Parque Nacional Torres del Paine

First, read this, which is far better written that these posts will be, and was my original inspiration for wanting to come down here.
This is widely regarded as the best national park in South America. I believe it. It’s huge, it abuts other national parks (O’Higgins, I believe, picks up where this one leaves off), and it has glaciers and rock that will make you gasp. We got a start later than we thought, so we needed to knock out 17 km in our first half day.

Day One: Administracion to Refugio Grande Paine
Let me tell you about wind. You know how, every now and then in November or December, you get one of those really windy days in Seattle? The local news freaks out, predicting the end of the world, they shut 520 down, usually one person dies somewhere on the Columbia, having gone out in their boat. People have trees attack their houses, and we find out that Microsoft doesn’t have a secure power supply. For winds that are 40 – 50 mph, with stronger gusts. Now, imagine a big plain of grass (I think pampas is the proper word), with winds that strong, and you’re walking straight into them. All day.
The trail is a rut through the pampas, in places almost a foot deep. Wide enough to walk through with no problem (about a foot wide.) Unless the wind is blowing so hard that when you lift a foot, and you’re slightly off balance (that’s how we walk, after all), the wind will blow you around so that you aren’t quite sure where your forward foot will land. We were afraid of twisting an ankle, and we were walking on the flattest land you can imagine. It was that hard to keep your balance. Now, imagine that you’ve got a big backpack strapped to your back, to provide more of a sail for the wind to catch.
We saw very little wildlife, other than birds struggling to go the direction they wanted (if it was downwind, they were happy, and got there ahead of schedule. If it was any other place, they usually struggled, aloft, more or less motionless, for awhile before giving up and landing again.) I did see one rabbit. There was a camp/wind shelter about halfway, where we had some lunch. That was a nice break, and we met another couple who were in their mid 50s, I’m guessing. They had no gear, and had been hiking from refugio to refugio each day. If you have reservations, you can stay in these hostel-like accommodations, and so not have to carry anything more than a day pack (walks between refugios are about 10 – 15km on average.) But, you need to reserve these months ahead of time, I gather, if it’s high season (December – February.) WE had been thinking we would do one night in a refugio halfway through (it’s quite expensive), but when we saw the availability, we gave that up.
Anyway, this couple were British, and they told us that they try to take a few months off every winter, and go somewhere in the world. This year it was South America. Our eyes got big -we get universal pity for being Americans here – everyone knows the story of how we get essentially no vacation compared to the rest of the civilized world. We are the only people we’ve met who are here for “just” a month. She saw our surprise/admiration, and said, “Well, you’re a long time dead, right?” I’ve never heard this phrase before, but assume it continues with something like “and only a short time alive.” Good advice.
They told a scary story of being denied at one of the refugios, even though they had a reservation – apparently the place overbooked, so decided to honor only reservations that were pre-paid (nobody told this couple this in advance, I’m sure they would have been happy to comply with any rules.) So, they rented them a tent, but were out of sleeping bags. After huddling for warmth in the tent a while, and deciding it wasn’t going to work, they went back in and begged for something, so they guys rented them a few duvets and they made it through the night. Ass-clowns. I think if you’re the ones who’ve screwed up, at least let the people with a confirmed reservation sleep inside. For free. On a couch if you have to.
Towards the end of the plains, we finally got to hiking up and down some hills, but the wind didn’t stop – that kind of wind on cliff edges is even more fun. Finally, we got to the refugio, paid our 14 bucks for a campsite, and discovered that the camp was quite nice – they provide showers, bathrooms, and an enclosed cooking area, with a plexiglass-ed in shelter and picnic tables, and gas stoves to cook on. Turns out they also have a full restaurant and internet access if you’re willing to pay for it (we weren’t – we bought a can of cold coke for 3 dollars, and shared it. Tasted pretty good.) We set up camp, made dinner, cleaned up a little, and passed out.