We left Ushuaia on Monday March 26 and drove for a day and a half into Chile to arrive, after one rough camp, at our camp site at Camp Pehoe in Torres del Paine Nationl Park. The main attraction here is the Paine Massif, a collection of jagged topped mountains which somehow climb up out of the pampa. Although the mountains are stunningly beautiful, they are also indomitable. A ferocious wind constantly rages throughout the area and I can only believe that the mountains are angry and that this is a place where man was not meant to be. The main attraction of the park is to hike the various trails to experience the beauty of the mountains, glaciers, and lakes that are in the Park. There are a few alternative hikes that are popular and the majority of our group chose to do the current favourite being the "W" which is a 4 day trek away from our campsite. About 10 of us chose an alternative to this which we called the "V", the difference being that on the 3rd day instead of trekking we did a 3 hour horse ride. Also, we only spent one night away from our camp at Camp Pehoe.
So, day 1 - Tuesday - we took a ferry transfer in a catamaran across Lago Pehoe to the Paine Grande Refugio. The waves in the Lake were enormous and came right up over the catamaran - it was an exciting ride and probably in Canada the trip would have been cancelled - but we made it safely although a couple of the girls were quite "sea sick"! After arranging our accomodation in the refugio, we set off on what ended up being about an 8 and a half hour trek up the side of Lago Grey to Glaciar Grey where we sat on the rocks and had lunch. The trek was quite moderate except the last hour which was almost all uphill to give a wonderful view over the Glaciar. The return journey was not as fun and towards the end my toes were so sore pressing on the front of my hiking boots from the consistent down hill angle. We made it back on the brink of night fall - knowing that another 2 in our group were 45 minutes to an hour behind us. They eventually arrived back around 8.45 having completed the last 2 hrs by torch light. We were just about to contact the Park Rangers to let them know. Apparently, there was another group out one night recently and the Rangers were called in to find them - so it seems to happen consistently! The Refugio was super comfortable and we had dinner and talked to a lovely Irish couple Brian and Sinaid from Dublin - who we hope will read our blog and keep in touch.
The next day, we set off on a slightly shorter trek - about 5 hours this time - which took us along the shore of Lago Skottsberg up to the Valle del Frances. We ended this trek with a stunning walk over a suspension bridge which spanned a torrent of water racing down the moutainside to the lake below - two people only allowed on the bridge at one time! It was fun jumping on the bridge and swinging it as we crossed. We returned to the Refugio mid afternoon, chatted with other hikers, and caught the catamaran ferry back down Lago Pehoe - much calmer this time - to be picked up by Tony and driven back to our campsite at Camp Pehoe.
The third day, we had a stunning drive "somewhere" in the park to the estancia where we met our Criollo-type horses for a 3 hr horse ride. It rained on and off pretty well the whole time, but we had our rain suits on and were having so much fun we didn´t notice it. We rode up hill, down hill, over big boulders, across mud and smooth granite rock faces, across rivers where the water was up to the middle of the horse's belly, through valleys, along the river side and generally had an utterly amazing time - lots of flat out canters - total abandon to the wind. The horses were amazing - very responsive and comfy and the group leader had none of the caution that would exist on a "trail ride" in Canada. We all - 5 of us - enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, Ray seems to have severly bruised his coccyx and is quite uncomfortable over bumpy roads in the Truck!
The fourth day at Torres del Paine was a little disappointing. We had wanted to hike the Twin Towers on the Torres themselves, but unfortunately - or fortunately - the weather did not co-operate and we didn´t go but instead did a 3 hour hike around the side of Lago Nordenskjold. This proved a lot of fun as we "played" in the ever constant 30 mph plus wind, watched the eddies in the lake, the beautiful rainbows over the lake, and the spray rolling over the lake as the winds built up then quickly subsided.
All in all, an unforgettable visit to a remote part of Chile.
So, day 1 - Tuesday - we took a ferry transfer in a catamaran across Lago Pehoe to the Paine Grande Refugio. The waves in the Lake were enormous and came right up over the catamaran - it was an exciting ride and probably in Canada the trip would have been cancelled - but we made it safely although a couple of the girls were quite "sea sick"! After arranging our accomodation in the refugio, we set off on what ended up being about an 8 and a half hour trek up the side of Lago Grey to Glaciar Grey where we sat on the rocks and had lunch. The trek was quite moderate except the last hour which was almost all uphill to give a wonderful view over the Glaciar. The return journey was not as fun and towards the end my toes were so sore pressing on the front of my hiking boots from the consistent down hill angle. We made it back on the brink of night fall - knowing that another 2 in our group were 45 minutes to an hour behind us. They eventually arrived back around 8.45 having completed the last 2 hrs by torch light. We were just about to contact the Park Rangers to let them know. Apparently, there was another group out one night recently and the Rangers were called in to find them - so it seems to happen consistently! The Refugio was super comfortable and we had dinner and talked to a lovely Irish couple Brian and Sinaid from Dublin - who we hope will read our blog and keep in touch.
The next day, we set off on a slightly shorter trek - about 5 hours this time - which took us along the shore of Lago Skottsberg up to the Valle del Frances. We ended this trek with a stunning walk over a suspension bridge which spanned a torrent of water racing down the moutainside to the lake below - two people only allowed on the bridge at one time! It was fun jumping on the bridge and swinging it as we crossed. We returned to the Refugio mid afternoon, chatted with other hikers, and caught the catamaran ferry back down Lago Pehoe - much calmer this time - to be picked up by Tony and driven back to our campsite at Camp Pehoe.
The third day, we had a stunning drive "somewhere" in the park to the estancia where we met our Criollo-type horses for a 3 hr horse ride. It rained on and off pretty well the whole time, but we had our rain suits on and were having so much fun we didn´t notice it. We rode up hill, down hill, over big boulders, across mud and smooth granite rock faces, across rivers where the water was up to the middle of the horse's belly, through valleys, along the river side and generally had an utterly amazing time - lots of flat out canters - total abandon to the wind. The horses were amazing - very responsive and comfy and the group leader had none of the caution that would exist on a "trail ride" in Canada. We all - 5 of us - enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, Ray seems to have severly bruised his coccyx and is quite uncomfortable over bumpy roads in the Truck!
The fourth day at Torres del Paine was a little disappointing. We had wanted to hike the Twin Towers on the Torres themselves, but unfortunately - or fortunately - the weather did not co-operate and we didn´t go but instead did a 3 hour hike around the side of Lago Nordenskjold. This proved a lot of fun as we "played" in the ever constant 30 mph plus wind, watched the eddies in the lake, the beautiful rainbows over the lake, and the spray rolling over the lake as the winds built up then quickly subsided.
All in all, an unforgettable visit to a remote part of Chile.
Note:
Pictures added Apr 9
Ray and Liz horseback riding in Torres del Paine
View from horseback ride
Gray's Glaciar, Torres
Some of our hiking group
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