Hiking the Torres del Paine Circuit

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Dec 22-31 on the Paine Circuit
Transportation to Torres del Paine is really easy to find. The tourism industry is much more organized than i.e. India.
Our first day on the trail was beautiful, a little windy, but clear. We got to Camp Seron w/ plenty of time to nap in the sun. The campsites here are very different from the U.S. In the U.S. people tend to look for campsites where they can´t be seen by others. Basically trekking in the U.S. is not a social activity. However, on this trail, the campsite areas are small and you´re forced to share space w/ your neighbors. Also, many of the sites have shelters for hikers, where we could cook dinner and stay out of the rain, which there was a lot of!

Day 2 Seron to Dickson
The weather was not as good today and we had to deal with rain and really strong winds, which almost blew Erica over. The hiking wouldn´t have been so exhausting if it weren´t for the wind. When we arrived at Camp Dickson we were greeted by lots of lovely mosquitos, which took an immediate liking to Luke. Luckily this site had a refugio w- a stove. We probably spend 5 hours in the shelter warming up and talking to folks from Canada and the U.K.

Day 3 Dickson to Los Perros
We were ready for the rain today with gators and rain jackets. The hike today was great. We got to see Glaciar Los Perros, which was a textbook style glaciar w- a lake and terminal morraine. Pictures to come.

Day 4 Los Perros to Los Pasos
We went over the John Gardner Pass today, one of the highlights of this trek. We were really lucky to have good weather so we could see Glaciar Grey at the pass. It was the most impressive glaciar we´ve seen. Our photos do not quite do it justice.
We were able to also view the glaciar at night from our campsite. Pretty amazing to be sitting outside at about 10pm (before sunset) watching the glaciar. (FYI- Glaciar grey is part of the Southern Ice Field (Hielo Sur)).

Day 5 Los Pasos to Campamiento Lago Grey
We stayed in our tent for a long time this morning, waiting for the rain to stop. We finally decided to go to the shelter at the campsite at about noon and found other hikers there. We were really lucky to have gone over the pass on a sunny day! The people who hiked it today were absolutely drenched and they didn´t get to see the glaciar. The rain finally slowed at 2pm and we set off for Refugio Lago Grey. The entire hike was along Glaciar Grey and ended at the Lake Grey. From our campsite we could see icebergs breaking off of the glaciar. It was amazing.

Day 6 Lago Grey to Lago Pehoe
As usual we didn´t get up until about noon today. It´s hard to leave the tent when you know it´s raining outside. At least the hiking was easier today and we got to see both Glaciar Grey and Lake Pehoe. Unlike Lago Grey, which is grey, Pehoe is aquamarine.

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