On the 2nd of September, after a day spent relaxing in El Calafate, we took a 6 hour bus back across to the Chilean side of Patagonia. The bus headed high up into an alpine landscape blanketed with snow before descending back down into the vast windswept plains that we had become accustomed to seeing but were nonetheless still in awe of. Around 2pm we arrived in the small town of Puerto Natales nestled between rolling hills and the opening of the 'Última Esperanza Sound'. The town had an almost Wild-West shanty feel about it as many of the buildings were constructed from corrugated tin. After wandering around for about an hour looking for our hostel as usual, we eventually arrived at the aptly named 'Tin House'. On arrival we were warmly welcomed by Julie and Carlos who managed the hostel, both making us feel very at home. Tin House was everything we were hoping it would be; more like a guesthouse than a hostel, with a warm cosy atmosphere, a kitchen and living room that made you feel like you were living at home, and a stove that was always blasting out heat keeping out the arctic Patagonian chill. Our main reason for heading this far south (the most Southern point of the world before hitting Antarctica) was to hike the famous 5 day 'W-Trek' aptly named as the trek route takes the shape of a large 'W'. The trek is situated in Torres Del Paine National Park and with Puerto Natales being the nearest major town it was the perfect place to get advice and rent equipment. After unpacking our gear we discovered the hostel had free tea and made the most of it by brewing up a batch in a teapot and sitting around the stove like a bunch of old ladies at the W.I. Afterwards we donned some warm clothes and headed into town to look for rental bargains and speak to the local rangers about current conditions on the trek. Having already received some advice from Julie and Carlos, we were confident that we would quickly have the trek organised. However, we were soon confused to find that everyone was telling us the park was currently closed as it was out of season and there was a large quantity of snow over the passes; we were informed that the only way we would be able to see some of the scenic parts of the trek would be to hire an expensive guide... Confounded by all the conflicting advice we were receiving and slightly stressed that we may have spent a long time travelling this far south for a trek we couldn't undertake, we decided to instead relax that evening and went out for dinner at a local pub enjoying some craft beers and hearty Chilean grub in the form of a 'chorrillana'.

The next morning, fresh faced after a good night's sleep and a great breakfast including bread which was homemade by Julie, we decided we would stay positive and press ahead with our hiking plans regardless of the mixed advice we were getting. We managed to price up the jackets, tents and other equipment we would require and collect food provisions from the supermarket; something which we had become quite efficient at doing by now. Sean, who was still in convoy, unfortunately informed us he wouldn't be able to do the trek with us as he'd found out his Granddad had been taken ill, but would probably still be around when we returned. That evening we relaxed and enjoyed a couple of bottles of Chile's famous Carmenère wine and played a few hands of poker. The following morning we picked up all our hiking gear which included cooking equipment, tent, roll mats, hiking poles, and waterproof jackets. This involved collecting these items from a very irritating fat woman who wouldn't let us get a word in edgeways, and treated us like we'd never stepped outside before, even though by the looks of her size we doubted she'd ever hiked or put up the tent she so patronisingly showed us how to do). We also finished our shopping for provisions to last us 5 days, making sure we had plenty of salami and snickers as usual. The weather report indicated that we would probably be getting snow at some point during the trek, so we packed for any eventuality as the weather in Patagonia is notoriously unpredictable and unforgiving! We also skyped Sophie's dad, nan and sister that day and were introduced to a sleeping Thea, Sophie's baby niece, for the first time. That evening we sat down to a large meal in preparation for the next 5 days of what we were sure would be exhausting, dirty, cold, hungry, but spectacular days of hiking.

The alarm rang at 5:30am, all our gear packed and ready we headed out the door with some heavy backpacks while it was still dark, then caught a bus which would take us to the start point of the trek...eventually. What we didn't realise was that the 1 hour journey would take three times as long due to the bus driver stopping at every viewing point along the way, allowing a group of tourists a chance to take pictures. Eventually we arrived at one of the ranger stations (known locally as Refugio's). After signing in and going through a brief induction to the park (including information on how to deal with a mountain lion encounter if we were lucky/unlucky enough to see one) we set out to start our first day of the 'W Trek'!

