April 13, 2019 - Parque Nacional Torres del Paine W Trek, Day One - Refugio Paine Grande to Campamento Frances
Once we finished the out and back, we grabbed our big packs at Paine Grande and set off on the four hour trek to our camp for the night, Campamento Frances. As is visible in the photos below, it got dark as we did this. The sunset was stunning, but also signaled that we had not correctly timed ourselves and would have to spend time hiking in the dark. We ended up trekking in the dark for about two hours, including losing the trail a few times and walking across a suspension bridge with the label “capacity: one person” (yikes) with very little visibility. Regardless, thanks to headlamps and perseverance, we made it to the French camp. We talked as we walked, and we were all struck by the realization that despite being in the middle of nowhere, Patagonia, in the dark, we felt safe. We felt capable. Hiking through mud and brush in the middle of the night was less terrifying to all of us than walking on the street in any city late at night, and that was a really interesting realization. We knew we would get where we were going. We knew we had to keep going, so there was no other option but to do so. There was something grounding and empowering in this: just keep walking, and you will get through.
We were relieved when we finally saw the sign for Campamento Frances, but only for a moment: we quickly realized that the time for checking into the campsites had passed, and we couldn’t find an open platform to set up our tent on. Thank goodness after a while a French woman crawled out of her tent and told us that the one right next to her (set up by a private company for people to rent) was empty. Exhausted and cold, we decided the best option was just to pile into that tent and sleep rather than setting up our own. We ate a cold dinner of garbanzo beans, Chilean circle bread, Nutella, and peanut butter, and then we snuggled into our sleeping bags and shut our eyes. Day one was a struggle, but we realized while sitting in the tent giggling that it was the most fun struggle we had ever had.
