torres del paine national park.
torres del paine.
after arriving in el calafate during the night i pack until 2 am and get up at 5.30 am to take the bus to torres del paine. first class service: mariano from ‘america del sur’ has done the shopping for me while i was in el chalten. extra applause, please.
at the border to chile we have to get out for some formalities. the wind is incredible. just like the visibility: despite the clouds that race above us, the mountains show all their peaks. very impressive even from the distance. we take a breathtaking route along the lakes to the ferry at lago grey: although it’s not perfectly sunny or maybe exactly because of that the views and the colours are incredible. the landscape is a perfect natural drama: the permanently changing sky matches the roughness of the mountains and the spray on the lakes. i have no clue what the speed of the wind is but standing still is impossible, it shakes you back and forth, from right to left. i wonder if one picture will come out. i wonder if the storm will stay like this during the hike. that will add quite a risk, not to mention the fun to set up a tent under these conditions. but it’s great fun as far as i am concerned. i think i will love this rough place.
contrary to the initial information i luckily get a seat on the boat that crosses lake grey to reach the camp. and our guide is kind enough to take my small backpack to a travel agency in puerto natales while i’m on the track. but there’s still a big one to carry. the people who carry the backpacks on the boat look at me with raised eyebrows when they get mine. yes, i wonder how i will carry the equipment, too. for some reasons the other people’s backpack look smaller. tent, sleeping bag, extra cloths, food and camera add up.
the crossing of the lake to the glacier turns out to be a hell ride. some people don’t look too happy. it’s quite bumpy and the waves are much higher than i thought they could be on a lake. i do not throw up but it’s close. we reach the wind-protected area at the glacier just in time. the sun is almost prefect and we can see the various colours of the ice changing from white to grey to deep blue. the views justify a sick stomach.
after setting up the tent i do a short sunset hike through the rocks along the lake towards the glacier. although there’s no real sunset it’s interesting enough to shoot a hundred pictures (at least one should come out). not the worst place to sit and look and freeze.
have a dinner of a pound of pasta, tuna and chocolate. the time it takes to cook the pasta drives me crazy.
lago grey, lago pehoe, camp italiano.
i hike back along lake grey. first it goes up and down through the woods, then the paths crosses the open hills down to lake pehoe. the wind is as strong as yesterday but luckily it comes from the back most of the time. but as it changes its directions every other second it makes walking hard. with every step you have to make sure you don’t fall when the wind catches the backpack. at least it’s not a dangerous area, apart form the cliffs where i stop to take pictures – after i take off the backpack.
the landscape at lake pehoe is almost unreal with its turquoise water. after a short sandwich stop i continue to camp italiano. it’s like a roller coaster ride: the path crosses the little river valley that come down from the mountains. on the map it looks flat because it only shows altitude changes of 100 metres. in reality it’s permanently going up and down within this 100 metres. my back hurts but the landscape makes it endurable. it’s one of these ‘shut up and walk’ days. when i’m home i have to weigh my backpack. let’s call it a torture that entertains the eyes and shapes the mind. what people do if they are not forced is really strange. if they ordered me to do this in the army my answer was 'here's the paper that says not more than 5 kg' and now i carry more than 15... well that's a swabians destiny: you pay for it so you do it.
with all the photo stops i arrive after 9 hours at camp italiano. the nice rangers help me to set up the tent. today’s distance: 20 km.
camp italiano, camp britanico, camp cuernos.
i leave at 7 am. it looks like a perfect day: blue sky and no clouds. the path is very steep and all i carry today is chocolate, water, camera and a poncho. so it’s a very quick ascend through the valle del frances: along the frances glacier through the woods, crossing muddy grass land and finally reaching the lookout in the middle of the high valley. i sit in the middle of an amphitheatre of countless peaks. luckily nobody else is up here at this time of the day. it can’t get better than this.
when people arrive an hour later to ruin my mood i escape to a saddle further up the valley where i hope to have a view of the torres del paine peaks. two more very entertaining hours of speedy hiking through blank rocks and some snow. unfortunately the saddle is not allowing a view into the other valley, just a glimpse of one of the torres but i have a different seat in the theatre up here.
i return and continue to the cuernos camp. instead of the indicated 2,5 hours i need an hour less. it seems that good weather works quite well as an accelerator. but i’m exhausted nevertheless. early bedtime.
today’s distance: 18 km.
camp cuernos, camp chileno, torres del paine.
after yesterday’s perfect weather it's cloudy. but that’s not a great loss as the landscape offers no extreme highlights. again it’s an exhausting permanent up and down to cross the endless valleys along lake nordenskjoeld before ascending the valley of rio ascensio that leads to the torres del paine.
