and blowing hard when we got on the bus to start the roughly 2 hour ride to the entrance of Parque Nacionlal Torres del Paine. And it continued raining and blowing hard for at least the first hour of the trip, after which it at least became sporadic. On the plus side, we were treated to some amazing rainbows (Julie is working on uploading the pictures as I type this).
After a stop at a remote gift shop that must have some amazing commission deal cut with all of the bus lines that ferry passengers between Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine, we began to be treated to some mountain scenery. Absolutely amazing.
We were also treated to a remarkable display of wildlife. The guidebooks had mentioned a few animals to keep a look out for, but thus far, we´d really only seen Sheep and their baby lambs, and cows with their calves (all very cute, but not very wild). Over the last hour, among others, we saw Ñandùs (a type of patagonian ostrich), many herds of guanacos (best thought of a cross between a deer and a llama), and huge condòrs. Much more than we´d been expecting.
It is also worth noting that I edged out Julie in the spot the wildlife game...
Pictures at:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555431306ngIQEq
I may as well just say now that although we took a lot of pictures, no amount of megapixels of resolution can possibly convey what we experienced. The whole park was absolutely stunning.
At Laguna Amarga, the bus stopped to let us all pay the requisite park entrance fee (and to see the peaks from a distance!). Some passengers exited there, to catch a shuttle to the East end of the ´W`, but we were starting things from the opposite direction. The bus then traveled more or less east-to-west to Pudeto, an outpost on Lago Pehoe (say `pay-oh-ay`). As we pulled up, a few people waved in our direction. Lo and behold, it was Morgan, Becky, and Terri, from UCSF. We´d known that they were heading to Torres del Paine also, but we were pretty sure our plans were non-overlapping. It was a pleasant surprise that they were not. So we were reunited at Lago Pehoe, a glacial lake with an amazing sky blue color.
Laguna Amarga to Pehoe:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555433075zirZGU
But of more immediate concern when we stepped off the bus was the whipping winds. Yeouch! Estimated gusts of 80 km/h (50 mph) were picking up the gravelly sand off the beach and pelting all of the newcomers. Rather than wait the one hour that we had to wait for the catamaran ferry to head to the trailhead, we took the quick hike to a waterfall nearby. During that time, we met Lynn (spelling?), who, after quitting her job in Chicago, has spent the last 6 months learning spanish and traveling in South America. wow.
Wow also for the waterfalls, and the view of the parks famous peaks that we were given at the lookout point. We were literally blown away.
No, I mean that. As we were standing up to have our picture taken, a gust of wind knocked all three of us over. Haunting memories of sleeping in a wind battered tent were coming back to me...
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555433760TDQhxl
We got on the catamaran with no difficulty and set out for the opposite shore. Despite the wind, whitecaps, and clouds in a few different directions, the crew was completely unfazed. Nescafè or hot cocoa were available for the passengers to warm the chilled bones that had been out in the wind.
Still, no amount of wind or could dampen the mood after seeing the amazing views laid out over the sky blue waters(though a few waves splashing over the bow did dampen us).
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555433764OGHYHs
As we made landfall around 1:00pm, we were anxious to get the hiking started.
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