So after hiking the Torres, I had sometime to kill in Puerto Natales before my kayaking trip. The owner of Wild hostel suggested hiking Cerro Dorotea, a "hill" just outside of town.
To get there I had to take a cab to a farm house at the bottom of the hill. In the house an elderly Chilean woman tried to explain how to hike the hill, which went on for far too long. I'm at the bottom of the hill and I want to make my way to the top. It's not that complicated. I also had no idea what she was saying, except for the word "red" that she repeated many times.
Eventually they let me go and I followed the path across their horse pastures to the start of the trail. I could see two people way ahead of me, they were two Americans the woman's husband told me about.
The trail up was very steep, steeper than most sections of the Torres, but I hustled along as quick as I could so that I could beat the Americans to the top. I passed them at about 2/3s of the way. Hurray! Then I got complacent and they passed me just as the three of us got to the top. Bastards.
Cerro Dorotea is right beside the strait that Puerto Natales sits on, and at the top of this hill it was WINDY. The air seemed to blow right across the ocean, down the strait and hit you like a medicine ball as soon as you created over the top of the hill. The Americans, Ramsay and Kirsten, medical students on break, and I crept up the hill crouched down and took so precarious pictures at the top. Dilly had to get a picture at the summit, naturally. The wind had stripped the top bare of all vegetation so it was really just a bunch of gravel and a weather station up there, but the views of the mountains across the strait were nice. Overall it was worth it.
The Americans and I chatted on our way back down, animosities (that they probably didn't know existed) forgotten. At the bottom the wife and her son offered us tea and biscuits in their home, which was kind if awkward, the three of us not able to say much more than "gracias".
We shared a cab back and in town I showed them a good souvenir shop I had found the day before. Then we parted ways and half an hour later ended up at the same restaurant for dinner. I didn't say hi until I was done my meal and ready to leave because I was feeling smothered in our new relationship.
