Trip Description: (December 5-14, 2000) The massive granite faces of the Cordillera Paine in southern Chile were formed by a batholith upthrust and sculpted by the retreat of glaciers of millennia past. These craggy peaks stretch 6,000 to 8,000 feet into the skies from the surrounding rolling grasslands and are now preserved as Torres del Paine National Park. During our ten-day adventure in this temperate-zone park, we’ll backpack the Paine Massif Circuit and hike along the Grey Glacier, which is fed by the Patagonia Icecap. Breathtaking views of rock spires, jagged snow-covered peaks, mammoth shimmering glaciers, jewel-like lakes, or golden grasslands sparkling with wildflowers will continuously delight us. Two of the continent’s more interesting animals, guanacos and Darwin’s rheas, are protected within the park and are habituated to human visitors. We expect to see marshland flamingos and hope to glimpse condors circling the mountain peaks. While the backpacking will be challenging, the elevations are low with the highest pass at 4000’. Most evenings we’ll camp under Southern Cross dominated summer skies. Some hotel reservations are planned with one night at the beginning and two nights at the end of the trip. Participants may want to spend additional time on their own in Santiago (the capital of Chile), cruise the Patagonian coast from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, or explore the proximate Glacier Park in Argentinean Patagonia. Originates @ Puerto Natales, Chile.

On the Trail

Guanacos

Trip Report:

The flight to Punta Arenas was uneventful. It stopped in Puerto Montt for 20 minutes and flew on through increasing cloud cover. Because of the winds off the Straits of Magellan, the landing there was dicey. A furious wind whipped the water into standing waves. Spray was flying from the tops of the waves as we cruised over them searching for the runway. At least I was searching; hopefully the pilot knew where it was. The plane jumped around as the small strip came up but we touched down without incident.

Punta Arenas is a pretty little town; but very windy and cold. We found a hostal and set up a penguin tour for the next evening. On the ride out we saw flocks of sheep, rheas (enormous ostrich-like birds), and one lonely fox. The site supposedly had 10,000 penguins nesting in ground burrows. A roped off walkway was intended to keep the penguins and people separated but the little devils seemed quite unconcerned and frequently crossed into the human areas. The penguins were also curious about their human visitors so we're not certain who was actually watching whom. Photos at 4-5 feet away were possible. The roped off areas were established so eager tourists wouldn't crush the fragile eggs just below the surface.

The next morning we took an early bus to Puerto Natales and got the last room at Casa Cecilia where we were supposed to meet our friends. During the next week we arranged all of the group's reservations with Alfonso Rosas at Path@gone and took a short pre-view trip to the park. This 4 day and 3 night visit let us check out 3 of the 4 refugios we would use with the group and allowed us to sample the food that would be supplied. After experiencing highly variable weather for 4 days we felt indoor accommodations were justified. Two of the three nights it rained all night and at least one period of howling wind occurred every day. The Las Torres refugios were the nicest and seemed to have the best food. The Andrescape refugios were older but more than adequate to get us out of the harsh climate at night. Daytime temperatures were around 55 degrees but the rain and cold at night would make tenting difficult.

There seemed to be many Dutch, German, and Australian travelers but we were about the only ones from the US. The meals were expensive in the refugios but hearty and worth the convenience of not having to carry all of the food and kitchen gear needed to make your own. Our first refugio was Chileno below Las Torres (the towers). The climb to this refugio was around 2000 feet and it took the 2 hours the map suggested from Hostelria Las Torres. The views were excellent and the refugio was very uncrowded. Susan noticed many familiar mountain flowers along the way and she was wishing she had brought her Canadian Rockies flower book. While I was gasping for air and enjoying the spectacular mountain scenery she kept calling out happily, "there's a Dancing Lady, there's an Anemone".

