March 23rd 2015
Let’s start with that. There’s really no better place to start. This place is incredible.
Torres Del Paine is one of the most famous National Parks in the whole world, and it’s on that list certainly with good reason. Located in the far south Of Chile’s Patagonia province this amazing park is full of mountains, waterfalls, glaciers and so much more. Truly it is one of South Americas unmissable attractions. A trekkers Paradise, a campers dream, but If you don’t want to do those two things there’s plenty of ways to enjoy the unparalleled beauty of Chile’s wild southern reaches.
In a perfect world you’d have lots of time down here and hike the full 10 day circuit of the park, or at least do the 4-5 day world famous W trek which gets you to most of the highlights of the park and can be done camping or staying in Refugios (Hotels sort of). I hope to do the W when I return to Patagonia in Chilean spring this coming November-ish (Never make plans set in stone when travelling, just have ideas!).
That said if you can’t do these great options there’s lots of ways to enjoy this park for a day, or two, or three, with anywhere from next to no walking, up to gruelling full day treks, which will be my brother’s department on this blog for now. That’s right! coming soon, a Guest Blog from the one, the only, Russell Robinson-Grant! Get Excited.
At any rate our first day in the park as a family was truly terrific and for those not up for a huge hike, but able to walk a few hours on an easy trail, it would be my first recommendation of what to do in the park. The Catamaran ferry across Lago Pudeto and a walk to Campamento Italiano. So now, let’s go back to the beginning.
From Punta Arenas we take a roughly 3 hour bus ride to Puerto Natales for 6000 CLP (12 CAD), the gateway to one of Chile’s greatest natural wonders. We walk up to one of the three bus company terminals just off Colon street and buy our tickets just twenty minutes before leaving.
I sleep the first half of the ride but when my tired eyes drift open I notice the mountains for the first time, and watch in awe as we wind closer and closer to the jagged southern end of the Andes mountains. I must say I’ve been in the Canadian Rockies, The swiss and German Alps, the Himalayas in Nepal, but the Andes for me are the most spectacular mountains I’ve ever seen, varied in their beauty from Colombia down to Chile, but always special.
Once in Puerto Natales The four of us hop in a taxi for 1300 CLP (flat rate for daytime taxi in town, 1500 at night) and get dropped off at Yagan House, a lovely homey hostel with warm wood stoves, great common areas, good breakfast, and comfy beds. the only downside is the rooms themselves are fairly small. That said the friendly and helpful staff more than make up for it and that night we book our bus tickets to the park right at the front desk, 12,000 pesos each round trip. Expensive, but not as bad as I”d expected considering the three different stops in the park are between 2 and 3 hours away.
Now for such a famous National Park you’d think there’d be a lot of options to get there, but the buses are sparse. Each day several companies leave from Puerto Natales at 7:30 and and 2:30 Pm, returning with a schedule which can be found here (more than one company runs the service but it’s all on the same timetable). So basically, if you haven’t rented a car (35,000 pesos a day and up for manual transmission if you need an automatic book ahead be prepared to pay at least 100,000 if not 200,000 CLP per day for it) then you’re going to need to catch the 7:30 am bus from Puerto Natales. So that’s what we did.
We doze through the first half of the journey then get taken in by the stunning scenery all around us before pulling up at the first stop of the park, Lago Amargo, where we all climb out and register to enter the park. The cost of entry is 18,000 CLP (36 CAD) for foreigners and 4,000 CLP for chileans. Entry is good for 3 days of consecutive entry (though you can usually talk your way in for a day or two more with some luck and basic Spanish)
Having paid our entry we’re herded into a room to watch a video about the rules of the park, as well as handed a leaflet with the same rules. There is a heavy push against open flames in the park, understandable considering a huge second burned to blackness just two years ago when a campers bonfire got out of control. We see the aftereffects of that the entire day.
We’re finally allowed out and I go running to some of the best viewpoints of the namesake of the park, the massive stone towers atop truly impressive snowcapped jagged mountains. We’ve been blessed with a cloudless blue sky, which makes the view truly stunning. Just like Chiloe and Puerto Varas blue sky makes all the difference.
