The amazing winds of Los Cuernos

It's a long winding road from the towers to the camp sites of the French and the Italians (the names of those - I never managed to figure out what made these particular nationalities so special and worthy of naming the mountain huts after). The walk is mostly on a wind swept terrain, very few bushes have survived the Magellanean storms and those who have show their colourful will of living. Early summer is gorgeous with all the greens and the reds and the purples coming out.

The wind is horizontal. Sometimes so strong that you are forced to a session of breathing exercises. In mid November there are hardly any people to talk to anyway, so everything is naturally in balance.

The small village of Los Cuernos appears almost out of nowhere. Accessible only by boat, or a half a day trek, it's a bunch of tiny huts between the peaks and Lago Nordenskjold. Reaching the huts from the east feels almost like climbing a vertical cobble stone beach. But the views, the views!

The huts are the perfect afternoon beer spot for giving and getting advice from fellow hikers and for observing hail storm approaching from the valley nearby. It takes about a few hours to turn the south pole sunshine into north pole winter storm.

It's also possible to see the wind on the lake. It not only messes up the surface tension of the water, but also anything that you wear and that is not tightly attached to your body (read: pair of Persol sunglasses are somewhere in the picture above).

After drinks and food and recovery shower (cold water is good for your muscles), Los Cuernos offers bunk beds you've never seen. The top ones' of the triple beds require a similar amount of climbing as do the surrounding peaks outside and it takes quite a bit of mental focus to not do the 'jump off the bed' move in the morning without catastrophic ankle consequences.

Los Torres and beyond

The true fans wake up at 1am, pack their hot tea, sandwiches and sleeping bags and hike up the valley to see the towers burning at sunrise. I don't necessarily have that patience and most felt too old to bank another sleepless night, so when the midday sun promised nearly cloudless afternoon, up we went, without further thinking about the next morning possibilities.

The hike from Torre Central up to the laguna should take about 4 hours one way. There are too many spectacular views and Camp Chileno at about mid way up is a nice tea break spot, for horses and men. The right most stroke of the W that takes you to the towers is generally uphill. With the steepest ascent of the whole trek (vertical climbs excluded). Those who have been to the Himalayas or any other high altitude hiking destinations, beware of overexcitement - W is mostly flat in comparison.

Torres del Paine views at the eastern part of the NP

The hike up is under semi-direct sunshine, so bring sunscreen. With the wind and the chill it's easy to forget how quickly you can begin to look like a drunken teenage character from a snowboarding film with all the crazy tan lines on your face.

The top third of the hike is mostly forests before you hit the last 45 minutes of straight uphill, climbing the rocks and what generally looks like a pile of supersize gravel, sometimes on all fours if your legs are not the basketball player or supermodel kind. 

The last 45 minutes

It's not the altitude, but the wind and the lack of proper trail to follow that makes climbing up the last bit sometimes dangerous enough that the park rangers close the route until further notice. Indeed, had we waited for the early morning romantic walk to the sunrise, we would have had to come down before even getting a glimpse of the towers. Snow or rain basically means the rocks are off limits, especially in the dark.

The towers are spectacular. It's an incredibly good idea to pack your meal and just sit there, watching the clouds and the sun and the snow to perform a spectacle. It's freezing, of course. And it can get crowded in good weather. Yet, none of this is able to compete with the views.

Everyone likes when things go up. Sometimes the journey down can be as good

Exactly 5 hours after taking off from Torre Central we were back where we started (that is generally 2-3 hours faster that the slow estimates you can find on maps). Catching the last hour of sunshine at the camp site equaled stripping off long sleeves and walking around barefoot. The brave excavated bikinis from their backpacks to have the pleasure again to layer them with down jackets the second the Sun disappeared behind the peaks. Clothing strategy and management is key in Patagonia.

Sunset at Torre Norte

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales has a new bus terminal that did not exist in the 2010 edition of the Lonely Planet. Which makes the first 10 minutes of navigation in a new town without compass always fun, using a map where half of the landmarks are missing. But the main rules still apply: 1) always buy the next bus tickets before throwing the used ones away, especially during peaking season, 2) follow the smell of the sea - coast lines rarely move over the years and having suffered from inland lock-in stress, it's a good practice to look at the clouds, the wind and the land formations to get your bearings.

There are a lot of community dogs in Puerto Natales. All too cute and handsome and friendly. 

Golfo Almte Montt with views to Cerro Monumento Moore

One tactical decision included sleeping and eating for 2 days in a jetlag recovery farm called Simple Patagonia. Around this time of the year it's basically a minimalistic set of bedrooms with views and a personal chef. There is zero reason to leave the building, sun rises too early for a run and sets late enough to be complimented with extreme winds that you kind of want to not experience without sufficient energy reserves. And, sometimes doing nothing is good enough.

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World is the best thing to read near the Magellan Strait

It was also rather surprising to learn how many (66% of the other people staying at the hotel) sing as the first thing in the morning before hitting the shower. Everyone's taste in music was good, so again, no downsides. Walls in buildings are thin even in London, you are just typically less lucky with the neighbours in the Northern hemisphere.

The siesta got a small interruption in the form of trip planning. When you need to organise yourself to a certain village for a certain day, it's a non trivial logistical project that took me almost half a day to figure out. It's also a combination of buses, vans, boats, their impossible schedule and your strong will that is needed to plan hiking the Torres del Paine national park.

Going to Patagonia has no downsides

It is incredibly nice when your ten plus year long dream finally happens. There were too many excuses, inconveniences, bad timings, budget limitations and what not for too long, but when you get a deal at work to be away for a month without consequences, there is no way to say no.

November is a good month. For flying to South America, particularly.  They say you should go in December instead (warmer), in January (peak summer), February (the skiing month for me), March (tourists gone) but November works, too. It's late spring/early summer then, the camp sites and hotels start to fill up, it's not possible to get last minute bus tickets any more and there are plenty of people around who have just done what you're about to do, sharing tips and advice, and a lot more people attempting to follow your route afterwards.

The flights are reasonable (£700 return for London-Punta Arenas). The non-existent time difference of being three hours behind from the meridian means no jet lag. You get to speak Spanish, which already is a major bonus. Luck permitting, the Atlantic flight can happen on a Dreamliner, with decent sleep cycle and leg room. Santiago to Punta Arenas flight lands at dawn and catching a bus straight away means you are in Puerto Natales by breakfast. It's all quite convenient for compressing as much long haul travel into as short time frame as possible. 

Going to Patagonia has no downsides.