Today started another highlight of the Patagonia tour: The 3 day hike in the Torres del paine- Nationalpark. Most of the hikers do the big "W-Trek", which takes about 4 to 5 days, we did a short version of it in 2.5 days.
In the early morning, we had breakfast (coffee, toast, dulce de leche and cake - as always!), then took took a bus and drove to the park entrance. On the way, we had the chance to see fantastic landscapes, condors and guanacos. We also already could catch a first glimpse of the pikes of the 3 Torres ("towers" of Paine), 2800 m high and of the must-do's in Patagonia.
We started our hike. The weater was perfect, so it was a really nice hike through the Ascensio valley up to the Torres viewpoint.
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| Condor |
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| Firste glimpse of the Torres del paine - some hours later we will be just on the bottom of those mountains! |
The hike was quite steep, but the views were amazing!
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| The Ascensio valley |
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| Hello there! |
After another steep part we finally reached what I had dreamed of for weeks - the bottom of the towers! The view was spectacular - the towers, the green lake, the blue sky, the snow - we just sat there on the rocks and admired this view for an hour. This view was worth the exhausting hike!
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| A dream came true! |
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| Speechless! |
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| Relaxing on the rocks... |
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| First group photo - perfect setting if you need everyone happy on the photo! |
After this amazing hike up, we had to go down again, which took another 4 hours. We were all tired when we arrived at the park entrance again. Luckily, the bus picked us up and brought us to our campsite. Everything was ready - the tents looked cozy and warm and there were even showers with hot water! What a nice surprise!
Another surprise: There was a cozy dining room in a little cottage next to the tents. There, we had a delicious dinner (yes, you could almost call this "glamping", but this doesn't sound adventurous anymore, right?) with Pisco Sour, wine and whisky - oh, and off course, food! :-) All kinds of salads, meat, soup and vegetables. We couldn't have wished for more! But it got even better: Matt surprised us by telling us that it's his birthday today. 10 seconds later, there was a chocolate cake. Candles were blown out, wish was made - party continued with a bonfire, wine and good music. What a perfect evening!!
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Our camping side - with the Torres del paine in the back
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Happy campers!
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I slept very well in my tent - it was surprisingly warm and cozy! After a good breakfast, we started our next hike. Unfortunately, the weather had changed. It was cold and raining. But we were in Patagonia, so this was normal. No complaints. After a short drive in the bus, we took a boat that brought us to our next campsite - the Campamento Paine Grande. It was much bigger than the one last night (which one we had for ourselves), but with a great view as well. We let our bags there and started the hike in the French Valley. Today with a lot more layers on. We even had light snow!
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| Walking along a "dead forest", destroyed by the last big bushfire, caused by human stupidity |
As it was cold and snowing, we decided that we start descending before we had reached the last viewpoint.
Once reached the campsite, we installed ourselves in the campsite bar (glamping... :-)) and warmed up with the help of our friend Marcus the redwine and a hot shower.
The dinner was nothing compared to the one we had last night - but we were just thankful to eat something warm after the kilometers we had walked.
Tired but happy we all slipped into our warm sleeping bags soon after dinner. The wind was still very strong and made a terrible sound that sounded as if the tents would be blown away any second.
But surprisingly the next day the tents were still on the spot. When we crawled out of our tents, it was freezing cold. And snowing!
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| "Patagonia blend" to start the day |
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| What did the fox say? Good morning, I guess! |
Even if nobody seemed too enthusiastic about hike number 3, most of our group joined in. The goal: Reaching the Lago Grey (grey lake) in time. We had to catch the boat at 12, so we had to hurry. Wind was strong, but we were all wrapped in good layers (the Patagonian experience had already tought us!).
We reached the lake just in time. Grey lake is the perfect name, especially when it's weather like this. But with the icebergs floating on top, it was a nice view anyway.
After another 5 minutes walk, we reached the viewpoint. The wind was now so strong that I had the feeling of thousand slaps in the face. From the left. From the right. Again. Boxing match. And: I was a bit afraid to be blown away. We all didn't really fancy a swim in the grey lake, so we started the descent quite quickly.
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| Michaels demonstration of how strong the wind was. Oh, and there's the glacier in the background |
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| Taking photos while the wind is having a boxing fight with you is hard. That's the result. |
On the way back to the campsite...
We arrived back at the campsite just in time (not a surprise if the wind just beats you down the hill!), took the ferry and then the bus back to Puerto Natales. Nice views on the way again. And off course: On the way, the weather started to get better...
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| Some guanacos on the way... |
Hotel in Puerto Natales reached. Hot shower on. Short walk along the coast. Short one. Enough hiking for some days now! :-)
After the efforts of the last days, some of our group enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant. It was election day in Chile, so we had to wait for wine until 8 p.m.
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| Happy group after the wine was finally poured. Don't want to know how the Before-photo would have looked! :-) |
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| After-wine-craziness |
The last three days were awesome. Even if the weather had turned after the first hike, we had the chance to see amazing landscapes and to getting to know each other better. We are already almost like a family. This is what I really love about those group trips! And now: Off to Punta Arenas and Ushuaia!
