Wolfgang Reinelt - Torres del Paine pictures (2003)

outdoor @ wolfgang-reinelt.de	Torres del Paine, Patagonia 2002/2003

Plenty of descriptions are around on wasting some excellent days in the Torres del Paine national park. An easy guess is that quite a bunch of people will be around. True, to a certain extend. Most of the people will go by bus to Hosteria del Torres, walk to the Torres lookout (if so), go back and that's it. The second group will do what's know as "W", i.e. do Hosteria del Torres - lookout - Campamento Britannico - Refugio Pehoe & back to the pub. We did the "circuit" (counter-clockwise), which will cost you some more days. Well, the northern part is much more lonely (hardly meeting more than 10people/day; might be different at other times of the year), but certainly worth to go! Tracks are good, you won't need any GPS: when you get lost, you earned it (we did, but not seriously :-) A map is nice to have, we used Torres del Paine Trekking map, scale 1:80.000 (the "green" one by Zagier & Urruty, Buenos Aires, 1996). There are two maps on the market, about the same. They don't tell you much more than a simple drawing (no co-ordinate system present, instead some colourful pictures of birds etc), but you won't need more. Make up for yourself whether you choose the lonely (northern) part first, last or in between the more busy southern part. Both parts a quite enjoyable. In the more dramatic southern part I would prefer the area around Camp Britannico above the Torres lookout. Remember that in busy times such as late January/early February people will line up to go up to the Torres lookout. But the impressions you get will surely depend on wheather etc. So, bottom line is: bring enough time and enjoy the Torres NP for at least two weeks (some food can be bought here and there), do some "unusual" extensions! Entrance fee for the park was 6000CH$, the return ticket for the bus Puerto Natales - NP Torres del Paine was 12.000CH$ (December 2002: 1Euro = 700CH$ (Chile pesos)).

The trip, as we did it adds up so some 160 km:

2002-12-30: Bus from Puerto Natales to NP Torres del Paine (Laguna Amarga and continuing to Hosteria del Torres).
Hiking up to Campamento Torres (8km)
2002-12-31: Climbing up to the lookout, back to Hosteria del Torres, proceeding to Campamento Seron (27km).
2003-01-01: Refugio Dickson (23km)
2003-01-02: daytrip at Lago Dickson
2003-01-03: Campamento Los Perros (13km)
2003-01-04: Campamento Los Guardas (15km)
2003-01-05: Refugio Pehoe (17km)
2003-01-06: return trip to Campamento Britannico (30km)
2003-01-07: walking down to Refugio Lago Toro (26km).
Bus back to Puerto Natales