December 18th - A Little Climb to the Top of the World

We woke for an early 7AM breakfast today before setting off by bus to a ranch on the north side of the Torres Del Paine Park.  After about an hour of driving we reached an upscale resort hotel and working ranch and the trailhead of the Mirador del Torres trail.  Sara was informed that this would be too difficult a trail for her to handle so she checked into the day spa at the hotel.  The rest of the group was broken into two groups, those who would hike faster and more than likely to the top of the mountain, and those who would be a bit slower and only go as far as the Chilean Refuge.

Mauricio, our mountian guide, gave us some last minute pointers and instructions and off we went.  As we were trekking across the ranches pasture we encountered a huge herd of horses, possible over 200, being moved from one area to another - and a break neck speed.  Suddenly we stood in front of this massive herd as it raced past us at full gallop under the careful herding of gauchos on horseback.

We crossed  few streams and then a swinging bridge over the Ascension River.  Then is was uphill into the Ascension Valley.  The trail was well marked with many hikers, each with a goal of reaching the top.  The climb was a steady uphill haul for well over three hours.  It was a cloudy day with patches of sun and there was a slight chill in the air.  At the top of the pass and before entering the valley itself, we met with high winds, some 40 - 50 mph.  It was quite a feet to stand on the ground and not be swept off the trail and down the steep cliffs to the river far below.  We eventually reached the Chilean Refuge and the half way mark - roughly 6 miles into the day´s hike.  At the refuge we enjoyed a well deserved rest and some hot cocoa.  There were many hikers staying at the refuge and in the small mountain camp which surrounded it.  It was a hikers oasis in the middle of this awesome valley.  Steep moutains surrounded us.

After about 30 minutes the slower group caught up with us, we had quick chat and shared some stories of the windy pass, and then the fast group took off into the valley.  For the next two hours we wanderded over a heavily forested terrain of Lenga and Beech trees.  The trails was dotted with an amazing assortment of wildflowers and Amelia was taking a picture of each species she encountered.  The winds were brisk and when we got into a clearing they were as furocious as before.  At the mountain encampment Kathryn chose to step off the trail and wait for us to return from the last segment.  There in front of us were the towers of Torres del Paine and a grueling 1 1/2 hour climb straight up over a boulder field which is the moraine of the glaceir high above.  

We took off at a good pace and soon were overcome by the climb.  Circling and sometimes climbing over these huge rocks we eventually reach to top and found ourselves at the bottom of the towers looking up some 600 to 900 feet in the air at these three massive monoliths of granite.  At the bottom was a aqua green glacial lake and to the left the glacier that was filling it.  The view was breathtaking.  It was amazing.  Now a full eight miles into the hike and still needed to backtrack to the ranch we began our decsent, met up with Kathryn at the bottom of the moraine, and headed back down the hill at a quick pace.  Four hours later we were back at the bus, a full 11 hour hike and now with almost 16 miles under our feet, we were exhausted, exhilerated at our accomplishment, and ready for a nice nap during the ride back to the campground.

The slower group had turned around at the refuge and had been back for some time.  They met up with a well healed Sara and were waiting for the rest in the hotel.  We got reached our campground an hour or so later, and had a late dinner at 9AM in the dining hall with windows facing the mountains we had climbed that day.  There was no trouble gettin to sleep this night as we all crawled into our tents and passe out.