Having enjoyed our time in El Calafate and on the Perito Moreno glacier, we continued south and across the border into Chile to one of the most iconic places in Patagonia: Torres del Paine National Park. This park is most famous for the three granite towers from which it takes its name and the horn-shaped peaks called Cuernos del Paine. It is a trekker's paradise filled with glaciers, snow-capped mountains, and excellent camping infrastructure.
We set out the next morning to Puerto Natales, the town closest to the park, in order to do some planning and provisioning. The 270 kilometers and border crossing went smoothly, and we were welcomed into the town with views of the Señoret Channel. We had pre-booked our hostel for the night so there was no rush in getting to our place. Thus, we decided to ride along the water to take in more of the view. It was a decision we would come to regret. A few blocks further down from the street we would have turned on to go straight to our hostel we encountered this guy:
Throughout all of our time riding in South America, stray dogs have been a nuisance. With the worst being Peru, I cannot tell you how many times we rode through a town and the sound of our engines sent a pack of at least five dogs chasing after us, threatening to run in front of our wheels and throw us off of our bikes. We had developed what we thought was a pretty good technique for handling them - slow down in case they try to dart in front of us, then when they get confused by the cease of rumbling from our engines, take off as fast as possible leaving them in our dust. All of the dogs we encountered up until this day seemed to be all bark and no bite. Hence, when we found ourselves in the emergency room waiting for a rabies shot for Brian an hour after encountering this dog by the water, we realized our technique may not have been as fool-proof as we once thought.
Brian was wearing tall riding socks, winter leggings, and riding pants with none of them showing any trace of puncture, however, the bite did go through the skin on his leg and cause some bleeding. We knew the odds of him contracting rabies were low, but since fatality is almost certain if rabies is developed, we spent three hours in the hospital emergency waiting room that evening. We learned from the nurse who gave Brian the shot that this particular dog has bitten 20+ other people that she alone has administered the rabies shot to in the last year, but since animal rights are big in Chile, the city has done nothing about the repeat offender.
Our intention had been to ride into the park the following day, but with our unplanned detour the night before, we decided to stay an extra day in Puerto Natales to plan and provision. We also had to figure out how Brian would get his second of five rabies shots without riding the hour and a half back to town from the park. It turned out, he was able to get the second shot a day early, so the following morning we set off for the park!
The weather could not have been more perfect that day. With the sun shining and only a few clouds in the sky, the views of the peaks and surrounding mountains were breathtaking. We got very lucky at the park entrance. The park ranger we spoke with told us that they ran out of tickets so we would be unable to pay the expensive entrance fee - darn! We took our time riding the beautiful winding gravel roads to our first campsite, stopping for countless photos.
When we arrived at the campsite we were surprised to see it was almost empty (confirming our notion that March is the best time to travel in Patagonia), and we were able to get an amazing spot with this as our view:
After setting up our tent, we went for a short hike up the mountainside behind our campsite for an even better view of the surrounding landscape.
We spent the rest of the evening taking in the scenery by the water and enjoying a beer and hot chocolate while watching the sunset.
Fortunately, we had seen ahead of time in a review on iOverlander that the campground has some mice residents. They visited our area while we were sleeping that night, but since we had triple bagged the food (thanks to the warning), the only casualty was part of the rubber button for Brian's heated motorcycle grips which the mice had decided to nibble on. After making coffee and eating breakfast, we re-bagged the food, hung it up off the ground, and then hopped on our bikes to catch a ferry across the Pehoé Lake to the start of our hike for the day. On our way to the port, Brian's phone self-ejected out of the phone holder on his bike. A passing car that was between us at the time saw it happen and sped ahead to notify him. We went back and searched for the phone, but the ferry was leaving in 10 minutes so there was no time to do a thorough search. Knowing it must have bounced off to the side of the road since we could not find it anywhere in plain sight, we continued on, crossing our fingers we would be able to find it on the way home.
We made it to the ferry with only a minute to spare and crossed the Pehoé Lake to the start of the trail. The weather was once again perfect, and we enjoyed more views of the Torres peaks and surrounding mountains on the way.
A lot of people who make the long journey down to this southernmost part of the world will complete either the "W" trek or the longer "O" circuit through the park. Brian and I, however, opted to do neither of these. To make what could be a long answer very short, the arduous online booking systems, the expensive cost of each campsite, the crowds of people on the trails, and our recent completion of the Huemul Circuit (see last post) are some of the reasons we decided not to do either trek in full. Instead, we completed two day hikes which allowed us to see two of the most beautiful spots on the "W." This gave us yet another reason to be grateful we were traveling by motorcycle as getting around the park would have been difficult without a vehicle.
Once across the Pehoé lake, our first day hike took us through the Valle Francés. We enjoyed the relatively mild inclines and declines as we made our way to the valley floor.
