TORRES DEL PAINE
7TH - 12TH FEBRUARY
Well the alarm went off at 6.30 a.m. to let us know that it was time for our 5 day adventure!! We had breakfast with Alejandro and waited for our bus. We got chatting to an American couple who were also doing the “W” trek, Eddie and Jenny. We were to meet them a few times over the next few days!! The journey to the park was around three and a half hours, and we stopped half-way at a café / souvenir shop which was not too interesting!! It was just beyond there though that we got our first glimpse of the Paine Massif, the range of mountains which would be our home for the next few days and nights!! It really was quite an impressive sight, and as we got closer we caught some glimpses of the Torres, or towers.There are three Torres, and they are basically 9,000 ft high pillars of granite which were formed years ago when magma started to rise underground, but
rather than break the surface to form a volcano, it stopped short. The granite which the cooled magma produced is much harder than the surrounding rock, and over the millennia the forces of nature, primarily glaciation has stripped away the surrounding softer rock, leaving the Torres exposed. We also caught sight of the herds of guanacos who live in the valley below and are preyed on by the occasional puma. Alejandro had told us tales of seeing pumas from the bus into the park, but we weren’t so lucky!!
The bus pulled into the main entrance car park and we bought our entrance tickets and transferred our luggage to a small minibus for the short ride to the start of the trek. We were dropped off at the Refugio and after filling up the camelbak with water we heaved our rucksacks onto our backs, cursed, and were on our way!! After a little confusion navigating through the campsite we finally found
The bus pulled into the main entrance car park and we bought our entrance tickets and transferred our luggage to a small minibus for the short ride to the start of the trek. We were dropped off at the Refugio and after filling up the camelbak with water we heaved our rucksacks onto our backs, cursed, and were on our way!! After a little confusion navigating through the campsite we finally found