Mother Nature sure knows how to kick things off, this time a rainbow view from the hotel in Puerto Natales where I met up with the trekking group to do the “W circuit” in Torres del Paine national park.
A not-so-easy day of hiking 22 km with a 750 meter (2430 foot) elevation gain. But the reward? Bacan (awesome, really good, wonderful in Chilean Spanish). Got to the base of the Towers. O my. And yes, there is a lagoon just below them (surprised many of us).
And yes, it was a typical Patagonian weather day — rain, sun, snow, high winds (required I guess since we went through Windy Pass).
Exhilarating really.
Apparently the Towers are usually covered by clouds.
I’ve taken to calling my trekking group “The Lucky Ones” though they’re discouraging me to avoid tempting fate.
Today’s adventure included traveling through a Lenga forest (complete with glacier-fed waterfalls that were so clean we filled up our water bottles there.. really!) that would’ve fit in any fairytale. Lenga are native to the area, grow super-slowly (i.e. less than 4 feet in 20 years), are home to plenty of creatures, and seem magical.
Tip: if you want to make a Chilean person happy, tell them that whatever they’re doing, or whatever they give you is Bacan and you’ll receive a warm smile. It rhymes with “pecan” with the accent on the second syllable. Hand gestures and enthusiastic tone encouraged for the full message.
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