Torres del Paine

After traveling for 5 weeks alone in Northern Argentina, Michael and I met in Santiago and we made our way down South via Pucon, Bariloche, El Calafate & El Chalten. Even though each of these areas certainly have their charm, we were anxious to get to Torres del Paine, one of the two highlights of our trip (the other one being our cruise on Via Australis from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia via the Magellan Strait and the Chilean fjords. But back to Torres del Paine... Having planned nothing, that's the beauty of traveling out of peak season, we headed to the office of Pathgone in Puerto Natales. After an hour, we had all reservations made in four refugios for the five days hiking, we headed to a few shops to buy warmer gloves, hats to replace lost ones, etc... and we were all set ! The bus was picking us up very early the following morning.

We decided to keep the best for last, meaning we would see the Torres on our last day instead of on the first day, so we did the W trail west to east (most people do east to west).

Day 1: After a bus and a boat ride, we arrived at Lago Paine where we started to hike to the beautiful Lago Grey and refugio Grey. It was an amazing day and the amazing view from the refugio on the Lago Grey was such a special treat. We enjoyed a very nice dinner with a British couple who had been inspired during their trip to sell their house in England and move to Scotland and travel more... Nothing wrong with that...

Day 2: Hike up more to an incredible view of Glacier Grey and down to Refugio Pehoe, which we liked least because it was big and didn't feel cozy like the previous night. But I have to say, the Pisco Sour was extremely good ! One of the best I actually ever had , so life was not too bad sitting in the lounge, admiring the view over the park sipping on an excellent Pisco Sour !

Day 3: That was the longest day to Refugio Los Cuernos via Valle Frances. We started to see the beautiful Cuernos (Horns/Cornes) and walked around them. We had an AMAZING dinner at the refugio, we could not believe we could eat so well in a refugio in that wilderness. Dinner was even better shared with Anne from Bruxelles, Gerard from Montreal, Sam & Jessica from the UK. The latter traveling together for one year, lucky bastards !

Day 4: Anne tagged along the all day which was very nice for me to have a chatting companion on the hike ! Finally girls talks were possible ! Hike to our last overnight stop, refugio Las Torres, via amazing landscapes, along Lago Nordenskjold, with a view point with two lakes of different colors.

We drank from the rivers flowing down from melting glaciers and rejuvenated ourselves with the fresh air and beauty that surrounded us.

Day 5: Hike up to Las Torres, that's why we were all there afterall ! Hike up through green, forests, and plain rocks, the Torres revealed themselves from the clouds and we enjoyed a nice and freezing lunch. Hike down was as nice as the hike up, return to Refugio Las Torres, early dinner and bus back to Puerto Natales. We watched the Torres disappear behind us from the bus windows... A whole bus who had shared the same experience of beauty of nature... We were leaving a piece of us behind us but were already looking ahead for our second highlight... our cruise on Via Australis... to be continued

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