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Published: March 23rd 2006
Torres del Paine
Classic PatagoniaThe Pingo Valley
We left Puerto Natales early in the morning ($10000p rtn) for the 2hr bus ride to the Park entrance, Guarderia Laguna Amarga. Here we paid the $10000p entrance fee, received our little map and sent one of our food boxes to Juan Carlos at Refugio Las Torres on the transfer bus for $1000p (we packed a couple of food boxes so we could restock as we went around the circuit). Back on the bus and we continued to Administration where we departed and dropped off another food box in the office. We missed the tranfer bus to Hosteria Lago Grey ($7000p) so started walking up the road into a cold gale force headwind. After about 30min and several tourist vans spraying us with dust, a very kind couple from the USA gave us a lift out to the end of the road at Guarderia Lago Grey. From there it took us about 4.5 hrs to walk up the Valle Pingo to Campamento Zapato. It was a nice walk with about three hills to cross (not as easy as we had hoped). Very few people make the effort to get to the valley so it is very quiet
Valle Pingo
View up the Pingo Valley to Campamento Zapata on the Rio Pingo on the trail. The views are not as spectacular as on most of the "W" trail but still very nice. Campamento Zapato has no facitilies but is in a great location on the Rio Pingo and there were only two other tents there which was unusually crowded.
Next day I hiked up to the Mirador (lookout) Zapata another 30 min up the valley and squinted into the rain to see the melting edge of the vast southern ice field (Campo de Hielo Sur). We walked back down the valley about 3.5 hrs to Campamento Pingo, a nice grassy camp site on the Rio Pingo with some views towards the Horns (Los Cuernos). We had hoped to catch the ferry from Hosteria Lago Grey to Campamento Grey the next day but the winds (up to about 80kmph) were so fierce on Lago Grey that it was cancelled, so we camped at Pingo another night.
While we were up the Valle Pingo we met a couple of Chilean blokes from Santiago who had just spent 14 days straight up on the nearby southern ice field (the largest ice field outside of the polar caps). They were totally unsupported and very
Los Cuernos (the horns)
The Horns (Cuernos Principal, 2600m) viewed from Campamento Pingo modest but it was clear that what they had just done was much more hardcore then what most of the big headed mountain men in the region talk about doing. They pulled 60kg of gear each across the ice field (only about the fourth group to actually go into that region), waited for reasonable weather (ie. not a blizzard) and then proceeded to climb three mountains of about 2000m each which have never been climbed before. Hopefully they will have the honour of naming the peaks although they said they hoped to name the largest not after themselves but rather after a previous expedition that had told them about the mountains (very modest).
The "W" Circuit
Campamento Paso/Glacier Grey to Pehoè We took the ferry the next day in the morning across the very rough Lago Grey to Campamento Grey ($17000p one way) and then walked slowly for 4 hours up the steep up and down trail to Campamento Paso. The trail rises over 400m in total but with many gullies and a couple of trecherous ravines. There were very strong cold winds on the exposed slopes high above Glacier Grey which almost blew us off the
Glacier Grey
The eastern snout of glacier Grey viewed from trail on route to Campamento Guardas hill. The views over the Glacier Grey were fantastic and just got better as we continued to Campamento Paso which is nicely sheltered in the forest high above the glacier. There are not very many level tent sites but a good shelter for cooking and the very kind Guarderia staff lit the fire place in the shelter to keep us warm and happy. There is a mirador just below the camp site which gave us incredible views across the glacier in the afternoon.
We had planned to continue up through the very steep and slippery Paso John Gardner (1200m) and do the full Paine Circuit. However, it started raining in the early hours of the morning and continued all day. We deliberated for a while about whether to give it a go but when the partly frozen, mud-coated trekkers started arriving from the other side, we decided to stay in the warm dry shelter next to the fire. We camped another night at Paso and it continued to rain (and snow in the Pass). We had a fun night with the other trekkers who had come through the pass. As the rain continued in the morning we changed our
Clouds over Glacier Grey
The view over Glacier Grey when the rain cleared for a moment plans, deciding to just do the "W" trail and retraced our steps back down the track. It was extremely cold and windy above the glacier and we then continued for about 6.5hrs (not too difficult) to camp at Pehoè. Bec was already over camping in the wet and cold and booked herself in for a bed in the Refugio (hostel) for $19000p. The camping ($3500p p/p) facilities are pretty good at Pehoè with a hot showers and a good enclosed kitchen (free gas but only three burners) but the staff were not very friendly and the campsite is very exposed to strong winds. Hot meals can be bought for $8500p (all these prices were pretty standard at all the Refugios in the park) and it also has the biggest Almacen (small store) inside the park but most things are twice the price of Puerto Natales. Carry as much chocolate as you can because it is anywhere from AUD$5-10 for a 250g block inside the park (they know how much you want it).
