Torres del Paine - Chile
Nothing I had done in the past could prepare me (physically) for the 5 days of hiking/camping in the phenominal National park - Torres del Paine in Patagonia, Chile. I keep telling people of the physical challenge of it and sure as hell I´ll start with that first. Shouldering a heavier than usual backpack filled with food, water, sleeping bag amongst some of the clothes I normally carry. I reckon it would´ve weighed about 18kg. Not too heavy you say? yeah try carrying that for 30km in one day. Stopping not more than half an hour for lunch inbetween. The first 3 hours were a breeze, passing by several other fellow hikers along the way. Nonetheless by the time we actually stop for lunch I´m already exhausted. No time to relax my french mate says and we get up for the second more difficult part of the trek. Without the proper shoes my ankles were twisting on almost every second stone whilst going down hill. The weight of my pack coupled with my already tired body and more tired thighs unused to using these ´down hill´ muscles was an absolute nightmare. I almost felt like giving up I was so tired. Thoughts of ¨There is no fucking way I´m doing this for 5 days!¨ crept into my head on every knee popping boulder. I beg my mate to stop for a break but he refuses me insisting that night will fall soon and we still have to set up the tent and cook food. ¨FUUUUUCK!!!¨ is all I wanted to cry out but didn´t even have the energy to muster a yelp.
We stop for a moment to catch a view and a few important gulps of water. The view made it seem all the physical torture worthwhile. A tiny pond in front of us before a cliff. the cliff juts out to a gorgeous lake before us. At the end of the lake a massive glacier approaches from within a valley. 2 snow capped mountains surround the glacier and its lake. Tiny little icebergs as broken of from said glacier sit waiting for their cousins to drop off the glacier and join them for a swim in the lake. The sun is setting behind the mountains. I couldn´t imagine anything prettier than what was before me that day.
Day by day the walks are equally challenging but my fitness and mental strength improves. The pain in my feet from wearing shoes ill-suited for hiking seems more bearable and the pack eventually feels ´at one´ with my body. The ceaseless/powerful winds and the hard/cold ground for sleeping on seem to matter less and less. This sort of Euphoric feeling comes over you and you almost feel like you could go for a 10km run with ease.
The sights alone are enough to want to make you believe in God. Someone had to have designed this, this beauty just couldn´t happen by accident could it? Really.
The most challenging, rewarding and memorble thing I´ve ever done full stop. A shout out to Romain my french trekking partner who I couldn´t have done without. His patience and know-how meant the world to me. Thanx mate.
We stop for a moment to catch a view and a few important gulps of water. The view made it seem all the physical torture worthwhile. A tiny pond in front of us before a cliff. the cliff juts out to a gorgeous lake before us. At the end of the lake a massive glacier approaches from within a valley. 2 snow capped mountains surround the glacier and its lake. Tiny little icebergs as broken of from said glacier sit waiting for their cousins to drop off the glacier and join them for a swim in the lake. The sun is setting behind the mountains. I couldn´t imagine anything prettier than what was before me that day.
Day by day the walks are equally challenging but my fitness and mental strength improves. The pain in my feet from wearing shoes ill-suited for hiking seems more bearable and the pack eventually feels ´at one´ with my body. The ceaseless/powerful winds and the hard/cold ground for sleeping on seem to matter less and less. This sort of Euphoric feeling comes over you and you almost feel like you could go for a 10km run with ease.
The sights alone are enough to want to make you believe in God. Someone had to have designed this, this beauty just couldn´t happen by accident could it? Really.
The most challenging, rewarding and memorble thing I´ve ever done full stop. A shout out to Romain my french trekking partner who I couldn´t have done without. His patience and know-how meant the world to me. Thanx mate.