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Published: April 13th 2007
Sunrise at Lake Pehoe
The morning sunrise over the Torres from our campsite at Lake Pehoe. Patagonia is an enormous, mostly treeless plateau covering all of southern Argentina and nearly 20% of Chile’s total area. It is beautiful and bleak, with stark mountains, fast moving glaciers and an open steppe that is blasted by a relentless dry wind that continually blows from the west. In fact, Patagonia is our new definition of windy. Here we have had howling water laden winds drench us, winds that whip up the waters of the lakes so that waves crash into us, winds that blow grit into your eyes, and winds that blow against you to literally knock you off your feet.
We left from Ushuaia in “Peggy” (our Tucan tour bus) and headed towards Rio Grande for a night before crossing the Magellan Straits to Punta Arenas. Nearby Punta Arenas is the Otway Sound where a colony of Megellanic penguins are found. We didn’t get to see that many of them (thanks to our time in Antarctica less than a 1000 penguins is not many for us) before howling winds and a storm complete with hail stones caught us with nowhere to hide and drenched us all to the skin - welcome to Patagonia!
Four-hundred kilometres north
Megellanic Penguins
The few Megellanic penguins that remained behind at Otway Sound on the Chilean coast. They quickly retreated to their borrows before the hail arrived ... unlike us. of Punta Arenas is the famous Torres del Paine. Parque Nacional Torres del Paine contains 15 peaks over 2,000m high and lakes filled with turquoise coloured melt-water and icebergs. Cerro Paine Grande is the highest in the range at 2,750m, but the best known and most spectacular are the three towers of Paine which is where the National Park gets its name from. The highest of these 3 towers is approximately 2,500m although it has never been definitely established. These towers are granite and are the result of some massive volcanic movements about 12 million years ago. They were magma plugs making their way up through fissures in the existing sedimentary rock which was then eroded over time leaving these amazing towers.
We were to explore the park for a few days while camping at Lake Pehoe right in the centre of the National Park. We arrived at our campsite in time to see the sun setting over the Torres. We all decided to adjourn to the warm confines of a nearby hotel where they sold cold beers and watched the towers turn shades of pink and red while the winds blew water horizontally across the lake.
Yes,
The Torres del Paine
The best view we had of the 3 granite Torres del Paine. The climb was long and tough but rewarding in the end. we would be camping in all that wind.
For 3 nights.
Thankfully the wind did drop a little after sunset and our campsite was pretty sheltered. No tents or people blew away - not while we were there anyway.
The next morning we woke early to see sunrise over the Torres, an equally awe inspiring event and one which would whet our appetite for that days activity: the 8-10 hour return trek to towers themselves. The trek took us over rocky paths, across windy passes (so windy you had to hang onto the side for fear of being blown off the edge!) through beech forest and across log bridges over rivers before finally scrambling up chunks of granite to reach the lake at the base of the towers. We had great weather for the start of the trek but unfortunately the wind brought rain and clouds just as we hit the summit. We did get some fleeting views of the towers and the rain created a multitude of waterfalls which made the towers look as though they were weeping into the lake. Spectacular.
Our next morning we spent kayaking amongst the icebergs in Largo Grey. The Grey Glacier
Cerro Paine Grande in the Background
A clear view of the mountain range with its distinct band of sedimentry (dark-coloured) rock on top of the volcanic (light-coloured) granite. is at the head of this lake and often calves chunks of ice into the lake. It takes a while for these to melt so we had 7 or 8 to play amongst. We were all kitted up in wetsuits, booties and jackets before hitting the kayaks in pairs. We had some nice calm waters to get our paddling arms tuned up before we had to cross an unsheltered strait to reach the icebergs. The wind picked up so much that we were paddling into 0.5-1.0m waves and a pretty decent headwind for a good 5 minutes before reaching the icebergs. By the time we got to touch the icebergs we were pretty wet and you can imagine how cold the water is if its got icebergs floating in it! It was worth it though; the icebergs were melting in the sun which made them a transparent blue, almost like glass.
In the afternoon we went horse riding, gaucho style, at an estancia just outside of the National Park. Five of us opted for the longer ride and were rewarded with a gallop across the plains and the stormy Torres in the high distance. Tim and I had barely
A Wave of Ice on Grey Lake
The melting iceberg refracts the light to appear a deep colour blue. ridden horses before and here we were; without helmets, galloping our horses while holding the reins in one hand and letting the other hand fly through the air. In that moment we heard the pounding hoofs and the cries of “Ya” to spur on our horses. We felt the cool, clean wind in our face and hair. We felt the exhilaration of feeling free. Afterwards, we felt the sore arse for days.
Our next day of travelling took us onto Puerto Natales. There’s not much to Puerto Natales unless your planning to do the Navimag trip through the fjords. We originally had planned to take this trip but our ferry was cancelled. So instead we extended our Tucan trip to continue all the way onto Bariloche. It was serendipitous - after our last boat trip across the Drake Passage to Antarctica, I don’t think Tim or I were up for another potentially very rocky 4-day boat journey.
After Puerto Natales we headed to El Calafate which was our launching point to southern part of Patagonia’s other spectacular National Park, the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. The national park is the second largest in Argentina. Its name refers to the
giant ice cap (the biggest outside Antarctica and Greenland) in the Andes range that feeds 47 large glaciers, of which only 13 flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. In other parts of the world, glaciers start at a height of at least 2,500 meters above mean sea level, but due to the size of the Ice Cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500 m, sliding down to 200m AMSL, eroding the surface of the mountains that support them.
