Adventure | Patagonia | O Circuit Day 5
Wednesday,March 8: Los Perros to Grey
IT’S A BIG ONE! Day 5 would end up being the most challenging day of the O Circuit and we’d reach our highest point on trail climbing up and over John Gardner Pass at 4,000'. 2,919 ft of elevation gain, 10.68 miles of hiking, and 10-11 hours to complete. The timing of getting to the top of the pass is imperative. After my experience, I could see how important it was to listen to those rangers and why their times were so calculated. The weather on that section is KNARLY! There is no other way to describe it.
My alarm clock went off at 5:30am and allowed me time to slowly wake up and gather my stuff. We had been rain free for almost 24 hours (minus a little sprinkle on my way to camp. But that doesn’t even count LOL!) and it was an extremely crisp, cool morning. I made my way to breakfast at 6am and we all sat around talking about how we thought the day would go. We told stories of what we heard through the grapevine or researched prior to the trip. The common worry was whether or not the weather would be so extreme that we wouldn’t make it over the pass.
At 7am, we made our way to the trail and began ascending uphill through an extremely dark and wet forest. I had to follow other hiker’s headlamps, as mine had just died after turning it on. With each muddy step, I thought about all of the warnings we got about expecting LOTS of rain on this day. It wasn’t long until I caught my first glimpse of the mountains through the tree line. The second that I stepped out of that forest, the rain greeted me… yet again.
Noooooooooooo! She wasn’t readyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Noooooooooo! (Kevin Hart voice)
This section of the trail consisted of uneven rocks and gravel. Little by little, I continued up the mountain as rain continually pelted my face. I couldn’t tell you when, but at some point everything all quickly turned to snow. It felt strangely surreal! I didn’t feel like I was really hiking and that I was in some sort of dream. Part of me was extremely joyful, as I love snow, but the other part of me worried WTF was ahead of us.
We continued to trudge through the snow with the winds and precipitation rapidly amping up. The higher up we got, the more packed snow we had to climb through. There were even sections that came up to my knees! Between that and the icy spots, it made trekking and keeping my balance infinitely more difficult. Each step required more thought, more effort, and more energy.
This was one of those days that I could hardly pull my camera and phone out because of the weather. They phone would get soaked within seconds of it leaving my jacket pocket and backpack! One of the times that I went take it out my phone, my sunglasses fell down the mountain and later my gloves. As you may see in the photo of me smiling above: frozen hands! I couldn’t feel them the entire way up and my eyes were so bloodshot that it made it hard to see. BRUTAL!
It took about five hours to hike 2 miles to the top of the pass. It was a complete whiteout and you couldn’t see the glacier field or any of the views I was anticipating. At that point, I was just happy to be there and have a rock to sit on and eat. I pulled out my sandwich, ate my chocolate (this was my substitute for my beloved peanut butter on trail) and just chilled. I was praying for a miracle that somehow the skies would clear.
Not even five minutes into sitting on the rock, the skies began to open and a rainbow appeared out of nowhere- all while simultaneously snowing. Heaven- is this you? I cried again. This was one of the most magical moments of my life. Like I had mentioned before, rainbows are very symbolic to me and I had never seen one appear out of the sky in a snowstorm. I sat there-completely present and in awe- just soaking this serendipitous experience in!
The top of John Gardner Pass provided us with views of the South Patagonia Ice Field, the second largest of its kind in the world and a remnant of the last ice age. This is the view that originally sold me on the O Circuit.
SO…..MUCH….ICE!
SO…. MANY…. SHADES… OF BLUE, GRAY, AND WHITE!
SO….MUCH…TO TAKE IN, PROCESS, and FATHOM!
The vastness, exposed depths, purity in beauty, and views expand further than your mind or eyes could ever comprehend. It was truly magnificent!
I found the descent from this pass to be the most difficult part of the trail! The slopes were steep and slick with endless ups and downs on the terrain that followed. I thank God (and my Mom!) for my long legs and trekking poles, which completely saved me. They proved invaluable on several occasions, especially zigzagging down the slippery slopes of this descent. I would 11/10 NOT recommend doing this trek without poles!
Thankfully, the remainder of this trail gave spectacular views of Grey Glacier that would momentarily distract you from how grueling it all was. The next couple of hours were relentless and had so many false endings. Oh, the f*ckery! It was a huge mental battle.
Something worth mentioning is that there are three suspension bridges that you have to cross to finally reach the Grey Sector. As someone who is afraid of heights, I definitely had moments where I had to give myself pep talks and was shaking while attempting to make it across. It only happened when my curious little eyes veered off to the right for the views or looked down to see how high up I was. I tried to look forward, but I just couldn’t help myself LOL! Ultimately, it wasn’t too bad - all things considered!
The second that I arrived at my campground for the night, Refugio Grey, I got a beer to go and went to lay in my tent and unwind. I could not feel my body at all and I just did not want to think or talk to anyone. I’m not sure how long I was there for, but I can confirm that I laid lifeless for awhile. I’d also proceed to get my first real body shower on trail. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Grey is the section of the O Circuit that links up with the W trek, which is the 3-5 day hike most tourists take on in Torres del Paine. At this point, the days of solitude were long gone and the partying had just began. I wasn’t sure what to feel about that as being in the backcountry was so rejuvenating. But do you know what else was rejuvenating? THAT SHOWER! It gave me enough life to make my way to the bar for another drink before dinner. And ironically enough, EVERY SINGLE PERSON on my trek had the same great idea! #greatmindsthinkalike
As I was sitting there quietly eating my meal, I heard my name being called. Nervously, I turned around to see one of my first friends in Patagonia, Vanessa She is the last person I expected to see, as she was finishing the W trek and I was half way through the O Circuit. But boy, was I happy it was her! I gave her a big ol’ hug and we spent the night catching up on our journeys over raspberry pisco sours.
The rest of the evening is a tad hazy between the exhaustion and alcohol. The day finally took its toll on me. I said my good-byes to those finishing up trail or heading off on side excursions to Grey Glacier the next day and finally made my way back to my campsite. All I could think about as I snuggled up in my sleeping bag is how grateful I was to be there and all that I experienced thus far. What a day …. what an adventure!
CHEERS! Raspberry pisco sours. Yum, yum!
The Journey Continues
In the next blog post, I will finally cover the remainder of the O Circuit: Day 6- Day 8, which consists of Grey to Paine Grande; Paine Grande to Cuernos; Cuernos to Central and my final days back in Puerto Natales. Stay tuned!
Happy Trails! xoxo, Brooke
