Peanut Butter Friends in Torres
By Laura Closkey
4 Mar 2004 9:39 am
I returned in one wet soggy piece from Torres del Paine NP late last night. I found a great cheap little B&N here in Puerto Natales, Los Antiguos, where I had a great night’s sleep on a real bed, a big breakfast and have been able to dry and sort out all my rain soaked gear. Torres del Paine is famous for its unpredictable and often wet weather, so I came prepared – or so I thought. My odds were not bad actually, in 6 days in the park I had 3 sunny days and was able to enjoy the Torres and the Valle de Frances, 1 rainy day which I avoided by waiting it out while inside a refugio playing cards all day, 1 windy day where I had to hike against a strong wind coming off Glacier Grey, and the last day I hiked 4 hours in heavy wind and rain during which my trusty old Sundowner boots finally broke down and took on much water. The rain soaked through my gortex and right to my bones and well into my sleeping bag. At the end of the afternoon I waited in a hut with 20 or 30 similarly soaked trekkers for the ferry to take us accross the lake to the bus stop for the trip back to Puerto Natales. Inside the muddly little hut we were not dry or warm but there was a hot kettle for tea and I managed to make fast friends with two guys from Chile and one other American – they had bread and I had peanut butter. We made a perfect team.
Tonight I board the Navimag ferry. I’ll spend the next 4 nights and three days sailing through the Chilean fjords on my way north to Puerto Montt.