Howie, Truus, and I arrived in Puerto Natales a couple of days ago. This is the staging town for various climbing and adventure travel in Patagonia. It’s a fairly prosperous and busting hub. There are plenty of people coming and going and sharing tales of travel in Chile and the rest of South America.
Yesterday, we had a chunk of time to fill in, and so we booked a day cruise through a fjord to a Glacier in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. The day started off with calm water and bright sunshine, but the weather deteriorated throughout the 2+ hour ride to the Park. By the time we were set to leave, the wind gusts were up to 100km. The Park ranger that I spoke with said that it was a pretty calm day.
The trip back was a race to beat the worst of the weather. The crew passed out glasses of whiskey with glacial ice chunks to all passengers in an attempt to forestall any panic and encourage bonhomie among the passengers. When we finally got back to port, we were in the midst of a full-fledged storm. Passengers staggered of our listing ship onto another sister ship parked astride ours in the slip, and then white-knuckled across a metal gang plank onto a bobbing dock. Those who made it off and were already in the waiting coach busses watched as the rest of the folks fought the wind and stinging rain. The glacier was awesome, but the end of the trip was a priceless sight to see.
Nearly a year in the making, we are finally on the precipice of our “sprong in het niets” – the Dutch expression for a massive (ill-advised) leap of faith. Literally, the Dutchies describe it as jumping into nothing, or, pulling a Wyle E. Coyote and running full speed off of a cliff.
Tomorrow we Three Stooges embark on the first leg of our assault on Torres del Paine. We attended our tour briefing this evening from Fantastico Sur tours. The meeting was meant to establish ground rules and inform us about the daily schedule of self-inflicted torture as we progress along the W-trek over the course of the five-day odyssey.
The W-trek, so named for the approximate shape of the path, and representing symbolically the question that we will all be asking ourselves at some point – WHY did I want to do this?
For even more ambitious souls, there is also the O-trek, a circular path that circumnavigates the National Park, covering a distance of 140km. The O is named for the geometric form of the path, and also appropriately mirrors the mouth of Edvard Munch’s famous figure in his painting The Scream.
Having long passed the point of no return, Truus and Howie and I dutifully filled out the questionnaire regarding our physical condition. The majority of the group of folks in the briefing were young oblivious Americans. There were also a few other retired couples looking vaguely concerned, and whose pallor became more and more pale as the briefing progressed. And, of course, no event in any obscure corner of the globe would be complete without the requisite Dutchmen sitting in the back of the room. The Dutch are like Chicken Man – they’re everywhere.
So we’re set to go. Tomorrow we get the bus to the entrance of Torres del Paines mid-afternoon, and then a shuttle from the entrance to the Park to our first overnight “Refugio”. On Tuesday morning, we hike to the Three Towers and back. Let the games begin!
Chilean Adventure 2020 
Omg you guys are so brave. Best of luck, amazing adventures 👍
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