Day 9 – Final Day – Refugio Lago Grey to Refugio Paine Grande

Today is a short day and is the official last day of the circuit for my companion and I. The walk between the Refugios is not long, about 3.5 hours. We were up early and aiming to arrive at Refugio Paine Grande in time for the catamaran that would drop us at our bus.

It had rained most of the night, nothing heavy just constant. I awoke in the dark and quickly dressed and began packing my gear. Usually the first thing I do is start brewing coffee, but as I’d lost my water bottle yesterday when the wind whipped it out of its pocket and cast it down onto the glacier, I figured it would be quicker to pack and have breakfast afterwards. Before long I had everything, including my wet tent, packed away and I was in the warmth of the cooking room heating water for coffee and soup.

We headed out by 8.30 and straight away began climbing a hill in the chill wind. It began to rain as we walked along the side of the mountain with Lago Grey below us. The trail dipped up and down through the valleys.

There looked to have been a sprinkle of snow on the peaks above us as we passed a raging waterfall well stocked with water from the rain.

The trail continued and as we crossed a couple of ridges, the wind was so icy coming off the glacier and the rain so constant I was forced to put on my waterproof jacket. If it rains when I’m hiking, I tend not to worry about my jacket. While it protects me from the rain, I still sweat, so get wet inside anyway. It does make a good wind breaker though, so in this case it helped a lot. We passed a couple of miradors but the wind was too fierce to consider standing out in the open looking back at the glacier.

We then climbed a hill around the side of a laguna…

…before crossing a final ridgeline to follow a kilometre long gully down towards the blue of Lago Pehoe, where Refugio Paine Grande is situated.

Eventually we arrived at the bottom and walked the short distance to the refugio. 30 minutes later and we were on the catamaran and heading away from the park.

Final Note

With the weather in Patagonia known for being very changeable, we were blessed with having 7 wonderful days out of the nine we were on the hike. The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is a wondrous place with many great attractions. While the popularity is one of its downsides, I’m glad I went in low season as peak season would be just insane, with far too many people. Still, the mystical mountain peaks, both with and without snow and, the Lagos and Rios surrounding it, the Lagunas within it and the wonderful sights on all sides of the park were amazing. I’m glad I decided to do the circuit as the far side of the park is quieter and entirely different to the front side, with the glaciers, the pass and the south patagonian ice field in the distance.

I also enjoyed my companions for the hike, Chris, the young American guy I walked with most of the hike; Pip and Dan from Sydney and Sam from London, who walked as a threesome, but were with us at camps except the last (as they got stuck behind the landslide). Thanks to these people for making the experience what it was. Also, thanks to the many people we met at various parts of the hike, especially the two american couples on the back side – but who didn’t start with us – the Aussie couple who were from my hostel, and the group of young american girls studying in Santiago (kept Chris busy!).

Next I’m off to El Calafate in Argentina for a couple of rest days near the lake, before off to El Chalten for a three day hike around Mt Fitz Roy.

The Trail Wanderer

Day 8 – Campamento Los Perros to Refugio Lago Grey

Today is slated as the hardest on the entire circuit as we’re climbing over the windblown Paso John Gardner, more than 1350m. This is one of the main attractions of walking the back side of park.

As Campamento Los Perros is hidden away in the forest, I couldn’t tell what the weather was doing when I woke. But, it was just before I’d finished breakfast that I discovered I was the only person left in camp. It would seem that everyone else had decided to get an early start. So, I packed up quickly and headed out.

The trail heads straight up a hill for some time, through the forest and a rather large patch of mud. I continued following the trail, stepping over mud and the occasional fallen tree as I worked my way slowly up the pass. In the forest I could hear gusts of wind above me in the trees. After an hour I came to the end of the trees and out into rocks. The wind was now gusting over me heavily as I moved and I was forced to lean down into the stones to stop from being blown off my feet. You can hear the large gusts coming, so when a large one has passed, I rushed along the rocky path to the next set of trees. Yet while I was sheltered from the wind I was again subject to the mud.

Then I’m out into the rocks again and again am being blasted by the wind gusts. It’s a quick march across the rocks, stooping low for the heavier gusts which are picking up small stones and blasting them against my arms and back of my head. I raced down towards the river along the trail and around the final patch of trees and my last protection from the wind. I then marched up the trail as quickly as the stones and wind would allow, ducking and setting my feet and poles to stop from being blown around too severely.

