Day 2 dawned bright and blue. After a quick breakfast, we stored our packs and headed on up the trail to see the Torres del Paine, the main attraction of our trek. Up, up, and more up, probably 1,200 feet or more from the Refugio. On the moraine, the trail was not as difficult as some had described...a boulder field, yes, but a good trail skirting it and then crossing it at the very top. A "no hands" route, but everybody in this part of the world uses trekking poles.
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| Bright and blue; from the Refugio |
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| Waterfall en route |
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In this land of glaciers, snow and ice, there are numerous
creeks, waterfalls, lakes...and bridges |
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Rarely any relief from the monotony of the climax southern
beech forest |
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In a world of granite and basalt, huge boulders of conglomerate,
often sheered off smooth by the passing glacier |
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| Low-bid bridge |
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Often, these helpful signs, telling you you still have a thousand
feet to ascend |
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| Beginning of the moraine |
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| Looking up, a single tower peeks out |
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| Across the canyon, a waterfall suddenly appears |
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| Oh no, they're clouding up |
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| Near the top of the moraine |
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| And there they are |
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As we descend, scores more are ascending, many on a long
day hike off of buses from Puerto Natales |
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| Rock art |
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| Returning to Refugio Chileno, some of the tent platforms there |
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Hiking back down to the valley and our next night's camping
there I was about to record the greatest condor-in-a-rainbow
sight ever seen...but then my hat flew off in the gale force wind;
and the condor got away (my hat was retrieved by a young
compatriot) |
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| Our site at Camping Torres |
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| Clouds and rain are moving in for the night |
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