Five Days Hiking in Torres Del Paine

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We arrived on the Chilean side of Patagonia, got out our hiking shoes, packed our backpacks with our tents, gas cooker and sleeping bags and left the hairdryer behind for five days in Torres Del Paine National Park. Our time spent in southern Chilean backcountry was great and we enjoyed hiking beside tall mountain peaks, glacial lakes, glaciers, pristine rivers and lush valleys. We walked for 5 days - which I think is an impressive feat for a very unfit pregnant woman! Admittedly it was made a lot easier by the husband who could carry most of the weighty objects as well as pretty fancy campsites to stay in.

Most people that venture to the park do either day hikes or what has become known as the 'W' (a 5 day hiking route)... we spent five days in the park but did our own thing at a slower pace for the two pregnant women. A highlight for us all was the hike to Glacier Grey where we stayed a couple of nights and used the campsite as our base. We had great weather and enjoyed the beauty of the glacier and the surrounding mountains. We were able to see another part of the same icefield that we had seen when we visited the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. The hike to the well-known three granite towers was also beautiful. Sadly, when we arrived at the lookout point of the Three Towers we encountered some cloud. We waited for an hour in the wind and rain but the cloud was not moving... although we did manage to catch glimpses of the tops of the towers. The trails were pretty packed with tourists, being a well-known world heritage site as well as the prime season for hiking. I think if there was a next time I would like venture away from the popular tourist routes, to be able to appreciate the beauty of the area without a constant stream of tourists.

Surprisingly, it was a park that was very well catered for, with even the option of purchasing a fancy (and very overpriced) meal at most campsites and even the option of a ritzy hotel at times! But we had our tents and numerous pasta meals, Maggi soup packets and tins of tuna to keep us going... I think it will be a while before we will be eating any of these items again!

The wind here is pretty incredible... a gusty wind that can blow you around seems to be the norm in the region, with calm, sunny days being the exception. The wind wasn't so bad when it was helped us along the path but when you're trying to cook dinner its a little frustrating. At one campsite we discovered an outdoor cupboard that we could cook in that was fully stocked with softdrinks - we hit the jackpot!... it made for a perfect shelter until the campsite employees discovered us.

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Photos

The Torres
The famous granite towers at Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile.

Glacier Grey
Torres Del Paine National Park

Go go gadget neck
Facing the brunt of the forceful Patagonian winds

The little boat and the big glacier
Glacier Grey and the edge of the Southern Patagonia Icefield

The valley
Torres Del Paine

Comments

[Ros Wood]

We're so jealous!! Your photos are inspiring Craig and I to organise our way over there sometime...