I was surprised to find out that Torres del Paine is actually not a part of the Patagonia Andes range. It actually is a small mountain system all on its own - the Paine Massif. It was formed when magma penetrated through a crack in Magellan's basin and through time, sedimentary rock was pushed upwards. There is also granite which can be seen in the Towers and the lower part of the Cuernos (horns).
We started with a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Puerto Natales. We then took a catamaran across Lago Pehoe. From there, we began our journey by feet and for the next incredible and spectacular 5 days we trekked 96.9 km. We first hiked up to Glaciar Grey and Campamento Los Guardas. It was stocked full of mountains, rivers, waterfalls, glaciars and the icing on the cake were trees that were changing colors! Fall is coming.
The next day, we hiked back down out of the valley and over to the base of the Valle de Francais. This valley is absolutely spectacular!!!!! At the end of the valley, the view was an ampitheater of mountains. Increible!! By far a must see. The rivers absolutely were gushing, swelling and amazing in their force. I can not believe it is the end of summer here. Our rivers in Oregon tend to be so much lower at the end of summer. I can only imagine what it is like here in the spring. Yowzers! We were soooo fortunate (y muy suerte) because we only had some drizzling by day and some rain and wind that night at Compamento Italiano. Other than that we had glorious clear weather with very little wind - which is a rarity.
Yuuko was an incredible trooper throughout this adventure. Her boots totally fell apart. I had some electrical tape, she had some cord and we borrowed more tape from a fellow backpacker to keep her boots together. By the last day, she just pulled the total sole off of one of the boots. Crazy!
We hiked up and back through the Valle de Francais and then stayed at Campamento Los Cuernos. This campground also had a refugio with lodging, restaurant and a mini store. We decided to buy some wine and celebrate. It was my 6 month anniversary here in South America. I had told everyone before the trip that Tuesday was 6 months here - but I had totally forgotten about it. (I guess I was a little distracted with all the vistas.) But Dylan remembered. What a great way to celebrate - I could not have planned it any better!!
From Los Cuernos, we hiked over to the infamous Valle Ascensio where the Torres are. As soon as we set up camp at Campamento Torres, half of us hiked up to see the towers. Quite impressive must I say!!! I still think I like Valle de Francais better but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The next morning we hiked back up to the mirador for the sunrise. It was quite beautiful.
Good Bye for now........
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