Torres del Paine – Day 6: Conquering the Blue Giant
TORRES DEL PAINE
Day 6: Conquering the Blue Giant
April 06, 2023
PART I
I was looking forward to this day the most. The extra bonus day. The… (drumroll), ice trek on Grey Glacier! Given how much I had enjoyed that on Perito Moreno, this would be the perfect way to end the trek.
With the weather being so unpredictable in this region, we had no idea whether it’d be viable until that same morning, and so, in our anticipation, we headed to the dock whilst it was still dark. We waited and waited, with some people, including Enzo, going back to Paine Grande expecting the ice trek to be cancelled given the seemingly poor weather.
I, for one, had my hopes up, and luckily, the stars were in my favour yet again. Just like that, we found ourselves on a boat making our way towards the glacier – an experience very reminiscent of the Zodiacs way back in Antarctica. As we coursed in between icebergs and got splashed with freezing cold water, the memory of my expeditions in the icy continent was alive more than ever.
The Receding Glacier
Once at the glacier’s edge, we disembarked and met up with Camilo – our guide for the day. Before starting off on our adventure, he took us aside and gave us a brief explanation about the glacier.
He told us that Glacier Grey is one of Torres del Paine’s most spectacular landmarks and that it’s around thirty metres in height above sea level, with some 300 metres below the water. Underneath, he went on, are rivers and pools of water, connecting the lake to the glacier’s centre. According to him, the glacier used to measure around 270 square kilometres in size before a huge iceberg calved from its front end in 2017. Unlike the Perito Moreno glacier, this one wasn’t faring too well against climate change – its ice sheets receding considerably over the years.
After the explanation, we were each given a helmet, a harness, crampons, and my personal favourite piece of equipment – an ice axe! All geared up and ready to go, we started making our way towards the dirty grey glacier – the light blue, icy dunes in the distance promising yet another invaluable experience.
The Glacier's Icy Blue Innards
As we walked on the frozen waves of ice, we skipped over crevasses with streams of azure water running inside their deep blue innards, the views as unreal as they could get. Also, a speck of black in one of the cracks – Carlos’ glove that was carried away by the relentless strong gusts of wind.
The contrast between the whites and blues once again took my breath away, a beauty unlike any other. Also the formations – like the natural arc made of ice in front of a cave, or the huge crevasse with a waterfall dropping down its depths. Standing on its edge, with our guides firmly grasping our harnesses (a useless safety precaution, if you ask me), I couldn’t help but wonder how deep the thing ran. Whilst I stood there with my jaw to the floor, a couple of Americans thought all of this was “kinda cool.” I couldn’t even.
Sipping on a piping hot cup of cinnamon and ginger tea, which, in the freezing cold, was the best thing I could have ever hoped for, I tried to take in every little detail, knowing I wouldn’t get to see anything of the sort for the foreseeable future.
PART II
Farewell to Blister
After the ice trek, it was mostly a race against time to get back to Paine Grande before the last ferry would leave. Having given up on outrunning Carlos, we decided to hike the rest of the way together, finishing the three-and-a-half-hour trail in some two hours – a record time for myself given the steep incline of the first part. More than being on time for the ferry, my motivation lied elsewhere – wolfing down a pizza at the lodge.
Once at the refuge, the first thing I did was take off my trekking boots. Poor Blister, barely hanging on, had survived his final adventure. Seven years of trusty service, seven years of treks. The Lost City, the Salkantay Trail, the El Mirador trek, the Torres del Paine trek, and so many others in between. While I still had plenty adventures ahead of me, I wouldn’t be in need of trekking boots any longer, meaning it’d probably be the last time ever I’d get to use my trusted Dolomites.
At that point, I had the idea of keeping him as a souvenir – I just couldn’t bear to throw him away. We were best buds, comrades, brothers of war. I took a photo of him with the lake in the background, one I’d cherish for posterity. Thank you for your service, Blister. Thank you.
Patagonian Greatest Hits
After my paganistic ritual, I went for a spiritual one – the coffee and cigarette me-time. Looking back on the previous days, it felt like Torres del Paine had done a pretty good job at combining all the views I had witnessed all over Patagonia in one.
Base Las Torres and Lago Grey were similar to Laguna Los Tres and Laguna Torre respectively in El Chaltén. Glacier Grey was reminiscent of Perito Moreno in El Calafate. The walks next to Laguna Nordenskjöld and Laguna Skottsberg were reminiscent of those of Tierra del Fuego National Park. And, to top it off, the lenga-covered mountains were a staple in all of the region. It felt like this one trek brought everything together. The very same landscapes that I had grown to love, and, by the end, call home. No wonder it’s the most famous trek in Patagonia!
With that, Carlos, Martin and I celebrated the end of the W trek with a couple of Calafate Sours, and… yup, no pizza. Of course they’d close off the kitchen the only time I’d consider splurging a bit and giving into my hedonistic tendencies. We spent the remaining few hours chatting and enjoying each other’s company, recounting the highlights of the trek. Then it was time to get the ferry to Estancia Pudeto where I met up with the rest of the group I had met on the start of the trek. They had taken the bougie way out and paid an exorbitant amount of moolah for a catamaran that led directly from Refugio Grey to the bus station.
Here we got to share the usual pleasantries and the “We’ll definitely meet up someday!” no one ever really means (unless it’s super convenient or otherwise completely coincidental). A bus ride later and we were at Puerto Natales, marking the end of yet another crazy adventure.
Day six:
- Weather:
- Overcast and rainy
- Wind: NE 10kts
- Temperature: 8°C
- Weather:
- Position:
- 50°59’01.5″S
- 73°11’48.2″W
- Position:
- Trek Profile:
- Distance: 11km
- Elevation gain: 300m
- Time: 2hrs (average 3.5hrs)
- Trek Profile: