Torres Del Paine Day 8

We woke in the early early morning at 4;30 am, and packed our sleeping bags and therma rests into one pack. The plan was to hike up to the towers for the sunrise, and hopefully to see the towers glow red as the sunlight hit them in the first morning light. Sounded amazing, so we thought we would go for it.

We began our hike in the pitch black, with only the light of the stars and our headlamps lighting the way. I looked back just as we left camp and saw two glowing eyes behind us. A bit startled at first, I wondered what it was, until it scurried across the path and my headlamp illuminated it, a baby fox!

The hike to the Torres was up all the way for 45 minutes. We were really dragging ourselves up the hill, still half asleep, when all of a sudden, we heard someone approaching from behind. We turned to see a bearded man clad entirely in running tights and spandex, booting it up the hill! Running! Seriously??!! At 5 am, in the dark, up a crazy mountain path with boulders, little rivers, and tree roots to dodge at every step. Who does that, a crazy person that's who! So we cursed him and his energy, and trudged up.

We finally came to an area where we could see signs telling us not to swim. Hmmm... we knew there was a lake beneath the towers so we thought this must be it. We found a large flat boulder and set up our thermarests and hopped in our sleeping bags to wait for the sunrise. We waited, and it started to get a little lighter out. The stars started to fade, and the clouds started to roll in. Booo to clouds! As it got lighter, the 3 huge towers started to come into view above a crystal blue lake. It was an imposing sight in front of us, and we felt so small beneath these huge mountain towers.

Eventually it was about 7 am and the sun was up, but was behind the cloudy sky. So we didn't get the glowing red vision we had imagined, but nonetheless it was still incredibly impressive. We spent about an hour enjoying the view, and then headed back down the path to take down camp and head out.

After a few hours hiking out, we finally reached the pickup for the bus. A special treat awaited us there. The little store had HOT DOGS!! Best hot dogs of life.

Took the bus back to Puerto Natales, and reflected on our amazing trek. We hiked 110 kms over 8 days. It was a challenge! The weather was fantastic, with only rain overnight on 2 days, and a clear view of the John Gardiner Pass and the Torres. So incredibly lucky there. We managed to get along for 99% of the time!  We had brought just enough food. We met some awesome people. Took way too many pics. All in all an experience we will never forget.