Torres del Paine. Rudolf Abraham

(return)

       Stage 8 El Chileno – Refugio Las Torres

       Stage 9 Refugio Las Torres – Campamento Serón

       Stage 10 Campamento Serón – Refugio Dickson

       Stage 11 Refugio Dickson – Campamento Los Perros

       Stage 12 Campamento Los Perros – Campamento Paso

       Stage 13 Campamento Paso – Refugio Grey

       Stage 14 Refugio Grey – Refugio Paine Grande

       Walk 2 Torres del Paine half-circuit (the ‘W’)

       Stage 1 Refugio Las Torres – Mirador Las Torres (return)

       Stage 2 Refugio Las Torres – Campamento Italiano

       Stage 3 Campamento Italiano – Valle Francés (return)

       Stage 4 Campamento Italiano – Refugio Grey

       Stage 5 Refugio Grey – Refugio Paine Grande

       Walk 3 Salto Grande and Mirador Los Cuernos

       Walk 4 Puente Weber

       Walk 5 Mirador Lago Toro and Laguna Verde

       Walk 6 Mirador Cóndor

       Walk 7 Río Pingo and Mirador Zapata

       Stage 1 Guardería Lago Grey – Campamento Zapata

       Stage 2 Campamento Zapata – Mirador Zapata (return)

       Stage 3 Campamento Zapata – Guardería Lago Grey

       Other walks within the national park

       Laguna Amarga – Portería Sarmiento

       Laguna Azul and trail to Lago Dickson

       Excursions from Puerto Natales

       Excursion 1 Cueva del Milodón

       Excursion 2 Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers (Bernard O’Higgins national park)

       Excursion 3 Sierra Baguales

       LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK, ARGENTINA

       Excursion from El Calafate

       Excursion 4 Perito Moreno glacier

       Walk 8 Cerro Fitzroy (El Chaltén) and Cerro Torre

       Stage 1 El Chaltén – Campamento Agostini

       Stage 2 Campamento Agostini – Campamento Poincenot

       Stage 3 Campamento Poincenot – Laguna de los Tres (return)

       Stage 4 Campamento Poincenot – Laguna Piedas Blancas (return)

       Stage 5 Campamento Poincenot – El Chaltén

       Appendix A Gateway towns and cities

       Appendix B Accommodation within Torres del Paine national park

       Appendix C Language notes and glossary

       Appendix D Contacts and online resources

       Appendix E Further reading

      The catamaran at Refugio Paine Grande on Lago Pehoé (Walks 1 and 2)

      Fortaleza and Cerro Espada (Walks 1 and 2)

      Balmaceda glacier in Last Hope Sound, Bernardo O’Higgins national park (Excursion 2)

      INTRODUCTION

      ‘These vast piles of snow, which never melt, and seem destined to last as long as the world holds together, present a noble and even sublime spectacle… they may be likened to great frozen Niagaras; and perhaps these cataracts of blue ice are to the full as beautiful as the moving ones of water.’

      Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle (London, 1839)

      Chile’s Torres del Paine national park lies towards the southern tip of South America, surrounded on the west by labyrinthine, lonely fjords and on the east by seemingly endless, dry steppe, and sitting on the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest sheet of ice in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica.

      The Cuernos from near the CONAF office on Lago Toro (Walks 1 and 4)

      There is a feeling of immensity in the landscapes of this, Chile’s premier national park – vast sheets of fractured blue ice, turquoise and emerald lakes, primeval-looking forest, vertical granite spires and seemingly limitless cloud-streaked skies. It is one of those rare destinations with which you think you are familiar even before arriving – after all, one or more of its iconic views decorate almost any publication or webpage associated with Patagonia – yet it has somehow managed to lose none of its magic. It is, quite simply, a staggeringly beautiful place.

      Trekking in Torres del Paine – a national park since 1959 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1978 – is a hugely rewarding experience. The Torres del Paine Circuit (a circuit of the park, and the main route described in this guide) is without any doubt one of the world’s truly great treks, an opportunity to travel through awe-inspiring mountain scenery in an area with a fascinating history and rich in wildlife. Trails are for the most part clear and well marked within the national park, there is a comprehensive network of huts and campsites, and transport both to and within the park is all refreshingly simple.

      It takes about 10 to 11 days to complete the 140km Torres del Paine Circuit as described here – but bad weather can delay your crossing of the highest point on the route, the 1180m Paso John Gardner. The shorter version of the route, the ‘W’, requires five days. None of the walking is particularly difficult, and elevation gain is minimal for most of the stages on the route – the exceptions being the hike over the pass, and up the Valle Ascencio and Valle Francés (but, be warned, rain and wind can turn either of these treks into a considerably more demanding undertaking). The northern part of the Circuit is also fairly remote, with no convenient exit point should you want or need to cut your walk short. This guide also includes some of the shorter walks in the national park, as well as excursions from the nearby town of Puerto Natales, and a trek in the equally beautiful Fitzroy area of Los Glaciares national park over the border in Argentina.

      Torres del Paine takes its name from the magnificent granite spires which launch themselves skyward near the head of the Valle Ascencio (torres meaning ‘towers’) – one of the most iconic sights in Patagonia, or anywhere in South America