Day 5 – Monday 18.12.2023
Although we had a smaller route ahead of us today after the longer tour yesterday, we got up at 6:30 a.m. and packed everything up. After breakfast we set off again today with our large backpacks.
Since we only had a short tour and there was a viewing point not far from the camp, we headed there first in the morning hours and walked back a bit. We walked through the forest for a few minutes and after just under 1 km we reached the shore of the lake, from where we had a beautiful view back of the edge of the glacier.
There were still a few chunks of ice floating around in the water, which had broken off the glacier and been driven into the bay by the current.
After taking a few pictures and taking one last look at the massive ice, we continued our journey and walked back towards the campsite, only to walk across the entire site again and leave in the other direction.
When we had left the last tents behind us, the path led us slightly up the mountain. We could look at the huge glacial lake next to us and many large mountains were visible in the distance.
In between we walked along a small river for some time and while we walked around the area in a relaxed manner in the nice weather, we could hear the water rushing next to us. Later the path became a little steeper again and continued upwards. When we reached a small hill, we took a break, ate a muesli bar and looked at the beautiful landscape.
Afterwards we went again and again through former forest, which had apparently been hit by a fire some time ago. Many burnt tree trunks were still visible, making for an interesting sight.
A little later we got another last look at the large glacier in the area.
After a final drink break, we continued relaxed over the last few meters to today’s sleeping place. First again along a smaller lake and then soon slowly downhill.
We reached the campsite on the lake quite early. Here we set up our tents again.
Later we went for an evening walk, where we first walked to the shore of the lake and then climbed up a small hill again. From above we had a beautiful view of the lake and the campsite with the many hikers’ tents.
When we returned from our little walk, we cooked rice with tuna and tomato sauce again today. After eating we went back to the tent. I wrote my diary and then it was time to sleep.
Day 6 – Thuesday 19.12.2023
Another longer tour was planned for today. So we took down our tents around 6:30 a.m. Like us, several other hikers were already active in the early hours of the morning and so there was already a lot of activity on the campsite. After we had stowed all our things in our backpacks, we had a quick breakfast and then we set off.
At first it was pretty relaxed through the landscape. There were beautiful mountains on the left and we had a good view of the mountain on the right.
Today we were traveling pretty quickly and so we soon reached the first milestone on today’s tour. At a small house, which was located below some mountains, we packed all the heavy things in my backpack and left it there to start the longer climb to the mountains with light luggage. The many backpacks that the hikers had stowed away here also looked interesting.
Running without a backpack felt a bit strange for me. Since we were traveling much lighter, we had a lot of fun on the climb and quickly covered a lot of altitude. The partly steep climb initially took us through the forest.
After some time we reached the first viewpoint. From here we had a beautiful view of a glacier that was clearly visible on the mountain in front of us.
We took a few quick pictures and then decided to hike further up. As we continued to gain altitude, we could repeatedly hear several large chunks of ice breaking off from the glacier and falling into the depths with a loud roar. Once I was even lucky enough to film the natural spectacle on my camera. The sounds of the glacier were really impressive and accompanied us on our further way up.
The rest of the route took us through the forest for a long time. We followed a mountain river further back.
After some ups and downs, we reached the viewing point we were actually aiming for. From here we could see the various mountains that surrounded the valley. A wide variety of mountain formations were visible. We took a short break here to have a little refreshment with the beautiful mountain panorama.
Since there were already too many other people in this place for our liking, we soon began our descent again. When we passed a large rock, we didn’t hesitate for long and one after the other climbed onto the large stone. We then sat down and relaxed at the top and were able to enjoy the view in peace while the other hikers walked past below us.
After we had enjoyed the view here for a few minutes, we climbed back down from the rock and continued our descent. We went back down the same way that we had previously laboriously hiked up. However, the descent was not very strenuous and we made quick progress.
Since we were no longer looking towards the mountains but towards the valley, we had a completely different view of the surrounding area. We could see the beautiful lake in front of us.
We soon reached the hut at the foot of the mountain again. Here we collected my backpack and then set off again with heavy luggage for the remaining kilometers to today’s sleeping place. Luckily we didn’t have to go far and so after about 30 minutes we reached the destination of today’s hike. After climbing and descending over 1000 meters in altitude, we were happy when we finally reached the campsite in the forest. Here we had booked a roof tent again for tonight. This meant we were able to save ourselves having to set up the tent and go straight on to dinner.
After eating and taking a long, warm shower, we went back to sleep exhausted.
Day 7 – Wednesday 20.12.2023
I didn’t sleep particularly well last night, so I woke up pretty exhausted. Luckily there was a smaller tour scheduled today. After breakfast with an extra strong coffee we started again.
We walked past lakes for a while and could see snow-capped mountains in the background. The view of the landscape was very beautiful and we made good progress in the partly flat terrain.
In between we came directly to the lake for a short time and continued walking along the shore. The sound of the waves had a very meditative effect.
After a small climb up a hill, we took our first break there. Since we really didn’t have much to walk today and the weather was very nice, we lay down on the warm stones and took a little nap in the soothing sun.
We then continue our hike through the beautiful landscape, which today is largely characterized by bushes and small trees.
