Day 117: December 9, 2007 Torres del Paine NP

  Puerto Natales, Chile
Sunday, December 9, 2007

Day 117: December 9, 2007 Torres del Paine National Park

Elise and Elena

We had a great breakfast at the hotel before loading ourselves into the truck and heading north on the highway to Torres del Paine National Park. The day was overcast with a fairly low ceiling, which didn't bode well for good views of the mountains. The road changed from pavement to gravel as we approached the park. Almost immediately we started seeing groups of rheas and guanacos right next to the road. They paid no attention to us, allowing us to get good close-up fotos.

Rheas

Guanacos

Torres del Paine

We paid our entrance fee at the main gate and entered the park. The sky was partly clear in front of the towers so we got some good shots from the Lago Nordenskjöld overlook. The main feature, though, was a very tame Patagonian fox who wandered among the tourists looking for handouts. When none were forthcoming, he laid down in the grass by the path. In the US, I would have thought he was rabid but I've seen this behavior before from foxes in the park.

Patagonian Fox

Torres del Paine III

Salto Grande

We stopped at the Salto Grande waterfall and walked back to the overlook in rain/sleet/snow/strong wind. It was not enjoyable and our pants got soaked. We stopped at the overlook, for less than a minute, before returning to the truck with the wind at our backs.

Along the east shore of Lago Pehoe, I pointed out where meter-high waves, during a fierce storm, washed out the road during my first visit, in 1998, stranding hundreds of tourists in the park. I had watched the waves eat away the road and had decided not to proceed any farther. I pointed out the Hotel Pehoe on a small island in the lake. I met Ricardo Lagos, then President of Chile, there in 2003 when we stopped at the hotel for coffee. Mentioning coffee made everyone want to go in and try to dry off so we walked across the footbridge. A salon upstairs has a great view of the mountains-at least on a clear day. We saw several Andean condors flying high over the lake. The salon also has what must be the world's most uncomfortable chairs in which we sat while paying U$S 14 for two cups of coffee and two hot chocolates. Our visit was cut short when the manager came up and told me I had left the headlights on in the truck.

The Towers and Lago Pehoe

We continued westward through the park to Lago Grey in a fairly heavy rain and the mountains shrouded in clouds. The rain was the heaviest when we got to the Lago Grey trail so we elected to pass on the hike. I was happy to see that the narrow bridge, which once prevented many vehicles from accessing the western part of the park, has been replaced by a much wider bridge. The parking lot where the wider vehicles had to park to await narrow guage buses has been returned to nature.

Lago Toro

Última Esperanza Sound

Lago Toro and Glaciar Grey

We returned via the new Río Serrano entrance to the park and took the new road south to Puerto Natales, only 80 km away. The clouds broke as we drove along the cliff above the west shore of Lago Toro, giving us beautiful views of the country to the east and south. The towers were still in the clouds to the north but we did get a view of the Grey Glacier. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful drive back to Puerto Natales. It was late in the afternoon so we decided not to stop at the Cueva del Milodon, a cave where a Milodon (a large exctinct mammal) skeleton was discovered.

The new road makes a driving tour of the entire park doable in one day. Before it opened, it was a long drive out to Lago Grey and back. I highly recommend doing the entire loop.

I sent the girls out to buy cheese and crackers for our evening ritual. After a martini or two, we walked up the street and ate another fine meal at the Última Esperanza. We then returned to the hotel and went to sleep.