on the way i meet a guy from florida. we chat and after a while he mentions some girls he met who miraculously always looked clean and combed and nice and well dressed, and who created quite some jealousy among other women. i have a feeling i know who he’s talking about: ‘you don’t have to say anymore. that can only be rebecca and christy, some crazy girls from new york’. he just stares at me: ‘how do you know??’. it seems they leave their impression wherever they go.
short sandwich stop at camp chileno. i decide to continue to camp torres directly instead of getting up in the night to reach the torres del paine viewpoint for sunrise. the final steep ascend to the camp torres is not without difficulties as it is very slippery and narrow at some passages. i arrive at the camp at 8 pm. to finish the day properly and as there is light until 10 pm i decide to do a quick but steep sunset hike to the lookout point ...just to meet markus again on the way.
the lookout is worth the extra effort. it is in fact breathtaking, not only because of the steep path. rocks as big as houses, a small lake and the vertical wall of the torres del paine. no question, i’ll be back tomorrow. let’s hope it’ll be clear.
today’s distance: 20 km.
torres del paine.
getting up at 4 am to get to the viewpoint again. fortunately it’s viewpoint weather again. i arrive punctually at sunrise. the peaks change their colours every minute from grey to red to orange to gold. and the clouds add some dramatic effects. i spend 2 hours happily staring at rocks and stones. and waste another 200 pictures for the same motive - certainly all of picture postcard quality. the few other people who get up so early choose another viewpoint further up the rocks so i have it all for myself. that’s real luxury.
i return to camp chileno, have another sandwich break and continue to the park exit at the hosteria las torres. after 3 hours walking down my knees hurt like hell. the moment i arrive at the final destination of the hike.
today’s distance: 10 km.
my lust for walking drops instantly to zero. despite the usual pain and the exhaustion it was a hike that could truly be described as ‘perfect’. breathtaking lookouts, no rain and no toothache. highly recommendable.
i take the bus to puerto natales to get the ship up north to puerto montt. in puerto natales i meet christian, the guy from florida, again. obviously the chocolate based diet of the last days wasn't really satisfying: i finish a super size pizza in 10 minutes and eat the rest of christians stuff, too.
besides: if you are looking for english books in puerto natales – forget it.
if you think you won’t need them on the ship – dream on poor fool.
on the ferry i meet a lot of people i’ve seen on the trek. yup, we're all individual travellers but in the end we follow the same routes - not really travelling off the beaten track.
after arriving in el calafate during the night i pack until 2 am and get up at 5.30 am to take the bus to torres del paine. first class service: mariano from ‘america del sur’ has done the shopping for me while i was in el chalten. extra applause, please.
at the border to chile we have to get out for some formalities. the wind is incredible. just like the visibility: despite the clouds that race above us, the mountains show all their peaks. very impressive even from the distance. we take a breathtaking route along the lakes to the ferry at lago grey: although it’s not perfectly sunny or maybe exactly because of that the views and the colours are incredible. the landscape is a perfect natural drama: the permanently changing sky matches the roughness of the mountains and the spray on the lakes. i have no clue what the speed of the wind is but standing still is impossible, it shakes you back and forth, from right to left. i wonder if one picture will come out. i wonder if the storm will stay like this during the hike. that will add quite a risk, not to mention the fun to set up a tent under these conditions. but it’s great fun as far as i am concerned. i think i will love this rough place.
contrary to the initial information i luckily get a seat on the boat that crosses lake grey to reach the camp. and our guide is kind enough to take my small backpack to a travel agency in puerto natales while i’m on the track. but there’s still a big one to carry. the people who carry the backpacks on the boat look at me with raised eyebrows when they get mine. yes, i wonder how i will carry the equipment, too. for some reasons the other people’s backpack look smaller. tent, sleeping bag, extra cloths, food and camera add up.
the crossing of the lake to the glacier turns out to be a hell ride. some people don’t look too happy. it’s quite bumpy and the waves are much higher than i thought they could be on a lake. i do not throw up but it’s close. we reach the wind-protected area at the glacier just in time. the sun is almost prefect and we can see the various colours of the ice changing from white to grey to deep blue. the views justify a sick stomach.
after setting up the tent i do a short sunset hike through the rocks along the lake towards the glacier. although there’s no real sunset it’s interesting enough to shoot a hundred pictures (at least one should come out). not the worst place to sit and look and freeze.
have a dinner of a pound of pasta, tuna and chocolate. the time it takes to cook the pasta drives me crazy.
lago grey, lago pehoe, camp italiano.
i hike back along lake grey. first it goes up and down through the woods, then the paths crosses the open hills down to lake pehoe. the wind is as strong as yesterday but luckily it comes from the back most of the time. but as it changes its directions every other second it makes walking hard. with every step you have to make sure you don’t fall when the wind catches the backpack. at least it’s not a dangerous area, apart form the cliffs where i stop to take pictures – after i take off the backpack.
