Blogs from Torres del Paine, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 12

The catamaran from Refugio Paine Grande leaves at 1230 so we made an 0800 pre dawn departure from Ref. Grey this morning. In the gloomy light head torches were necesary to negotiate the initial rocky upward trail. After a couple of hours we caught up with the 2 American girls who had left even earlier than us. Jon caught a snippet of their conversation which was apparently an intense discussion/debate on plant biology in the Torres region. On sharing this with us we all pondered on how this compared with our own conversations over the last few days. Certainly the 3 of us have also had some searching and insightful discussions during our trekking days. Such curiosities we have pitched to each other include 'what's the difference between a puddle and a lake?' and 'when does ... read more

Refugio Paine Grande is a modern refugio with a large bar and restaurant both affording superb views across Lago Pehoe. Next stop is Refugio Grey which is a much smaller refuge on the lakeside of Lago Grey. Large chunks of ice break away from the main glacier and wash up on the shoreline here. The undulating route brought us to the refuge for lunch around 2pm. After lunch we figured we would try and head north a little further and take a closer look at the glacier. Everyone hikes at their own pace, it's the only way to do things really. Up until now it has worked fine, Marco and Jon would shoot off ahead and generally wait for me at strategic points. Marty would be in front of all of us so generally after breakfast ... read more

Today´s short walk has taken us from Hotel Las Torres along the banks of Lago Nordenskjold to Refugio Los Cuernos. After yesterday´s exertions the generally flat route was very welcome as was the dry conditions. I also fell over just the once today whilst attempting a temperature check of Lago Nordenskjold. This dangerous manauver with the destabilising effect of a full back pack resulted in the inevitable outcome of being dumped on my arse, much to the mirth of my trekking companions. Los Cuernos is a basic refugio where we are in a dorm wih an interesting chap called Marty who has broken his return journey to Australia to complete the W trek. Marty is returning from a 4 month spell in Antarctica where has has been acting as a guide for British scientists from the ... read more

There are a number of accomodation options in the National Parkincluding camping (no thanks), refugios's (hostel style mountain lodges) and hosteria's (outrageously expensive hotels). Refugio's are a reasonable option as they remove the need to carry your own camping equipment and food etc yet keep costs under reasonable control. We secured accomodation at Refugio Las Torres a couple of months ago but Fantastico Sur who operate the refugio have closed the lodge a week early (we are arriving at the very end of the trekking season). The good news is that we have been re-accomodated (at no extra cost) at the Hosteria Las Torres, wonderful! We should therefore be pretty comfortable for the nest 2 nights considering rates here start at around $500US per person per night! Being a Fantastico Sur customer seems to carry with ... read more

We arrived in a the small town of Pureto Natales, just across the Chilean border, with one plan….to do the “W” Trek in nearby Torres De Paine National Park. And exactly how we were going to do this?? Well that we would work out later. After doing some research on the Patagonia region way back in England, we had decided this particular trek was something we really wanted to do. I did a quick Google search we found multiple companies which offered packages to do the trek, ranging from $1,000 US right up to $3,000. Zack scoffed at the prices and the ‘tour’ idea and assured me that we could organise it ourselves when we arrived for a fraction of the price. So we turned up with this notion in mind and as much as I ... read more