Torres del Paine

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From el Calefate we travelled into Chili, the border crossing was a small station on the Patagonian high lands, in the middle of nowhere.
Via Puerto Natales (we stayed one night there) we travelled into THE national park of Chili.

The offcial site of the Chilean National park Torres del Paine

Our first two nights we stayed at a refugio called Paine Grande. A very organised place near a very blue collored lake and with a great view at the peaks of the Torres. The first day we planned to start hiking but the weather was so bad (rain, hail and snow and very strong cold wind) that after a 45 min. walk we decided to go back and read a book in front of the woodstove.
The next day the sky was clear and we walked to the Laguna Grey to see glacier Grey, again strong and cold wind but dry. We returned before lunch time so after lunch we could catch up on the walk we planned the day before. Great walk with completely different vegetation compared to the morning walk.
Days are extremely long, sun rises before 5.45 (I did not wake up earlier!) and sets in the evening around 11pm. Specially in the morning and evening in the rare case that the sky is clear, the mountains look great.

On the day before X-mas we moved from Lodge Paine Grande to Las Torres taking again the catemaran over lake Pehoe and a bus to the lodge. This lodge is located on the other side of the park so we had again great opportunities for walking. This area was more open with a lot of grass, horses walking around and several smaller and bigger lakes. The X-mas eve dinner at this lodge was a great buffet with local dishes and good atmosphere.

On Christmas day we did our most difficult walk which was to the base of the TORRE giving great view on the mountains. After a steep climb in the beginning the trail went over small hills. Then at the end the real hard part started, a very steep 45 min climb over rocks to the base lake. Arriving at the top the sky was clouded but the view was still spectacular. Amazing that some people even climb these peaks!

The last day in torres, I wake up at 5.45 and go outside because its very sunny and the sky is clear. In the morning the sun is not strong enough yet so no clouds can form from the melting/heating snow. We spend our day enjoying the last views on the park and leave in the evening back to Puerto Natales.

The harbour of Puerto Natales is great, the views are very nice but we have only little time to enjoy it. We´re going back to Argentina.

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Photos

Torres
at the base

Torres at dawn
from the refugio las torres

Comments

[Gees]

Sieht sehr goed ous hè die foto's!! Terwijl jullie een beetje zitten te relaxen zou ik gewoon moeten studeren deze vakantie. Jullie begrijpen wel dat ik daar niet zoveel zin in heb maar wat moet dat moet! Dus geniet er maar extra van wetende dat sommige mensen minder zonnige vooruitzichten hebben ;) Liefs