Rothera is receeding behind me following my whirlwhind departure on Monday 3rd Jan, from there I managed only one night in Punta Arenas in a hotel courtesy of BAS before heading further north the next day to Puerto Natales. Its a nice enough town, fairly small and windswept and the gateway to the national parks here in Patagonia. It is for that reason, as the tourist books say, a hive for gore-tex clad travelers lugging huge rucksacks in readieness for treking in the mountains. I was one of these people and after a couple of nights in town I was prepared to head for Torres del Paine national park.A two hour bus ride took me to the park boundary from where I caught a catamaran ferry across one of the many lakes to take me to to the start of the trail. On the ferry ride I got chatting to Dave and American and Kate an Austrailian, since each of us was travelling alone and doing the same route we decided to travel together.
The mountains of Torres del Paine from the catamaran.The scenery on this first day was stunning, from the boat we got great views of the mountains as we approached and once on the trail the peaks towered above, glaciers on their summits cascading down into waterfalls and the trail winding its way though the warm hills and forests below.
Looking back across the lake to our start point.
Waterfalls, glaciers, and forest.
Looking back across the lake to our start point.
Waterfalls, glaciers, and forest.Each day we hiked from one campsite to the next on our circuit of the mountans which covered about 140km, some days were harder than others with long distances (22km being our longest distance) or steep climbs up into the mountain valleys.
Looking back down the valley.
The first four days of the trip were spent walking the 'W' trail which took us across the south face of the Torres range and into two of the deepest valleys.
Our campsite in the Torres valley.
The most spectacular of these was the Torres Valley itself, from the campsite at the top of this valley we got up at 4am and climbed up to the base of the towering granite peaks. From our vantage point on the huge morraine above the lake we waited for the sunrise. For a while it appeared that clouds on the horizon would ruin the sunrise but just in time they parted and for a brief few moments we were treated to a great view of the face lit up by the orange glow.
Early morning at the foot of the Torres spires.
The circuit now took us around the 'back' side of the range - this is less frequented by most travellers and so the days walking in this area was often very quiet.
It may have been tranquil in terms of fewer people but this terrain brought us some very strong winds. At one stage Dave was blown over by a strong gust and I felt as though I were walking at a 45 degree angle. This was fairly shortlives though and as we descended from the exposed mountain slopes to the sheltered valley floor the wind eased and the temperature soared.
Warm and calm down in the valley.
We were now nearing the end of the trail with only a couple of days left but one big event to look forwards to. This was the mountain pass which climbed high towards the peaks and allowed us to break through into a glacier filled valley. There was some low cloud as we crossed the pass but even so the views were amazing and we now started our long decent of about 700 meters to our last campsite.
Views over the Gray Glacier from the mountain pass.
The last day had been kept purposfully short and was quite plesant with a great deal of decent and fantastic views back over the glacier.
Last views of the Gray Glacier.
It was now though that we became more aware from chatting to other trekers that all was not well politically in the area and we reached the end point amid rumours of road blockades and the potential that we may be trapped in the park - these all turned out to be true!
Plans were made, changed, made again, and in the end Dave decided to chance the offer of a lift in a car and an attempt to get through the roadblocks, whilst me and Kate walked a further 17km to and administration center in the park which was near a road. From here we were still trapped but in a better position to get information and to get out once a bus could get through, which one did the very next day courtesy of the Red Cross and the blockade organisers themselves.
Red Cross and Chilean Airforce arrange things in Puerto Natales.
Looking back down the valley.The first four days of the trip were spent walking the 'W' trail which took us across the south face of the Torres range and into two of the deepest valleys.
Our campsite in the Torres valley.The most spectacular of these was the Torres Valley itself, from the campsite at the top of this valley we got up at 4am and climbed up to the base of the towering granite peaks. From our vantage point on the huge morraine above the lake we waited for the sunrise. For a while it appeared that clouds on the horizon would ruin the sunrise but just in time they parted and for a brief few moments we were treated to a great view of the face lit up by the orange glow.
Early morning at the foot of the Torres spires.The circuit now took us around the 'back' side of the range - this is less frequented by most travellers and so the days walking in this area was often very quiet.
It may have been tranquil in terms of fewer people but this terrain brought us some very strong winds. At one stage Dave was blown over by a strong gust and I felt as though I were walking at a 45 degree angle. This was fairly shortlives though and as we descended from the exposed mountain slopes to the sheltered valley floor the wind eased and the temperature soared.
Warm and calm down in the valley.We were now nearing the end of the trail with only a couple of days left but one big event to look forwards to. This was the mountain pass which climbed high towards the peaks and allowed us to break through into a glacier filled valley. There was some low cloud as we crossed the pass but even so the views were amazing and we now started our long decent of about 700 meters to our last campsite.
Views over the Gray Glacier from the mountain pass.The last day had been kept purposfully short and was quite plesant with a great deal of decent and fantastic views back over the glacier.
Last views of the Gray Glacier.It was now though that we became more aware from chatting to other trekers that all was not well politically in the area and we reached the end point amid rumours of road blockades and the potential that we may be trapped in the park - these all turned out to be true!
Plans were made, changed, made again, and in the end Dave decided to chance the offer of a lift in a car and an attempt to get through the roadblocks, whilst me and Kate walked a further 17km to and administration center in the park which was near a road. From here we were still trapped but in a better position to get information and to get out once a bus could get through, which one did the very next day courtesy of the Red Cross and the blockade organisers themselves.
Red Cross and Chilean Airforce arrange things in Puerto Natales.
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