Torres del Paine, Southern Patagonia

With minimal information but adequate equipment, Jackson and I prepared for around 10 days in the Southern Patagonian Park 'Torres del Paine'

I am writing in the hostel at 9 p.m. on New Years. I hobbled out of the park and paid $22 extra for a ferry. Jackson choose to hike an extra 17 km and has not yet returned home. But that is the end of the story, I should start with day 1.

Day 1, Dec 24th
Jackson and I scrambled to reach the park. We romanticized the idea of Christmas eve on the mountain. The travel gods smiled on us and we were able to store gear, buy fuel and arrange transfer in under two hours. We are astonished by several sights before we enter the park. I was happy to see flamingos and emus by the lake. We couldn't believe the $30 entrance fee. I couldn't believe that I ran into 2 friends from Buenos Aires, Sam and Reed. They were taking a break from school in order to visit Torres del Paine.
We quickly decided to spend Christmas eve and headed up the mountain.
Unnecessary items I carried in my overloaded pack:
- 10 potatoes
- 1 litre Pisco in a glass bottle
- 10 avocados which were carried but never ripened the whole trip
- Onions, green peppers, carrots, various sauces in glass bottles
- Milanesa (breaded beef to be fried)
We ate very well the whole trip and the first night we outdid ourselves. We camped near a bustling refugio which charge around $40 for a bed and $40 for dinner. We neglected to pay for our camping.
We did have a raging fire, a bottle of Pisco and several bottles of wine which seemed to appear as we made new friends. We had some late visitors to keep us warm in the tent and overall it was a great

Day 2:
We shared our breakfast of friend potatoes, unripe avocado and instant coffee with Sam and Reed. They had lost all of their food over the Chilean border. Jackson and I got lucky passing the same border with over $100 worth of food.
We headed up the relative cart trail to see the Torres, three pronounced towers of rock for which the park is named. I do not have a picture of my own, for the 8 days we were there the weather never cleared enough to see them. Not only was it generally overcast but it was cold. Close to freezing every night. Jackson and I started in separate tents (that's right, we carried 2) but would soon only set up 1.
Jackson's great camera broke at the highest point of our hike. The lens would work not for the rest of the trek.

** I'll need to finish this story later. Jackson and I are beginning our hitch hikng to the North. We hope to cross the Argentinian border tomorrow and move from there.