We left about 10 AM the next morning with a hearty bagged lunch. The downhill was much faster and we covered the supposed two-hour walk in less than an hour. Eventually we found ourselves in a mountainside bog and meadow where it was hard to follow the trail. There were occasional rain spits but clear views of the surroundings. We would soon get used to the sun shining while it rained lightly. Much of the time it didn't matter as we dried off almost immediately in the wind. The map-suggested 6-hour walk took only four and we arrived at Los Cuernos (the horns) around 2:00 PM. After enjoying hot showers, we went to the dining room observatory and watched the wind wreck havoc for the next several hours. It blew hard all evening, eventually accompanied by rain. The next day, we left Los Cuernos in a rainstorm, thinking to ourselves 'we're going to be soaked if this keeps up'. The 2-hour walk to the French Valley was rigorous but by the time we arrived the skies were again clear and life was good. We ate our lunch by a tumultuous river crossing and continued to Lake Pehoe, which turned out to be a delightful glacial-melt blue. Continuing down to the refugio we were again hit by drizzle. This older refugio was crowded because of the ease of getting there by boat and due to the day's foul weather. The accommodations were also much tighter. A couple from Spain and an American woman joined us in a 10' x 7' bunk space.

The following day we left Pehoe at 9:30 AM for Park Administration, a walk that was supposed to take about 5 hours. It was pretty at first but became tediously flat towards the end. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of animal life. Even the guacanos (cameloid llama types) didn't seem to like the endless grazing area. There were however more and larger flowers. It was still early summer and our coldest day by far. We didn't have much sun until we reached Administration. We arrived just in time to catch the bus back to Puerto Natales and were underway in 10 minutes. The skies cleared and some of the best views we'd seen of the Torres and Cuernos occurred on that ride back. We were in town around 6 PM and the next morning returned to our tour agency to made some small plan changes.

Our friends started to turn up a couple of nights before the trip. One evening a few of us ate out by the docks. The unpopulated, icy, mountain views to the west of our restaurant might be compared to the Alaska coastal ranges. The night before the trip most of us gathered early for an enormous seafood dinner and had just returned to Casa Cecilia when the last of the group arrived by 10:30 PM. We rose early the next morning to complete sorting and packing. Our Andrescape driver, Sergio, arrived early to load our gear on top of his 15-passenger Ford van for the trip out to Torres del Paine National Park. It was the clearest day we had seen so far in southern Chile and the views were truly magnificent. Sergio stopped numerous times along the way to allow us to photograph the Torres, summer wildflowers, and various forms of wildlife, the most prevalent being guanacos and rheas.

At one of the stops we noticed a hissing sound and soon had lots of opportunities to take pictures of gamboling guanacos while Sergio struggled with changing a rear tire. After entering the park, we transferred to another bus for the short hop to Hostelria Las Torres. There we munched our picnic lunch before starting our steep ascent to Chileno Refugio. This uphill climb against the wind was a significicant challenge. We arrived within an hour or so of each other and enjoyed clear views of the Torres from the refugio for the rest of the evening. The Chileno Refugio is fairly new, about 3-4 years old and quite nice. The rooms housed seven people in three sets of bunks; one set was a triple with the highest bunk about 12' off the floor. The corpulent chef, Luis, prepared some excellent meals for us and we all had a great first night's sleep. The days are very long this far south. First light was about 5 AM and daylight prevailed until around 11 PM. In between there were really only a few hours of true darkness. This and the normal evening cloud cover meant that our astronomer, Lynn, had difficulty rousting anyone to see the Southern Cross, or even the moon, which was full during our trek.

We rose early the next day, excited about the plan to dayhike up the canyon to view the towers from closer proximity. The tree-lined valley was lushly green and there were waterfalls everywhere but unfortunately the clear views were gone. Nevertheless we donned our rain gear and started up in a drizzle that eventually turned into a blizzard as we reached the lake, about 1200' above tree line. Clouds obscured the towers but the view of the glacial lake was still nice. We hunkered down under a massive boulder with Ron and Anne to wolf down our lunches but couldn't stay long as we quickly became chilled. Just as we were leaving, a few more of our group arrived to take our dry spots and eat their lunches. As we went lower, the snow became drizzle and we were happy to reach the refugio. At dinner that evening, Kay related an entertaining account of her adventure, losing the trail and sinking into a bog. The staff at Chileno fired up the wood stove for us to help dry our gear. After we retired for the night, several different people took turns with the guitar that hangs in the dining room and serenaded us to sleep.

