Torres del Paine

We have been out of communication for the past three days with no internet or phone.   We have been staying in a “tented” Eco Camp in a fabulous location with a direct view of the famous rock towers.

Today being our final day we planned to join a guided walk up to the lake at the base of the towers.   Unfortunately it was hammering down with rain when we got up, and had been all night and with a weather forecast of continuing heavy rain all day.   There was no visibility of the towers and little likelihood that we would be able to complete the walk.   There were 6 of us up for the walk but we decided over breakfast to do it anyway and see how far we could get.

It was a challenging walk of 14 miles uphill with a very steep final section over a boulder field.  Because of the wet,  Jane and I decided not to take our cameras and relied on our phones.   

As we climbed up the mountain and arrived at a refuge at the half way point the sun came out and amazingly the sky completely cleared.   We were therefore able to climb to the lake over fresh snow which made it treacherous in places.

When we arrived at the top the view was amazing and apart from a strong cold wind the weather was very kind to us.    Our only regret was not having our DSLRs with us but when we consider how close we came to calling the whole thing off we were just glad to be able to experience this magic place.


It was a truly epic way to finish our holiday.   We are heading for the airport as I upload this to catch a flight back to Santiago.   We are flying back home tomorrow.

I will back blip the other missing days when we get to Santiago the evening