Torres del Paine Part IV: Cussing and Praying- One Dot at a Time

Sunday morning I was really excited when we woke up for the 11-mile hike. Growing up in California, near Yosemite, I thought I was prepared to conquer any terrain with ease. Not so. At the end of 5 miles to the base of the Torres del Paine (pronounced Pie-nay) is a ½ mile vertical pile of rocks, which we were supposed to climb up. It was described in our Chile book as “knee-popping” boulders of all shapes and sizes. Super. Need I mention that from years of soccer, my left knee is less than optimal? And unlike popular trails in the US, there is no clear way up, just intermittent orange circles spray-painted on rocks.


Cara and Joel flew up to the top (though she says it was tough, I don’t buy it) whereas I had the hardest time. I encouraged Los to go on ahead, while I stayed below. Apparently we have different views of quitting. It was snowing on us, because of this people coming down the mountain said there wasn’t even good visibility at the top. Seriously? What is the point, I ask you! I was so fatigued that at some point I started crying. Rarely do I get to a ‘breaking point,’ but that was it…
After a while of feeling miserable and sorry for myself, I realized that no matter how many times I cussed, prayed (yes in that order, unfortunately) or craned my neck to see if Cara and Joel were descending the boulders, I wasn’t going to see them. Then Los encouraged me instead of looking at the whole mountain and getting overwhelmed, just to take it ‘one (orange) dot at a time.’ That became our mantra until we conquered the towers of pain.


Finishing this, I thought about the parallels and how many times in life people get paralyzed with fear or inability to digest complex situations we face on earth. Tragedy happens, our workload is increased, or maybe there are too many questions and unknowns for the future; and rather than doing what we can, to take care of ourselves for the day, we feel like giving up. I know I am prone to that response rather than focusing on ‘one dot at a time;’ but I would like that to change. Life will never stop giving us boulders to overcome, but we can change our responses to them, rather than be overwhelmed. That’s my aim, even if I throw in some praying and cussing for good measure.