Wind Smackdown in Torres del Paine or "Wondering why I did not buy technical waterproof pants?"

Torres del Paine: 2005 fire damage seen in 2010.

This is part of the area in Torres del Paine that was burnt in 2005 by a Czech tourist, Jiri Smitak. 14,000 hectares burnt
(about 7% of the park) in the Laguna Azul, Cebolla and Paine Waterfall areas. The cause was Jiri camping wild,
ie in an area not designated for camping, in grassland! He improperly handling his gas cooking stove. He got the maximum $200 fine. The Czech Government stepped in (smartly) to pay for the restoration and replanting activities. The damage is obvious today when you head through the area.

A 23-year-old Israeli camper, Rotem Singer, has been charged with starting the current fire that has now consumed 11,000 hectares and continues to rage on.

Fire closes Torres del Paine National Park

Looks like a careless tourist  has set off a massive fire on December 27 in Torres del Paine National Park in Southern Patagonia. By this morning (Dec 30) a whopping 5,700 hectares were burnt already, according to Bloomberg, and counting (8,500 hectares this afternoon...). Winds of 90+ km/h are fanning the rapidly growing fire.

This traveller's Youtube video taken from a bus shows the fire's extent vividly.

The fire is uncontrollable and the Park has been closed completely now; tourists and trekkers have been evacuated.

TdP is known for its strong winds. Sparks fly far and wide (even a badly handled camping stove can set off a major blaze as happened in 2005)  and with the very dry conditions this year, fire hazards were very high. This fire started just off the trail, at Lake Grey. Park Rangers believe it might have been a camp fire that had not been extinguished properly. Hope they find whoever is responsible and hold them to account.

For  local coverage, there are local news links here and here (both are Lonely Planet Forum links to Chilean news media)

This is one area in the world where human-made forest fires are not needed to clear the underbrush. I hope the winds let up so that this fire can be extinguished and the ground erosion that follows can be stopped before it takes hold.

We took this photo at Grande Paine last year -
part of the W Circuit - which has been affected by the fire.
Note, the wind...

This is on the way from Grey Camp to Grande Paine/Pehoe.
Sounds like all this and much more has been burnt.

Passing over "The Pass"

Finally, here´s a 360 degree video of the highest point of the Torres del Paine trek: John Gardner Pass. From knee-deep snow on the way up to ferocious winds that blow you down to amazing views of the huge Southern Icefield and a rather muddy and steep descent to camp - this pass had it all in store for us!

Hope you´ll enjoy it as much as we did :)

Patagonian flora is all about the small details

Someone said this is a tiny orchid.

Torres del Paine contains 11 different ecozones, according to a guide we met along the way. It makes for interesting and varied flora. Here are a few examples for your enjoyment. Almost all have one thing in common: they are so small.


These flaming red and orange flowers grow on mounds of
bushes that look rather sparse without them.



Lovely aren´t they? We saw plenty of dandelions and
butter cups and then some that are similar to
flowers up north but aren´t the same.

These were everywhere, almost.
Reminiscent of cranberries.




Despite its smallness, this gorgeous
 flower packs in a lot of beauty.

 





More on Torres del Paine

Tent wrestling at Grande Paine camp...it is windy here.

The camps we stayed at in order of nights are: Las Torres, Seron, Dickson, Los Perros, Paso, Grey, Grande Paine, Italiano (plus hike into the valley), Los Cuernos, Las Torres (2 nights, so we had a day for the hike up to Mirador Los Torres which took us about 6:30 hrs total). This should give you an idea of the hike we did when you consult the map in previous post.

Some chasms had ladders

Each camp has its own feel; they are all quite different from each other, really. Well, they do have the wind in common :) Some have refugios/huts along with the campground, while others were rather basic like a cooking shelter - or not. Some are free and some you pay to stay. Refugios vary greatly, from the hotel-style feel with bar and restaurant at Grande Paine to rather rustic and small at Dickson. For dinner we ate at some of the refugios and invariably I had pork roast for dinner. Jan´s vegetarian option ranged widely in quality. In any case dinner is a set menu 3-course meal.

