Our Experience On The popular O Circuit trip in Torres del Paine

The roar was terrifying. The walls as well as ceiling of our small hostel seemed to bend as well as buckle under the force of it. I have seldom been genuinely “scared” in all of our time on the road, however my mind was racing as I laid on my back listening to the deafening damage of the storm outside. This – I believed to myself – is Patagonia. What have we gotten ourselves into?

Here we were, at the end of the Earth, at the mercy of a few of the planet’s a lot of unpredictable weather condition as well as we were about to spend the next 8 days in the mountains with nothing a lot more than a barely passable utilized tent, a sleeping bag that wasn’t rated warm sufficient for the climate outside, as well as some budget plan gear that we chosen up during our time in Punta Arenas.

Setting Up Our third Rental camping tent in front of Erratic rock To test it. every one had Holes!
I was persuaded that we were going to have to cancel. Torres Del Paine in Chile has always been popular for having capricious weather, with wind gusts so strong that they frequently pick up trekkers as well as slam them on the ground… literally.

But the week that we selected to show up was one for the books. The entire backside of the O trip that we had organized to take was closed, just days before our arrival, because of heavy winds as well as flooding. Trekkers were stuck on the tracks as well as it was absolute mayhem in the park.

The words of Ruth, the speaker at the hiker security satisfying we had went to the night before, were still ringing in my head.

“Almost all deaths that occur in the park, occur since the trekkers weren’t complying with the rules.”

Deaths. With an “s”? Plural?

I didn’t sleep a wink that night. I rolled over with the alarm at 5:30 am, still intimidated by the noise of the thundering wind, I actually stated a little prayer before waking Dariece up. I’m not in any way a religious person, so this was a very first for me.

“Wake up Dariece… It’s time to begin the O”

Don’t miss our 4-part video series below from trekking & camping in Torres del Paine!

So it begins…

We had already packed our bags the night before, so it was a basic roll out of bed, clean teeth as well as head out situation. When we opened the door to the hostel as well as peered outside, it was still windy as well as rainy as well as the chilly was biting, however the extreme gusts of wind had absolutely died down.

Goats & Dinos just before Boarding The Bus To Torres del Paine
Now it was just like a truly poor storm that we grew up seeing in Canada, rather than a hurricane force blizzard, which is common here at the end of the world.

We satisfied up with our buddies Jarryd as well as Alesha from Nomadasaurus as well as boarded the 2 hour bus trip out to the park.

As the bus cruised down the highway, full of anxious as well as ecstatic trekkers, there was a feeling that everybody in that bus had no concept what they were getting themselves into. looking back now, I can state with certainty that was definitely the case.

Related: The utmost guide to Trekking the O Circuit path in Torres del Paine

The Skies Clear

After about 1 hour on the bus, to our surprise, the thick, dark, apocalyptic clouds began to part. At very first there were short moments of brightness that bleached the shadowy mass, as well as then beams of sunlight pierced with the clouds, providing us hope that we might make it through this experience.

By the time we reached the entrance to Torres del Paine national Park, somehow, the entire sky was blue. We got off the bus with huge smiles on our faces. In an instant, I might feel confidence growing inside of me.

Sunny Skies at the entrance To Torres del Paine
“We can do this, Dariece!”

Her take on reply:

“Oh yeah. We got this…”

The O Circuit Trek

The a lot of typical trip to perform in Torres del Paine is the W trek, which takes up a part of the O. photo a W with a loop linking the outer arms of the letter, like in the picture below:

Map courtesy of www.torres-del-paine.org

The trip we were embarking on, like all things epic, has several names. “The O” is the most common, however it’s likewise understood as “The Circuit Trek” as well as “The Backside”. It stretches for 132 kilometers with the depth of Chilean Patagonia with bit a lot more than a few little “camps” or rest areas along the way.

The backside is out there. There’s nothing around for miles, just trekkers, wildlife, forests, snowy peaks as well as the remarkable landscapes that have made this national park so famous.Even though I was terrified the night before the trek, I am so delighted that we ended up doing the a lot more tough O Trek. The W is much a lot more commercialized with many tours as well as all the amenities you’d expect to discover in town. people on the W were trekking with strike dryers, tiny skirts (seriously!) as well as in some cases, rolling luggage – with porters bring this gear.

The backside is a whole new monster. since there are no restaurants at a few of the camps (just basic camp sites, decrease toilets as well as a little 3 walled shack for cooking in), most trekkers on the O bring their own food. Either that or they hire a doorperson ($150 / day) to bring it for them.

Our Food Buggy. A great deal of Weight!

This is why our bags were so ridiculously heavy. We had 8 days worth of food crammed into them, together with cooking supplies like pots, pans, plates, a stove, gas as well as utensils. On the very first days of the trek, before we had eaten a few of our load, our bags dug into our shoulders as well as hips as well as we might feel our backs ache under the pressure.

Our packs were heavy, yes, our backs were sore, yes, however there were smiles permanently stretched across our faces. All four of us were ecstatic. right here we were, at the southern edge of the planet, hiking with great business as well as gorgeous weather… we couldn’t have been happier.

