Chile Day 21 - Los Torres - End of the trek.

The wind and rain had moved shortly after going to bed the night before and sleep was minimal.  Alarms went off at 1:30 and Scott was out of the tent by 1:45 with Tori following soon after.  A bit of rallying and we headed out shortly after 2 am.  Eventually we left with Scott upset about how long it was taking.  After an argument with Kieran we marched quickly in silence for the next while eventually calming down and apologizing.  With the adrenaline we made the first half of the ascent 30 minutes faster than expected and the lengthy second half in the expected time.  The hike felt like it was never ending as finding the trail through the boulder field at the top was tough with the minimal pre sunrise light.  Eventually we found our way over the top and into the bowl that shows off the glacial lake beneath the iconic towers.  The wind was howling and the temperature hovering around freezing.  Tori and Scott settled in to wait for the sun to rise while Jared and Kieran decided to head down. With the clouds low on the horizon and half an hour after the sun was supposed to rise we decided to head down. As we crested the bowl the crowds broke lighting up the sky and in turn the towers.  Despite the morning resentments watching the towers light up was a stunning way to cap the trek. 

The rain and wind continued on the climb back down.  We were able to appreciate the views of the river on the way down and felt bad for those who were climbing up into bad weather.  The bad weather would force some areas of the park to be evacuated a few days later.   Upon arriving back at camp we were fortunate to have enough sunshine to dry out the tents and time to pack them before a bit of rain came over again.  Eventually we caught a shuttle and then a bus back to Puerto Natales, all of us happy to be finished, but also happy to have seen such an amazing part of the world.  If you ever get the opportunity to experience Patagonia do it!

final state of the beard.

Tori got her wish on valentines day.  maybe even more than she wished for.