South America » Chile » Magallanes » Torres del Paine
February 4th 2006

Published: April 26th 2006

Day 1 - Starting at Refugio Las Torres

The Navimag ferry dropped me a day late in Puerto Natales, Chilean Patagonia. Said my goodbyes to new friends and headed into town looking for the quickest route back into Argentina (travellers in Chile are always on there way out of the country, too damn expensive). Turns out everyone from the Navimag is doing the same...I spend the next hour having loads of awkward moments you've said goodbye and good luck then meet 10mins later, do you stop for more conversation, just say hi or even ignore them. Tough tough decisions for that time of the morning. Anyhow turns out the next bus to Argentina is tomorrow, I find a hostel, its full of Navimagers buzzing around getting ready for trekking Torres Del Paine. I'm now at a loose end, chatting with a few people and looking at the pictures Torres looks pretty good. An Aussie girl has rented tents along the route and offers to share with me. Result.

I spend the rest of the day buying the essentials patsa+tuna+bread+peanut butter+coca cola, hiring equipment and packing my ruck sack. No Inca Trek 15Kg pack this time!! only the bear essentials and the ipod. Also worth pointing out this is

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - Ascencio Valley

the start of a self enforced dry period. The past moth (since xmas eve) had been a series of heavy sessions interspersed with some medium size sessions and the odd night off it here and there. On my last night on the Navimag a few of us decided to have a quite one in the bar, 5pm - 1am realised at the end I got through a shed load of beer and a bottle wine! And that was taking it easy, think I need a few days break...I lasted 10days!

Trekking Torres Del Paine National Park

Day Uno

7am pick up from the hostel, a 3 hour ride to the Torres Del Paine National Park, I'm hiking the W Circuit of the park. The starting point is Refugio Las Torres armed with a dodgy map we head off in glorious sunshine in search of the Torre D'Agostini. The pack is a sensible weight, the company good and the scenery excellent. Its uphill most of the way into the Ascencio Valley mountains rising either side with the river Ascencio somewhere below getting smaller as we get higher. It takes about 4 hours to reach the camp site for

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - Ascencio Rio

the night, Refugio El Chileno drop the heavy bags and continue on up the valley (somehow I get landed carrying the girls stuff aswell). The river catches up and the open land of the Ascencio Valley turns into forest. The final section is a steep climb over loose rock, on the way passing the biggest fecking rock I've ever seen, see the pic with the person sitting on top! Well worth all the effort as over the ridge is the very impressive Torre D'Agostini. Its a cloudy day and the 3 peaks Torre Sur, Torre Centra and Torre Norte are slightly obscured, but it didn't matter. The view was magnificent, the 3 peaks where to my right, another mountain peak to my left with a glacier snuggled between them slowly melting into the lake directly in front. Its hard to know where to look! The bluey green glacier lake looks very surreal. I stay for a fair while, even dipping a toe in the water which I can only describe as colder than damn cold! Then head back down to the camp site, tonight we Aussie girl (can't remember her name), Steve (from the US of A) and myself make

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - Ascencio Valley

a pretty damn good pasta+sauce+tuna in what is probably the worlds smallest kitchen (in a Patagonian camp site).

Today's trekking was 12Km, 7miles in 7 hours over climbing well over 1400m.

Day Dos

Pretty good nights sleep, the sky is clear the sun out we leave Refugio El Chileno around 9ish. Today is about making our way to the start of the Francias Valley and I'm trekking on mass all Navimagers 3 brits, 1 Aussie and 5 Americans. We head back down the Ascencio Valley along lake Largo Nordenskjold and to the next camp site Refugio Los Cuernos located just before the start of the Francias Valley. The days was really just about getting to the Francias Valley but along the route the landscape just got better and better. Panoramic views of the Torres Del Paine park glacier lakes and the Curenos Del Paine mountain range. The photo stops just kept coming and coming. We arrived at Refugio Los Cuernos late afternoon just in time to beat the rain.

I'm drinking Glacier water from the streams all along the route, running directly off the Glaciers. Damn good stuff!! easily the best water I've drunk, very

Torres Del Paine

fresh and tasted great.

Tonight's tent was more like a large one man tent, nowhere near big enough for 2 people and on a slight hill. We spent most of the night rolling into one another, it was cold and not much fun, pretty bad night.

Today's trekking was 16km, 9miles in 6 hours.

Day Tres

Up and trekking early alot of distance to cover today, Steve and myself leave Refugio Los Cuernos just before 6am. We both have flights to catch and don't have time to do the full W Circuit. So today we need to trek up into the Francias Valley, enjoy the view then make it back down and across to Camp Pehoe to catch the 4.30pm ferry and bus back to Puerto Natales.

Getting up early is a pain but always worth it, seeing the sun rise over Largo Nordenskjold was excellent....After what felt like days of walking (but was actually only 2 hours) we arrive at Camp Italiano which is located at the base of the Francias Valley. Stop for some breakfast - peanut butter sandwich (its always a peanut butter sandwich....breakfast, lunch, snacks) and drop our packs with

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - The route to Torre D'Agostini

some of the other guys who stopped there for the night. A little lighter and alot more mobile we follow the river up the valley, its hard going crossing the river several times through forests and over alot of rock. Every now and then the valley echos with the sound of glaciers creaking and moving. After a couple of hours we pass Camp Britianica, so we're on the right route. At last we get out of the forrest, the view of the valley is spectacular (an over used word I know but true). By mid morning we have scrabbled over more rock and reach a great look out point were nature has kindly piled a few boulders to give a great viewing platform. But we haven't finished yet and continue on following a rocky stream and then over some very boggy ground trying to get as high as possible. The landscape, well just check out the pics, awesome. That said I don't think my pictures do justice to scale of the Francias Valley its Mountains and Glaciers make you really feel pretty damn small. We tried to reaching a ridge that didn't look too far away, half an hour later

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - One big fecking rock! With somebody sitting ontop!!

it still wasn't very far away ended up having to give up.

After enjoying the view for as long as possible we head back down the valley around the lake and finally to Camp Pehoe to catch the ferry. Stopping only to dip my feet in the glacier streams to cool them down. We make the ferry with an hour to spare!

Today's trekking was a stonking 28km thats 18miles baby!! in a respectable 8 hours transversing well over 1500m.

What a fantastic place, Torres Del Paine National Park.

Glacier Moreno

After 3 hard days trekking I decided (in advance) the next thing I should do (and the next day) is go on a day trip to Glacier Moreno, which is in Argentina I'm in Chile. This involves leaving at 7am and a 14 hour round trip, passing through Chilean and Argentinian border posts twice and only 2 hours off the coach at the Glacier, yep just 2!!! But well worth it, a beast of a Glacier. Its very famous (in Glacier circles) because it cuts through a river and ruptures ever few years forming a tunnel connecting the two parts of the river.

Torres Del Paine

Day 1 - Torre D'Agostini, the 3 peaks

I took a boat trip up close and watched pieces fall in the sea. Then sat in the observation area and looked in awe at this forest of ice and snow peaks as far as I could see creaking and moving. One of those moments you get a feel for natures full power.

Additional photos below

Photos: 44, Displayed: 28

Prior to the coming of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while Araucanian Indians inhabited central and southern Chile; the latter were not completely subjugated until the early 1880s. Although Chile declared its ind...more history