Bus: Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine Park
Hike: Hotel Las Torres to Mirador Las Torres to Campamento Torres
13.5 K
Condors... too many to count. Guanacos.... too many to count. One rhea with a bunch of chicks. What a day of wildlife.... and all that was on the bus ride in.
I looked out the side window and saw a huge flock of condors. At first I thought they were turkey vultures. But they were huge and I could see the white rings around their necks. They were amazingly close to the road and at first were not much higher than the bus. I saw them first so beer for me (thanks, Dave).
Laura saw the first guanoco. (She gets a beer, again thanks to Dave). And then we saw so many more. Mostly in herds with lots of cute little babies.
Today we hiked from where the shuttle dropped us off near Hotel La Torres... Very upscale place. Then we hiked up.
It was pretty steep up to Campamento Chileno where we ate lunch. Then up to Campamento Torres where we quickly set up out tents and then hiked up to the viewpoint of the towers (torres means tower in Spanish). The whole way up the towers were shrouded by an ever changing veil of clouds. The whole scene up there was breath taking. Huge granite spires towering over a huge glacier with a glacial lake below. While we sat around up there the view changed from mostly obscured to mostly clear. Another condor flew around for awhile. It was pretty cold up there so we finally decided to walk back to camp.
Camp Torres is pretty sheltered in the trees. There is a cooking area and clean flush toilets. Lots of nice people are here.
We saw 2 condors on the hike up, one at the towers and one on the way back. I had no idea they were so common.
The money shot here and the view everyone wants to see is the first morning light on the towers. So i'm setting my alarm for 4am. Sunrise is at 5:30 and it's an hour hike back up. And of course there is no guarantee that we will ne able to see anything.
Great day. Feels so incredible to be hiking in South America.
Weather..... Beautiful clouds all day. Not much wind except at the top and right now. I can hear it blowing like crazy but i'm so sheltered that my tent is quiet. Warm except at the top. A few 5 minute stretches of very light sprinkles.
Hike: Hotel Las Torres to Mirador Las Torres to Campamento Torres
13.5 K
Condors... too many to count. Guanacos.... too many to count. One rhea with a bunch of chicks. What a day of wildlife.... and all that was on the bus ride in.
I looked out the side window and saw a huge flock of condors. At first I thought they were turkey vultures. But they were huge and I could see the white rings around their necks. They were amazingly close to the road and at first were not much higher than the bus. I saw them first so beer for me (thanks, Dave).
Laura saw the first guanoco. (She gets a beer, again thanks to Dave). And then we saw so many more. Mostly in herds with lots of cute little babies.
Today we hiked from where the shuttle dropped us off near Hotel La Torres... Very upscale place. Then we hiked up.
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| Me, Bee and Laura on our way to Chileno |
It was pretty steep up to Campamento Chileno where we ate lunch. Then up to Campamento Torres where we quickly set up out tents and then hiked up to the viewpoint of the towers (torres means tower in Spanish). The whole way up the towers were shrouded by an ever changing veil of clouds. The whole scene up there was breath taking. Huge granite spires towering over a huge glacier with a glacial lake below. While we sat around up there the view changed from mostly obscured to mostly clear. Another condor flew around for awhile. It was pretty cold up there so we finally decided to walk back to camp.
Camp Torres is pretty sheltered in the trees. There is a cooking area and clean flush toilets. Lots of nice people are here.
We saw 2 condors on the hike up, one at the towers and one on the way back. I had no idea they were so common.
The money shot here and the view everyone wants to see is the first morning light on the towers. So i'm setting my alarm for 4am. Sunrise is at 5:30 and it's an hour hike back up. And of course there is no guarantee that we will ne able to see anything.
Great day. Feels so incredible to be hiking in South America.
Weather..... Beautiful clouds all day. Not much wind except at the top and right now. I can hear it blowing like crazy but i'm so sheltered that my tent is quiet. Warm except at the top. A few 5 minute stretches of very light sprinkles.
12/6/13
Campamento Torres to Mirador Las Torres to Campamento Seron
20.5 K
Campamento Torres to Mirador Las Torres to Campamento Seron
20.5 K
Magical time at the towers watching the early morning sun light them up. Feel fortunate that mother nature cooperated with our time up there. Very windy at times while hiking today. But know it can get so much worse.
Getting up early wasn't too bad. We left camp at 4:30am just as it was barely light. Immediately we could see the towers completely visible.Felt tingly all over.... today was going to be a good day. We got up there with time to spare before the sun started to light them up. I could have stayed up there all day just watching how the sun and clouds change the look and mood of the place.
I was prepared to be impresssed with the sight of the towers. And impressive they are. What has surprised me is how amazing the clouds are. The wind has whipped and stretched them into the most amazing shapes. They are constantly changing shape and color.
Now camped at Campamento Seron. Nice place but it's not very protected from the wind. It's just gusty now. Hopefully it won't pick up.
posted from Bloggeroid
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