While we had completed the Torres del Paine “W” Trek there was a lot more to see in the park so we decided to take a tour of the Eastern Lakes region. We first headed to Rio Paine Waterfall. During the summer the waterfall is quite impressive due to the shear volume of water that is flowing down from the mountain range and is definitely worth checking out. As we went farther east we encountered large groups of guanacos which are indigenous...
Day 5 was the last major hiking day of our trek. Setting off we knew it was suppose to be one of the most strenuous days with a 4.5 hour 800m ascent and an equally time consuming decent. This was the last leg of the Torres del Paine “W” Trek and would hopefully provide us with an up close view of Las Torres (aka The Towers).
The trail was broken down into 3 sections (see route map). The first 1.5 hours of the ascent was rocky with vegetation...
Unfortunately as we were heading out of Refugio Paine Grande early on Day 4 it was a complete downpour. While getting drenched first thing in the morning is never a good way to start the day, the rain only lasted about 45 minutes so we got pretty lucky. One thing we learned about Patagonia is if you don’t like the weather wait 30 minutes and it will change (hopefully for the better). Everyone was looking forward to Day 4 since not only was it...
Leaving Los Cuernos Refugio early on Day 3 we knew we had a long day (~11 hours) of hiking ahead of us. The route for the day would take us into Valle del Frances (aka The French Valley) where we would get to see Glacier Frances up close. Surprisingly we would cover almost the same distance as we did in Day 2 but with much more challenging terrain (see route map).
Most of the morning we were hiking on an upward sloping ridge next to a river aptly...
Day 2 marked the first day of the hike. In total we would be covering 65 km (39 mi) over the course of the next 4 days. We set off from the EcoCamp heading towards the Los Cuernos Refugio where we would be spending the night. Today’s hike would prove to be a good warm up since it only took 5 hours (see route map) and the weather was absolutely fantastic – perfectly sunny with almost no wind which we were told was really unusual. The...
The first day of our trek in Patagonia was mostly a travel day which started with a 6 hour bus ride from El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile. Once in Puerto Natales we picked up the 5 other members of our group and set off towards Torres del Paine National Park.
While we were all pretty anxious to start the trek we made a quick stop at Cueva del Milodón which was fascinating. According to our guide, the Milodon was thought to have inhabited...
Patagonia is know for it’s crazy weather which can include everything from sunshine, to snow, to heavy rain, to high winds, to just about anything else you can think of all in the same day. The only thing you can count on while trekking in Patagonia is it’s unpredictable weather.
Like any outdoors activity you should be prepared by bringing the right equipment and layering your clothes to ensure you’re protected from the elements....
The AllTrails team had the to opportunity to go trekking during the first half of January and the consensus was that we should head to Patagonia. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Patagonia it is a region in the southern most part of South America that is located in both Chile and Argentina. How far south? Let’s just say you can take a short day trip to see penguins in their natural habitat and it is the jumping off point for many...
By AllTrails Staff in AllTrails on Dec 3rd, 2009 | No Comments
We’re very excited to announce the launch of AllTrails.com! Over the next several months the AllTrails team is going to be working to build a strong community of outdoor enthusiasts that want to share their passion for and knowledge of the outdoors. Our hope is that by helping to create a comprehensive database of trails & trail reviews and making it freely available and easily searchable we can encourage people of all skill levels to discover...
