Torres Del Paine.
Back when we planned this trip, the Torres Del Paine area was high on our list of must do’s. It was expected to be THE hiking trip that we did. 8 days of trekking to complete the circuit .(I –Vicky- had thought that before attempting this circuit we should build up to it gradually by going on two day hikes in the Patagonian Lake District…..)
Funny how things change…
First day we headed off to see the Torres Del Paine themselves. After a bus trip and three hours of walking up the valley (into a very strong wind and rain at one point) we got to camp for the night. We bedded down early in anticipation of the 5:30 am alarm call. All set, backpacks packed, ready to get up in time to see sunrise hit the towers from the viewpoint 40 minutes walk above us.
The alarm went off. We went back to sleep. After surfacing again at about 12, we had lunch and walked up to see the towers, very impressive. We were planning on heading on up to valle silencio higher up afterwards. But as you have to pass the tent again to get there, we found ourselves having a cuppa instead. We were beginning to wonder if we a bit tired of walking everywhere.
Next day with a determined effort we made it up for sunrise. Was worth it. The Towers turned a lovely pink and orange colour whilst we tucked into our home made porridge. In the afternoon we went up in to Valle Silencio. Very pretty and hardly any other people on the trail which is unusual for this mountain range.
The day after, after not much discussion at all, we decided to shorten the trek by following the southern W route rather than the longer full circuit. Think our bodies had started to have enough trekking by then and wanted an easier time of it. We headed back down the valley and turned right instead of left and arrived 4 hours later at a refugio where we could get hot showers and sit inside to play cards.
Fitz Roy and Torres national parks have approached things very differently. In Fitz Roy there are no facilities except some long drop toilets, no Refuges, little public transport and plenty of wilderness. None of the authorities in Fitz Roy ask you to report in or leave details of where you intend to trek. Torres provide maintained camping grounds with decent sit down loo’s, refuges that would be better named hotels and enough public transport to allow you to access the southern side of the circuit in a series of day trips if you wish. In other words, trekking in Torres is very easy. This is no bad thing but it does make it a very different experience.
Then the following morning we walked in to the next (French) valley for some more amazing views and a worrying few hours when we couldn’t find the camera. Turned up where we had left it, but it took us an extra 3 hours of walking up and down a steep hill to find it.
Next day we went to the viewpoint overlooking Glacier Grey and then caught the catamaran and then the bus home.
Torres was beautiful, but we were both ready for a change from walking and it lacked something after Fitz Roy. The mountains are still wonderful, but they lost something important as they gained civilization, the sense of awe and achievement in visiting them is diminished. It’s a bit like going to Keswick in the lakes on a summer bank holiday weekend. The mountains are still amazing, but you know they’d be better in midweek when you can find a trail that doesn’t have too many people instead of tripping over people who are usually heading for a tea shop with a baby in a pushchair.
Once back in Puerto Natales (nearest town to Torres), I (Vicky) managed to catch some stomach bug and spent most of the night in the bathroom throwing up which was unfortunate given that we had a 33 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt in Chile the next day. Still, we had paid extra for some luxury seating on the coach which pretty much turned your chair into a bed and with such comfort the journey passed surprisingly fast. That was until we realized that our coach was taking us past Bariloche (Argentinian Lake District) which was our ultimate destination. We weren’t however able to get off the bus in Bariloche and had to travel a further 5 hours up the road. We then had to travel back the same 5 hour journey to return to Bariloche. Grrrr…..
Back when we planned this trip, the Torres Del Paine area was high on our list of must do’s. It was expected to be THE hiking trip that we did. 8 days of trekking to complete the circuit .(I –Vicky- had thought that before attempting this circuit we should build up to it gradually by going on two day hikes in the Patagonian Lake District…..)
Funny how things change…
First day we headed off to see the Torres Del Paine themselves. After a bus trip and three hours of walking up the valley (into a very strong wind and rain at one point) we got to camp for the night. We bedded down early in anticipation of the 5:30 am alarm call. All set, backpacks packed, ready to get up in time to see sunrise hit the towers from the viewpoint 40 minutes walk above us.
The alarm went off. We went back to sleep. After surfacing again at about 12, we had lunch and walked up to see the towers, very impressive. We were planning on heading on up to valle silencio higher up afterwards. But as you have to pass the tent again to get there, we found ourselves having a cuppa instead. We were beginning to wonder if we a bit tired of walking everywhere.
Next day with a determined effort we made it up for sunrise. Was worth it. The Towers turned a lovely pink and orange colour whilst we tucked into our home made porridge. In the afternoon we went up in to Valle Silencio. Very pretty and hardly any other people on the trail which is unusual for this mountain range.
The day after, after not much discussion at all, we decided to shorten the trek by following the southern W route rather than the longer full circuit. Think our bodies had started to have enough trekking by then and wanted an easier time of it. We headed back down the valley and turned right instead of left and arrived 4 hours later at a refugio where we could get hot showers and sit inside to play cards.
Fitz Roy and Torres national parks have approached things very differently. In Fitz Roy there are no facilities except some long drop toilets, no Refuges, little public transport and plenty of wilderness. None of the authorities in Fitz Roy ask you to report in or leave details of where you intend to trek. Torres provide maintained camping grounds with decent sit down loo’s, refuges that would be better named hotels and enough public transport to allow you to access the southern side of the circuit in a series of day trips if you wish. In other words, trekking in Torres is very easy. This is no bad thing but it does make it a very different experience.
Then the following morning we walked in to the next (French) valley for some more amazing views and a worrying few hours when we couldn’t find the camera. Turned up where we had left it, but it took us an extra 3 hours of walking up and down a steep hill to find it.
Next day we went to the viewpoint overlooking Glacier Grey and then caught the catamaran and then the bus home.
Torres was beautiful, but we were both ready for a change from walking and it lacked something after Fitz Roy. The mountains are still wonderful, but they lost something important as they gained civilization, the sense of awe and achievement in visiting them is diminished. It’s a bit like going to Keswick in the lakes on a summer bank holiday weekend. The mountains are still amazing, but you know they’d be better in midweek when you can find a trail that doesn’t have too many people instead of tripping over people who are usually heading for a tea shop with a baby in a pushchair.
Once back in Puerto Natales (nearest town to Torres), I (Vicky) managed to catch some stomach bug and spent most of the night in the bathroom throwing up which was unfortunate given that we had a 33 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt in Chile the next day. Still, we had paid extra for some luxury seating on the coach which pretty much turned your chair into a bed and with such comfort the journey passed surprisingly fast. That was until we realized that our coach was taking us past Bariloche (Argentinian Lake District) which was our ultimate destination. We weren’t however able to get off the bus in Bariloche and had to travel a further 5 hours up the road. We then had to travel back the same 5 hour journey to return to Bariloche. Grrrr…..
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