Wicked West Wind

I should have known I was in for a bit of a night when the first little buffets of wind came through at about eight that evening.
I had of course already seen the shapes of the wind sculpted trees and the way the trees grow up to the height of the upwind cliff edges ... And not a cm more!!



Ive had a rough time camping in Patagonia due to winds once before! (eighteen years ago). Well, the winds got rapidly stronger and after my little light-weight summer tent being "flattened" onto me three times by strong gusts, I decided that I better get pro-active about things. I decided that rather than the wind breaking the tent poles, that I should collapse the tent myself...
So, I let the poles out of two corners and put rocks around all the loose tent fabric and crawled back inside my now three-quarters deflated tent. It was a bit "close", but it worked fine and the wind was no more problems for me... But boy did it HOOOWWWLLLL through the night :)))





It was somewhat quieter in the morning but still blowing strong none the less. I wriggled my way outside and saw that it was a mostly blue-sky day, but the wind was still gale force... Id guess that the wind was constantly over 90Kmh and gusting to 150Kmh or so.
Ive been in winds of over 200Kmh when I was working in the Antarctic, so I have some reference experience and I think my guess is about right.




















As a side note, The three strongest wind experiences I have ever had were:
1) In New Zealand on the Tasman glacier, I got plucked off the boulder (I was laying down and holding on tight with hands gripped and feet hooked under the edge, and a very heavy backpack on) I was clinging to and thrown about 4m by a very strong gust (no idea what speed wind).
2) In Antarctica on Bechervaise Island during ablizard, I went out to count some penguins. When I later checked the site weather station, the wind was steadily over 200Kmh for that hour and peaked at 256Kmh.
3) Here in Patagonia (Near Calafate) on a ski trip, Myself and three friends were pinned down for 24hr in our tents in winds that were Very much like the winds I just had last night :)


Back to the current "wind experience"!
So, I pack up my stuff (in carefull sequence so that nothing gets blown away!) and Ive decide over-night that three days hiking is enough, and that with my disintegrating shoes and bung shoulder, that I should head out today. So, I set off back toward the parking lot.
The wind is mostly behind me in this direction which helps a bit. But the wind is very strong and the gusts really want to knock you over, so its cautious going in places. Fortunately though, you can hear the really strong gusts comming from the roaring they make in the bushes. You can brace and avoid the worst of the problems. But the wind wants to get me if it can... I can hear it snapping at me from a nearby ridge crest... Its not a turn of phrase! When really strong winds go past a sharp corner like a rock ridge or roof line of a building, it can and does actually make snapping sounds like a whip crack!... It happened twice on the walk out this day.







And there was another spot on the walk where I had quite a wide stream to cross by hopping on boulders. I had started across when I heard one of those strong gusts comming!... It would surely knock me off my little ballanced perch if I stayed where I was. So, summoning my best "Shaolin KungFu" technique, I did a very rapid ballanced Hop, step, step, hop, jump to the other side and then braced up against the far bank.
But, the wind was gonna get me some how, and seeing that I had averted its planned disater for me, it scooped up the waves off the stream and threw them at me sideways! So now, rather than being wet on the bottom and dry on top (as per if the wind had blown me off my rock mid-stream), I find I am wet all down one side instead!... Never mind, the weather conditions at the moment are just about optimal for wind drying... Should only take a few minutes :)))

The wind is strong for sure, but its actually not very cold... Its definitely warmer than the air was yesterday evening. I think its probably due to the wind coming down off the mountains. As it loses altitude, it gains temperature to compensate (PV/T=Constant... Universal gass law). But who cares why... It makes for a pleasant air-drying experience :)
I make it back to the motorbike after a few hours of hiking, and Im quite glad to take the pack off for the last time.





But, the wicked west wind has been up to its tricks again. It seems that my bike has been blown over during the night!... This is no mean feat! I would have to put a great deal of effort to push my bike over side ways from on its centre stand (over 250Kg). But, thats what has happened. Some one has picked it back up for me, but because I left my helmet locked to one of the side mirrors, it has snapped off the mirror! No problem there, but the bracket that has broken also holds the front brake lever in place, and now its just flopping around like a birds broken wing!
And there is a new big gouge in my helmet... I guess that goes quite nicely with the other gouges :)
Hmmm... Ill need to fix that!, But I cant do it now, so Ill just go slow and use the back brake till I get back to town.





I start the ride back out of the park and its a real handful...with my bung shoulder, I can barely get the bike off its side-stand let alone lift it should it fall over. And Im having to use both feet as out-riggers whenever Im going really slowly because the gusts are so strong and unpredictable... And that means that I cant use the foot brake at all... But I cant use the hand brake cos its broken, and if Im facing either into or with the wind then the bike just blows along with the wind!... But if I park sideways then I get blown over!... And its on those really bad gravel roads... and there are tourists being blown around across the road when they get out of their buses... Hmmmm.. Quite challenging!