Eventually everyone on the bus has registered so we climb into a different bus run by the same company (Bus Gomez) to take us to the second stop in the park, Lago Pudeto. This is included in the price of the original ticket and 40 minutes of unbelievable scenery later we’re climbing out near the catamaran that takes you across the lake. Here if you’re desperate you can buy snacks or drinks, but expect to pay a premium, same as on the other side of the lake.
We get there just after 11 all things considered and while we know there’s a waterfall called Salto Grande nearby we don’t want to risk missing the 12:00 Pm Catamaran across the lake, as it’s just about our only option, one more leaving at 5:30 but with the last return directly after that we decide to just go wait by the dock. It hurts to miss the waterfall but I suspect I’ll get back there before too long.
You buy your ticket for the catamaran on board and, at 24,000 CLP (48 CAD) roundtrip it’s anything but cheap, still, the views you are provided on the lake under the flawless blue sky… well you’ll soon see.
We start the journey in a narrow inlet, only the barest peaks of a few mountains peaking over the looming burnt hills, tantalizing but mostly out of sight. Honestly I’m wondering why I read such great things about this journey online, as the one thing to do in the park if you can’t trek.
Then we leave the narrow inlet behind and are greeted by this vista.
The water is a stunning shade of light pure blue, and it’s glass like surface a near perfect mirror for the stunning and unique mountains which consume the horizon. Between the back side of the Torres del Paine, the dramatic stone Cuernos del Paine (Horns), and the crown like glistening ice shape of Paine Grande I’m left without breath, very glad I was one of the first to be let up onto the open air top deck just after the boat left the dock. Enthusiasm usually pays off, so long as it’s mildly tempered with respect.
It’s just… I’ve never seen reflections in water so perfectly, let alone of entire massive mountains with water this colour. Let’s just say this, Torres Del Paine deserves the hype, in fact it probably deserves more of it. I love words, but I can’t really express it with them, and luckily the place photographs well.
The crossing is 35 minutes of pure unadulterated awe and we pass by a few small cascades of meltwater from higher up in the mountains only adding to the perfection of the place. Not to mention the earlier passing of Salto Grande from a distance seen here.
It only reaffirms my mindset of getting back there.
We dock on the other side and most of the people head off immediately, you see this catamaran marks one end of the very popular W trek. We let them go, having been misinformed about a 2pm return and trying to decide if we should just go straight back to the waterfall, or do some vague impression of a hike and take the final 6:30 crossing pack.
The walking option wins and frankly, it’s hard to argue with, so after a few minutes exploring the hotel and campground nestled into the shadows of these majestic mountains and the others enjoying a pre-packed sandwich (Food in the park is really expensive think 6 dollar can of beer) we head off towards Refugio Italiano, at least hoping to accomplish some small section of the W trek.
Russell and Clara take off ahead and we let them go, I learned my lesson back in Otovalo, Ecuador that keeping up with them is hard work for me, and probably even harder for my Dad. About ten minutes after they’ve left I realize they’ve taken the rest of the sandwiches and I haven’t eaten. Oh well, scenery will be my food!
Robert and I wind our way up the small hills (at least in comparison to the mountains looming ahead of us) and wander through the charred husks of what must once have been beautiful forests. Actually, their still beautiful, but there’s definitely a haunted cast to the grey white treeless twisting limbs, still not anywhere near recovered though 2 years have passed. Tragic.
It actually works out well. with Russell and Clara up ahead, neither of us feel any pressure to finish the 7.6 km (each way) trek and we get a chance to chat and catch up as we go. The trail is mercifully manageable and leads us closer and closer to the clustered crown jewels of the national park, passing by more stunning lakes on our right complete with great rocky viewpoints.
We’ve all brought what little cold weather gear we have, but with the sun out and barely a breath of wind I’m soon down to my t-shirt and drinking from each one of the many stream we pass by. (One more great thing about Torres del Paine is that basically all the water is potable, so for multi day trekkers an empty bottle is all the water you need to pack.)
Now there is one great flaw to Torres del Paine National Park, and it infuriates me no end. You are supposed to stick to the trail, and I follow that rule; more or less, which was hard, because the trail weaves past countless waterfalls just slightly higher up the mountains, but very out of reach without trampling a lot of the regrowing nature. Why they don’t have paths up to them I’ll never know. I mean we’re talking about waterfalls here people. Waterfalls!!! WATERFALLSS!