Enjoying a break in the Sun
That very first day provided us hints as to what was in store for us. Commanding grey peaks poked into the powdery blue blanket of sky that hung over our heads. whatever seemed larger than life. The scenery was so perfect, so picturesque, as well as so crystal remove that it was totally surreal. It just didn’t seem that landscapes so grand as well as intimidating might really exist.

Day one was an “easy” one. It was just 5 hours for us to go from the entrance of the park to the very first camp, Serón, as well as although we had some very powerful wind after traversing a 300 meter high ridge, the sun shined all day.

We set up our very first camp under the security of a few little hills as well as cooked our very first meal together. We were all relieved that we were really on the trail, as well as that the weather, at least for now, was on our side.

Amazingly, the weather condition held up for us for the entire 8 days on the trail. We had a few hours of light showers, some quite strong winds at times, however for the most part we had completely blue skies as well as remove weather… a genuine anomaly for this part of the world.

After that very first night, we started to recognize that we were going to be on the path with the exact same friendly faces. about 12 of us had booked all of the exact same campsites ideal with up until the end of the trek, a typical occurrence on the O.

Our very first Camp – Serón

This indicated that (as one British hiker in our group put it) we were like a travelling hostel. Every night we ate, drank a bit of booze, chatted, laughed as well as camped next to the exact same people.

Being an adventurous bunch, every person had a special story. We were so influenced by our fellow trekkers, as we frequently are by other travellers, as well as we learnt a great deal from them.

One couple had stop their tasks to travel for a year (as we did 8 years ago). one more had left Germany 2 years back on bicycles. They rode from Germany to the UK, then shipped the bikes to new York as well as had ridden all the method down to the end of South America over the program of two years.

Los Perros Lake & Glacier

Although a lot of days on the “O” Dariece as well as I were trekking alone, as well as we liked that we might have the tracks to ourselves, however satisfy up with our new buddies at the end of each tough day.

Our very first 4 days were only on the backside. We had passed by glaciers, sat on the beaches of lakes, camped under snowy peaks as well as hiked over a 1,200 meter high pass. By the time our path reconnected with the W trek, all of us felt like we had truly accomplished something incredible.

The John Gardner Pass at 1,200 Meters

In a way, the end of the backside felt like a surface line for us. We were only half method done the entire trip since we still had 4 days on the W, however all of us felt like we had been somewhere that the W people didn’t understand.

As the tracks connected, it was like a satisfying of two worlds. Us, with our grubby gear, unshowered as well as exhausted, satisfying up with the W trekkers, who had cosmetics on, flip-flops as well as day packs. I can just picture what mountaineers feel like when they descend from the summit of install Everest to see all of the 5-day trekkers reaching base camp.

Reflections on a Glacier Lake Near John Gardner Pass

Even though the rest of the trip was a absolutely different experience, we still liked it. The scenery was still amazingly breathtaking as well as although there were a lot more people on the trails, it didn’t matter to us. We were just delighted to be trekking in Torres del Paine national Park.

The Torres

The finale of this amazing 8 day trip was at “The Torres”. A huge rock formation that appeared like three radiant fingers rising from an emerald lake. At first, it seemed that we were going to miss the view entirely, however having had such fantastic weather condition up until this point, we chalked it as much as “you can’t win them all”.

But it turned out that our luck truly did hold. After waiting around in the bitter cold, wind as well as rain considering that 6:00 in the morning, the sky lastly parted. The golden peaks showed themselves as well as were genuinely a spectacle to behold. We might absolutely see why so lots of people woke up so early to make it to this part of the trip for sunrise!

The Grand Finale. The popular “Torres” (Towers”) at Sunrise

The surface Line

On the final day, we were the second pair from our group to make it to the end point. Our buddies Jazza as well as Alesha came soon after us as well as Jazza generously gotten our group of trekking buddies a round of beer to drink in the park while we waited for the bus to take us back to Puerto Natales.

This was the end. Our faces as well as bodies were battered as well as sore, however our minds were strong as well as we were all revelling in an extraordinary sense of accomplishment. We did it. We not only survived, however we thrived available ?

Our general Impressions

While the O trip was difficult, I believe it’s absolutely doable for any individual with a respectable level of physical fitness as well as a great amount of trekking experience. There was a 65-year-old guy as well as a household with 3 youngsters (ages 12 as well as 14) in our group.

For us, it’s simple to state that this trip is doable, however we had great weather. If the gods had made a decision to bring down the entire wrath of Patagonia upon us, we’d be singing a different tune. I can’t picture climbing the pass while being thrashed around by gale force winds, or sleeping with the night with a soaked camping tent as well as flooding outside.

The Frances Valley is stunning!

We’re just delighted that the weather condition was on our side as well as we were able to completely take pleasure in this exceptional part of the world. Torres del Paine is most likely the most picturesque location I’ve ever seen, as well as I come from a naturally blessed location in Western Canada.

Patagonia provided on all of its promises as well as then some. We can’t wait to return to this part of the world, maybe not to embark on the O again, however to check out some other parts of this huge million square kilometer outdoor wonderland.

Read More:

What to pack For a Trekking as well as camping trip in Torres del Paine

The utmost guide to Trekking as well as camping in Torres del Paine, Chile

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