Torres del Paine National Park covers 2400km², encompassing mountains, glaciers, tundra, forests, lakes and rivers on the Chilean side of Patagonia. Known for its stunning landscapes and vistas, it is topped off by the famous 3 Torres (towers) that rise over 2500m above sea level. This wild and rugged environment is home to a variety of fauna including the 'big 5'; the Mountain lion, Andean Condor, Rhea (like an Ostrich), Andean deer, and Guanaco (related to the llama). Being in the park out of season has both its pros and cons; there would be fewer rangers in the park, the weather would be colder with greater chance of snow, but there would be less wind. Some of the Refugio's would also be closed which meant there would be no option but to camp, but on the up side there would be a fraction of the usual number of hikers in the park. Access to the start of the Trek is also different out of season, meaning we were required to walk an extra 5-6 hours to the first camp instead of using the ferry service which is the norm in the summer months. We certainly didn't notice a lack of wind and rain as we headed out following parallel along a river however; if there was amazing landscape to be seen, that day it was shrouded in cloud and rain as we walked against a driving wind! We stopped off for some lunch in a small shack before reaching the blue 'Lago Pehoe' lake, heading up and over a small rise which then revealed 'Paine Grande', our first Refugio and camp for the night. Normally the Refugio would be bustling with hikers, dining and keeping warm in the large cafeteria, but out of season it is pretty much empty, run by a skeleton staff. Rooms were available and very tempting but we managed to resist, and put together our tiny coffin-style 2 man tent under shelter before carrying the whole thing round out into the open, the tent billowing like a sail in the wind and entertaining the mug onlookers inside, and pitching up under a sheltered area at the foot of a hill about 50 metres from the Refugio. All the camps have designated cooking areas due to the high fire risk in the park, which luckily meant that we could sit inside the hut, use its' kitchen and warm ourselves and our wet socks by the fire where we planned our next day's hike, which would take us north to 'Grey glacier' then back on ourselves to the Refugio and onward east to camp Italiano. Whilst mentioning the high fire risk; due to the constant wind, and a couple of previous fires, a complete fire ban was put in place in the park a few years ago, apart from in designated sheltered areas. However, in 2011 an Israeli tourist (who claimed to be burning his toilet paper, but who is widely reported to have been messing around with fire) managed to burn down 176km² of the reserve in a fire that lasted a week with the wind spreading the flames with speed, and the devastating effects of which can still be seen across the park.

It was 6.30; cold, dark and windy (usual weather). Our backs were already aching from our very thin roll mats and we'd had an exceptionally cold night's sleep in our tiny tent. We made ourselves some breakfast, took a few photos of the sunrise, donned our windbreaker jackets (the zip of which on Sophie's had decided to break on the first day and was constantly coming undone from the bottom up), and headed in the direction of the glacier. The trail was easy to follow and fairly rocky, mountains rising to snow capped peaks to our east and a large series of lakes containing small chunks of blue ice to our west. There was some forest and vegetation but much was still burnt and scarred by the fires. After about 3 hours, the glacier slowly came into view, and while not as grand as the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, it was much wilder and more remote. We had planned to have lunch by the glacier but the winds coming off were so strong and biting we ended up gobbling down our salami sandwiches on the steps of an empty hut. Not huge fans of backtracking over the same route, the walk back seemed to go on for an age, and we had to entertain ourselves for hours by playing the alphabet letter word association game with various topics (naming an animal / city / actor with every letter of the alphabet), regularly going silent whilst we traversed more tricky bits of the route with complete concentration, as well as always giving up on the last 5 letters of the alphabet. That, and doing our best impressions of South-Park characters seemed to pass the time…we hope no-one else was too near to hear our madness. Near the Refugio Sophie disturbed an enormous eagle that had just caught and was feeding on a hare; quite a gruesome, David Attenborough documentary style sight to see close up! We had a brief break back at the Refugio before packing up our tent and setting off west on the 2.5 hour hike to our second nights' camp. By this time, through lack of using her poles on the first day despite the weight of her backpack exerting more pressure, Sophie's feet were already pretty painful, and she continued with them covered in a fair few layers of plasters to prevent further blisters and hobbled along using her poles. We headed along in the shadow of the mountains that lay to our left, wind thundering off their steep slopes and into the valley, slamming right into us and on several occasions stopping us dead in our tracks. It was along this trail that we came to realise why the hike was a must do in Chile; the views rivalled anything we had seen on our travels. The 'Cuerno Principal' and its neighbouring peaks first came into clear view that afternoon, resembling a set of large jagged teeth reaching heights of over 2600m, the towers split into three shades of brown-grey in unnaturally straight lines; a classic example of sedimentary and granite rock layers formed millions of years ago and worn down during glacial erosion. As the trail took us along the shore line of the large 'Lago Skottsberg' lake we stopped and watched, transfixed as twisting vortexes of water were driven across its surface by the winds howling down from the mountains. Eventually the vegetation increased and changed from the charred remains of trees and scrub to green forest as we slowly ascended into a wide valley. As evening drew in and light faded we reached camp 'Italiano'; nestled amongst the pine trees it offered some shelter from the wind. There were only 2 other tents here and by the time we had set up ours and eaten some pasta for dinner, it was pitch black and time for bed.

