Saturday, December 29th
W-Trek Day 4
Hike to base of towers then back to Refugio
Stay at Refugio Torre Norte

Dear Obiwan,
I can’t believe we are on day 4 of the W-Trek! And today is THE DAY. Where we hike what the park is named after, LOS TORRES, or THE TOWERS!

We packed SMALL BAGS for this hike and left our big bags at the Refugio! We had breakfast with a few Americans and one guy from California had hiked to the towers yesterday and COULDN’T SEE THEM because the visibility was poor (which just means it was cloudy)!

We had been hoping for the last few days that we would get lucky today with the weather, and we had been so lucky every day so far. Yesterday was cloudy but we didn’t mind!

Finally around 7:00am, we were off. The beginning was so steep Obi, and most people had told me that “it’s pretty easy, but the last 45 minutes is hard,” and they must all be athletes, because, it was HARD right away. Only one person had said that it’s hard the whole time, and warned me about the beginning, so I am grateful for her!

The hike was beautiful, you hike through forests and valleys. In the beginning, we saw a bunch of horses! They help bring supplies to each Refugio and camp sites and also take back the trash!

Eventually the path did level out a little and at times was a gravel path. But Obi, I had started losing faith around this part. I kept thinking about allllll the people who said it’s easy until the end. And I felt so discouraged, I kept thinking, THIS IS EASY?! THAT HUGE HILL WAS EASY?! WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END?! CAN I EVEN DO IT?!

We passed a sign called ‘windy pass’ and there was not any wind! You also go over a ton of bridges, and bridges never get old, they’re always beautiful to me!

Finally you reach Campapmento Chileano, where you can pay 500 CLP or about 75 cents in USD to use the bathroom. This also is the stop right before it gets steep, so many people rest and get ready! Me and Kelsey saw the awesome American couple we met last night who was drinking some whiskey at dinner. They just had come down and told us how amazing it was!

After this we were hiking through some forest and a woman asked us anxiously, “how much farther?” We told her about an hour or 2 and she then told us, “well it’s supposed to rain at 1!” and it was 11, so that was COMFORTING THANK YOU.

As you hike every now and then you could see the tips of the towers, but mostly you could never see them, which I prefer! Then it’s a surprise.

Soon we reached a sign that said we were 2/3’ds the way…and a little after that there is another camp site and then it opens up and there it is, the infamous ‘scramble’ as everyone calls it.

Then began the infamous SCRAMBLE. Kelsey was off, we have established our hiking style by now, and we part at inclines.

It wasn’t too bad at first…but then, it gets STEEP. Colca Canyon steep. A zig-zag path on the side of a rock. During the last part I kept having to rest, I was so exhausted. As I would rest I would zig-zag a couple from Maine who was so nice and funny. We would cheer each other on as on of us would pass the other…

About 10 minutes later we were told by people hiking down, “you have one more really hard part and then it’s easy, you’re almost there!”

And man, they we’re telling the TRUTH. The last part was the steepest, you’re pretty much rock climbing. And at this point I would have to stop to just BREATHE. I could feel how weak my body felt, but by now, I knew I could make it. Moments later, like the couple told us, it flattened out! And at this point it was so crowded, you are actually walking in a single file line.

As we walked in this single file line, suddenly, you could see the towers over a rock for a moment! It was so beautiful I stopped walking and gasped…and forgot I wasn’t there yet and holding up this HUGE line…and then kept going.

Then you walk a little more around these huge boulders, still in a single file line, but then…it started to open up. There was no sign or any indication. I kept on walking and then BOOM.

THERE THEY WERE. The TOWERS shining in the sunlight! I also, forgot or maybe didn’t even actually know that THERE’S A LAKE BENEATH THEM. Formed from melting snow! Obi, it was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen in my life. I stood there in true awe. Truly speechless. And I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was relieved, proud, agog, in pain, and overjoyed!

I have never felt more proud of myself physically, in my entire life! That was HARD and the last 4 days were even tougher. The whole park is beautiful but…here I was AT THE TORRES OF THE TORRES DEL PAINE PARK! And there’s a crystal clear blue lake below? Is this real?!

After this I looked around at the sea of hikers and everyone wearing clothing similar to Kelsey but I found her! Kelsey and we embraced and we’re SO PROUD of each other, we couldn’t stop smiling, WE DID IT!
She also told me about 10 minutes before I got there someone CANON BALLED into the lake! That must have been so cold! She said people were very upset because he contaminated it. She said someone yelled, “people drink this water!!!” I hope he didn’t get hypothermia and die?

We also both said how nervous we were due to that woman telling us it was going to rain!!! We that we wouldn’t see the towers, but the weather was PERFECT! Kelsey and I also shared that we had the SAME FEAR of: what if Kelsey saw them, but when I got there it was cloudy? I had thought, if she see’s them and I don’t- IT’S OKAY DON’T BE UPSET. Luckily this fear did not come to fruition!

Kelsey had been there about 15-20 minutes before me and in that time she had scoped out a perfect spot, far from hikers, with a fantastic view, to eat our lunches.

We sat and relaxed and took pictures and basked in the beauty of the towers and our victory for almost 2 hours! It was windy at the top and was gradually getting more windy and more cloudy, so eventually we had to go.

Hiking down was more difficult than I thought it would be. I was feeling new pains in my legs and body and also, there were SO MANY people going down at the same time! (And many people would not follow the hiker etiquette and would run down and not let the people going up go first?!)

It was pretty infuriating, people were rushing and getting impatient so it makes you go faster but then…I would slip, I ended up falling 3 times and the last time I stopped myself from hitting a wall with my hands and my hand got stabbed by a tree root that was jutting out. I almost was bleeding, which hilariously got both me and Kelsey excited to use her first aid kit! But I ended up being okay, more just frustrated.

About 3 hours later, we finally were at the bottom. In total it took us about 9.5 hours, but if you subtract 2 for sitting and pictures, it took us about 7.5 hours, which isn’t too bad!

I was hurting pretty badly from exhaustion and pain of the last few days, but after a hot shower and dinner (pumpkin soup, a burger patty with no bun and coos coos, and a weird dessert), I was starting to feel better.

They messed up our dinner times again, but it was okay, we had reward wine and saw William who we met at Campamento Frances! After waiting an hour, again, for dinner, we ate dinner and immediately went to sleep. Unfortunately I slept pretty poorly, 2 guys came in around 1 am and spoke so loudly, it was as if they had no respect for the room full of people sleeping! Then after they woke me up, the guy across from my bed TALKED IN HIS SLEEP OBIWAN. It. Was. So. LOUD. He would do this loud “hmm, hummmm, hm hm hmmmmm,” thing that sounded so loud, it was as if he was a sports announcer, with this deep and resonating voice. Kelsey of course slept through all of this. But, at all in all, A WONDERFUL DAY!

Love you dear Obiwan,
Tú Madre,
Carly