Wild and Woolly
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
64
165
Trip End
Ongoing
Punta Arenas,
Chile
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
This park was established in 1959 and declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978. It now protects the environment of almost 250,000 ha of southern Patagonia, and is considered to be the jewel in the crown of the Chilean National Parks system. The spectacular pillars of Torre del Paine as well as Los Cuernos (the Horns) are all stunningly sculpted out of black sedimentary rock that rises dramatically from the pampa to heights of 7,000 to 10,000 ft
01 Windy day on the Argentinian steppes
. There is an excellent system of hiking trails through the Ñirre forests, with backdrops of glaciers, emerald lakes, waterfalls, rivers and streams. There are large herds of guanaco (protected here, and much less shy than in other areas), small flocks of ñandú (the scaled-down cousin of the ostrich), condors soaring around the peaks and Andean flamingos brightening up the lakes. Unfortunately, it is also an area that is very susceptible to extremely difficult and unpredictable weather conditions, and the peaks are often totally obscured by cloud, blanketed by rain and blasted by constant westerly winds. Yes, you've guessed it - for most of our stay the weather was atrocious and severely curtailed our hiking and photography activities. The wind whisked up fierce sand storms that obliterated the valleys and sounded as if they were sand-blasting the van, and made it almost impossible to walk. At one point we watched in awe as Lake Pehoé was whipped into a frenzy, with spray from the mammoth white caps being flung ferociously up the adjacent mountain slopes. The peaks were generally either totally hidden behind low lying layers of cloud, or, if we were lucky, just shrouded in mist. There is a local saying that "you can enjoy four seasons of weather in one day" - we just happened to get the worst of a wet and windy fall! Nevertheless, it is certainly an area of great natural beauty and wild charm
02 Where's the beef?
.Just last month a forest fire devastated large areas of the park. The blaze was started by the careless use of a camp stove by a foreign tourist and burned from March 17 to 29, fanned by constant winds. By the time it was finally brought under control about 60,000 ha - almost a quarter of the park - had been affected. We saw extensive tracts of land in the valleys below the peaks that were still charred and ravaged. Although there were already some signs of regeneration as new seeds germinated with recent rains, it will be many years before there is any significant recovery.
Around the park the vast steppes extend eastwards through Argentinian Patagonia, and are the heartland of the sheep and cattle raising enterprises of the huge estancias of this area. In the early 20th century 300 sheep were imported from the Falkland Islands, which provided the impetus for a major economic development of the area based on the export of wool and meat. There are many large landowners who have created family dynasties and huge business empires starting with a few scraggly sheep!
Meanwhile, the gravel road claimed another small victory as we made our way down to Puerto Natales
03 Cuernos del Paine
. A pebble the size of a robin's egg somehow got caught in the power steering pulley, threw the belt and snapped it in the process. Thanks to our handy tool box and cache of spare parts (thanks, Frank!) we were able to effect the necessary repair without too much trouble. However, it would surely be an easier job in a nice quiet workshop, rather than on an isolated Andean back road with a raging wind to 'help' things along! Between Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas we were very happy to be back on a good paved road - a very welcome change from the rough gravel roads of the last three thousand kilometres. We stopped for gas at an isolated little settlement called 'Entre Vientos' between the Strait of Magellan and Otway Sound. When we commented on the strong winds, the gas attendant gave us a rather puzzled look - "Today is a nice calm day" he declared "the wind is only about 50 kph compared to the usual 100 kph"!!
