Torres del Paine National Park

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Hola, Que tal?
So now a short report from my hiking excursion in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile! I took a bus from El Calafate (leaving at 5:30 am) to Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile! The journey all together took about 4.5 hrs, with about an hour at the Chilean border. Since a lot of tour buses cross this tiny border post, the back-up can be quite extensive, but nevertheless, we made it to the Park by around 12 o'clock and then toured the park by tour bus with different stops at lookout points and with a short 1 hour hike to some beautiful waterfalls and Lago Nordenskjoeld. The weather was ok, a bit overcast and quite windy, but we only had a few sprinkles during the day, so all in all it never got to cold. At about 5:30, the bus dropped three Spaniards and myself off at Laguna Amarga since we were the only ones in this group who had planned to spend some time in the Park overnight. The rest of the tour group drove back to El Calafate to complete their 1 day trip. Since the Spaniards were staying at the hotel about 7 km into the park, i was able to catch a ride with them to the hotel which saved me the 7 km walk, since i still had 1.5 hrs of walking ahead of me as it was, since I had planned to spend the night in Refugio Chileno, which is another 5 km so up from the Hotel. So it turned out perfectly and I left the hotel at around 5:45 for the short hike to Chileno. The solitude of hiking in the mountains was almost breath-taking! The few hikers who i encountered who were coming down from the mountain must have thought i was a bit crazy! I was smiling the whole way up, walking at a pretty good pace and all that in a bit of a light snow storm by now! AMAZING! A feeling that is difficult to describe... total elation, happiness, and freedom! Just the wind, a few birds, light snow and mountains all around.
I arrived at the Refugio ( a sort of "Wanderhuette) close to 7:30 or so and once checked in, had a great dinner with all the other hikers who were staying there as well. The place was packed with people, some staying in tents, and others, like me in the bunk beds in the refugio. It is always fun to share moments like that with like-minded travelers from all over the world who all are eager to tell their tales of the day. A lot of people here hike the "W', a 4-5 day hike in the Park, and so it was fun to hear of their adventures, especially those who had to withstand some pretty crappy weather the last few days. Since it snowed-sleeted all evening, I too did not expect to much of my attempt to hike up to the Mirador del Torres the next day, but as you will see in the pictures, I was quite lucky once again! The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I hiked the 2 hours up to the Mirador, and although i started in light snow, the clouds started to clear the higher i got, and by the time i got to the end of the trail, it was almost perfect sunshine! After taking lot's of pictures at the top, i made my way back down, stopped for a short lunch back at Chileno and then hiked all the way out back to Laguna Amarga to catch the bus back to El Calafate at 4 pm.! A wonderful day in the mountains, and since i was so lucky with the weather, i feel i really maximized the 2 days here.
So now I am back in El Calafate but will take a bus to El Chalten this afternoon for more hiking in the Fitz Roy mountain Range and the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. The weather is awesome right now, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay that way for El Chalten.

so, adios Amigos, hasta luego SL

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Photos

even a few Gauchos around
just to complete the experience!