Our 2nd night's sleep was better, though we still had to rotate ourselves regularly like chickens on a rotisserie to save our backs and dead arms. This was in addition to constantly trying to ignore needing the toilet throughout the night, for the fear of the skanky toilets, the freezing cold wind and the awaiting mountain lions! By 8am the next morning, we had set off for our 3rd day, reaching the halfway point of the 'W' and ascended up the 'Valle del Francés'. We had been told that only half of the trail was open due to snowfall and treacherous weather conditions, but as usual decided to see for ourselves how far we could reach. The trail started fairly easily in alpine like conditions, heading up into the valley parallel to a fast flowing river which ultimately turned into a small glacier and ice bank. Eventually we reached snow and the path became more difficult to follow opening out into a wider valley. We were now surrounded by snow-capped mountains and an eerie silence; many of the trees were burnt and scarred, their black trunks and branches set in stark contrast to the white snow that lay about a foot deep in places. The snowy trail was a new kind of hiking location for us, and proved quite a magical setting. The silence was broken at one point by dozens of cold-loving, bright green and red parakeets up in the trees, squawking loudly as we trundled beneath them. Due to deep snow and ice we didn't quite reach the highest point in the valley as marked on our map, but managed to get within a few hundred metres, taking a break on a large boulder which must have come off the mountain at 'Britanico' viewpoint. It was an amazing setting to rest; from this vantage point we could see all the way down the valley to a series of lakes and mountains in the distance. As we headed back down, white clouds drew in and it started to snow fairly heavily, obscuring all views of the valley below. On the way down we heard several canon like booms and amazingly managed to witness a number of avalanches racing down to cover the foot of the glacier. Once back at camp we went through the usual process of packing up our gear and headed east once more through some woodland and along the small pebble bank of a lake before reaching 'Refugio Cuernos' at around 5:30pm. With sore feet, achy backs and a chill, we decided we would treat ourselves to a room for one night in the Refugio to renew our energy for the longest second to last day of hiking. However, on arrival they told us that each bed in a shared dorm would cost us the equivalent of £35 which was outrageous, so we begrudgingly set up our tent on a raised wooden platform which we dusted the snow off of…this made for an extremely hard sleeping base. After managing to convince the somewhat moody staff to leave their warm hut to light the log burner in the kitchen area for us, we sat down tired and cooked our dinner in the small hut under the shadow of the surrounding mountains.

