Gauchos And Glaciers

For passionate equestrians, the rugged mountains and lush pampas of Chilean Patagonia provide an experience that is unrivalled anywhere in the world. MAGGIESHIP STEAD ventures into Torres del Paine National Park for the ride of her life.

MY BEST FRIEND BAILEY,AND I WERE LYING IN A TENT ON A WINDY PATAGONIA NIGHT,cheerfully cataloguing the parts of our bodies that hurt. A few hours earlier we’d been cantering through golden fields on the third day of a five-day horseback trek through Chile’s Torres del Paine (pronounced pie-nay) National Park. The exhilaration hadn’t faded, but my back wasn’t happy. Nor were the parts of my pelvis that had come into relentless, sometimes percussive contact with the saddle. Also sore? My knees, ankles, quads, inner thighs, trapezius muscles, upper abs, right elbow, and, as a kind of garnish, my pinkie toes, whose circulation had been cut off all day by my socks. Bailey dug through a stuff sack for more ibuprofen. “I guess we know why it’s called Torres del Pain,” she said, pronouncing it like what we were feeling.

Our group consisted of our guide, Armando, a pair of gauchos who tended the horses, a pub owner from Calgary, Alberta, and the two of us. We’d spent the morning riding from our campsite on an estancia to Grey Glacier, inside the park. The journey, across terrain that abounded with flat expanses ideal for galloping, should have taken two-and-a-half-hours. But Calgary, as I’ll call her, wanted to stay at a walk because, she claimed, her horse kept tripping.

“You don’t like the horse?” Armando asked.

Calgary grimaced and shook her head. “This one’s a bit of a dog.”

Bailey and I exchanged glances. Never, ever blame the horse.