The views back down the valley where I had come are pretty with the red of the trees and the flowing river.

I pushed on up the pass as it began to get steeper but no less ragged with the wind. At one stage I was lifted from my feet and landed 2 metres back, skidding in the rocks. While this could be scary there was a real sense of exhilaration of constantly fighting the wind. Further up the pass I could see the wind whipping water from various streams into mist and I could hear the wind whistling madly through the snowy mountain tops. I pushed on, climbing a steeper area, resting briefly close to a glacier until the wind chilled me enough to push me further on.

Finally, about 200 metres from the top of the Paso, I came over a ridge and the trail flattened out. It was then a short walk through a windy gully to reach the cairns at the top of the paso. The wind was howling past me when I came over the top and light rain was being propelled full force at me. After 7 beautiful days, it would be typical that on this the hardest day of the hike, the weather would change to make it even harder.

At the top of the pass, you look down on top of Glacier Grey, but to get a better view, you walk down about fifty metres through the icy winds to closer to the edge of the ridge. It’s not the greatest atmosphere to take photos, but I did what I could in the wind and rain.

I had to stop and put on my jacket, more to break the icy wind coming at me than to avoid the rain. Putting on a jacket in these high winds is challenging, to say the least. I made it to the edge of the ridge and looked down on Glacier Grey. I’ve seen plenty of glaciers, but not from directly above and Glacier Grey is a mighty specimen, stretching 6km across the valley to the icy snow covered mountains on the far side, very much like Antarctica. The glacier is said to be more than 100km long, but this finger of ice disappeared around the mountain in the distance.

This small piece of ice – yes small – is a part of the southern Patagonian Ice Field, one of the three largest fields of ice in the world.

The trail heads down steeply on a slate and scree slope, weaving on a defined path, then follows the glacier, a kilometre below, to where it forks at Lago Grey.

At a certain point the trail leads into the trees that have turned fiery autumn red, and finally there is some respite from the wind. The trail begins its slow downward heading, with plentiful steps.

After several hundred metres, it finally ends at Campamento Paso. Going down in no wind is still harder than going up in lots of wind. I was planning to stay here tonight, but when I discovered the Pass had only taken just over 4 and a half hours, I decided to head on the extra 4 hours to Refugio Lago Grey with the hope of finishing the hike tomorrow.

After a 5 minute break, I pushed on. Half an hour into the walk, the rain became heavy and the wind continued. There was a hand drawn map in the shelter at Campamento Paso that showed the trail heading steadily downhill to the Refugio, but it wasn’t like that at all, in fact, much of the first half was going up. At many times there were good vies of the glacier as you walked.

There are a couple of gullies on the walk that are too steep to climb. The park rangers have set up steel ladders to help walkers.

Just after the first of the ladders, the trail leads around the top of a cliff line. There is only a foot wide path with nothing to hang on to, wind dragging at you and a fall of half a kilometre to a glacier. It was perhaps one of the more frightening experiences of my life, as I literally crawl along this path hanging onto large rocks. Twice I actually lay in a gap waiting for the wind to die down so I could continue. Apparently, the next morning, some of this very cliff line slipped away and the walkers behind me were stuck, so it was lucky I decided to walk on when I did.

The trail continued but most of it was inside the forested area and I was pleased not to be exposed more on this particular day. I climbed another of the steel ladders, crossed a long wire bridge and climbed down several quiet forest gullies. There was a mirador along the way, right above the end of the glacier. I stayed briefly to watch, but after 8 hours walking and the cold, I didn’t stay long. Murphy’s Law, however… nothing happened while I was watching, but as I walked away… a large section of ice calved from the glacier into the lake.

The last hour of the day was spent staggering through the trees until I finally arrived at the Refugio. That night as I cooked in the refugio’s common cooking area, I gave advice to new hikers on the trail who had started the hike that day.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Paso de la Oveja – Sheep Pass – is a two day hike starting to the east of Ushuaia and cutting a circuit around the Martial mountains, running 25kms along Valle de Andorra to end at the west side of the city. This is my first overnight hike in Patagonia and the only one I’ll be doing this far south.

I was a little nervous about this hike as I brought my tent and sleeping bag from Australia. While they did the job on that continent, they’re not designed for the cold climate. Leading up to the hike, I investigated many of the adventure stores in Ushuaia’s Centro district looking for a means to add warmth to the sleeping bag without spending a thousand or more pesos buying a new one. I didn’t find anything so took the light fleece blanket from my bed in my hostel.