the landscape at lake pehoe is almost unreal with its turquoise water. after a short sandwich stop i continue to camp italiano. it’s like a roller coaster ride: the path crosses the little river valley that come down from the mountains. on the map it looks flat because it only shows altitude changes of 100 metres. in reality it’s permanently going up and down within this 100 metres. my back hurts but the landscape makes it endurable. it’s one of these ‘shut up and walk’ days. when i’m home i have to weigh my backpack. let’s call it a torture that entertains the eyes and shapes the mind. what people do if they are not forced is really strange. if they ordered me to do this in the army my answer was 'here's the paper that says not more than 5 kg' and now i carry more than 15... well that's a swabians destiny: you pay for it so you do it.
with all the photo stops i arrive after 9 hours at camp italiano. the nice rangers help me to set up the tent. today’s distance: 20 km.
camp italiano, camp britanico, camp cuernos.
i leave at 7 am. it looks like a perfect day: blue sky and no clouds. the path is very steep and all i carry today is chocolate, water, camera and a poncho. so it’s a very quick ascend through the valle del frances: along the frances glacier through the woods, crossing muddy grass land and finally reaching the lookout in the middle of the high valley. i sit in the middle of an amphitheatre of countless peaks. luckily nobody else is up here at this time of the day. it can’t get better than this.
when people arrive an hour later to ruin my mood i escape to a saddle further up the valley where i hope to have a view of the torres del paine peaks. two more very entertaining hours of speedy hiking through blank rocks and some snow. unfortunately the saddle is not allowing a view into the other valley, just a glimpse of one of the torres but i have a different seat in the theatre up here.
i return and continue to the cuernos camp. instead of the indicated 2,5 hours i need an hour less. it seems that good weather works quite well as an accelerator. but i’m exhausted nevertheless. early bedtime.
today’s distance: 18 km.
camp cuernos, camp chileno, torres del paine.
after yesterday’s perfect weather it's cloudy. but that’s not a great loss as the landscape offers no extreme highlights. again it’s an exhausting permanent up and down to cross the endless valleys along lake nordenskjoeld before ascending the valley of rio ascensio that leads to the torres del paine.
on the way i meet a guy from florida. we chat and after a while he mentions some girls he met who miraculously always looked clean and combed and nice and well dressed, and who created quite some jealousy among other women. i have a feeling i know who he’s talking about: ‘you don’t have to say anymore. that can only be rebecca and christy, some crazy girls from new york’. he just stares at me: ‘how do you know??’. it seems they leave their impression wherever they go.
short sandwich stop at camp chileno. i decide to continue to camp torres directly instead of getting up in the night to reach the torres del paine viewpoint for sunrise. the final steep ascend to the camp torres is not without difficulties as it is very slippery and narrow at some passages. i arrive at the camp at 8 pm. to finish the day properly and as there is light until 10 pm i decide to do a quick but steep sunset hike to the lookout point ...just to meet markus again on the way.
the lookout is worth the extra effort. it is in fact breathtaking, not only because of the steep path. rocks as big as houses, a small lake and the vertical wall of the torres del paine. no question, i’ll be back tomorrow. let’s hope it’ll be clear.
today’s distance: 20 km.
torres del paine.
getting up at 4 am to get to the viewpoint again. fortunately it’s viewpoint weather again. i arrive punctually at sunrise. the peaks change their colours every minute from grey to red to orange to gold. and the clouds add some dramatic effects. i spend 2 hours happily staring at rocks and stones. and waste another 200 pictures for the same motive - certainly all of picture postcard quality. the few other people who get up so early choose another viewpoint further up the rocks so i have it all for myself. that’s real luxury.
i return to camp chileno, have another sandwich break and continue to the park exit at the hosteria las torres. after 3 hours walking down my knees hurt like hell. the moment i arrive at the final destination of the hike.
today’s distance: 10 km.
my lust for walking drops instantly to zero. despite the usual pain and the exhaustion it was a hike that could truly be described as ‘perfect’. breathtaking lookouts, no rain and no toothache. highly recommendable.
i take the bus to puerto natales to get the ship up north to puerto montt. in puerto natales i meet christian, the guy from florida, again. obviously the chocolate based diet of the last days wasn't really satisfying: i finish a super size pizza in 10 minutes and eat the rest of christians stuff, too.
besides: if you are looking for english books in puerto natales – forget it.
if you think you won’t need them on the ship – dream on poor fool.
on the ferry i meet a lot of people i’ve seen on the trek. yup, we're all individual travellers but in the end we follow the same routes - not really travelling off the beaten track.