We woke up early to a small layer of ice and snow around the tent and our backs badly aching from the raised platform. Sophie had a particularly bad night, hardly managing to sleep at all through getting numb arms and legs from the solid surface and the cold combined, and despite the amazing scenery we were witnessing, was ready to give up that morning. However, her ever determined attitude kicked in after breakfast, and a few new plasters on her feet later we headed off for what would turn out to be our longest day of hiking. Our plan was to hike until lunchtime stopping at a large Refugio at the south east reach of the trek. The ground underfoot was fairly muddy and the terrain undulated up and down but not as steep as the previous day. It was difficult to maintain a good temperature; the sun was beaming down that day and we were hot with wind breakers on but freezing cold within 5 minutes of taking them off due to the ever persistent Patagonian wind. There were beautiful views this day over the enormous 'Lago Nordernskjold' which shone bright blue in the sun to our right. The only other people we saw were a couple of Brits who we had now seen several times during the trek, and a Chilean hiker who helped direct us to the Refugio. While the trail was fairly easy to follow it did split on several occasions, and one time we must have taken the wrong turn, ending up crossing a dry riverbed because the bridge spanning it had collapsed. By around 1pm we reached 'Hosteria Las Torres'. Expecting to return to civilisation briefly it turned out on closer inspection that it was almost deserted apart from a few builders who were busy drinking coffee next to their tools, before the start of the season. Our original plan was to ask the ranger stationed there if the 'Towers' section of the trek was open as we had previously been told it was closed due to snow cover and bad weather. The towers are seen by many as a highlight of the national park, so we were obviously keen to witness them for ourselves! After speaking to a few builders and getting pretty vague information we decided just to head up and see for ourselves; having come this far we were reluctant to give up now. So we departed on our final leg of the trek to make our 'W' complete! The route was pretty much constantly uphill as we climbed to around 400m. We skirted carefully around the base of the mountain on a dirt path that had partially collapsed during the winter into a ravine below; it was a bit nerve racking but we made it to 'Refugio Chileano' without any mishaps. There was one ranger stationed there who told us that none of the facilities were open but we could camp for free on yet another raised wooden stilted podium...great! It was bitterly cold but from the Refugio we could make out the tops of the fabled towers. This left us in a slight predicament; we could either decide to carry on and try to make it to the towers before daylight faded, or we could wait until the morning, although by that time there was no guarantee the towers wouldn't be covered in mist...

Though already tired from around 8 hours of hiking we decided to press on and make the most of the clear conditions, hoping to reach the towers before daylight faded. First we pitched up our tent meaning we would only be required to carry minimal gear, and headed out. The signposts said it would take about 3 hours, meaning it would be getting dark on the way down so we set off at quite a brisk pace. It wasn't long however before the conditions changed and we were confronted with a wintery scene; the forest turning a deep white and becoming icy under foot. Several groups of people passed us on the way down and as we ascended the snow deepened…the poles we brought with us became an invaluable tool. At one point the trail seemed to end, leaving us standing at the bottom of a rocky frozen river with no clear path and in about a foot of snow. For us this was the point of no return so we had to make a decision to press on or head back. The only remaining people behind us had already turned back and we hadn't seen anyone else heading down; it looked like we would be the last people visiting the towers that day. The poles seemed to be working fairly well so we pressed on, conscious of the daylight we had left. We made good time and after about an hour and a half we emerged above the tree line, but the most difficult task was yet to come as we had to carefully traverse across a 50m stretch of steep snow bank. This would have probably been easier in the summer months without the icy conditions, but a fall here would end over a 100metres further down the side of the mountain. Crampons would have been ideal but with some very careful foot placement in deep footprint from previous hikers that day, a lot of leaning into the slope so that we would only fall that way if any, and strong use of our poles, we managed to traverse the bank, and after scrambling up a small slope finally the 3 towers came into view. The 2000m tall granite spires loomed in front of us like large monoliths. It was a relief that they were in clear view with no cloud obstructing them, even revealing their bright red colour they are so famous for at one point, and our exhausting gamble to make it up before sunset had so far paid off. The snowy scene before us was eerily quiet we felt isolated but very privileged to be the last people of the day to enjoy the view; a view that so many people don't manage to see at the end of their trek due to the unpredictable and ever changing Patagonian weather. The large lake set at the foot of the towers was totally frozen over and covered in snow, and as light started to fade we could feel the temperature begin to drop. For all the day's work we only spent about 10minutes there soaking up its wintery tranquillity whilst refuelling with a biscuit before deciding to head back down. The slippery trek back down thankfully only took about an hour, including a few unplanned rests on our bums, and by the end we were completely exhausted after hiking for a crazy 12 hours and covering over 16miles!

