Entries from Torres del Paine

Hello one last time from Chile!

It has been quite the adventure down here for us, and today we hiked the final few miles back to the trailhead to complete the O Trek.

Thankfully the weather held out one more day to allow for spectacular views in all directions and comfortable temps. We made our way on what we are calling Chilean Flat, but you back home would call rolling terrain. More ups and downs than just easy strolling. It took us about 5 hours to reach the park gate and connect with our van for our return to Puerto Natales for our last night here. The team will head to Punta Arenas tomorrow and catch flights home.

It’s been an incredible journey here with some of the most enjoyable friends we could all have. Full of great stories, laughter, nicknames, and all sorts of joking along the way, for 8 days and over 80 miles.

I asked each team member to pick just one work that best describes their experience, and in no particular order here they are.

Undulating
Gratitude
Puma
Resolve
Friendship
Rocks
Extraordinary
Thankful
Grit
Perseverance

A special thanks to our amazing local guides Mauricio and Hector for sharing their beautiful country with us.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the best team!

The weather continues to be kind to us. 

After a pretty windy evening that rattled tents all night, the morning was calm and far less breezy. 

The team had breakfast and hit the trail about 8:00 heading west along the W trek passing many trekkers and stunning turquoise lakes .

Around 3 hours into our hike we opted for a moderate side trip hike high up into what’s called the French Valley to see the backside of the towers of Torres Del Paine. This 2.5 hr hike took us into a massive cirque with hanging glaciers that we could not only hear, but could often see them cascading down the mountains.

After descending the team finished off the final 3 hours into camp, took hot showers, had a few cold beverages and then sat down to dinner with our whole team including our 8 very important porters.  

One more night here on the Trek! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the whole crew

It was another day full of adventure here in Patagonia! 

After a much needed nights rest the team woke to a beautiful morning, and not wanting to miss an opportunity we hopped aboard a boat and headed over to explore the Grey Glacier located nearby. 

We did a quick refresher of crampons and harnesses before our glacier guides took us out on the ice to explore. Where we walked around many cravasses, took pictures, learned a little about how the glaciers have receded significantly in the last few years and move down slope roughly 80 meters a year. 

We returned to camp after about 4 hours to have lunch and prepare for the 4 hour hike to our next camp. Along the way we watched several condors soar close by and just enjoyed the stunning scenery. 

Everyone is going great and throughly enjoying each day. Although I can tell the fatigue of hiking so many days is starting to build. But this team is tough and have been on many adventures together, so I’m sure they’ll easily rally for the last few days we have here. 

We have officially left the O portion of the trek and have joined many many other trekkers on what’s call the W part. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team!

What a day we had here in Chile! 

While technically there isn’t a “summit” day on this trek, today was officially our big day. 

The forecast had us slightly concerned we were going to be hiking all day in rain, but the weather gods were very good to us. We left camp in the dark at 5:40am and made relatively good time up to John Gardner Pass, our high point. Then descend slowly and steeply back down to the elevation of the surrounding lakes. All in all it took the team just under 11hr with breaks to finally arrive in camp for the night. 

To say the views were amazing would be an understatement, and it’s difficult to put into words how truly beautiful this part of the world is with all the mountains, huge glaciers, turquoise lakes, and peaceful forest that we’ve experienced thus far. 

We have just wrapped up another delicious meal and I’m happy to say the whole team is freshly showered too! 

RMI Guide Casey and Team

Greetings from Torres del Paine! 

We had another beautiful day here in Patagonia! 

Today the team woke to clear skies and astounding views after an evening of rain that certainly had us worried as to what morning would bring. 

We left camp and once again made our way through dense and majestic forest, with surrounding views of glaciers off in the distance. It’s incredibly beautiful and we are slowly leaning why this place is so special. 

We have just arrived in our new camp for the night after about 5 hours on the trail. Our timing was perfect today as we hardly encountered anyone else on the trail, which is rare as there are about 50+ other hikers making the same journey as us. We’ve met many kind people from all over the world here in camp, where at any point you can hear 4 or 5 different languages being spoken. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team!

