Torres del Paine- Part 7

We had a huge climb ahead of us and we had been warned by the park ranger the night before that a storm could be rolling in.  He advised we get an early start and aim to reach John Garner Pass before mid-day.  It was still cold and dark as we stuffed our sleeping bags in the bottom of our packs and strapped on our headlamps.  We carefully placed our feet as we made our way out of Los Perros camp in the dark.  Our lights dimly illuminated a hopscotch of roots and rocks along the winding path that continued ever upward.  High above we could see the silhouette of the pass against the lightening sky.  Hidden beyond the ridge sprawled Grey Glacier which we would follow south to our camp along Grey Lake.

As we continued to climb we soon emerged from the woods in which we had camped the night before.  The high alpine trees gave way to a barren rocky mountain side which we were slowly ascending.  We followed a creek cutting a groove into the rocky terrain.  It soon was light enough that we turned off our headlamps.  However, the higher we went the colder it got and a combination of rain and snow began to fall.  We covered our packs and pushed on in hopes that we wouldn't get caught in the storm we had been warned about on the exposed ridge of John Garner Pass.

As we turned and looked back we could see the tree line and Perros Lagoon far below.  The terrain was steep and our sore feet, after more than a week of hiking under 50-pound packs, made the going arduous.  We passed an outcropping of Puma Glacier.  The puma is Patagonia's apex predator, known for attacking its prey (including unsuspecting hikers) from behind.  For this reason, many backpackers in Patagonia sew patches that look like eyes on the back of their hats.  Thankfully, Torres del Paine National Park was so well visited, pumas were not much of a problem here.  We breathed a sigh of relief as the storm clouds momentarily parted and we crested the ridge onto John Garner Pass!  

The sight before us took away the little breath we had left in our lungs.  A frozen river of ice emerged from the clouds winding its way around a mountain ridge down into a lake.  Our vantagepoint from above, looking down from the pass, gave us a full panorama of Glacier Grey.  It was bigger than we had imagined.  And yet, this glacier was just one small part of the Patagonian Ice Field- one of the largest continuous non-polar ice fields in the world!

We would have plenty of time to take in the views as we'd be now descending along Grey Glacier for the rest of the afternoon.  Hidden within the ice we could spot shades of brilliant blue we had never seen before!  Occasional groans from deep within the glacier and the sound of cracking ice were evidence that this river of ice was indeed flowing, albeit, imperceptibly to the human eye.  

As we hiked, Eli and I never tired of our spectacular surroundings.  Lunch time approached and we were still trekking alongside Grey Glacier.  It reminded me of the time our family had visited the Grand Canyon.  It was so vast one needed an entire day to take it all in.  As we moved our vantage point would change and shafts of sunlight would highlight a different aspect of the scenery we hadn't noticed before.  

We stopped for lunch right above the glacier's edge where it was calving into Lago Grey.  Small boats full or tourists could be seen floating as close as they dared up to the glacier's 30-foot wall.  Without warning, huge chunks of ice as big as cars and houses would cut loose and plumet into the lake.  We could see and, a second afterward, hear the huge splash from high above where we ate our lunch. 

After heaving our packs back on and starting to hike again we soon came to something we hadn't yet encountered in the park.  Our path took us across two suspension bridges which twisted and swayed with each step.  I didn't feel entirely sure of my balance, especially when I couldn't resist the urge to look out at the vast scene below me.  Though we could still see it when we looked over our shoulder, Glacier Grey was now behind us and Lago Grey was below. 

Our rocky terrain had now been replaced by green.  We made our way among pine trees and wind-blown shrubs that lined our path.  We continued to descend until we finally reached the water's edge where brilliant blue chunks of ice floated.  We had climbed over John Garner Pass at 3,900 feet and were now almost back down at sea level.

As we drew near to camp our adventurous day was ending as was our time at the bottom of the world.  Tomorrow would be our last day in Torres del Paine National Park.  People say you can experience all four seasons in one day here.  Our experience was proving them to be right as we had now hiked through intense sun, wind, rain, and snow.  We hoped we could safely make it full circle (literally) back to the ferry that had brought us into this incredible place eight days before.