Los Glaciares, of which 30% is covered by ice, can be divided in two parts, each corresponding with one of the two big lakes bordering the Park: the Lake Argentino (1,466 km2, the biggest in Argentina) in the south, and the Lake Viedma (1,100 km2) in the north. The southern part has, as well as a number of smaller ones, the major glaciers Perito Moreno Glacier, Upsala Glacier and Spegazzini Glacier, which flow into Lake Argentino. The northern half consists of part of the Viedma Lake, the Viedma Glacier and a few minor glaciers, and a number of mountains including Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is a 250 square kms ice formation, of 30 km in
Trekking Across El Glacier Grande
Trekking across the remaining glaciers of the Patagonian ice cap near El Chalten. length, and is one of the glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This icefield is the world's third largest reserve of freshwater. This glacier is also one of the few in the world that is not retreating. It advances at a speed of 2-5m per day (around 700m per year). All this movement makes for very interesting watching as your waiting for that next big piece of ice to calve off at any moment. Our trip to the glacier included a boat ride along one of its massive edges, a walk around the peninsular overlooking the glacier, and a 2 hour visit to the balconies that are opposite the glacier face. On all of these activities we saw huge chunks of ice fall away. The last hour we stayed glued to the railing on the balcony, waiting, speculating and watching the ice crash into the lake. It was completely addictive, you didn’t want to turn away in case you missed something.
That evening we got back to El Calafate to farewell some of our tour mates and now friends by eating and drinking into the wee hours. Unfortunately it was an early start the next day as
Ice Formation on top of the Glacier
Like clouds in the sky, the varying shape, texture and colour of the ice on top of the glacier was mesmerising. we were scheduled to move on to El Chalten to explore the northern part of the the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.
El Chalten is a very windy, 10 street town that has a few hotels, allot of mountaineering companies and a great little brewery which unfortunately for us was on the other side of town to where we were staying. But it was so good it was worth getting all that grit in your eyes and ears for their beers, let alone their locra (a hearty Argentinian stew that is very tasty) or epanadas (like the Aussie pastie, but better). El Chalten is a trekking and mountaineering mecca where you can climb Mount Fitz Roy (3405m), Cerro Torre (3102m) or any other mountain in the area. There are also plenty of beautiful lakes and glaciers to trek to as well spectacular lookouts.
Chalten is the Tehuelche name meaning the “smoking mountain” and occasionally at sunrise the mountains are briefly lit up red, a phenomenon known locally as the “amanecer de fuego” or “the sunrise of fire”. We were up early enough the next morning, in fact we were trekking before sunrise, but we only saw Mount Fitz Roy
Climbing Crew - To the Torres
Taking a break (from the wind) on the way up to the Torres. (From L to R) Steve(Tucan Guide), Robyn, Vicki, Marcus, Leanne & Domonique. light up briefly before the clouds moved in again. We were at the start of a 12 hour day which would take us to the base of Cerro Torre.. A 3-hour trek took us to a mountaineering base camp where we strapped on our harnesses. We then walked around the lake (we were nearly blown into it by the strong wind ripping through the valley) and hooked ourselves onto a flying fox to get across the river. From here we trekked up and down a steep slope before setting foot on the glacier. Our guide, who looked like Grizzly Adams with his bushy beard, helped us strap on our crampons and taught us the basic techniques used in ice climbing before we headed off over the ice. We then had the chance to try ice climbing. Tim, Dominique and I all got up the wall, as did our new Irish mates Andy and Michelle. After this we had to turn around and retrace our steps back to town. Lucky for us the little brewery was close to that side of town and we decided that we’d celebrate our ice climbing triumphs with our new ice buddies over a few beers
Horse Riding in Torres del Paine
(Tim) reluctantly agreed to go horse riding but it was one of the best experiences of the trip. This hearty steed galloped accross grassy plains with a storm settling over the Torees del Pain as the dramatic backdrop. and pizza (did I mention they did a good pizza too?).
Our next couple of days was spent on Peggy on route to Bariloche. We stopped in Puerto Moreno (nothing here) for one night before pushing on to Bariloche. Bariloche is a large town set on the edge of a lake and surrounded by mountains. It is also famous for its chocolate shops due to the number of Swiss chocolatiers that have settled in this town. After all this barren, windswept scenery there was nothing better that us girls on the trip could imagine that sipping chocolate submarinos (like a hot chocolate, but they give you lumps of chocolate in a cup to which you add hot milk and stir) in a cosy little chalet on the lake. I think the guys were thinking more about the locally brewed beers.
We spent our last day with a our tour group friends, checking out the total lack of scenery (the clouds came in and you could see nothing but clouds from the lookout), eating lunch at a great little mexican restaurant, selecting and eating chocolates from Mamushka Chocolate Shop, drinking the sampler platter at the local “Artesanas” brewery, and
An Iceberg in the Grey Lake
This Iceberg carved from the Grey Glacier and will float down the lake until it eventually melts. eating the hugest, tastiest steak we’ve had in Argentina (a big rap). The next morning we woke up, a little hung over and still digesting meat, to wave a sad goodbye to our tour bus, Peggy, our Tucan tour guide Steve and driver Sail, and our mates; Marcus, Vicki, Dominique, Russ, Adam, Lizzy, and Robin. We watched the bus chug away down before we were blown halfway down the road after it by a blustering gust of wind to eat breakfast on what was the windiest street of our entire Patagonia trip.
Patagonia rates as one of the most incredible landscapes we’ve seen in the world, it quite literally blew us away.
L
Tour Info:
If you’d like more information about this trip check out the South America section (trip name “Moreno”) at Tucan Travel (www.tucantravel.com). Reference:
Wikipedia was used to correctly note sizes, heights etc of the National Parks.:
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Nancy Jo
non-member comment
your pictures....
are fabulous!