A rare orange sunset at Los Cuernos

Some camps have small stores. These are very basic at best. Even though all of the facilities are operated by the same company throughout the park, they stock different things in each. The main themes were various kinds of chocolate, crackers, juice powder and salami. We found peanut butter at Grande Paine and bought the jar - a happy moment! It´s tricky to totally rely on the stores for nutrition, especially if pork roast is not your thing.

In our case we started the hike with about 5 days worth of food. Lots of weight to start but well worth it! We were also happy to find 5-minute risotto at the Unimarc in Punta Arenas; it made for great breakfast food.

Proof we got the tent up ... and awesome view of Grande Paine

At Mirador Las Torres :)))

Proud locals keep telling us how Patagonia is "el otro Chile"

If you are thinking of coming down here, we wholeheartedly recommend you consider getting ready for the full circuit (the O) followed by the W.
It takes some backcountry skills to do on your own, but there are guided, horse or porter versions you can get onto as well, to help you out if needed.

In related news ... it is broken

Best Pisco Sour ever
(and especilly well deserved)
We got the recipe!

This is Jan having dinner at La Marmita once again this Sunday! That cast you see on her left arm is the one the doc at the clinic put on today, ´cause, well, her wrist is broken.

This happened the very first day of hiking at Torres del Paine. The fall was minor, didn´t even hurt really she says. But the next day the hand was swollen and it and stayed that way the entire 11 days in the park. But in the backcountry there are no docs (actually there was Wibke, one of the awesome people we met trekking in  the backcountry and she correctly called it a few days ago) or x-rays ... Today, as soon as we got back to Punta Arenas, we went to the local clinic and Jan got x-rays and the somewhat humourless advice from the attending doc to see a specialist when we get to Puerto Montt on the 24th.

My appetizer: lasaña de ostiones

Jan´s Ensalada de Marmita starter.

Amazingly, the break isn´t so painful and Jan´s been hiking and being her usual active and happy self notwithstanding the injury. I just help with a couple of things that were more painful, but nothing big really. It looks like the break isn´t so bad, although the doc mentioned something about the possibility of surgery). We will get the consult in Puerto Montt and she´ll take it from there.

Meanwhile tonight´s amazing dinner pics!

Inga´s main: crazy tasty fish with quinoa.

Jan´s awesomely tasty veggie dish!

Torres del Paine circuit

We have been loving the luxury of time. It meant we spent 10 days trekking both the O and the W in Torres del Paine (enlarge the map and you can figure that out). (Some "run" through the whole trek in just 6 days.)
Most people visiting stay on the "front" of the park, hiking up mountain valleys for some impressive views. This makes the backside super appealing for those with more than just a few days and able to handle being "out there." We loved that part of the hike and by the time we got back to the busy parts we were in love with the place so the dayhikers didn´t disturb our fun.

The first day we could see the Torres well; few low clouds

We experienced every kind of weather, from snow to rain, from sun to wild winds. We also hiked from close to sea level up to a 1,200 m pass. There the winds were ferocious ... and fun! When we passed over the pass we got to see the impressive Grey Glacier which is part of the huge Southern Icefield that covers much of southern Chile.

We also had the pleasure of making some fine friends along the way. The nature of the full trek is such that people tend to more or less use the same camps along the way, making for repeated encounters and opportunities for interesting conversations. It also seemed that the little tribe we trekked along side with was filled with people who travel a lot - which inspires thougths of new travels for us :)

Here are a few pics to tell you bits of the story of this amazing trek. By the way, unlike the other two long treks we´ve done, this we did on our own. No guides needed here, as it is impossible to get lost. The trail is deeply groved, ih parts very eroded and thus you really have to work at getting off it. Also, we ate a few times at the refugios and some sell salami, crackers and chocolate allowing us to not have to carry 10 days worth of food, which would have been impossible.

