After disembarking late at night from the ferry at Puerto
Natales, we settled into an Ikea-like bungalow near the waterfront. The town,
with an ample sprinkling of tourist shops catering to the organic backpacking
set, is in fact small enough that no place is very far from the waterfront.
The place we stayed had diversified by renting cars, so the
next day, after stocking up at the supermercado,
we were off to Torres del Paine National Park, about an hour and a half north.
As we approached the park, the Cuernos del Paine (“horns of blue”) loomed in
the clouds. This was Patagonia, after all, where clouds, rain, and wind are the
norm, even in late summer.
We stayed at the Konkashken (means “valley” in Norwegian;
Scandinavians have a history here) Lodge in a little cabin reminiscent of a
gypsy wagon. Our hosts, three wonderful people, rent two cabins plus a couple
of rooms in their main house, where we were able to use the kitchen.
The drive to and from Konkashken, next to the Rio Serrano, offers a great view.
Our first outing was a short cruise up Lago Grey to the foot
of Grey Glacier. The lake was dotted with icebergs that had blown down
the lake and run aground.
The glacier was vast and impressive. Extending over 20 km inland, it's part of the southern Patagonian ice sheet.
It held its deepest blue within.
Suddenly, at the face of the glacier, large sections of ice began to calve off, topple into the water, submerge and rise again, lifting enormous amounts of water that then spilled into the lake. One of the boat hands said he’d been doing this trip 12 hours per day for years and never seen anything like it. How fortunate we were!
Shards of the glacier, now icebergs, shone with a beautiful deep blue tint.
We got a late start the next day and hiked along Lago
Skottsberg to the French Valley. Got some more misty vistas of the Cuernos and reached an overlook across from the Glacier Frances.
The main attraction in the park is the monumental Torres del
Paine itself. The towers were formed by magma intrusions into softer
sedimentary rock that eroded away over time.
At the Refugio Chileno, about halfway along the trail, you could stock up on water, snacks, or beer and pizza, if you wanted. Hundreds of people were on the trail, maybe because of the good weather.
The hardest part was negotiating a steep boulder field for the last kilometer or so. The views did not disappoint.
In Chile, it's light until 9 p.m., and we got back to Konkashken a
bit before dark. On the way, Judy said all we needed for a perfect day would be to
see some guanacos, and around the bend, there they were. This is the only wild
cameloid in Patagonia, llamas and alpacas all being domesticated, and the vicunas living farther north. These are food
for pumas that stalk the area, and thereafter, the Andean condors.
At Konkashken next morning, caracara hawks and a flock of Magellan geese bade us farewell as we coaxed our overtaxed legs from the cabin to the
car. 21 miles of hiking in two days is not bad for a guy pushing 70.
On the drive back to Puerto Natales, we stopped at Cueva del
Milodon, a site of three caves where remains of the Mylodon, an Ice Age-era
giant sloth, as well as panthers that ate the Mylodons, were found. Evidence of
the first human occupation of Patagonia was discovered in one of the caves.
With all there is to see, we could easily have spent several
days here, but it was time to head toward the end of the world.
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