Day 1 – Turbera Valle Andorra to Laguna del Caminante

To get to the beginning of the hike, I took a taxi from my hostel around the side of the Martial Mountains to a locked gate. While my spanish isn’t very good, I figured I’d show the driver the map and point out my destination. For some reason he got the idea I was wanting to be dropped off at the end!? I corrected him and he eventually delivered me to my start point. Past a locked gate I headed out along a dirt road towards the mountains with another glacier in view.

My directions said to walk 5 minutes to a set of shacks and take a faint 4WD track to the right. I did and it led me into a set of peat fields where horses grazed.

But after a while I discovered that the peat fields were rather soggy. By discovered I mean going knee deep into a bog. YAY! By the sounds of the description of the hike I was following, I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. So, I headed towards the mountains, picking my way through boggy grass. This took me some time but I eventually made it into forest. But this still didn’t feel right, and was also rather boggy with more knee high mud. I kept going towards the mountains and eventually found a not very faint but still rather muddy 4WD track. I followed it for a couple of kilometres through the forest with the occasional view of a mountain top.

The 4WD track eventually petered out at a sign announcing my entry into Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. The trail crossed an arroyo – stream – that came down from the back of the Martial Glacier.

It then followed the arroyo for some time through the forest…

At one point I came to an opening that led into a large red tinged field. This was off track, but as it gave good views of the mountains, I decided to head onto it. After only a step I discovered the field was in fact a growth of reddish green moss the size of a rugby field. It was spongy below my feet but supported my weight.

I pushed on along the trail for another couple of kilometres through the forest, with the occasional show of towering rock above the trees.

Late in the afternoon I arrived at a set of cascades in the river. Up until now Valle de Andorra had been flat, but according to my map the cascades marked the beginning of a 4km long climb. Nothing too high, just a constant climb. I crossed the arroyo several times on makeshift log bridges and wound my way up the side of the mountain. I broke the tree line and came to a T-junction and a sign.

I headed right, towards the Laguna climbing along the top of a steep grassy bank with a fast flowing arroyo at the bottom. The trail was difficult and I made my way carefully to ensure I didn’t end up tumbling 50m to the stream. As I began along the track, I heard voices and a group of six other hikers appeared out of the forest behind. I hadn’t seen a single other person since starting, so they must have held just behind me all day. At a highpoint on the trail I got views back along the Valle de Andorra.

A short distance on, I came around a jutting rocky outcrop to see the lake nestled below me…

To get down to it, I had to descend along a muddy bank and a rocky stream bed, watching each of my steps until I arrived at the bottom beside a waterfall. I walked along the arroyo that led to the lake and around a section of trees to locate a perfect campsite on the edge of the lake. There was already one set of hikers and the group of six arrived shortly after. Over the course of the next hour 3 other pairs arrived, but there was plenty of room and only the tents of the large group were close together.

As the sun went down, I sat in my tent and looked out over the lake.

Day 2 – Laguna del Caminante to Autodromo Ushuaia
The next morning, as I packed it rained a little, showering the lake surface with ripples. It didn’t last and I was soon off, back tracking along the path above the arroyo to the junction.

The trail then climbed to the pass where the grass gave way to a slate like rocky area with plentiful cairns to show the way. A 250m climb later I reached the top of the pass that gives this hike it’s name and a tall cairn. I’m not sure why it’s called Sheep Pass as there aren’t any sheep here. Perhaps in times past…

After taking a break in the pass I pushed on. The trail headed down into Cañadon del la Oveja – Sheep Canyon – where the trail hugged the side of the mountain range hundreds of metres above a grassy area. While the thin trail at times felt precarious, careful progress was all that was needed along the 3km trail before it zig-zagged down the mountain and into the forest.

Before I was surrounded in trees once more, I looked back along the Cañadon.

The forest was supposed to be easy, but a portion of it looked to have been thrown about by a storm some time ago. This forced me to spend some time climbing over smashed trunks and broken limbs, a long and arduous task. I eventually got through and came out onto private property where I got a final look at a rocky mountain before heading down the hill towards and old motor racing track – autodromo.

Overall the hike was amazing with brilliant views and special places. I didn’t end up needing the blanket, but better to have it than not. With only 6 days until I leave for Antarctica, there are a handful of other short hikes I’d like to do if the weather holds up. I’ll see which ones I can fit in.

The Lone Trail Wanderer.