Day 1 of hiking. Fun in the rain, snow.

Lakes, forests, snowy mountains and sun and clouds.

The woods section. There is such a varied landscape.

End of the huge Southern Icefield.

Jan blown over at the super windy John Gardner Pass.

Us. Having fun :)
Jan had a temporary allergy to one of the
beautiful wildflowers that were in bloom.

Evening light from the beach at Grey. Just gorgeous.

Still trekking

We´ve been trekking the backside of Torres del Paine and are about to embark on the W now. 7 days in, and about 4 to go. Yes, we are looking to spend an extra day or so here, because it is absolutely spectacularly mind-blowing to hike here.

As for the "holidays" it looks like Chile is the big winner. We´re trying to get on a 4-day boat trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt to arrive there on the 24th. Then do a bit of hiking in that part of the world before making our way to Vina del Mar / Valparaiso for New Years. There´s a beach there, albeit a pacific ocean one (not so warm, but gorgeous!)

Internet access is sparse for us - WiFi is everywhere but no computers ... borrowed this one in a refugio. So talk to you in a few days again.

Getting ready for trekking in Torres del Paine

For the 4th night in a row - hm,  that is every night in Punta Arenas! - we had a delectable dinner at La Marmita! That is an essential part of preparing for 9  or 10 days of independent (no guide, no cook, no donkeys) trekking in Torres del Paine National Park: We will be eatimng dehydrated foods and 5-minute rissottos for dinner ... hoping the grocery stores will have a half decent selection of actual food, even if it is 3x the price ... it will be like Canadian grocery prices or so.

All that to say, we[ll see if we can post some pics while in the Park, but most likely we will get to that afterwards in mid-December. We are also discussing where exactly to spend Christmas and New Years. We are open to suggestions! I mean, I champion Antartica, but it costs real money to fly there (not Bolivianos!) :)))) Jan is talking the beach in Uruguay ... You see the wide range of options under consideration ...

The (legible) itinerary: overview

• Oct. 11: Ottawa to Lima, Peru (fly)
• Oct. 12-15: Lima to Huaraz, Peru (land)
• Oct. 16-31: Huaraz - Cordillera Blanca
• Nov. 1: Huaraz to Lima (land); Lima to La Paz, Bolivia (fly)
• Nov. 1-6: La Paz (meet up with friends)
• Nov. 7-17: Cordillera Real, Bolivia
• Nov. 18-21: Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
• Nov. 21-22: Lake Titicaca to Peru (Puno)
• Nov. 22-28: Puno; Arequipa, Peru
• Nov. 28: Arequipa to Iquique, Chile (land)
• Nov. 28-Dec. 5: Atacama Desert, Iquique/Arica, Chile; Sala de Uyuni, Bolivia
• Dec. 6: Iquique to Punta Arenas, Chile (fly)
• Dec. 6-12: Punta Arenas
• Dec. 12-26: Torres del Paine, Chile
• Dec. 27-Jan. 5: Ushuaia, Argentina
• Jan. 8: Head north to fly home (via Buenos Aires) Based on my early ventures into airfares, it looks as if we would be going through Buenos Aires.

Tourism's contribution to rebuilding

Natural disasters have a way to halt tourism; often an important source of income and the impetus for improving infrastructure, education and creating jobs.

Chile had the fifth largest travel & tourism economy in Latin America with a Travel & Tourism Demand accounting for (US$12 billion) in 2007, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Chile has begun a campaign to assure tourists that its tourist attractions are largely unaffected by the major earthquake that struck last weekend, and travel in most of the country is returning to normal.
Coverage from Britain and in USA Today.

We are planning on some major hiking in Torres del Paine National Park, in the very Southern part of Chile.

This map shows all the major routes through the Park's lakes, meadows and mountains. One of the bigger challenges, apart from the hiking of course, seems to be strong wind. They mention it on their own tourism site - so it must be quite something.

This is a stunningly beautiful place. Hiking here will be extraordinary.

To enlarge the map, simply click on it.