The Long Walk - Sorry Chairman Mao

The Torres DelPaine (Towers of Pain) National Park is in Southern Chile, is one of the top hiking destinations in South America, and is basically right in our backyard. We have completed the day hike up to the famous viewpoint a number of times previously, but have never hiked around the whole circuit which surrounds the “Torres”. The day hike is a bit of a tough eight hour hike that climbs from the valley bottom right to the base of the “Torres” ,then return back down to the valley floor. The final hour is the toughest, with a scramble up a steep boulder field. Brandon can attest to this after climbing up in November.

In an attempt to take advantage of the conditioning Andrea was able to maintain from her trek in Nepal in October (and steady gym visits in November and December), we decided that we would spend Christmas (and Ian’s 50th birthday) completing the circuit around the Torres. This 105 km trail circles the Paine Massif, and according to the Lonely Planet guidebook “Ambitious trekkers can tackle the circuit in 7-8 days, but because of the vagaries of weather and blistered toes, 10 days is a more reasonable allowance”

The loop around the Torres group is well organized with private and/or Government campsites every four to six hours of hiking covering 10-15 km. We generally stuck to the schedule, however we did extend a couple of days and covered 20-25 km on those days.

As usual, Andrea’s cooking was spectacular with lots of variety every day. While we were surrounded by “freeze-dried this” and “Soya that”, we dined on Chorizo, hamburger, tuna and home-made beef jerky. We were definitely the envy of the hiking crowd… except the vegetarians. The only minor issue was the weight of the packs, however the good news here is that the weight of the packs dropped quickly each day after dinner.

Another interesting concept that we were not used to is that there were make-shift almacens (stores) at some of the campsites in the absolute middle of no-where. This was much appreciated as it allowed us to purchase the very important “Tetra-pack” of fine Chilean wine each night for Ian and a chocolate bar for Andrea… a very civilized way to travel.

In general, the weather was a “mixed bag” with low cloud cover hiding most of the mountains. The only day that the view was really important was when we walked up and over Paso John Garner. The view there is spectacular as you look down over Glacier Grey and Lago Grey. Here we did luck out and the clouds parted for beautiful views all day long.

The other highlight of the trip was on Christmas. We had purchased a traditional Patagonian Christmas cake a couple of weeks ago and had it soaking in Amaretto ever since then in the fridge. Even though the kids weren’t real fans of Christmas cake over the years, this was one of the mandatory items for the season for Ian. Well, after 20 tough km with full packs, I can think of nothing that tastes as good, in addition, after a day like that we had no guilt over the calories.

As far as the hiking went, the trails were a challenge with lots of mud and many poorly maintained sections. Some of the more challenging gullies had 40’ ladders or ropes to climb. In addition there was a “knee killing” section of stairs to descend after Paso John Garner that lasted for more than an hour. Thankfully there were a few opportunities to dry out following the heaviest rains. These varied from sticking wet socks into the oven of an old wood stove, to spending time in the bar of a very nice hosteleria at Lago Pehoe… you can’t expect us to sleep in a tent every night.

In the end, we completed the loop in six days. Not because we were in great shape, but for the very reasons that they suggest may make it longer. We found that we were happier hiking in the rain than huddling in a cold wet tent. Also by day six, Andrea decided that pushing through for one more long day may me the better option as it seemed likely that her blisters were going to prevent her from even getting her boots on for a seventh day!!



While our feet were pretty sore, this is a great trip and it only whetted our appetite for more hiking once we return. In the meantime, our hiking gear has been safely stowed away, ready to be shipped back to Canada.