Torres del Paine - or how I learned to appreciate the solitude of some hut hikes in the Alps

Subtitle: We missed the ship (Verena) or why sometimes it's good not to reach your goal (Helmut)

So, in 2019, after globalization and tourism boom, it's not so easy to make Torres del Paine as a national park = nature, wilderness, untouched landscapes... 😉 your own.
Helmut was there 30 years ago: free routes, wild camping, few people.
Today you have a choice: €300/night in one of the simple hotels on the edge of the park or, for the very daring: €40/night for a platform in a camp where you can pitch your tent. If you don't already have it with you on your 5-week tour of Chile, you can rent it 'cheaply', along with a sleeping bag, sleeping mat, hiking poles, cooking equipment, etc., at every second door in Puerto Natales. You already have warm clothes for Patagonia, there can be temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius at night in the tent. For the full circuit, which you're even allowed to walk in both directions (!), you need about 6-8 days. You also have to carry all the supplies yourself or you can of course also take advantage of the on-site catering for a 'small fee' (about €80 per day for all meals). There are also 'kiosks' at all the campsites, in case you miscalculate your calorie needs for an 18km/day hike with 18kg on your back. The only thing missing is free WiFi along the way. Reservations open every year in May. That's when the dedicated wildlife hiker sits down in front of the computer and happily books all the campsites one after the other. Some are private, others are state-owned, no one really knows for sure. If you decide spontaneously to complete the circuit, you can simply sacrifice a day of vacation and spend all your time visiting all the providers and booking any available capacity directly, without knowing if A, B, and C actually still have free spots.
Nice, such a wild and free outdoor experience! And so inexpensive, the close, simple life in the midst of the wild nature of the national park.
At first, we wanted to completely remove Torres from our to-do list, but then our host in Valle del Elqui (and actually everyone else we met) raved about it (goose bumps on the first visit, I cried, I want to go back...), so we thought we should at least do day trips in the park so as not to be completely ignorant about Patagonia. And so, one beautiful sunny morning, we set off on the first trail with about (no joke, we counted!) 5000 other people to feel the spirit of Torres del Paine (the famous tower-like rock formations, see photo). Actually, we wanted to be clever and be ahead of everyone else, but this plan was foiled by our continued inability to understand the logic of Chilean maps. And so, for about an hour, we got to know the charms of the Chilean Pampa around the national park (nandus, sheep, gauchos, carabineros), until we finally reached one of the park entrances along with all the bus tours. Not that we had been on the right track before, but then turned back out of doubt... But what German trusts the bus caravan and doesn't think they can find a better and faster way with a rental car!
So, Torres del Paine, about 9km there and back, at least 800 meters of altitude gain and loss, very steep towards the end, you can't help but be amazed at who can tackle it, in what physical and equipment condition!
The trail is actually beautiful, or it used to be, before the daily 5000 people. We had to set our fast walking pace to endure it, walking in line, as it were, to the top of the mountain. This way, we could occasionally have a break from the crowd and with a friendly 'Permisso', everyone would let us pass. Arriving at the rock formations, with the blue lake in front and the blue sky behind, is truly impressive to see. (If you can ignore the loud Americans next to you and the flying drones😉). Of course, we also ran into half of the boat crew again. By the time we got back down, the Altenhofens were pretty exhausted. Despite our training in the Alps, it was a challenging route!
Day 2! Plan: southern entrance (exact directions are now pre-programmed into Google), boat at 9am across Lago Petrohué, then hike towards the Grey Glacier. Implementation: departure at 7am, we had no trouble finding the entrance, only the timing didn't quite fit. Whether it was the time we lost, like when filling up with gas (oh, the gas cap is on the other side!), the small talk with two boat travelers whom we passed on our bikes on the way to the entrance, or the locked door towards the boat dock... anyway, we were about 10 seconds late. We stepped onto the dock (running) and the ferry left, even though they had seen us. The next one: in 2 hours!
After the shock and anger subsided (now we're not going at all!), we came up with a new plan: visit small viewpoints at different locations in the park. And guess what? It was wonderful, we timed it well: We were almost alone at Mirador de los Cuernos, saw an impressive snow avalanche above the glacier, encountered wild guanacos, saw a lot of blue glacier ice at Lago Grey, ate wild blueberries (probably forbidden), walked with and against a lot of wind, had time for a nap in the car, gave a ride to funny, German-speaking young women from Uruguay and a Bavarian (who also spoke good German)... It was a really nice second day in Torres del Paine!