Once in Puerto Natales I decided to do a little hiking in Torres del Paine national park. Be warned though, this is an extremely touristy thing to do. There are about 120 miles of trails in the park and they are every bit as crowded as the more popular trails in Yosemite Valley. Just be prepared to walk by yourself all of 15 minutes each day. It is not a wilderness experience. I was expecting something totally different, so until I got my head around all the people and the crowded campgrounds I was a bit bummed out.
However, the scenery does not fail to impress. Another caveat is that you have to hit the right weather window. I managed to see the towers in perfect weather, but my next 5 days would be full of rain, snow, clouds and fog so I missed many spectacular sights after the towers. I was a bit disappointed, but that’s the way it goes in Patagonia.
Nice lenticular cloud indicating very strong winds. The Patagonia winds are fierce, and cannot be understated.
After getting a good look at the towers close up, I was impressed. Around 15 years ago I used to do quite a bit of multi-day big wall rock climbing in Yosemite, Zion, and in the high country of the Rockies. I used to have dreams of climbing these Patagonian towers, but I must admit, because of the wind, the cold, and the unpredictable weather, these towers look like pure suffering. I cant imagine nailing a A5 pitch or stepping out of aiders to pull off technical free moves in this type of wind and cold, not to mention being confined to a porta-ledge (a big wall tent) for days while the wind howls and snow comes down in buckets. My hat is off to all the folks that put up and repeat the more technical multi-day routes on these spectacular towers. But to me, it looks like pure suffering.
This is a nice day at the towers. The wind is only blowing about 50 mph. That’s a good day.
Bitter cold, fierce biting winds. Not a friendly place. This view reminds me of when I lived in Colorado, and of the times that I crested over the talus ridge for the first view of the Diamond, the east face of Longs Peak. A nasty day on the Diamond would be considered a pretty nice day at Torres del Paine. 🙂
The low valleys are a little more friendly, but the wind persists.
Instead of taking a picture of the bike, now I have to take a picture of the backpack.
OK, I’ll just shut up now and leave you with some photos………….
Despite the crowds and the weather it was still a spectacular six days of hiking. I was going to do the entire nine day circuit, but the persistent strong winds, daily rain and nightly snow took it out of me after a week. Needless to say I was not well equipped to do a long trek is these types of conditions, so after six days and with all my stuff completely soaked including my sleeping bag, I bailed and went back to Puerto Natales.
However I will highly recommend a hike in Torres del Paine national park, its a must do trip, just dont expect a wilderness experience.
Saludos, Vicente