Towers of Pain!

The recent gap in our blog entries is due to the fact that we spent the nine days prior to the Bears’ tragic defeat at Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. The park is famous for its jagged peaks, mammoth glaciers, and pristine lakes, and we’ve long been eyeing the Paine Circuit—a classic backpacking trek that touches most of the key areas of the reserve—as one of the must-do’s of our trip. We tacked a scenic side trip onto the route, bringing the grand total to eight nights, nine days, and over 125 kilometres logged by foot. The route boasts such a diversity of scenery—everything from meadows choked with daisies to boggy birch forests, sheer rock pinnacles to expansive ice fields—that it felt like we covered even more ground than we actually did. Regardless, we both felt like the park and its signature hike more than lived up to their lofty billing.

Because the trek chewed up so much of our time and digital camera memory, we thought we’d do at least a couple of different posts about it. For anyone familiar with the route (or anyone who’s especially curious), our itinerary worked out as follows: Hosteria Las Torres to Campamento Torres (Day One). Campamento Torres to Puesto Seron via Torres del Paine Lookout at dawn (Day Two). Puesto Seron to Refugio Lago Dickson (Day Three). Refugio Lago Dickson to Campamento Los Perros (Day Four). Campamento Los Perros to Campamento Paso (Day Five). Campamento Paso to Refugio Grey (Day Six). Refugio Grey to Refugio Lago Pehoe (Day Seven). Refugio Lago Pehoe to Albergue Los Cuernos (Day Eight). Albergue Los Cuernos to Hosteria Las Torres (Day Nine). –NSH.