Patagonia 2014
On March 10th my wife and I left Minnesota for Patagonia. We were planning on 10 days of backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park and 6 days of sightseeing. We arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile 23 hours later. After a 20 minute taxi ride we arrived at our destination, the Hostel Keoken.
The next day we planned on taking a day trip to Magdalena Island to see the penguin colony, but, due to high winds and rain we toured the city of Punta Arenas instead. We visited the "Nao Victoria", an exact replica of Ferdinand Magellan’s ship; we also had time to enjoy the local cuisine
The expedition started out with 5 ships and approximately 270 men and finished with 1 ship and 17 sailors.
On the 13th we headed for Puerto Natales, gateway to Torres del Paine, and our headquarters before and after backpacking. After listening to the weather reports we decided not to do the Q and settled for doing the W in 7 days. Having extra time we then decided to go to El Calafate, Argentina, for 3 days and see the Perito Moreno Glacier. Our hosts at “We are Patagonia”, Carola and Brian, helped us with the arrangements and new reservations. Puerto Natales is a very colorful city set on the Straits of Magellan.
On the 15th we boarded our bus for the 3 ½ hour ride to the park and Lago Pehoé; we were ready to start our adventure. A 30 minute boat ride brought us to Paine Grande and the start of our backpacking trip. Mary’s pack weighed 20 ½# and mine was at about 24#. The scenery on the ride was breathtaking. 
We started walking at 1:20 PM and 4 hours later we arrived at our destination, Campamento Grey. Talk about a campsite with a view.
The next morning we retraced our steps to Paine Grande. However, due to the sun being out, it was like a new trip.
The scenery was even better than on the way out. That night we had dinner at the Refugio. It’s funny how a shower, warm meal and a bottle of wine make you feel like a new person.
Getting up early I was treated to a spectacular sunrise over Paine Grande.
Around 12:30 PM we arrived at our next campsite, Campamento Italiano, a real dump. It became so crowded that if you left 10’ between your tent and the next one, someone would fill in the space. After setting up our tent and hanging the food (mice) I headed up Valle del Francés for a 4 hour hike. Mary’s knees were hurting so she stayed back to take a nap. It was a really rocky and steep climb but the scenery was even better than before. The sounds of ice breaking off the glacier sounded like thunder. The views were so spectacular, that even though I met hundreds of people, the scenery was so breathtaking that it didn’t matter.
When I got back down Mary was waiting at the campground entrance and informed me that one of our food bags had disappeared. I may have cussed for awhile since it included 3 dinners, our coffee, tea and all of our chocolate. She had complained to the camp ranger but he didn’t seem to care. We talked to a lot of people but no one had seen anything.
The next morning while waiting for the sun to come up, I was talking to a young man from Germany who knew about our food being taken, and as the sun appeared he said: “ Does this make everything better?”
Funny thing, he was right. I didn’t feel so bad and my wife’s pack was going to be about 6 pounds lighter. To make things even better, different people stopped by in the morning and gave us small amounts of food. For every creep, there are a lot of really nice people in this world. Instead of only going 7 km to Campamento Los Cuernos, we decided to do 18 kms and reach Refugio Torres. That night after a hot shower we had a wonderful meal at the Refugio. While talking at dinner, due to Mary’s knees really hurting and a nasty forecast, we decided to end our trip 2 days early.
Since we were back in Puerto Natales 2 days early we had to make extra reservations. Once again Carola and Brian bailed us out. They called around town until they found another Hostel that could put us up for two nights. For the next four days we wandered around town sampling the cuisine and wine. Not a bad gig, after all!!
On the 23rd we headed for El Calafate, Argentina for 3 days and 2 nights. The highlight was a day trip to Perito Merino Glacier which extends 40 meters above the water and 120 below. It was mind blowing.
All of a sudden it was the 27th and we were headed home. It’s sometimes hard to believe how quickly a trip ends.
A few final thoughts. Yes, the trails were crowded, but due to the scenery, it didn't matter. Patagonia is so beautiful, both the people you meet and the scenery, that everyone should try to make it there if at all possible. I have never seen anything like it. Thank you to Stephen Parks and Jen Mitol for their help in planning this trip. The rest of our pictures can be seen here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/d1948n/sets
