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Published: March 26th 2007
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Day 1: The Torres
The torres (towers) are the namesake of the park. You can see them to the right of the mountain. Due to injury, I never made it up to the viewpoint, but the view from the start of the hike wasn´t too shabby. Sitting at the computer now in El Calafate, 2 days after my return from hiking the circuit in Torres del Paine, I find myself at a loss for words. I spent 7 days hiking in the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.
Torres del Paine. When you look on the map at the approximately cicular path you will hike over the course of a week all you see is a little dotted line crossing the contours and the blue lines of rivers and circling the dots of the peaks of mountains. I had not even the slightest idea of everything I would see during my week in the park. There were soaring towers of granite, snow capped mountains, aquamarine lakes, hanging glaciers, huge moraines, quiet forests, moss covered rocks, waterfalls, trickling streams, rivers rushing through gorges, and -- the most spectacular sight (for me)-- Glacier Grey.
In a hostel in Puerto Natales called Erratic Rock (highly reccommended for getting info about trekking in the park) I met up with 4 guys who were planning on hiking the circuit. They were enthusiastic about letting me tag along and in a few hours we went shopping for food,
The boys
From left to right, my trekking partners: Joel (Canada), Dagan in Orange and Uri in Red (Israel)and Robert (Holland) I rented a few things I needed for the trip, and we packed our bags ready to leave by 7 the next morning.
One of the most memorable features of Patagonia is the weather. For the next 7 days I saw rain, snow, sleet, and the strongest winds I have ever experienced. They were so stong that, just as the guide in Erratic Rock had predicted, I was actually blown over once.
I´m sorry for the few pictures and sparse entry, but the internet here is painfully slow. Hopefully when I get to civilization I can post more pictures and write more about the trek.
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