Torres del Paine

[carolineal]

Hello, i'm new 😊i'm chilean my name si Carolina, next week i'm going to Torres del Paine, i add a photograph. I would like show you pictures and if anyone is inyeresting to know about this trip i can explain anythings that i know.


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[carolineal]

... More.


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[Slot Machine]

Whoa! Fantastic photos! Could you post more? With higher resolution, please.

Please tell the story about your trip. It looks amazing.

Welcome to Bogley.

[sasteve49]

Whoa! Fantastic photos! Could you post more? With higher resolution, please.

Please tell the story about your trip. It looks amazing.

Welcome to Bogley.

Yo Slot Machine,
My wife Maria and I did this hike 2 years ago during our 6 month backpacking trip from Costa Rica to Tierra del Fuego. This is a top 10 hike, like the trans-Zion. Awesome scenery, jagged mountains, massive glaciers, waterfalls, just stunning! You can do it either by carrying 5 days of food, tent, bags or staying in the "refugios" every night and eating at the cafes. We chose to do it all by ourselves.

[Byron]

OK...I'm sold. Where can I get good beta on the hike?

[carolineal]

Sorry, i speak English a little bit. I haven't went for Torres del Paine, yet. I'm going to travel on thursday but i've searched a lot and I can give you advice if you want go. When i'll come back I write you my experience.


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[kaniukr]

There are 2 options - what's called the W trek which is along the front of the mountains in the first photo and up two valleys, or the longer version which is the circuit which takes you right round the back. That took us 7 days Here's a 3D image http://swmaps.com/231/ The shorter version gets quite busy in peak season Dec-Feb. For a basic idea of the mileage and camping/refugion facitilies for each then Lonely Planet, Rough Guide or Footprints books on Chile give the basics. If you google around you will probably get more details info and maps. (and there are a few other one and two day hikes). I'm away for a few days and my photos are on the hard drive but if anyone wants info or to see pics when I get back I'll try and help. (Google Images shows great photos anyway).

The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, but the drawback is that you have a good chance of rain and very strong winds and even snow in summer. So I think we made reservations allowing us two extra days in case we wanted to stay put somewhere gorgeous that was too bad to see in grim weather - however we were really lucky and had blue skies all around the backside and when you make it up to the final pass the view is absolutely incredible - a glacier extending as far as the eye can see to the right and left and on the far side of it are mountains with steeper glaciers feeding into it. However, a word of warning - getting there with a full pack was a tough day's hiking (it was hot) which we didn't mind as the views were great, but if you caught it in bad weather it would be miserable I guess as you'd be doing it all for little reward with no choice but to complete the circuit.

We mixed up camping and refugios. The refugios vary in size but can be quite big and luxurious, hot showers, big evening meal , and at least two had bars. But I think they were about $60-90 for bed and 2 meals. But it saves carrying 9 days of food and if it was raining you'd be thankful. The downside is they may get full so you have to reserve ahead which restricts your flexibility on days you might have wanted to wait for the weather to improve.
Two companies split ownership of the campsites and refugios between them http://www.torresdelpaine.com/ingles...directorio.asp

There are other gorgeous turquoise lakes in the national park area, but you need to know the bus times as there's very infrequent public transport. There are no roads on the two hikes I described - just roads that leave you at 2 or 3 start points along the front. But you can drive along seeing views of the front with no hiking at all. And to hike parts of the front you can hang around waiting for reasonable weather before setting off. To see the back you are committed to at least 4-5 days hiking.

You can only get there from fairly remote small towns. You need to get to Puerto Natales in Chile or El Calafate in Argentina and then cross the border. Flying to Puerto Natales can be expensive as from the UK at least you had to fly to Santiago and then get a domestic flight - Argentina worked out cheaper.

Actually when I say the weather was good for us, we had 8 great days, then one of cloud and then when we started heading up to the 3 towers in photo 2 above and the last one the forecast was rain, but being an optimistic soul, who thought he would never get there again in his lifetime, we hiked up the valley anyway and camped in the rain (I also had a dreadful cold and bad stomach that day!). We then set off after breakfast for the steep final hour up to that lake in a blizzard, and when we got there 80% of those towers was hidden in cloud or snow - so we hid under a rock in a tiny cave patiently and very cold for 2 hours - but it was worth it when the summits cleared for about 2 minutes for us. With a golden sunrise on a clear day they'd be awesome.

[carolineal]

amazing!!!!!


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