Patagonia II: Part II
An introduction to Torres del Paine.
The day looks promising.
Looking out the window of our hotel, the skies are blue, the clouds pink. Before we arrived, the forecast had called for rain every day and I’m happy that the morning looks clear.
After breakfast we begin our drive north. On my last trip to Patagonia I had been told it was difficult to see the rheas, the South American ostrich, but in Chile, we’ve seen a lot by the side of the road. On the way from Puerto Arenas to Puerto Natales, and again today. They stand by the side of the road, as unpreturbed as the guanaco who watch us pass.
The GPS of our Jeep has been pre-programmed with each day’s itinerary. All we have to do is select the day and follow the woman’s English-accented instructions We’ll laugh over some of her more awkward pronunciations.
There are few roads in the park, and we’ll come to know them well over the course of the next few days. They’re all unpaved, save for small portions that are bricked and we wonder whether there are plans to pave the entire park. The unpaved roads lend the park a certain charm, but they make for more difficult driving.
Our first stop is a viewpoint over El Lago Sarmiento. A few buses and cars are parked in the lot, their passengers spread out on the overlook. And while the viewpoint is named for the lake, everyone is gazing out across the water to the mountains on the other side.
We don’t pause for long. Back in the car we continue driving north to the Laguna Azul. Rodrigo had told us that he had included this as it’s a less visited area of the park and offers another view of the towers than we’d see in other parts of the park. He tells us that there’s a nice loop hike we can do up into the hills and then down along the lake. From here, when we double back and turn west into the park, we can expect to see a lot more traffic.
In the parking lot we prepare for our first hike, something to warm up our legs in advance of tomorrow’s hike to the base of the towers. A small cafe sits on a ridge overlooking the lake. Tents are pitched in areas on either side. I step inside the cafe and ask about the loop hike. A man tells me that it starts just beyond the bathrooms. I can follow the path up and then back down and back. Another hike along the lake runs 2 hours to another mirador. I thank him for the information and return to the car to brief my cousin and niece.
As we hike up the hill we get our first view of the famous towers. There are clouds on the horizon but as we stand we can see them dissipate and reveal the towers before they’re shrouded once again. The weather is unpredictable, and we’ve been told that we can expect to experience all four seasons in a single day.
A man hikes past us. He’s hiking as if he’s on a mission to complete each hike as quickly as possible. We reach a point with a cairn of rocks which seems to be the viewpoint we’ll reach. The clouds thin and we are rewarded with an almost perfect view of the towers.
As we continue on the man passes us again heading the opposite way. We ask about the loop trail we had heard about. He said he had walked 10 minutes beyond us and didn’t find it circling back and continues back down the path.
I point down to the road that we can see running alongside the lake and surmise there must be a way to reach it. We solider on, following the posted trail down the hill. As we near the lake we see posts leading off to the left, back along the lake towards the parking lot.
We eat our box lunches at picnic tables by the lake. A group of visitors alights from a bus and mills about us as we eat. It’s been a beautiful morning and a great introduction to the park.
We collect our trash after lunch and walk back to the car. On leaving the lake, we pass a group of guanaco feeding by the road. I’ve taken to calling out guanaco whenever we see them and my cousin now expects it. Not to disappoint her, I call out ‘gauanaco’ when I see them from the window.
We continue driving on unpaved roads through the park. We see few cars or buses, but continue to see herds of guanaco feeding on the plains.
Our next stop is the Paine Waterfall. It’s a beautiful spot; with a small butte splitting the river by the falls. We’re the only people visiting for a minute before the parking lot slowly fills with small buses and cars.
We continue driving and I shoot photos from the windows. My cousin and I have a tacit agreement that she’ll drive while I document.
Soon we arrive at the Laguna Amarga entrance where we alight and show our passes. A ranger scans them and bids us a good day. I look to see if there are park maps to pick up but don’t see any. There are large maps in the car but I was hoping for a small pocket-sized one to reference. Back in the car we leave oursevles in the capable hands of the Garmin and the English-accented voice.
We pause at the Mirador Nordenskjöld before continuing on to the parking lot for the Mirador Cuernos & Salto Gande. There, we alight and prepare ourselves for our next hike. I’ve been swapping shoes depending on the activity, changing from sneakers in the car to hiking boots when we’re about to do a longer walk. Rodrigo had recommended we bring sandals with us on the day we’re to do the hike to the base of the towers. After hiking 18 kilometers, we’ll want to take our boots off as soon as we can.
At the Mirador Salto Grande we read about how the landscape formed and about the platonic mountains in view. As we hike, I point out a face in the towers of one of the mountains and tell my neice that the various peaks are all just platonic friends. She smirks.
It’s an easy hike, a walk towards the mountains through rolling landscape. The day has changed and it threatens to rain, but holds off. The skies add drama to the peaks.
At the end there are great views over the lake to the mountains. But it’s an exposed area and as we round the corner the wind picks up. We abandon plans to hang out and have a snack in favor of turning back and eating by a meadow we had passed on the way in.
We retrace our steps back to the meadow and find rocks to sit on. Quasar has loaded the Jeep with snacks and my niece has taken it upon herself to make sure that we are adequately supplied with chocolate and cereal bars.
Driving to the hotel we pass the falls at Salto Grande and teh Rio Paine. We’ll come to know the road very well, as we’ll traverse it multiple times on our trip.
When we reach Rio Serrano it’s raining. It’s a beautiful town, set in a valley by the river with views of the mountains. I’ve been talking about how excited I am for our hotel, the Rio Serrano hotel and spa, and my excitement has rubbed off on my niece. The website has made it look so nice. My cousin warns us about being disappointed by high expectations; we’re not disappointed.
Astrid greets us and gives us a run down of the facility, pointing out the restaurant, bar, and spa. She suggests we make dinner reservations so that the kitchen can better plan around the guests. It’s going to be full the next two nights, and I notice that Porsche Chile is holding an offiste there.
We’re taken to our rooms to unpack and relax before dinner. My niece and I want to check out the pool and my cousin follows. Astrid had suggested we try the water massage beds; it’s our first stop.
The pool boasts floor to ceililng windows with beautiful views out over the river to the mountains. In fact, the entire hotel has gorgeous views, ones we’ll admire and miss dearly when we leave four days hence.
15 March 2023
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