I manage to stay upright and get to a view spot with, of all things, a nice view! :)
A nice tourist manages to snap a quick photo for me before scuttling back onto the bus (with the remaining few that have not been blown off the other side of the road :)





Then I head on out of the park.
On the way I go through a little valley in the hills that is a bit more sheltered than the rest of Patagonia. It seems that the Guanacos know this, and there is a herd there of several hundred of them... Cant help myself... I take lots of pictures, even though trying to hold the camera still is nigh on impossible even in this sheltered spot :)















Then on I ride and before the mountains of the park disappear behind the hills, I take just a couple more pictures of the amazing lenticular cloud formations on the peak.



And then its back to trying to ride this beast again...
I make it back to the pavement and then eventually back to Puerto Natales and the hostel... pheeeew!


Well, that was a great little trip. I really liked the park and having a hike.
And though there was some pain from my feet and shoulder, and though I got virtually no sleep in the wind and my bike got damaged, I have to say that ...
... I had a real blast! :)))

Torres Del Paine

I rode out to the park from Puerto Natales which is a nice little place down here on an inlet from the Chilean side of Patagonia. Its a largish town but certainly not a city. Its the base for any tourists going to the park which is located about 130Km away.

Anyway, I rode out along the highway... Which became gravel after about 40Km or so and the gravel lasted all the way to the park. And, I have to say, it was probably some of the worst gravel road that Ive been on, with loads of pot-holes and constant corrugations! Thats really surprising because Torres Del Paine is a very attractive and very popular park... And to top it off, they charge you a hefty entry fee at the park too ($US15), so I would expect they would look after the roads... But no, I guess they are using the funds to support other less lucrative parks or something.

Well before you get to the park entrance, the local native wildlife becomes very abundant. There are herds of Guanacos and lots of Nandus and I also saw lots of the small grey foxes about. I got to the entrance and paid my fees and then drove another eight Km to the point where I wanted to hike from.











I organised my stuff, put my bike up on its centre stand and locked it all up, and put on my improvised backpack and headed off. My backpack was made from two dry bags... One with an integral harness and the other without. I brought the harness one for just this sort of thing, but its got no waist belt so all the load is on your shoulders which at the moment (after my little spill) is a bit of a pain :)

I headed up a valley into the mountains to a camp about 10 Km away. Its at the base of another short valley above which there are some very impressive rock towers which the park is named after. Again, they are rock-climbing icons, though Ive never been up to see them. They were again first climbed in the fifties but I dont know by whom. As with all of the rock peaks Ive posted pictures of recently, they are considered "extreme". To put that in perspective a little, Mt Everest can have more than one hundred people reach its summit in a single day during the climbing season, but these rock spires and towers may be lucky to see only a single ascent in a year... They are only undertaken by the most skilled and dedicated climbers.
The valley on the way up is wooded with lots of Notho-fagus (false Beech) which actually makes for quite an ugly tree around here! The small leaves are a lovely light green and it grows in quite dense groves, but it gets fungus problems in the heartwood and then the branches fall off and the trees get all gnarled. But, it does look really nice when it gets "bonsai'ed" by the alpine conditions and the ferocious winds that come through :)







Its late summer here and some of the Beech leaves are starting to turn to autumn colours ... It must be really beautiful here in another month or so :)





Actually, there are some very nice groves of these Notho-fagus trees around, but they are not here in this park... Its too harsh and they dont get very big (maybe only 5m tall or so), and the nice ones Ive seen are the big ones that are 10-15m high.





I got to camp at about 3:30pm and set up my little tent... Its under the trees so its should be fine if the winds pick up. Then I went for a hike UP the short valley to the towers. I say UP, because its about 500m of height gain in a couple of Km of distance. The sky is overcast but the towers are not in clouds and its a nice view. Then I come back down to camp and cook a quick one-pot meal on my little camp stove.
The next morning I get up early and hike back up to the towers to see them in morning light... Again, the clouds are a bit of a problem, but after waiting around a bit, the light was better.









Then its back down again to pack up camp and head down the valley and along a lake front to another camping area.


I hike along for a few hours, but Im slowing down and feeling tired. The shoes I have are falling to pieces and giving me blisters, and my injured shoulder really does not like the load of the backpack on it...
So, I decide to break park rules and camp on my own and not in a designated camp area. I agree with the rules for a park that is this popular (people camping everywhere whenever they want would destroy the vegetation very quickly). So, I sneak off over a hill and out of site of everyone when I get the chance. I find a spot that is in a bit of a hollow near the top of a hill, and also has some shelter from a few low trees... It also has quite a nice view :)

Its about 5pm by this time anyway, so Im happy just to relax and enjoy the view...