Torres Del Paine is said to be one of the great national parks in South America. Huge granite pillars and hanging glaciers tower over narrow valley's and several turquoise lakes. It is 145 km northwest of Puerto Natales, so while I was here I felt obligated to explore this majestic natural wonder. I spent 2 nights and 3 days trekking and enjoyed near perfect weather. In Patagonia the weather is usually completely unpredictable and one should be prepared for wind and rain at any time. So was very pleased to have clear skies during my trek.
The park has become increasingly popular,
receiving well over 100,000 visitors a year and it's the height of
tourist season now (mid January), which means there are some serious
crowds. In recent
years forest fires have damaged large areas of the park, in 2005 a
backpacker caused a fire which burned down 14,000 ha of forest. As a result the government has put strict regulations on where
you can camp and even certain times one is allowed to walk on trails. In my opinion the park seems a bit over-regulated,
visitors can only camp at the few designated campsites along the way,
most of which charge a large fee. One of the free campsite at the bottom
of a well traveled valley was closed because it was to busy? This was a
campsite that I had planed on using, the only legal option was to pay
20$ to put my tent at a Refugio (privately owned mountain refuge) at a
location on the circuit where I did not want to stay. At the end of the
day I decided to keep walking until I was tired and did some stealth
camping in a meadow over looking Cerro Paine Grande. I can appreciate
the care and concern that the national park has for protecting the land
from over use and risk of fire, however like I said the park management seemed excessive. With the crazy amount of
backpackers on the trail it was very touristic but the scenery was
incredible and I had a unforgettable few days playing in the Torres Del
Paine.
