24 March 2020

In a coronavirus-free world, today would have been the start of my long-awaited backpacking trip in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. I’d booked Wild Hostel in Puerto Natales, reserved all my campsites, and planned my hike of the ‘O’ (AKA The Circuit) back in early December 2019. After skipping this Patagonian mecca for a couple of years, 2020 was my year! It was finally happening, and I couldn’t have been more excited to push my body for 8 days.

That is, that was the plan until all hell broke loose. As coronavirus ravaged China and then slowly spread across the globe, I held onto the hope that people would trickle out from the park. With people feeling the need to go home, I would be part of a select group of people fortunate enough to not have crowds of people on the trails or at camping areas.

Alas, my trek was not meant to be. When I checked in with Wild Hostel on March 17th, my hopeful bubble burst with the news “Torres del Paine is closed from today.” With borders closing everywhere, I needed to fly back to the States.

So here I am, back in Fairbanks, Alaska. My heart had been set on an 8-day hiking adventure and another few weeks of visiting gorgeous places in South America. Instead, I’m spending my days in a spare room of some college friends’ house while we all practice social distancing. It’s a far cry from the mountains, glaciers, and lakes of Patagonia.

Today (actually March 26th) I realized there’s no point in moping about what could have been. I’ve been blessed with many travel experiences that include quite a few epic hikes. In an effort to accomplish something while I sit in a spare room, I’m going to dwell on 8 hikes that I’ve had the good fortune to take over the years.

Each day I’ll still show the map portion and provide brief trail info for what would have been. However, the rest of the post will discuss past adventures. Stay tuned for tales from 8 different trails!

~~ Special thanks to Backpackers Review for letting me copy maps from their very detailed “Patagonia Circuit Trek – Torres del Paine National Park (80 Mile Loop)” guide. Their site was one of a handful that I referenced a lot while determining the details of my trip. ~~

~~ Another thank you to SIG Patagon for creating the actual map that Backpackers Review marked up to highlight each day. When I do my hike, I’ll probably buy one! ~~