Phase 2 Initiated! - We're on our way to Torres del Paine!
So, after a disturbed nights sleep (there was a noisy disco right next door into the wee small hours!), we got up at half 6, scarfed a quick breakfast of tea and plenty of homemade bread & jam, before leaving our extra stuff behind and heading for the bus station for our 7.30am pick-up. Was a bit of a hike, so we saw a bit of Puerto Natales - really a very bleak-looking place. All the buildings are built very low into the ground as if even they are huddling for warmth against the bitterly cold wind blowing in off the waters of Last Hope Sound. God only knows how cold this place gets in the depth of winter!!

Got on our bus and slumbered for the next 3hr ride. Funnily enough, Sam met one of his colleagues from Reuters at the bus stop who was doing an opposite loop round Patagonia! Very small world!! Talking to Sam, he was saying how funny it is in that, after you've been travelling for a while, you start to see some of the same faces, as other folk are working on a similar itinerary and route to yours! Is good, though, to chat to fok and try and pick up some tips for where you're going next. We travelled through some absolutely stunning scenery and the immensity of the place started to dawn on you, as in every direction you looked, nothing but bleak, barren landscape. Miles and miles on end, as far as the eye could see. You really were in the middle of absolutely nowhere, totally away from civilization - and it was fantastic! Puts you in a very reflective mood, just gazing out across the endless horizon.

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine
Our bus entered the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine through the guarderia at Laguna Amarga, where we had to pay an entrance fee and also fill out a form stating where we were going to be in the park. Guess they have to try and keep track of the numbers of hikers doing the W or Circuto Grande somehow. Covering 242,242 ha and 145km northwest of P.Natales, this Chilean national park is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Taking its name from the Tehuelche word Paine, meaning "blue" (not pain, as i originally thought!), the park encompasses some spectacular scenery with constantly changing panoramas of peaks, glaciers and icebergs, vividly coloured lakes of turquoise, ultramarine and grey, and quiet green valleys filled with wild flowers. In the centre of the park is one of hte most impressive mountain areas on earth, a granite massif from which rise oddly shaped peaks of over 2,600m, known as the Torres (towers) and Cuernos (horns) of Paine. The highest is Cerro Paine Grande - and this is where we'd decided to start our exploration of this awe-inspiring park.

Laguna Amarga, guanacos and yet another bump on the head
After entering the park (and passing lots of guanacos that Sam couldn't get a decent picture of!), the bus carried on round to Refugio Pudeto, where we got off to transfer to a boat to take us across Lake Pehoe to our accommodation at Refugio Grande Paine. It had just started to rain as we were waiting to get on the catamaran, so we all gratefully piled in. A bloke at the front stacked all our rucksacks into a huge pile of kit and then we had an unexpected bonus of a freebie hot drink - the crew had carted in several big flasks of hot water and proceeded to serve us with our choice of drink once we'd got underway. I had a hot chocolate, which was absolutely delicious whilst Sam went for a mocha. Managed to burn my throat, which was about par for the course, swiftly followed by another classic - absolutely thwacking my head on the ceiling of the boat as i was getting up to leave! Only minutes before, I'd peed myself laughing at some other unfortunate sod who'd done the same thing - oh, how karma comes back to bite you in the arse!! Definitely made the Sarah's Top Ten Clumsiest Moments shortlist...

A Race against time to Glacier Grey!
So after about 45mins, we arrived at Refugio Paine Grande which was to be our home for the evening. As my first refugio, i wasnt sure what to expect but it was actually far nicer than i anticipated!! It had a restaurant, a bar (yey!), a shop as well as the dorm rooms so pretty much like a hotel, except you slept 6 to a room! The bunk beds were pretty comfy - i bagged the top one! Anyway, by the time we got to the refugio, checked in, unpacked and then repacked our bags for our trek, it was about 1.30pm. But eager to start exploring, we set off for our first hike - a 3.5hr trek to Glacier Grey. 3.5hrs?? Yeah - right!!! But more on that later....

