Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

If there’s one thing you learn hiking in the mountains of Torres del Paine, it’s that
there isn’t one kind of wind; there are many, and none is quite like another.
There are cool breezes and gentle zephyrs. There are soft drafts and sudden
gusts. There are whirlwinds that sneak up out of nowhere, whipping dust from the
trail and snatching maps from your hands. There are keening squalls that scream
down from the mountains, knifing through jackets and chilling fingers to the bone.
And then, there’s the general, all-purpose kind of wind, the one for which
Patagonia is notorious – a persistent, obstinate wind that never disappears, even
on the calmest of days, and which, without any warning, can accelerate from mild
to murderous. It’s my first day on the W, and I reckon I’ve already experienced all
of them, and a few more besides.
Stretching for 44 miles (71km) across the southern half of Torres del Paine
National Park, the W is Patagonia’s most celebrated hiking route. Its name comes
from the fact that it forms the rough outline of a letter W, looping from Laguna