By the time we made it back to camp we were both starving. Sophie headed straight for her sleeping bag while Trevor sat outside enjoying the moonlit view of the mountains and river valley, content but tired after a hard days hiking (there wasn't really room for two people to get changed inside the tiny tent we regretted choosing anyway). Too tired to make a proper meal that evening, we tucked into Pringle sandwiches…this may not sound like much but at that moment they tasted as good as any meal we'd had in the last 12 months! We both slept quite well that night through sheer exhaustion, and in the morning we awoke and looked outside our snow covered tent to see the whole mountain range obscured in cloud; our gamble the night before had paid off! All we had to do now was pack up camp for the last time and make our way back to the final ranger station several hours walk away, which we did with a bit of renewed energy / hysterical happiness at the thought of a comfy bed that night. Our expected arrival time back at 'Tin House' would have been late afternoon but luckily for us we managed to flag down a passing minibus driver who gave us a lift all the way back to Puerto Natales, cutting out further walking and a bus ride, result! We spent most of the journey back too tired to try and make small talk in broken Spanish but at the same time worried that perhaps he intended on charging us for the hitch-hike ride, which he kindly never did. Back at Tin House we soon realised how tired, dirty, blistered and smelly we had become after 5 days in the Patagonian wilderness! Julie had been very kind and provided us with a private room at no extra cost for our first night back, knowing all too well the recuperation time we would need, and as soon as we had stripped out of our hiking gear we enjoyed nice hot showers. After a cup of tea and a comfy chair we reflected on how Torres Del Paine stood up against the other hikes we had completed. Wild and rugged it set itself apart from the other treks we had completed. The distances on foot were further than we had anticipated but we were rewarded for the extra effort with stunning views; the jagged mountain peaks were unlike anything else we had seen. Although freezing, we were glad we had come at the end of the winter as it meant there were hardly any other hikers on the trail. Our last big hike and the last 100km put onto our boots during our year away were now complete; that made 9 multi-day hikes around the world in total! And whilst we enjoyed every one of them, we were certainly looking forward to relaxing a little during our remaining month away.

It was good to catch up with our friend Sean, who'd been out horse riding with a Gaucho (Patagonian cowboy) while we'd been away. This was next on our list of things to do (once we'd rested up of course). Our first full day back we relaxed enjoying the warmth of Tin House, the tea pot, which we decided to take into our room (an honour we felt we deserved as we were the only British staying there), enjoyed some home-made spagbol and a few bottles of red wine. We went horse riding on our last day in Patagonia, taking a taxi to a small farmstead called 'Dorotea' on the outskirts of the town. We entered the main gate to 8 excited dogs running around barking, and eventually a small stout, cowboy hat wearing man named David appeared and greeted us. He led out 2 horses; Sophie's small ride named 'Peppa' and my much larger horse called 'Grandioso'. We took a ride around the snow covered hills surrounding his farm, which offered us some great views of Puerto Natales below. We managed to have a few broken conversations in Spanish, him explaining to us that a few of his cattle had been taken by mountain lions over the last few years; but yet again we failed to spot a big cat on our trip. The horses were really well trained and responsive and though we'd both only been horse riding once before we managed fairly well and even took them out at a relatively quick trot! On return to the farmstead we were invited in for some lunch and Mate tea, (which although we knew was disgusting and the whole family drunk from the same cup, we could not refuse as it is a huge gesture of hospitality in the Chilean culture), and were greeted by his wife who offered us some yummy fried bread balls with home-made jam. Their home was very small consisting of just two small rooms; one bedroom and a small living room/kitchen. Although it wasn't very large, one end of the living room was filled with a huge wide screen TV playing 'Peppa Pig' (we guessed that's what Sophie's horse had been named after) in Spanish which their young daughter seemed glued too.

On our final evening in Chile we said a fond farewell to Julie and went out for a meal at a local bar, enjoying a few last beers with our friends Sean and Carlos. It would have been easy to stay in Tin-House longer, being by far the best hostel we had stayed in over the last 11 months and which had become a home from home during our stay. However, we had a couple of weeks of travelling the world to complete, so we set packed our bags once more and set our alarms!