Valle del Francès to Refugio Cuernos Next day we had an easy 2hr hike to Campamento Italiano (free, toilet but no covered cooking area) in very strong
Cold, wet campers
Diehard campers at Campamento Italiano: Bec, Justina, Tara, Jodie and Matt winds. It was warm in the morning and then became very cold and rained heavily just after dinner. Our usual group of campers were all there for the miserable weather: Jodie and Tara (team Canada), Justina and Isabella (Poland), Greg (USA) and Matt (UK).
Still raining in the morning and cold, cold, cold. We decided to head up into the Valle del Francès anyway as we had come a long way to get to there and it would be like giving in to just walk away. We had also seen how fast the weather can change so it was worth a go. Leaving our tents set up, the 2hr walk up was steep in places but not too difficult. It was fairly cold and cloudy (couldn't see any mountains) as we started, and then it started to blow and rain, snow then it started to snow and really blow. Luckily most of the snow bounced off our very inadequate Australian sub-tropics rain coats but we were freezing anyway and our legs were wet and numb. The snow slowed a bit and we (Bec pulled out with a sore achillies) pushed on up to the mirador. We were rewarded with
Red Torres at sunrise
The 2 hour walk and climb in the dark was all worth it for this. a 15min partial break in the clouds and we could see most of the northern mountains (the Horns: Los Cuernos) through light snow but none of the southern mountains. It was enough to give us a small taste of just how amazing the valley could be, the rest was left to our imagination. Crapping weather on the way back down. Packed up and a fairly easy 2hr walk to Refugio Cuernos, a very cosy, friendly place tucked in at the base of Los Cuernos (the Horns) on the lake. This refugio and Refugio Chileno are run by Fantastico Sur (different to Refugio Pehoè and Grey) and they are smaller (still good hot showers and meals) but generally have a much better vibe and friendly atmosphere. There is a limited number of sheltered campsites at Cuernos without big rocks under your tent, so get there as early as possible.
The Torres del Paine and Valle del Silencio Rained a little over night but was just cold in the morning. Headed off for our 5hr walk to Refugio Chileno (3.5hr fairly easy and last 1.5hr a bit of a slog up hill). The weather was still closed in but at least
Valle del Silencio
View up towards the Valle del Silencio from Laguna Las Torres no rain until we arrived. Small area for camping behind Refugio but fairly well sheltered under trees. Poured with rain in afternoon but cleared late and there were stars at night so we (Bec, I, Greg and Matt) decided to really give the sunrise at the Torres a go.
Woke up at 5am and there were stars everywhere so we were walking at 5:15am (at least two hours before sunrise), following the track with torches up the fairly flat valley for about 1hr to the Campamento Las Torres (free) turn off and then another hour very steep up the morraine rocks to the mirador. This is much faster in the light but don't underestimate how much more difficult and slow it is to follow even a very well worn track in the dark. At the morraine, stay left, close to the treeline for about 20-30min and then head straight for the massive rock near the top of the morraine.
The weather was perfect, we made it to the mirador about 10min before the sun light hit the Torres and it was truely amazing. It was freezing up there, maybe -5C, with thick ice in puddles but the stupendous
Happy campers, at last.
Bec and I were freezing but happy to finish the trek with this view. views of the Torres del Paine and of all the mountians up the valley made all the previous days of rain and cold worth while. Luckily we had the time and we stuck in there when we could have so easily pulled out of the Park and would have missed that mind blowing morning at the Torres. The day was not over yet and after descending the morraine I continued for another 2 hours up the Valle del Silencio. Again, fairly easy for about an hour up the river banks and then very steep for about 600m up, to get above the tree line. Time constraints meant I had to turn around and while it was hard work to get up that high, the further I went around the side of the valley, the better the views got and I only saw three other people up there. It was very impressive but very remote and not a particularly good idea to do it alone. Being above the tree line, it's very exposed and the strong gusts of wind are silent and almost blew me over a couple of times. This valley is renowned for very strong winds and I think
Valle del Silencio
View up the amazing Valle del Silencio towards Cerro Fortaleza (2688m) that day was relatively calm.
It took about 2.5 very fast walking hours to get back to Refugio Chileno and another 1.5hrs down the valley to get to the transfer bus ($1000p) at Refugio Las Torres. The little transfer bus goes to Lago Amarga to connect with the big buses that return to Puerto Natales (it all works like clock work). It was a very big day of about 20km and 1200m up and 1400m down. My knees really coped a hiding that day. We caught the big bus at about 7:30pm and were back in Puerto Natales by about 9:30pm. I really appreciated the warm soft dry bed under a solid roof that night. So that was Torres del Paine, a real mixed bag of weather but overall I really enjoyed it and would love to return some day, but not in the high season.
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Bex (Evil Trainer)
non-member comment
Im so jealous!!
Wonderful to hear your adventures. It looks like you are having the time of your life. I hope those jump squats have helped you up the mountains. Miss your laughter. Bex.