Build up to the Torres

Ok its time. I had coffee this morning, and a grande iced Americano just now. A grande is huge for what you usually get around here café-wise. That’s the most coffee in a day I’ve had in a long while. In summation, I am thoroughly wired, which I’ll need to help me recap the last…3 weeks? 4 weeks? I lost count I suppose. I have to say, I have missed the feeling of satisfaction I get after writing this stuff down, no matter how (not) enlightening or beautiful my prose might be. A little hurdle I face now is where the hell to start; but a little push from my dose of roasted beans….and I’ll jump it. I’ll just start where I last left off. The bus.
Lots of bus. We left off on a Sunday morning before the Trek. At this point in the story, we were fairly comfortable and confident in our plan for Torres Del Paine. It was budget and we still needed a few things, but we were calm enough. We crossed back into Chile later that Sunday, and unfortunately had to ditch some of our cheese and salami. Upon arrival to Punta Arenas, we rushed to the local mall to gather what items we knew we needed. I received kick in the gut of coldness when I got off the bus--an indication that my hip sweatshirt and second hand windbreaker weren’t gonna cut it. So, I got a cheap warm jacket from the ‘Jumbo’--the Chilean kmart/walmart. We made it to our hostel later that night. We gave each other nervous wide eyed looks as we passed the campers out front; they had there shit together--legit tents, little stoves, hiking boots, water proof gear, and it all looked so natural to them, and they (I swear…) gave us a little smirk that said, ‘silly gringos. of course, this is how you do it, how’re you plannin’ on makin’ it?’ This, I think, was the beginning of our swiftly deleting all previous plans and ideas, and the start of our scramble to truly prepare ourselves. The hostel was great, the four of us had a room to ourselves. We owe our re-planning of the Trek to the dueno of the hostel. He gave us the same look as the campers did outside, and promptly, and nicely, informed us of the best way to tackle Torres del Paine. We were to go the opposite direction as we had originally planned. We were to pack food for all meals, because the food at the refugios are fantastically overpriced. He suggested buying a stove. We were to postpone our bus to Puerto Natales, and stay there another night, and bus to the mouth of the Park the morning after the next day. We were to use this time to gather the now-known-to-be-necessary-items. So we got to it. We changed our bus tickets to Puerto Natales that night, and got some food. The next day involved deliberation over what to buy--especially what to do about food--and where to go to get it. (Remember, our packs include living essentials for the following 2 weeks as well, for Buenos Aires etc, so they were quite full. Plus, I had Madison’s sleeping bag, which I swear must be a relic from 4th grade in-house sleepovers....very bulky, heavy, and as I would discover, not warm) Several stores later, after buying much of what we needed, we found the store we should have bought most everything from in the first place, but so it goes. We finally found a tarp to cover our sad tent. The stove idea was replaced with the following plan--use the firepit at the campsite the first night, treat ourselves to a refugio dinner the second, and rent a stove the third night. The bus left for Puerto Natales Monday afternoon, and we arrived there a couple hours later, feeling quite confident once again. The dining that night was memorable--‘Afrigonia’ was the place--a blend of African and Patagonian fare. I had the mint rack of lamb; it was fantastic.
Bright and early the next morning, we were off. The road turned to dirt for the last half hour, and we de-boarded to pay the entrance fee. Then, one more final bus to the first camp.
The great Patagonian gods smiled on us--the weather was beautiful, and remained that way for most of our journey, except for some light rain during the last two nights. I took a lot of pictures, sometimes to the point of Shay giving me the whip to speed up. Of course Shay is always on a serious mission while hiking, with eyes on the prize, and the prize is always ahead. Still, I wish I had taken more. I guess there is value in lacking pictures that might spoil any grand and beautiful memories that I have all to myself.