Trekking in Torres - Days 5 & 6

Day 5
Disappointingly the weather had changed again to rain and very low clouds – not good news for getting a closer view of the Torres.  From Chileno it was an hour up to Campamento Torres, just under the lookout.  The weather seemed to be improving, but when we headed up steep track to the lookout it was still clouded in, with the occasional shape in the clouds that had to be the famous Towers.

Damp and cloudy - nothing for it but some reading, hoping that the weather would improve

Up at the famous viewpoint, sadly lacking in views

Ah, optimism!  Waiting under a bivvy rock, but no luck

Day 6
We were optimistic that the weather would change again overnight and clear off the low level clouds and rain, but sadly it wasn't meant to be.  We did head up to the lookout again (setting a scorching time of 35min up and 25min down) but visibility was about 20m!

Ah well, by this time we were pretty damp, almost out of food and ready to head back to civilisation. The tent was a good kilo heavier with water but we still made good time back down to Las Torres.

The low level cloud had blown off in places and we could see period glimpses of the Torres from down by Refugio Las Torres.  The shuttle bus took us back round to the park entrance, which was bathed in sunshine and covered with wet trekkers trying to dry everything out.

The views back towards the Paine Massive were gorgeous, even with the clouds coming and going.  The Torres seemed so much more immense from further away.

Back in the bus to Puerto Natales, with time enough to clean and dry all our gear and have a great parrilla (Patagonian bbq) dinner.

Lovely waterfall

Pack horses taking supplies up to Refugio Chileno

While waiting for the bus Ben had time to stalk some guanaco, relatives of the llama

Cute baby guanacos

Guanacos posing under Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine - though we waited and hoped, this was the best view we had.
They were still beautiful and imposingly large, all the more so from a distance

More mountains

The obligatory stop at a cafe/souvenir shop allowed a few minutes . . .

. . . to capture the striking Patagonian landscape

Trekking in Torres - Day 4

The  temperature had climbed and the wind had stopped by the following morning – it was a perfect day.  We had planned to head from Italiano around the next bottom section of the W to either Refugio Las Torres or Chileno, depending on how we were going for time.

The contrast between days couldn't have been more marked – from settling snow to hot, still sunshine.  It was the perfect day to do this section as it follows the lake shore and then climbs up a little through gentle meadows – no shelter from the wind at all.

The views were outstanding across the lakes to the many snow covered peaks surrounding the park.  We made good time around to Refugio Los Cuernos and a few hours later took the shortcut up to Refugio Chileno, up in the right hand section of the W.  It was the longest day of walking, taking about 7hrs, with a bit of climb up to Chileno, but the beautiful weather made it very pleasant.

Same view from the bridge as the day before

Snow capped mountains and lakes everywhere

The other side of Los Cuernos - incredible glacier-carved shapes

Common local bird on a very prickly bush

Orange breasted bird of mystery

Climbing higher the views continued to dazzle

Delicate orchid on the side of the path

Heading up the valley towards Refugio Chileno (the roof on the right)

Camping in sunshine!  Los Torres in the background

Our best view of Los Torres - already the weather was beginning to change again

Trekking in Torres - Day 3

The wind had been roaring in the trees most of the night and the temperature had really dropped so we were not surprised to find that it was snowing.  The plan had been to head up Valle France for the day, the middle part of the W, as it was reputed to have great views.  The clouds were low, the wind was blowing and the snow falling but we went anyway – the thought of a day in the damp camp didn't hold much appeal!

Snow here, sun down there

The beech forest protected us from the worst of the wind

All rugged up and glad of it

Camp Britanico had a 'shelter' of branches - glad we weren't trying to camp, but spectacular views

The back of the towers, visible between the snow showers

Back down to camp and the weather seemed to be improving, at least lower down

Looking back up the valley from the bridge by the camp - French Glacier

Much better bridge quality than Argentina
(might be something to do with the huge numbers of park visitors)

The imposing Los Cuernos

Trekking in Torres del Paine - Days 1 & 2

A short (only 6hrs!) bus ride took us over the border to Puerto Natales, Chile, a little seaport town that is close to Torres del Paine National Park.  Getting food for the trek proved to be a little harder than anticipated – the main supermarket had a terrible selection and we had to visit a couple of smaller stores to get everything we needed.  At the same time we were trying to sort out onward travel after the park, which was equally frustrating!

We had dinner at a great vegetarian restaurant with Lauren, an Australian staying in our hostel.  There was a lot of talk about exactly what we were heading off to do – Torres is famous for beautiful scenery and infamous for its Patagonian weather!

Day 1
That night the wind started to really pick up and in the morning the weather was anything but promising – driving rain and very cold when our bus picked us up.  It wasn't quite so bad when we arrived at the park.  By the time we had signed in, caught the catamaran across the lake to where we were going to start, the wind had dropped and the clouds, although threatening, were not actually raining.

There are a number of treks in the park, including an 7-8 day circuit around the Paine Massive itself.  That sounded like it was going to be a little tough considering the weather conditions so we opted for the more popular W trek, so called because of the shape it makes.

Off we set from Paine Grande, to do the lefthand part of the W, up to Glacier Grey.  The walking wasn't hard (except for the 5 days of food in my pack) and we made good time.

The camping at Refugio Grey was a pleasant surprise – a spacious grassy area amidst the trees, with a cooking shelter and hot showers! Well worth the price.  It's a very popular campsite so there were a lot of people – but  that's the case everywhere on the trek.

Glacier Grey in the distance, the refugio is the tiny silvery roof on the righthand side

The ferry showed the true size of the ice calving off the glacier

Only 10mins from camp you could get much closer to the ice

Lovely but cold

Interesting ice shapes

Day 2
Overnight rain stopped in time for breakfast and packing up the tent.  We retraced our steps back to Paine Grande for a quick lunch break.  Then we headed across the bottom of the W, to Campamento Italiano.  The walking was pleasant, with good views across the lakes, but still pretty overcast.  The weather was starting to change with the wind rising and clouds coming and going.

Italiano is situated under the beech trees, tucked at the bottom of Valle France (French Valley).  It was very sheltered but quite damp, and very busy!  We wandered around for a while before finding a tent site to put up the only non-dome tent in the park.

Returning the same way in better weather

An extensive fire ripped through the park last summer, leaving huge areas of burnt trees

The changing weather gave us glimpses of Los Cuernos

Los Cuernos later in the evening

Further South and Perito Moreno Glacier

Our travel plans hit a slight bus schedule/border crossing issue that called a halt to our plans to go rafting for a day in Chile.  Instead we had a spare 3-4 days to fill – what to do?

Southern Patagonia was calling to us, so we decided to head south a little earlier.  The last 24hr bus ride was uneventful and we arrived into El Calafate on time.  The big draw for El Calafate is its location; near the border to Chile to get to Torres del Paine, near El Chalten for trekking and close to Perito Moreno Glacier.

Perito Moreno  Glacier is huge and one of the few glaciers in the area that isn't retreating.  It covers the same area as Buenos Aires!

Approaching the glacier on a boat

The imposing front of the glacier

Striking spires in the ice

For exhorbitant sums you can walk on the edge of the glacier . . . not something we wanted to pay for

The glacier meeting the land

A fresh perspective - the far side of the glacier from land

Bombs away!  It was great fun waiting for enormous, building-sized pieces to crash into the water . . .

. . . creating tremendous noise and splash.

The obligatory tourist shot

The colours and textures and sheer size of the glacier were impressive