Up early, we started off for our next refugio, Los Cuernos. To make sure that we were all on the right path, we waited at the shortcut trail junction and again at a meadowy, boggy area where the trail becomes indistinct. Once past that questionable area, the faster hikers struck off for home and the slower took their time, inspecting the flowers and birdwatching along the way. The flowers were even more plentiful than they had been a week earlier and we were thrilled to see Andean Condors along with many other native birds. Our first night at Los Cuernos was the only night that we had not been able to reserve beds inside for the entire group. Hence, we drew slips from a hat to see which 6 of us would have beds and which 7 would be camping. It rained hard and the wind blew all night but our rental tents were set up for us in the trees so those outside were still dry and warm.

Everyone moved inside after breakfast in the morning. After collecting our box lunches, the more ambitious hikers left for Valle Francais hoping for clear views of the glacier. Marge, Susan, and Kay hung out and did laundry, napped, and read, resting up for the hard 15-mile day to come. Others hiked varying distances up into the valley towards Camp Britannica for views about 1000' above the glacier. Some of the tougher hikers scampered down to it and it was rumored that Ron made a heroic dash across a raging torrent to touch glacial ice. As they started back to the refugio, the rain hit them hard and they arrived looking like drowned rats. Some saw a condor nest along the trail. Back at the refugio, the rain hadn't started but the wind was blowing hard enough to splatter water from the lake onto the windows, a city block or more uphill. With our upcoming longest day looming ominously in our dreams, we retired early.

Our group covered the supposed 4-hour trip from Los Cuernos to Refugio Pehoe in a range from 3˝ hours to 6 hours. Luckily, we only encountered rain and sleet for a short time between the French Valley and Pehoe. Most people stopped there for lunch and a break before starting the climb up to Refugio Grey. A handsome gaucho with a pack train of horses passed us along the trail ferrying supplies to the refugio. The fastest hikers reached Grey in about 7 hours total but the slower folks straggled in just in time for dinner in close to 11 hours. Everyone felt like it must have been more than 15 miles. We were fortunate that there was no rain or wind to speak of between Pehoe and Grey, as it would have been blowing against us. We were not quite so lucky with regard to slippery mud. Many of those who arrived early took short walks to the miradors (high viewpoints) to see the impressive Grey Glacier and the floating icebergs below it. Carl calculated that the right arm was over a mile across.

The next day some rested and took short hikes to other miradors, others hiked up-canyon hoping to get close to the glacier. Bob and the two Susans gave it up early and walked slowly back along the cliffs, while some of the others climbed higher and actually got next to the ice. The slower hikers ambled along looking at birds, flowers, fungi, and some brilliant red parasitic plants.

The down-canyon retreat to Pehoe was a lot easier than the hike up. The mud had dried somewhat and the fierce, off-glacier wind was now at our backs. There were a few times when it would catch our packs and almost spin us around or drive us into the arms of oncoming hikers. Our faster hikers arrived in less than three hours but all arrived within five or so. Refugio manager Luis Coliqueo assigned us a room with 4 bunks and another with 9; both with excellent views of the lake and on the warmer, calmer side of the building. Carl and Susan Muller took a hike up the hill towards administration, while most everyone else showered and was content to be lazy. Although tight, Pehoe was the cleanest, best-run refugio we stayed at.

We woke to the sound of rain pelting the building and it didn't let up until 10 AM or so. At the first sign of calm, many started out for a hike. Some of us were glad we had stayed a little longer in the bunks when the rain started up again. After lunch a few more of us ventured out. Susan and Bob returned from their short hike just in the nick of time, while Kay ventured a little further and was drenched by the time she returned. The hard chargers took an off-trail sojourn to the edge of the Lago Grey ice jam and came back soaked.

