Trekking in Torres Del Paine NP.

Torres del Paine NP.

We took the short bus ride from El Calafate across the border into the town of Puerto Natales in Chile.  This border cross was very quick and a much more pleasureable experience than our last crossing on the Bolivia - Argentina Border.

Puerto Natales is a small port on the Chilean Fjords and has become popular with hikers as it's the closest town to the Torres del Paine National Park.  After we settled into our hostel and converted our Argentinian Peso's to Chileanos (and got used to dealing with money in thousands), we went to a lecture about the park and the various routes for trekking.  It was very useful and we decided to go for the W route, which is normally done over 5 days, but we reckoned we could do it in 3 days CAAC style !!!!.

Day 1.

The next day we woke bright and early to get the bus to the park.  It was a howling gale and lashing with rain, so it was looking like a fun start to the trip !!!!.

Arriving in the Park.

Not the best weather.

We were doing the route in reverse (west to east), so we needed to get a catamaran across the Lago Pehoe to the start point.  Let me tell you it was a rough ride across the lake it was hard enough walking along the jetty to get on the boat!

Trying to aoard the boat and not go for a swim !!

We pitched our tent next to the Refugio at the far end of the lake, and headed off on the first day of our trek.  This would be a 22K walk along the banks of Lago Grey to the Grey Glacier and back.  Although the weather was rough on the way out, by the time we got to the Glacier the sun was out.  By the time we got back to camp it was raining and blowing a gale again, Patagonian weather !!!!

Heading out to Glacier Grey.

Gillian braves the Patagonian weather.

Approaching Glacier Grey.

Glacier Grey.

Mountain Parakeets.

Setting up Camp.

Day 2.

After a very windy night in the tent, we woke up to a nice calm morning, so we cooked up some porridge for breakfast and got ready for our next trek up the Valle del Frances.  We teamed up with a Swedish couple Sara and Emil, and JJ from Malaysia for the day.

Ready for the next days trekking.

Toward the Valle del Frances.

Trekking up the Valle del Frances.

Small Glacier on the Valle del Frances.

Lunch stop photo with JJ, Emil and Sara.

Looking back down the Valle del Frances.

Gillian with the Torres in the background.

Lago Pehoe looking a bit calmer than the previous day.

Heading into our second camp at Las Torres.

Gillian prepares another yummy camp dinner.

Day 3.

Our final day in the park.  Today would be a short, but sharp climb to the base of the Torres.  It was a bit cloudy in the morning, so we were hoping that by the time we reached the Torres the cloud would have lifted.

Looking up the valley.

Having a break on the way up.

A Tree that had been twisted by the Patagonian winds.

The Torres del Paine.

Raising the Flag.

Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine.

Celebrating with Emil's finest Scotch Whisky.

We had a great time time on the park and survived all the different weather Patagonia threw at us.  However it was nice to get back to a hot shower and a warm comfy bed in Puerto Natales.  Originally we had planned to go back to El Calafate and fly to Buenos Aires, but another interesting option came up:  We could jump on a Patagonian FJiord Cruise for  3 days heading North to Puerto Montt.  This would also put us just a days bus ride from Santiago, from where we would be flying out of South America.  So after 3 days in the wilds we decided to chill out and go on the cruise.