After a few more kilometers we actually came across a small highlight on the tour. There was a small river in front of us, with neither a bridge over it nor enough stones to get to the other side with dry feet. So we had to manage our first river crossing. We took off our heavy hiking boots. While I trotted through the ice-cold water in my light extra shoes, Anna walked completely barefoot across to the other bank. The water of the mountain river was ice cold, but that was quite pleasant given the warm temperatures and at least the river was not particularly deep.
When we arrived on the other side, we dried our feet, put on our hiking boots and then set off again with dry shoes for the rest of the hike. From here the path gradually became steeper and we had to keep going uphill. Since our place to sleep today was higher up in a valley, we had to climb up to a small pass. From here we at least had a nice view of the valley and also of the route behind us.
From the top we then went down again briefly to where we sleep today. As we slowly descended to the river, the wind was blowing really strong again and we were covered in flying sand. Further back we could already see the first darker clouds and in between we felt the first raindrops trickling down on us.
We soon reached today’s camp and were glad that we had made it to the accommodation before the rain. Here, too, we rented a ready-made tent for the night, as there were no pitches for our own tent at this camp. After putting our things in the tent, we took a quick shower and then sat down in the small restaurant to prepare our dinner. So while we were cooking our soup or rice, there were mostly day tourists sitting in the hut and eating the restaurant’s finished food. Since no one else cooked food themselves, it felt a bit strange that we cooked and ate our own food.
When the rain started and some tourists started to descend, other people started to prepare the dinner they had brought with them. But we had already finished eating and went to bed around 7 a.m. because we had to get up very early the next day.
Day 8 – Thursday 21.12.2023
The alarm went off at 2:35am. Even though it was very early, we got up straight away and packed the rest of our things into our backpacks. With a headlamp on our heads, we then set off on the 2-hour climb to the most famous mountains in the national park. We wanted to watch the sunrise in the mountains there.
In the first few meters we met other people who had the same plans as us. So a few groups of headlamp wearers walked through the dark landscape. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much apart from the beautiful starry sky. Only the few meters in front of us were illuminated by the headlamp and so we walked through the landscape without really knowing what it looked like.
After a while, dusk finally set in and we could gradually glimpse the first landscape features. The first mountains soon became visible in front of us.
Further up, the forest slowly diminished and soon we were only walking in the rocks. At least we were able to see some other groups of headlamps, which looked very interesting in the dark surroundings.
After about 1.5 hours we reached the lake and the mountains behind it. It was truly an impressive sight.
The mountains were in front of us and the sun was slowly rising behind us.
We made ourselves comfortable on a larger rock and waited for the rising sun, hoping that the mountains in front of us would be illuminated golden. For some time we sat on the stones in freezing temperatures. Luckily, Anna had taken her sleeping bag with her, so we at least had something to cover ourselves with, which made the cold a little more bearable.
Unfortunately, there were more clouds in the sky than expected and so the big spectacle didn’t happen. Still, the sunrise on the mountain was worth it. While there were a lot of tourists up here during the day, we had a quiet view to enjoy and I was even able to take a few pictures of the attraction without any other people in it.
After a while it got too cold for us and so we started the descent back to our starting point. On the way back we were able to see the landscape that we had already hiked through a few hours before.
After we had left the rocks behind us, we walked a bit through the forest and then we reached the camp again.
Here we had a hearty breakfast and warmed up with a good cup of coffee. Then we started the actual descent down into the valley. In front of us we could once again see the seemingly endless expanse of the surrounding area. Since it wasn’t far down, we took a few breaks again today to enjoy the beautiful landscape one last time.
While we sat on a stone looking at the surroundings, in addition to the many tourists starting the climb to the mountains, we could also see a group of gauchos delivering food to the camp. Horses were actually used here because the camp had neither a road nor a cable car. So all food had to be transported up the small paths on horses, which would also explain the high prices.
Then we went down a few meters further and soon we reached the last visitor center in the park. Here we took another coffee break. From here we only had a few kilometers to go to the park entrance. We walked along a sandy road towards the exit. Again and again we took one last look back at the beautiful mountains of the national park.
When we could already see the park entrance, we made ourselves comfortable again by a river. Since our return bus wasn’t due for a few hours, we had plenty of time to rest. First we ate one last noodle soup and then we took a long nap.
Later we dragged the remaining meters to the park entrance. There we sit on a bench and use the internet to let the family know and read the news we missed from the last few days.
After waiting for a few hours, our bus finally arrived to take us back to Puerto Natales. On the way back I reflected on the experience again.
We arrived at the bus station in Puerto Natales around half past ten in the evening. Here we booked a quick bus ticket to continue to Punta Arenas the next morning. Afterwards we walked back to the campsite where we had already spent the night before our multi-day hike. We checked in briefly and asked for a supermarket that was still open at that time so we could buy something for dinner. Since the only supermarket nearby was supposed to close in 15 minutes, we ran there afterward to get something to eat in time. Afterwards we sat down in the common room of the campsite and ate our simple meal there. We then had to put up the tent in the dark, but at least we still got something to eat. Then we went back to bed.
Overall, we had experienced a lot on the O-Circuit in the last few days. Over the almost 140 km we saw very different areas of the national park. In addition to beautiful grasslands and some forests, we were also able to admire the snow-capped mountains, a pass and the huge glacier up close. We were able to enjoy the tranquility of nature, especially in the back part of the park, making the multi-day hike through Torres del Paine a beautiful tour that we will certainly look back on with pleasure in the future.
Leave a Reply