No Reservations
A story
Planning, or not, for the w trek
In the week before traveling down to Puerto Natales, my first stop in the region of Patagonia, I had been unable to organize reservations at the campsites along the famous W Trek: one of the two main treks in Chile’s Torres Del Paine National Park.
Perhaps the challenge was trying to book last minute in January, mid summer in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps it was because one must book across three different platforms operated by three different organizations, two private and one government run. Perhaps it was that after months of unplanned, fly by the seat of my pants traveling, I found trying to plan exhausting.
I was in Santiago staying with a friend, Zoe. Each morning we woke and ate breakfast on the balcony enjoying a slow morning of fruit and conversation. Then I would head out on a walk that lead me to this tiny coffee shop a few neighborhoods over. There I would sit with my iced Americano and labor over this booking process. Like most tourist heading to Puerto Natales, visiting Torres Del Paine was my main objective, especially since hiking in the mountains had become something of a theme during my travels.
On the fourth day, I abandoned planning for an ideology that had proven to work time and time again: things tend to work themselves out. I would leave my fate up to the universe, the gods, destiny. Simultaneously, I readjusted my expectations to make peace with the fact that I might not get to hike at all. Instead, I might end up just doing a day trip into the National Park and save the epic multi-day trek for another time. I was already quite sure I would visit Patagonia again.
The day trip into Torres Del Paine includes getting the bus along with all the other tourists heading into the park at 7am. Once through the park entrance the bus delivers people to the trailhead leading up the Torres Del Paine, the iconic three granite towers. It is approximately a 7 hour hike there and back, then you hop back onto the bus and back to town.
This didn’t sound like my ideal way to experience a place, but I would graciously accept however it played out. Spending just a few hours in the park would be such a tease and very crowded. Buses deliver all day hikers at approximately the same time, mid morning, saturating the trail. For those doing a multi-day hike in the park it is recommended to hike up to the Torres Del Paine as early as possible for the chance to see morning’s first light grace the towers, but also to miss the crowds of day hikers.
Of course, the view of the towers and the mountain lake would be beautiful regardless, I reassured myself, and of course, we have to share beautiful places. Sharing is the very cornerstone of public lands and National Parks. Yet, it is something special to hike up to a mountain lake in the dark of early morning and to be one of only a few enjoying the peace and view.
The 3 o’clock talk
There is a hostel and gear rental place in Puerto Natales that hosts a chat at 3pm every day, nicknamed “the 3 o’clock talk”. It is an information session on Torres Del Paine National park and the two trails most people venture, The W Trek and The O Trek. The speaker offers insight into transportation, the trails, weather, campsites, just about everything you need to know.
It made no sense for me to go to this 3pm chat, but having just arrived in Puerto Natales I had nothing else to do that afternoon and I was interested to learn more about the National Park. I showed up, grabbed a cup of complementary coffee and picked a chair in the middle row, just off center.
The room filled up quickly and chatter steadily gained volume as people introduced themselves to neighbors and discussed travel plans. A young Canadian woman, Alex, sat down next to me and after introductions we swapped travel stories until the session began.
After the information session ended, Alex and I remained seated for some time. She was heading off on The W Trek and I explained that I had had trouble with reservations and in the end made peace with doing a day trip.
She mentioned she had a two person tent, and that she was excited for the trek but unsure about going solo. I couldn’t quite believe my luck. She followed up with a few more hints before asking me if I wanted to join in on her reservation. Her cheeks blushed a little as if she had asked me on a date, and I’m sure I blushed as I replied enthusiastically. Sometimes no plan is the best plan.