Once we reached the valley, we climbed for a bit until we arrived at a lookout point with a view of the Glaciar Francés. We ate lunch and took in the scenery before making our way to a slightly further lookout. From this spot, we could see and hear pieces of the glacier calving. We spent over an hour enjoying the view before heading back down the trail to grab a beer and catch the ferry back.
While on the ferry, we found the couple that had seen Brian's phone fall off of his bike. They told us they remembered where it fell and would help us find it. Before we had even caught up to them on the gravel road back to the campsite, they had found it and were waiting on the side of the road, phone in hand! Thank goodness for them, otherwise we may have spent the entire evening searching. Luckily, the phone had not been damaged and we were able to enjoy another evening at our gorgeous campsite.
The next morning, we packed up our tent and loaded the bikes to head to another campsite on the other side of the park. It was one of the official campsites on the "W" trek that surprisingly still had availability when we booked two days prior, and it would set us up perfectly for our hike up to the Torres the following day. Prior to departing, we couldn't resist having a mini photo shoot with the bikes and the beautiful scenery of our campground.
We then set off down the gravel road to the other side of the park. When we arrived at the campsite, we saw somewhat of a crowded tent city, making us content with our decision not to complete the full "W." We managed to find a relatively secluded spot on the edge and set up our tent. We then headed to the camp restaurant for some beers before turning in for the night. We awoke at sunrise the next morning to begin our hike. We made it to the top in just under three hours and then spent the next hour eating lunch and taking in the gorgeous view.
Mother nature was on our side once again, and we reflected on how lucky we had been with weather for most of the trip. After making our way back down the mountain, we stopped at the park hotel's restaurant for some beers before returning to our camp, making dinner, and falling asleep.
Feeling pleased with our time in the park, we packed the bikes up the next day and rode back to Puerto Natales, this time avoiding any dog bites or hospital visits.
The following day we began what would come to be our last day of riding. We were headed to Punta Arenas where we were meeting a potential buyer for one of the bikes. When we began our trip in Colombia, we did not know how much further we would go past Torres del Paine. Most overlanders who ride the continent north to south finish in Ushuaia, a city in Argentina termed "the end of the world" because it is so far south. Although it was only a two day ride away from Punta Arenas, there were a combination of factors that kept us from making it down there. Our tires had almost no tread left on them and we would have needed to buy at least a new front tire to make it there safely, the weather was worsening and we may have encountered more snow, and selling our bikes in Ushuaia would have technically been illegal and certainly more difficult. We had one potential buyer in Punta Arenas already so we ended our trip just short of "the end of the world."
We spent the next week in Punta Arenas finalizing the paperwork with the buyer we had been talking with, a Dutch girl who was planning to ride north, and looking for another buyer for the second bike. After a week of plenty of interest but no one ready to make it official, Brian came up with the great idea of donating the second bike. We had heard from a bike shop about a local motocross champion from the town that was in a horrible, life-changing motorcycle accident. We contacted the family and told them we would like to donate the bike to them to help cover their medical costs. After transferring the bike into his fathers's name, we were officially bike-less, regular tourists.
The next morning, we boarded a bus to a city in Argentina called Rio Gallegos. Since flights within countries are typically much less expensive than international flights, our plan was to take a bus over the border and then fly to Buenos Aires from there. Unfortunately, the cheapest flight we found left at 2:00 AM, so Brian and I spent the night in the airport before taking the three hour flight to Buenos Aires. When we arrived at 5:00 AM, we needed to find a place to catch a few hours of sleep before we were able to check in to our airbnb. Brian and I had accidentally stayed in an hourly hotel back in Northern Chile and this gave us the idea to try and find something similar. Let's just say the type of hourly hotel we found in Buenos Aires was of a different breed. After being welcomed into our jacuzzi room with a light show and cheesy music, we had a good laugh and then fell fast asleep. We awoke five hours later to breakfast being served through a small door in the wall - this place was good about avoiding other human interaction. We then grabbed our bags and headed out into the afternoon sun.
We spent the next week in Buenos Aires visiting many of Brian's old stomping grounds (he lived in Buenos Aires for a year in 2010), eating some of the most delicious steaks we have ever had, going to a tango show, and attending the Lollapalooza music festival that we learned a few days prior happened to be in town while we were there. We also made a new friend who is from Denver and hung out with him a few times during the week. Brian and I both agree our time in the city felt like a completely different trip. It was a surreal juxtaposition to go from the serene outdoors to bustling city life, but we couldn't have imagined a better way to end one epic adventure.
All too soon, it was time to board the plane to Miami and begin our next big adventure: road-tripping to the West coast of the U.S. to pick a place we want to live for a few years and begin saving up for the next trip! :)
Until next time,
Erin and Brian
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