Torres Del Paine (Blue Tower) day walks

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DAYS 16-17 Today we had the full Patagonia experience. Heavy rain overnight but cleared to cloudy & misty in the morning, cold (about 5 tops for the day) & very windy especially in exposed areas. This is what we expected & put all of our cold weather gear to full use for the 1st time. Ruth slowly improving but weak so fortunately not a big day involved.

Checked out of our hotel onto our mini bus for our next night at the hotel Los Torres for 2 nights. The hotel seems to be in the middle of the Torres del Paine national park but is part of a large tract of land that is privately owned and occurred when all the surrounding estancia owners gifted their land back to the govt. except one family who are now doing quite nicely thank you!

The day was stop & start around all the main sights towards the western view of the Torro stopping at the lower end of lake Grey and a 1 hr trek to view the Grey glacier which are both huge. The lake is currently contained by a massive natural sandbar of polished stones & gravel allowing us to walk to a viewpoint. The lake is known to be 500 mtrs deep and all bar 22 mtrs is below sea level - such was the pre historic power of the glacial push. Across the sandbar the most incredible blue icebergs were floating but are soon to melt away.

The afternoon involved various photo stops of the Torro from different angles, glacial valleys with fast running rivers and racing rapids.

The hotel is great and a welcome sight after such a cold & windy day.

Friday was planned to be up to a 18 km return walk to the base of the Torres del Paine glacier which like many other glaciers has a lake trapped at the base by a wall on moraine residue. To reach this point is at least a 9 hr trek. The forecast the night before did not look good so a smaller trek was likely.

As the evening progressed I felt I was succumbing to the same virus as Ruth and decided I would bypass the walk given that I needed to keep my health for the remainder of the trip. Apparently it rained all night with a howling wind and a fresh blanket of snow on all the peaks surrounding the hotel however I did not hear a thing. I woke to a beautiful but brief red sunrise & no wind making it seem warmer than it really was. Three of the group set-off but have not returned as yet so they may make it all the way.

We started on a small walk after lunch to a nearby lagoon but Ruth is still feeling weak so turned back.

The breakfast and dinner buffets are great so I hope my appetite improves for tonight.

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Photos

Torres del Paine
Well named as a "blue tower"

Ice berg from Grey Glacier
Blue is illusion from sunlight

Comments

[Steve]

Jealous
Sounds fantasic, except for the virus... The hiking's right up my street, perhaps in better weather though! Looking at your blog has given me itchy feet. Just booked a flight to Mallorca for October. Just 2 weeks to catch up with my folks there - they'll fly in from Edinburgh. Should have booked one way and traveled the Canaries for 6 months, it's on my 'to do list'. Currently still employed so not really feasible - ¡desgraciadamente! Stay safe and hopefully you'll be feeling back to normal soon guys...