Anyway, set off for what was graded as a medium difficulty trek and 11kms distance. We felt confident of being able to complete the trek and back by nightfall, which was around 10.15pm. The first part of the trek was through the valley around the base of C. Paine Grande and Glacier del Frances, so it was a pretty easy walk, before any serious climbing! The views were absolutely stunning but the weather was unbelievably changeable!! One minute it was sun, then rain, then hail, then sun, then snow, then sun again!! Was very grateful for my multiple layers - soon became a dab hand at layering and delayering, as the conditions dictated!! The going was variable - OK in some places, but then INSANE on steep hills or descents. What made it tricky (at least for me!) was the uneveness of the terrain and how rocky some parts were underfoot - and yes, i tripped more times than i can count. I was very very grateful i had my trekking poles! Kept an eye out for condors and interesting wildlife but didnt really see all that much.

After about 2hrs, we decided to stop for lunch - today's gourmet menu was packet rice and mushrooms, followed by a nice cup of tea and chocolate and alfajors. Sam, in his infinite wisdom, picked me a cooking spot based entirely on its great views (rather than any attempt at practicality) - basically halfway up the side of the mountain, exposed to the relentless wind but with a great view of the glacier!! It was probably one of the craziest places i've ever cooked in but it was kinda fun too, in a "I cant believe i'm doing this" way. The wind was so relentless (with sand and dirt getting everywhere!) that we'd tried an offering of dried chicken soup to the God of Wind to mollify what was obviously an angry diety. It actually worked! Well, for a few minutes at least - enough to allow us to finish our rice, pack up and get moving again without getting blown off the side of the mountain.

It's all going pear-shaped....
From here on in, things took a bit of a turn for the worse. Lunch had taken us slightly over an hour, so by the time we got going again, we were rather behind schedule and i was starting to worry about the time. But, to add to my stress, shortly after setting off, i stumbled somehow and managed to badly pull a muscle in my left thigh. It was absolute agony and i was absolutely furious with myself - to hurt myself on the first sodding day of trekking??!!! No frigging way!! So, i just gritted my teeth, leant on my trekking poles a little harder and just carried on. My anger helped carry me through but at one stage i did burst into tears of frustration - Sam was very sympathetic and said that we could turn back if i didnt feel up to it, but by this stage there was NO WAY i was turning back - not after having come so far already. The last part of the walk just seemed to go on forever - by this stage we'd been walking for at least 4hrs, so when we came across some trekkers on their way back and we asked them how much further it was, i could have cried when they replied that it was about another hour! In my head, i kept telling myself that it was only another 15mins, only another 15mins...... until it actually was only another 15mins ... and then we were there! I'm not sure i appreciated the full spectacle as, by this stage, my leg was really really sore and i was incredibly worried about the time, and my ability to be able to manage the trek back. It was 6.45pm and we'd only just arrived!!! So, after all that effort, we only spent about 30mins at the actual glacier before heading back for the mad dash home. We even didnt have time to stop and take pictures of the condor which flew incredibly low over our heads - every minute was critical, as neither of us were carrying torches (lesson learnt there!) and being stuck out there after nightfall was something neither of us wanted to experience. So, by an absolutely mammoth effort, we just stuck our heads down and hiked our hearts out, going as fast as we could, with few breaks, just concentrating on moving forward and trying to ignoring the deepening gloom that was creeping in around us. As an incentive, we'd set ourselves the target of trying to get back in time for the pico sour happy hour - which ended at 10pm. God knows how we did it, but we managed to get back and beat nightfall by 15minutes! We were the last trekkers in for the day and got a round of sympathetic applause from another group of weary hikers who were upstairs in the bar and who spotted us through the window as we trudged wearily in. Never was a free pico sour or subsequent glass of Malbec more well earned than that one. We managed to make the return hike in under 3hrs - a significant achievement! After scoffing as many free bowls of nuts that they would give us and finishing our wine, we dragged our stinking, exhausted bodies off to our respective sleeping bags to collapse into a dead sleep!