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May 18, 2005
Torres del Paine
The first part of our Argentina/Chile trip was to Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia to hike the famous "W" (so called because of the shape of the route). This part of our journey had it all: beautiful scenery, great weather, and wonderful people along the way. Highly recommended!
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April 22. To get to Torres, we flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, had a car drive us 3 hours to the Chilean border, where we met our guide who drove us the rest of the way. After many hours of driving across flat, windy terrain (las Pampas), the site of the mountains rising up is quite breathtaking! |
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The first two nights, we camped near a riverbed. Temperatures of -5c, however, quickly drove us indoors for the remainder of the trip! Happily, the refugios all offer clean, comfortable (and warm!) accommodations. |
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The view out our tent door: Almirante Nieto in the foreground; las Torres (the Towers) behind and to the right. |
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The first day we hiked up to las Torres. This was a pretty strenuous climb, despite our extensive training regimen (consisting of one day hike in Marin). However, the weather was amazing and the views well worth it! |
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Along the trail... |
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The fall colors were amazing! |
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The last part of the hike was a long scrabble over big rocks. |
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The reward: The Towers in full glory! |
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Corina on the trail the next day. She's smiling after unloading half her pack contents! |
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A view towards the Campos de Hielo Sur (or Southern Ice Field), the largest body of ice outside the poles. |
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The land gives the impression of having been recently lifted up and laid on its side. |
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Cuernos del Paine, simply stunning in the afternoon light. These are composed of two types of rock (lighter granite below, black shale peaks above) which give them a distinctive (and hornlike) appearance. |
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Glacier del Francais, which you arrive at by leaving your pack at Campo Italiano, then heading up the valley towards Camapiento Brittanico. Quite an international soup! |
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The Refugio Paine Grande, our home at the end of day 3. This was quite new, and a subject of some controversy as it is much bigger than the others along the route. Still, can't argue with the setting! |
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The last leg of the "W" brings you to Glacier Gray, a spectacular sight. In the summer, you can hike out onto it, but at this time of year we had to content ourselves with looking. |
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A view towards the Glacier |
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One of the greatest pleasures in traveling is the people you meet. Here are Ivana and Kevin from Modesto who taught us the finer points of dominos (you mean there's more to it than knocking them over?) |
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And here we are having Pizza on our last day in El Calafate, along with Marcus, Kate, Pedro and Carey. Great company! |
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Farewell to a magical place! |
Comments
Hi guys - we are just in awe of the photos on your website (great upgrade to the website by the way). Go the EOS Rebel! Of course the subject itself is awesome too - you must have had a wonderful time indeed. We can only live vicariously through you... **SIGH** :)
Keep those beautiful pics coming,
d&d
Posted by: Dayan & Duncan at June 2, 2005 05:13 AM
Hi guys,
Love the photos, especially the one of the glacier. Looking forward to the continuation of your webpage with the next trip.
Love Nat x
Posted by: Natalie Wilson at June 15, 2005 11:40 PM
travel envy! Will absolutely be picking your brain soon!!
Posted by: bisgeier1 at July 11, 2005 12:01 PM
Your pics are awesome - the scenery is gorgeous. Looks like you had a great time there!!
Posted by: Sharyn Kingston at July 15, 2005 02:00 AM
