Torres Del Paine (day four)

We awoke feeling refreshed. Both of us had managed to get a cracking night of sleep, and still had a warm glow in our bellies from the delicious meal the night before. This was further topped up by some yummy porridge too.

Alas, Dean did not feel the same. His knee really was playing up, and his disturbed sleep had not helped matters. He told us that he was thinking about hanging around for another day at the Refugio and then the day after just hiking the shorter distance to the park entrance. We were gutted both for him and ourselves. He had so badly wanted to see the towers in the park, which we were due to see first thing the next day. Plus it'd been nice having him around to share the experience with him. We gave him a little longer to think about it before we set off, just in case he changed his mind. 45mins later, and he decided to try for the next camp, but in his own time, and urged us to go on ahead without him. As we were setting out about an hour later than intended the two of us set out at a relatively quick pace.

The walk took us along the lower right hand of the "W", which was pretty up and down to begin with, but with beautiful vistas over the lake. Then, just as it was my turn for the big backpack, we hit the incline we knew was coming. At first it was steady, but gradually it became steeper, until my muscles were burning from the climb and the extra weight. 40mins later things began to flatten out, at which point James had the bag, and I realised that I had carried it through the hardest part of the day! I felt quite proud of my achievement, as there was no way that even a week ago that I would've been able to manage it.

As we entered another valley the path was precarious. On the right hand side was a sheer drop, and if someone was to fall over the edge they'd be in pretty serious trouble. The views were very lovely though, and soon we had reached a midpoint Refugio. It was here that we bumped into someone that we'd met in BA, and after a quick catch up with him and a break we were on our way again.

We reached the campamento in just five and a half hours - about 2 hours quicker than we´d anticipated. We set up camp and lay on our mats watching the other trekkers drip in and set up. Once Jess and Tiggy got there we started to talk about the towers. The cloud was clearing from the mountain tops, and as we all felt so good after the days hike we wondered whether it would be worth trying to see the towers that afternoon - after all the weather maybe really bad in the morning and we may not get to see them at all. We all agreed it would be a good idea, so off we trot for more hard work.

We'd been told by several people that the trail was hard, but worth it. It wasn't too bad at the start, but then we hit an arrow that wasn't clear in which direction it was pointing. We went the way we thought it was, which ended up being a steep slope of slippery scree, now loving referred to as "the slope of death". It was a case of taking four or five quick steps, to slide back down two paces. It drained our energy, and we were all cursing under our breath. It was then that we saw other people on the other side of the stream, miles away, and realised that we'd gone totally the wrong (and much harder) way.
It took us twice as long as it should've done, and path we took spat us out around 50m higher than where we should've ended up. The winds were intense up there, but it gave us a thrilling view of the mighty towers and magnificent glacial lagoon.

After taking a few snaps from up above we thought we'd try to descend to where we should've been. This was almost as challenging as "the slope of death", and sure enough I ended up on my arse again (you should see the rainbow bruises I got!). The official mirador gave a different, but no less impressive, perspective of this striking sight. It was here that we bumped into the Brazilian couple we'd met on the first night, who told us that Dean had not only made it to our campamento, but that he was intending to climb the towers tonight!

Sure enough, as we clambered down the official path, Dean's head appeared amongst the massive boulders. We were both surprised and really pleased to see that his knee had held out to get him all the way here, and even happier that he was able to realise his dream. We agreed to meet him back at camp and get the dinner on for his return.

Another night, and another dinner spent with Jess and Tiggy. We were also joined by an American guy who was really into his outdoor activities and hiking. He was intending to do the circuit in the same time as it had taken us to do the "W", which would be a real achievement. Anyway, Dean made it back to us in one piece, and we all chatted about the day we'd had.

The idea was that we'd all get up at 4am to see the sunrise on the towers but, after the ridiculous scramble up there that afternoon, doubt had begun to set into my mind. However, I did ask James to set the alarm for me, and if I was feeling good, I would join them for their early morning climb.