Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park – Chilean Patagonia

Accommodations:. Lago Grey Hotel

This morning after breakfast, we boarded the bus for an hour and a 1/2 ride to hike in the national park. We were all dressed warmly as we embarked on the hike and it was a perfect day, beautifully sunny with no wind. The hike was about 2.5 miles on a narrow path with some steep inclines.

Our local guide said that you can only see the tops of the mountains maybe 25 days out of the year. We are so lucky that today…not a cloud was nearby and we could see the mountains in their entirety.

I told Jon… that’s because of Allan and me. When we were in Alaska, Denali became visible and the guide had said it never happens. In Africa, we saw Mt Kilimanjaro… Again, a rare occurrence. And once again in Japan…Mt Fugi was cloud free. I said to Jon… So we have brought the cloudless mountains to you. You’re welcome! 😂

The mountains are beautiful and the photos don’t do them justice. You feel so insignificant standing and gazing up at the snow covered peaks. At one point, Our guide Jon had us find a private spot and we had some moments of silence as we let the magnificence of the mountains surround us as well as our thoughts.

We learned that the Patagonian ice field is the largest mass of ice in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica. The ice is locked up in the spine of the Andes, with glaciers flowing into Chile’s jagged fjords on its western side and into a network of gigantic lakes on its eastern Argentinian side.

We enjoyed a box lunch, sitting outside right by a lake. The lakes are different shades of blue and gray and so very peaceful.

We had a quick stop back at the hotel and then it was off for a three mile hike. Everything started out okay, as we tramped through foliage on a narrow path, but then we had to cross a sandy pebble beach. The wind was horrific although Jon our guide said, “Today was nothing! It can get much worse!” I’m not sure how, since the wind was kicking up the pebbles and giving me an exfoliant facial. Allan and I got about 3/4’s of the way across the sand to the island and I decided… enough is enough. We turned back and the wind was now right in our faces. Sometimes we could hardly keep walking the wind was so strong.

Some of the others in our group had turned around before they even started across the sand. Walking in sand is not easy and with the wind… It wasn’t fun.

We had dinner and then a few of us went for after-dinner drinks. It was a fun evening.

Tomorrow is another busy day.