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Torres del Paine Day 1Feb 29, 2008
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First views of the Torres
Flamingos!
Sky and water
| Of all of the wildlife that I imagined I would see in Patagonia, flamingos would not have been on the list. But, there they were, a group of flamingos; their pink color standing out against the stark landscape. The flamingos greeted our arrival to Torres del Paine National Park (pronounced "pine-nay", not "pain", although this may have been a better description after our hike today!). Torres del Paine was declared an UNESCO Biosphere reserve in 1978 and around 80,000 people visit it annually. The landscape is covered with snow and ice-capped mountains, turquoise lakes, meadows, forests, and spectacular waterfalls. Herds of guanacos (similar to a llama) roam along the roadside entering the park. The granite torres (towers) reach over 9000ft and jut out like knives from the landscape. We started our 19km trek to the Torres viewpoint with overcast skies and light winds. One cannot truly experience Patagonia without being exposed to the dramatic changes in weather here. This is an abbreviated version of the weather during our hike today... cloudy- light rain- torrential downpour- torrential downpour and gusty winds- sunny and hot- cloudy- heavy rains- sleet/snow- raining sideways- sunny and clear skies- wind so strong that it knocks you over- driving rains- clearing skies- beautiful rainbow, etc. etc.... I have never had to take off or put on so many articles of clothing during a hike. One minute I would be hiking in a tank top and pants and 10 min later I would have to put all of my wet weather gear on. Despite this, the hike was beautiful, but challenging with significant elevation gain. We made it to Camp 1 for lunch where it was sunny and warm and allowed us time to dry off. Onward to Camp 2 with a goal of reaching the lookout point about an hour higher up the mountain. Strong winds and rain forced us to seek shelter at Camp 2 and our attempt to reach the lookout was thwarted. Oh well, that is just how it goes sometimes. We actually had hot water at our base camp- what a luxury! I enjoyed a 90 second shower which was'priceless. The night brought more wind and rain, but we stayed warm and cozy in our enclosed dinning area, where we enjoyed some pisco sours and wine with our dinner. Things even got a little silly when everyone took turns singing their national anthems for entertainment. |
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