Dad and I chose different options for our second excursion day in Torres del Paine. I opted for the Base of the Towers hike. 14 miles and over 4,000' of gain to another epic lookout.
1 Up early for the next excursion. I'd be headed to the Base of the Towers lookout while Dad hiked Lazo Weber. Base of the Towers is the iconic trail of Torres del Paine National Park to the foot of the Torres del Paine massif. The morning started with a beautiful rainbow over Patagonia Camp while the moon was still out.
2 We then took a beautiful drive past Lago Nordenskjöld and Lago Sarmiento on our way to the trailhead.
3 The trail starts at Hotel Las Torres on private land. You actually have to walk through a gift shop to get to the trailhead. There's only 3 of us today plus our guide.
4 A horse train with gauchos bringing supplies up to Refugio Chileno.
5 Nice views up Valle Ascencio as we steadily climb.
6 Crossing Rio Ascencio. Today's trail is part of the W Circuit, one of the most famous backpacking routes in the world.
7 Made it to Refugio Chileno. There are refugios throughout Torres del Paine. The refugios are basically hotels in the mountains. It's peak season right now, so it's a crowded day.
8 There are also campsites at the refugio. Definitely some of the craziest tent pads I've ever seen. You better be careful getting out of the tent in the middle of the night to pee!
9 The other two in the group were a couple from Palo Alto. We had a lot of common interests, so there was great conversation throughout the hike.
10 It's great to see so much water flowing here after yet another dry winter in Southern CA.
11 A nice cascade not far beyond Refugio Chilena.
12 About a third of the way up the trail, we enter the National Park. Up to this point, the entire trail has been on private land owned by Hotel Las Torres.
13 Rio Ascencio flowing through the Lenga forest.
14 The Palo Alto super couple kept a good pace. For most of the way, we were actually dragging our guide along, sometimes forgetting he was there.
15 A look at the beautiful, dense Lenga forest.
16 This bridge could probably use a little repair.
17 Some great rock formations, but the Torres are still partially covered in clouds to the left. I'm hoping for at least a brief break in the weather to snap a few clear pictures.
18 A zoomed in look at the Torres del Paine almost coming into full view. Like the hikes in El Chaltén, the last mile or so of this one is a steep climb up a rocky moraine.
19 Made it! The Mirador Las Torres. This together with Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre are unquestionably the most iconic views in Patagonia. It's hard to rank the three though, they're all amazing!
20 The weather never broke for a fully clear view of all three peaks, but the hanging clouds added to the ambiance. The peaks from left-to-right are Torres d'Agostini, Torres Central, and Torres Monzino.
21 The view from lake level. Clear but milky water. Considering that it's usually raining with extreme winds here, the weather today was quite good.
22 The super couple snapped a photo of me in front of the Torres del Paine.
23 We got to watch a couple huge Condors soaring in the convection currents above the lake. There's evidently a nest on one of the nearby Cerros. Now it's time for us to head back down.
24 Here's a look at the hikers coming up the trail as we started heading down. This was perhaps the most crowded trail I've ever been on (including peak season Yosemite). It was the only negative on an otherwise perfect day.
25 In the narrow sections, we actually had to stop and wait for the uphill traffic to go by before we could continue down. They're going to have to start permitting this trail soon!
26 One of the extremely tall cascades flowing down the side of Valle Ascencio.
27 Made it back down to Hostel Chileno with Torres del Paine still visible in the distance.
28 A late afternoon view of the valley and Laguna Armaga below as a lone hiker heads up the trail.
29 One last river crossing as we return to the trailhead at Hotel Las Torres.
30 And one last late afternoon view of Torres del Paine amidst the clouds.
31 Made it back to the van where food and drinks were waiting for us. Another amazing Patagonia hike in the books!