It was time to meet up with Kieran and Charlotte again who we had organised to do a bit of trekking so finding out that they had already got to Puerto Natales before us and sorted us out somewhere to stay came as a bit of a relief following our arduous ridiculously long day bus ride up from Ushuaia. After initial greetings and quite a few beers on our first night it wrote off the idea of going to Torres del Paine national park the next day so we had some time to explore the town. That didn't take too long as the small town is home to a square a handful of shops and many stray dogs which love the attention and follow you about. Katie soon found another dog for "operation South American dog rescue" where we seriously think about shipping them back to the UK! The four of us stocked up on food and supplies for our trek into the park the following day and took a reasonably early night for our early start the next morning.

We awoke around 6am for our transport to the park and though the sun doesn't really rise until around 9am the skies still looked very ominously dark and threatening. Just before our transport arrived at 7am the heavens opened and we all wondered if we should have taken peoples advice that our trip out of season is out of season for a reason! By the time we had arrived at the national park the weather had completely changed and we were greeted with blue skies to start our walk. We told our driver that we would meet him in 3 days time at a pre-destined pick up spot and we set off carrying everything we would need for the next 3 days.

We started off at a blistering pace lead by long legged Kieran. We left the other 4 people who had started the walk at the same place as us in our wake. After a couple of hours we decided to stop for a well-earned breather for 5 or 10 minutes wondering where our planned lunch stop was. The following group finally caught up with us and pressed on past us. We picked up our packs loaded ourselves up and continued walking to find that the other group had stopped just over the brow of the hill that we were resting on, eating lunch at our predetermined lunch stop point! After our feast we pressed on towards our first nights camping stop. As we started to head away from the river we came out into the open plains that are most associated to Patagonia. We were hit square in the face with a ridiculously strong head wind. Kieran was not perturbed by this minor inconvenience and simply increased his pace! The other three of us struggled on crossing the plain for the next couple of hours when we finally caught up with Kieran sheltering just before the most amazing view we had come across looking out over the lakes towards the cluster of mountains in the centre of the national park. Being close to the shoreline of the lake at this point myself and Kieran did what any red blooded male would do in this situation and started throwing stones into the water which then developed into a stone skimming competition. Katie and Charlotte allowed us our 5 minutes of fun but then became increasingly impatient as we strived to get over 15 skims out of one stone… We turned around after what we were sure was a record breaking achievement in stone skimming for some acknowledgement to find that the two had long left! As the early night started to draw in we reached our campsite for the evening and hastily put up our tent in the least windy area that we could find. The camping area was also home to one of the only hostels in the park and therefore was reasonably well serviced with an enclosed cook area with stoves and a sink for us to prepare our evening meal. After we had cooked and devoured our immense chilli, causing many jealous looks from our fellow campers who were tucking into delicious freeze dried soups and smash, we ventured quietly over to the hostel where we managed to sneak into the staff only private lounge to sit by the log burner with a nice cold beer from the bar. We neglected to let our fellow campers know about this little bit of luck and left them huddled around the gas burners in the cooking hut for warmth.

The morning was dry and the wind and rain that we had lashed against the tent in the night had subsided so we knocked up a quick bit of breakfast and packed a day bag to head up towards the glacier which would be a good days walk there and back. After about half an hour the heavens opened but we chose to ignore this and pressed on. Then the wind picked up but we still pressed on… Then the wind got stronger making it difficult to stand and possible to actually lean against the wind in places… We carried on regardless. After another hour of this and once we were all soaked through and freezing we decided that enough was enough and we should turn back. This then meant that the hours of walking the in the rain had soaked our front so the hours walking back to the tents could get the rest of us drenched. We returned looking decidedly bedraggled and sneaked back into the private lounge to gather around the log burner in not much more than our pants to dry off! The afternoon treated us to blue skies so with the damp tents packed away we headed out for the second nights camping area which was about 5 hours walk away. Again the scenery was absolutely breathtaking as we looked out over the lakes to one side and the huge granite mountains to the other. Arriving at the deserted camping area we crossed a haggard old bridge and set up our tent noting signs saying camp fires are not permitted etc. As the first flakes of snow started to fall and the only alternative shelter from our tents was a three sided lean-to of wood and corrugated iron we soon had a small blaze going in the shelter where we dried off our still wet shoes ate dinner and chatted until our fuel for the fire ran out.

Day three treated us to a good and clear fresh crisp start to the weather and small rodent droppings in most of our food. Somehow a small critter had made its way into our tent for a midnight feast as we froze in our sleeping bags. Oh well we'll just pick them out! The days walking to the next camp site was to be long, and from what other walkers had told us, a lot easier if we were doing it the other way round! The paths were up and down and at no point at all level with large rocks and eroded areas below your feet meaning that you spent most of the day looking down to make sure you didn't trip over. As we were following the shoreline of the lake the wind that whistled around the mountain could be seen coming across the lake causing waves as it travelled. As it hit the land below us it accelerated up the hillside and made it impossible to stand up without getting blown over or off the hillside, which is what nearly happened to Katie. After a quick lunch of spaghetti, sausage, butter and chilli flakes (with the occasional mouse turd thrown in for good luck) we finally managed to get out of the prevailing winds into a more sheltered valley enclosed by green hills each side and cattle. We assumed that we were getting closer to civilization and the camping area would be round the corner. We were wrong. The walk continued. We arrived at out campsite around sundown and hastily put up the tents as rain was threatening again. Due to mouse attack and the fact that we were staying an extra night in the park we had well and truly run out of food by this point. Luckily the nearby posh hostel that we had to walk by to get to our camping site had a small shop selling essentials at grossly inflated prices but most importantly chocolate and cake! Myself and Kieran returned from our food run in the rain and all four of us got into our little two man tent to sit out the storm over an attempted game of cards. After 10 minutes and severe deep vein thrombosis Kieran and Charlotte went back to their tent, we cooked our meals and turned it in for an early night.

Day 4 was to be an easy 3 hour walk back to the ranger station to await our transport so we were in no hurry to leave. As the weather was good with clear skies I decided to start a fire for no better reason than for the hell of it. Once a good blaze had been established we cooked our eggs and generally rested our aching limbs before the final push to the ranger station. We packed down our tents for the final time and picked up our packs and hit the road. After an hour a car from the posh hotel pulled up besides us asking if we would like a lift. Bearing in mind that there were two occupants and their luggage, they were offering a lift to 4 people with backpacks in a Fiesta! Katie and Charlotte jumped in with all the luggage and disappeared down the road whilst Kieran and I carried on on foot like true gentlemen. An hour later we were safely all on the transport heading back to Puerto Natales looking forward to a well deserved steak dinner and a couple of beers in the evening. Four days was bewildering being constantly surrounded by awe inspiring scenery yet simultaneously feeling dreadfully uncomfortable and freezing cold. I think we chose the right time of the year to do the walk though as the crowds in the warmer times would make the paths seem more like Oxford Street rather than the vast open expanses as they should be seen.