My Experience
It’s an understatement to say I am released when we remove our rain covers from the backpacks to find that E V E R Y T H I N G is dry. I never considered this possibility with the water masses that were coming down all night. I simply gave up on it.
There is still some strong winds going on but it’s nothing compared to the show we were part of the day before. Patagonia had mercy on us and is in a good mood today. So are we.
Taking down the tent, we have to fiddle the pole out of the tent sleeve. It's been ripped apart. Oddly enough the tent fabric doesn’t have a single scratch. We scan the mess and realize how lucky we are.
The hike to the Coirón ranger station feels like a walk in a park. It’s mainly downhill through some nice forest bits. Every now and then, we have to cross flooded sections. During this first hour of trekking we keep busy analysing what happened the night before.
When we arrive at the station, we ask the ranger if we could rest and warm up inside. Not only does he invite us in to sit by the fire and dry our clothes. He also shares his breakfast with us. Part of the job of a ranger is to walk the tracks or sections of them between the different ranger stations they reside in for a time period to check if everything is alright.
We take a long break and then head off to Dickson. Even though we're able to watch bad weather building up in the mountains ahead of us, we are in luck with a mixture of sunshine and fluffy clouds all day.
With all the stress slowly falling off my shoulders, I take in every view. I’m overwhelmed to say the least. The landscape reminds me of these breathtaking scenery shots in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. My fellow survivor agrees with me when I say it out loud.
Torres del Paine National Park is by far not the only mesmerising spot in Patagonia. All landscapes I’ve seen in this beautiful part of the world spoiled me for life. But this park and the correlating experiences will always remain special to me.
We are tired, our backpacks still heavy. But the final kilometers to Dickson are an easy walk compared to our first day. We are distracted by the views and little adventures like building a bridge. Río Paine has smaller sidearms that you have to cross on the way. As you see on the pictures above, there are bridges that are supposed to serve as help. Due to the flooding from the days before not all of them were as useful. A bit of rope, a few big branches from the ground and some balancing action, et voilà: the little bridge is extended. Later we will find out that this construction also helped the two hikers who arrive at Dickson a few hours after us.
When we arrive at Dickson the camp seems deserted. We sign in and tell the staff about our situation. They are understanding and let us stay without having to pay again, despite the one day delay. So will all the other campsites, except for Camp Francés.
I begin to think we are the only ones doing the circuit this late in the season. We haven’t seen anyone but the ranger in 2 days. The more I am surprised when we step into the kitchen and see one guy sitting there, enjoying a maté.
His name is Darryn. He will show us how to properly have maté in the following days. The three of us will eventually end up hiking the rest of the O-Circuit together. Including a post hike pizza and pisco sour celebration in Puerto Natales. Also, Christian’s last party before he leaves South America.
To stretch it even further into the future: Darryn and I will end up traveling together. In many ways, this hiking experience will have an impact on my life.
While I’m prepping the first big hot meal in two days, Christian fixes the broken tent pole. After a short while, the tent is pretty and functional again. Despite the best first day of a 9-day hike you could possibly imagine – NOT - we officially agree to keep pushing for the rest.
P.S.: If you have time while doing this track, I recommend spending an extra day at Camp Dickson to discover Dickson Valley, including the lake and the glacier.
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