I bothered Robert the whole way with this complaint but as we continue winding through the foothills, closer and closer to the mass of monumental mountains before us, passing by more stunning views of the lake and more streams with fresh delicious waters cascading down toward the glacial lakes, I have to let them go. This place is incredible, even considering it’s poor waterfall access. That’s high praise from me.
Dad and I do surprisingly well, finishing about 80 percent of the trail, climbing up above the far edge of the lake into yet another burnt out grove of trees looking back the way we’ve come and then up at the towering mountains which are now so much closer to us. They are imposing wild and jagged, a scar on the horizon, but a damn beautiful one. The earth is wild down here, and being this far south makes me really want to explore the northern reaches of Canada.
At any rate the beauty of the area is insane, especially once we turn back and head back towards lake Pudeto. You see somehow I find myself forgetting about the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen looming behind me, so every time I turn around, or look over my shoulder, I am struck with fresh awe, undoubtedly my favourite feeling in the world.
As we pass the second lake again I notice how the light has changed to become another perfect darker mirror of the mountains above it. I snap some pictures and then we take a break there appreciating the beautiful two sided mountain, unmarred glass or water, it’s hard to tell. I can’t stop buzzing, child like glee bubbling up no matter what I do. I’m glad my dad got down here, it’s an amazing place and I think he loves it almost as much as I do.
About halfway back Russell and Clara catch up to us, they’ve made it all the way to the Refugio and here’s a few pictures of what we missed, a beautiful looking river winding between Chile’s two most famous mountains.
We join up and enjoy the rest of the walk back, I glance over my shoulder regularly to remind myself of the stunning view, not that what lies in front of me is unimpressive, snow capped mountains looming in the distance behind the wonderful blue of Pudeto Lake. As we get closer to the hotel I let myself fall back from the group to get a few pictures of them at a crest in the trail with Lago Pudeto in the background.
Russell finds a small path down to the lake, and since the sun is still shining I take my first dip in the southern most province of Chile, swimming around in the clean pure water and relishing it’s cold embrace before hurrying back to the hotel.
There we Enjoy a half hour of downtime for our mildly sore legs (Me and Dad) before climbing back onto the Catamaran’s 6:30 pm departure to get back for last bus back to Puerto Natales which leaves the Pudeto stop just past seven, or once the catamaran passengers are boarded.
The boat ride has a whole different lighting and so photos of the same things turn out differently, and even the vista through the human eye seems to have changed. It’s equally beautiful though, and while the mirroring effect is lessened the glow of the sunlight sinking low and glinting off the ice covered Paine Grande makes up for it. Another scene of scenic perfection for the forty minute ride and I’m still grinning from ear to ear we we climb off the boat and hurry back to the waiting bus.
As we wind our way out of the park on the bus the sun sets and we’re left with a starry sky at dusk, the mountains looming ominously outside the window taking on a whole different kind of beauty, impossible to capture with a camera from a moving bus, but incredibly mysterious and equally lovely. Lots of Guanaco’s (Think Llamas.) and Rhea (think mini ostriches that can run up to 80 km/h) graze on the grasses with the mountains in the background. I wish we had our own car so we could stop, especially when we pass a bunch of flamingoes near the main park entrance at Lago Amargo.
That thought sets me thinking. We won’t be back to Puerto Natales until just after 10 so everything except a few restaurants and mini-markets will be closed and as the thoughts spin it becomes apparent that one of us at least is going to need to stay in town for a day to get the best out of our 5 days here. Russell and Clara are the most excited I’ve seen them on this trip from hiking, and want to do hikes that would likely kill me, and certainly kill my father, so that’s how the next entry comes to be.
Russell and Clara take the next day to hike to the base of the Torres, while Robert and I spend a day in Puerto Natales, recovering, buying groceries for picnics, and organizing our next few days. Trust me when I say almost everything works out swimmingly (cold waters) (foreshadowing)! Check back over the coming days to find out what I mean.
6 days to explore Chilean Patagonia, it doesn’t seem like enough. Lucky for me, I’ll be back in the spring. If you get the chance to go, just do, you won’t regret it! And if you do Feel free to contact me for tips and tricks and to answer any questions you may have. Use the contact form up in the main menu and I’ll get back to you before too long!