Hola amigos, 

All is well here in Patagonia. 

We had a very special visitor last night and this morning before hitting the trail. 

A adolescent Puma decided to show up and walked right through camp and then again this morning we saw her again hunting in the adjacent field next to camp. Nothing to worry about though, as these cats are NOT interested in humans. They primarily hunt rabbits (which she was chasing this morning) and they hunt guanacos, a close, but smaller relative of the llama found here in Patagonia. Regardless, it was spectacular to see one in the wild. 

Today the team hiked about 7 hours with breaks through small forests, some wetlands, and open country to reach camp. The weather was very pleasant all day, allowing beautiful views very with little rain and a nice breeze to keep the temperature perfect for hiking. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the crew

Hello again Everyone. 

The team is doing great here in Patagonia. 

Today we thankfully had a relaxed start with breakfast just after 8 and then packed up our things, met our porters and hit the trail shortly after 10am. 

It was hot starting out in the sunshine, but luckily the Patagonian weather and wind arrived to help keep us cool for nearly the entire day. 

We had a few passing light showers that kept us guessing if we should be wearing our Gore-Tex or not, but that’s pretty standard here. It only took about 5 hours hiking with breaks to reach our next home for the night, called Seron.  We quickly settled into camp, took showers and before we knew it, our two amazing Chilean guides (Mauricio and Hector) had a huge charcuterie board laid out for us. Clearly we are being well taken care of and the team is doing great great! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

 Wow. What a day we had! 

Today the team started early with breakfast at 5:30am and hit the road shortly after 6 for our 2 hour drive to the park entrance. 

Once at the park we checked in and dropped off our gear not needed for the hike and quickly transitioned into hiking mode, and what a doozy it was! We hiked up into a beautiful valley along a river, through the forest, and eventually up onto the moraine to fantastic views of the Torres del Paine massif, which the park takes its name. 

It was a bit of a haul to be honest, especially after days of sitting on planes, boats and eating endless amazing food. It was a little bit of a shock to our systems, but the team did great making good time despite there being quite a few other people hiking alongside us. 

The weather remained mostly pleasant the entire hike to the view point, before the famous Patagonian weather arrived and welcomed us with relatively gusty winds and a few light showers. 

It was a big day for us, and the team has happily returned to camp and I’m certain will sleep deeply after a the 10hr round trip adventure. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the team!

Hola from Puerto Natales!

Beautiful day here in southern Chile for us. The team met shortly after a hearty breakfast and plenty of coffee to walk through the schedule and review all the necessary gear to keep the famed Patagonian weather at bay.

We then took most of the afternoon to explore, shop, read, nap, adventure around town by ourselves. Everyone seemed to have had a great day and we wrapped up the evening with meeting our 2 local guides, Mauricio, and Hector that will accompany us and share their insights on this trek.

We finished the evening with another wonderful meal and great conversations and a short but beautiful walk back to the hotel.

We head into the mountains tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and friends!

Hello again.

What an amazing day we had here in Chile today!

Today we started early, leaving the hotel and headed to the local marina to catch a boat ride to Magdalena Island to do a little penguin viewing. It was a beautiful and calm day which made the 1.5 hr boat ride relatively smooth and allowed us to glimpse a few whales breaching and dolphins too.

Once on the Island, we were all in awe of the cute penguins that were far less curious about us as we were about them. They just waddled in every direction while we took photos and just enjoyed being in such a peaceful place. We only spent an hour with them before heading back to the boat to minimize our impact.

Once back in Punta Arenas we rushed off to a quick lunch at one of the incredible restaurants in town, then hopped aboard our shuttle to Puerto Natales.

It was a smooth, albeit windy ride across the Patagonian landscape, as we  passed many Guanacos and Nandus along the way.

The team has just returned from another fantastic meal and are headed to bed.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team