The catamaran "Lady of the Snow" arrived at 10 AM to transport us and numerous others across Lake Pehoe, to where our chartered bus awaited us. We stowed our packs and took short hikes to the waterfalls Salto Grande and Salto Chico, stopped at a fancy hotel on an island, then went to Park Administration for a quick look at the museum and lunch. Later our bus dropped us at the foot of Lago Grey for an hour and a half hike to the edge of the lake to view the icebergs both from the beach and from the cliff above it. The weather was clearing and thankfully it wasn't raining. After our hike, the driver dropped us off at the river ferry for our hotel, Hostelria Lago Tyndall. This first-class hotel in its pastoral setting with fabulous views of the Cuernos was an excellent choice. The buffet dinner, with VEGETABLES, was served on formal dinnerware. In our dirty clothes and boots we felt a little out of place but everyone managed to choose the proper knives and forks. We returned to find our beds turned down and a chocolate on each pillow.

The Onas van met us at the ferry dock the next morning and transported us a short distance downriver to our waiting 8-passenger Zodiac. After issuing rain jackets and pants to each of us they whisked us down-river in two trips to avoid running Salto Serrano, a formidable waterfall. A short hike around the fall got us to the larger 16-person Zodiac that would take us to the end of the river. We stopped once along the way for hot coffee, juice, and pisco - a locally made alcoholic beverage.

Back on the water, our captain spotted a fur seal and swung us around for a closer look. We met the big transfer boat close to Glacier Serrano and our zodiac captain entertained their passengers and us with antics like playing chicken with the big boat, crossing its wake, and nosing up onto its back deck. We then hiked to the bottom of the glacier with the guide and large group from the Puerto Natales boat. Back on board, our group was banished to the top deck where a cabin was reserved for Zodiac passengers. We soon were enjoying lunch, more pisco with glacial ice, lemon muffins and hot coffee.

During the 4-hour ride to Puerto Natales, the captain signaled that dolphins were swimming along side us. They frolicked in the bow wave along both sides for 10-15 minutes. The boat reached port early and we went our separate ways to reclaim our clean clothes and confirm our accommodations. The Navimag Liner that Bob and Susan were supposed to be immediately boarding was several days late so they checked into Casa Cecilia to sort things out. Fortunately for those without reservations there are lots of rooms in Puerto Natales when the Navimag is late, due to cancellations. Hoping to catch an earlier flight, Marge quickly re-packed and boarded a bus for Punta Arenas. The rest of us met for another great seafood dinner and good-byes that evening.

The refugios we've mentioned repeatedly were mountain shelter, hostel-type accommodations that we rented for each night of the trip. They usually had a staff of 4 to 5, including a great cook. The rooms held two to nine bunks and the dining areas all had fabulous views. Most importantly, we didn't have to carry heavy camping gear or try to cook in the infamous Patagonian wind and rain. We arranged the refugios, hotels, bus and boat reservations through Alfonso and Path@gone.

Bob was really disappointed to miss our planned cruise on the Navimag Liner, a 3˝ trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, which supposedly rivals Alaska's Inland Passage. When we found that the boat was one to three days behind schedule, we bought plane tickets to Puerto Montt. The thought of spending another 2-3 days in Puerto Natales and possibly enduring bad weather on the boat was not appealing to either of us.

Pre-trip Supplemental Information:

Our daily mileage will be 6-12 miles on gentle slopes, but an elevation change of a couple of thousand feet will occur on at least one day. Uncontrollable factors such as weather, trail wash-outs, or other unexpected conditions could combine to make this trip strenuous for short periods of time. Previous hiking experience in mountainous terrain is mandatory. Since we will be in a remote area of a foreign country, participants should be in excellent health and fit enough to backpack and hike to all of the scheduled attractions. The trip is rated moderate to strenuous

Books about backpacking and trekking in Patagonia seem to be scarce. Some we have found to be interesting and helpful in planning this trip include:

1)	Wayne Bernhardson, Chile and Easter Island, Lonely Planet Publications, Oakland, CA 1997.
1)	Hilary Bradt, Backpacking in Chile and Argentina, Bradt Publications, London, UK 1994.
2)	William C. Leitch, South America’s National Parks, The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA 1990.
3)	Clem Lindenmayer, Trekking in the Patagonian Andes, Lonely Planet Publications, Oakland, CA 1998.

Updated on Thursday, December 8, 2006 @ 4:30 MST © 1995-2006 by Robert R. Marley