Parque Torres Del Paine
A windy day is awaiting us.
We’ll do the « Mirador Condor
At an altitude of 278 m, this mirador offers a stunning view over the Rio Paine and lake Pehoe with its turquoise water.
According to the name of the mirador, we enjoy the sight of a condor flying over our head.
The wind is so strong that we have to bend to pass inbetween two cliffs. It’s hard to take picture and quasi impossible to make a video.
We have to shorten our afternoon programme due to extreme wind.
Bye bye Torres de Paine, we go back to Puerto Natales.
Parque Torres Del Paine
This morning, we take our time. We’ve booked a cruise on Lago Grey .
The excursion last 3 hours on board of a catamaran with 90 passengers.
The check in is done at 12pm at the hotel Grey and then we have to walk to the embarcation point to be there at 1 pm.
The cruise takes us to the 3 tongues of the glaciers. We reach the first one after one hour.
We sail through icebergs of all size.
The catamaran gets very glose to the icefield which allows us to admire the blue nuances of the ice.
We’re fascinated by such a beauty.
During the cruise, we meet Juliana and Alexandro, a young mexican couple who travel a lot. We spend a very good time in their company.
We drive back to the bivouac close to the next coming treks.
Parque Torres Del Paine
Today we have a full programme ; the weather is splendid, we’ll do some trecks.
*cascade Salto Chico : a small cascade whose water comes from the reunion of Lake Pehoe and river Paine. A nice walk on a wooden trail with nice overview.
*cascade Salto Grande : a greater cascade whose water comes from Lake Nordenskjöld and dives into lake Pehoe. The mirador overhangs the cascade and offers a unique perspective on the two lakes.
*Mirador Los Cuernos : one of the favorite treck for the tourists.. The trail starts at Salto Grande and reaches lake Nordenskjöld. From there one has a splendid view ,with « los Cuernos » in the background.
We spend quite a lot of time there waiting for the clearing of the summit where little clouds refuse to leave.
Back to our bivouac.
Parque Torres Del Paine
Today, we’ll do the « Mirador Ferrier » treck.
A small trail follows a rio before entering a forest of Lenga trees.
It then climbs up steeply at an altitude of 700 m where we get the most fantastic view over the Glacier Grey, Paine mountain, rio Pine, lago del toro and Glacier Pingo.
It takes us 4 hours to do the 5 km complete treck, with an elevation of 650 m. We’re just exhausted on our way back.
We change bivouac for the one close to the visitor center.
There we meet Julie and Baptiste and spend a part of the evening exchanging our experiences.
After 10 pm, 4 or 5 campers join us. They went trhough the entrance gate after 9 pm, not to pay the entrance fee ! ( there is no control at the exit gate )
Parque Torres Del Paine
This parc is the most famous in Chile and considered as the most beautifull.
It’s one of the most visited site by foreign tourists.
It covers an area of 227 298 ha. The different zones within the parc have a particular climate due to the mixed influences of altitude, relief and glaciers.
The granitic needles of the parc overhang this landscape where flora and fauna are at their best.
One of the main characteristic of the parc is its number of glaciers : Glacier del Frances, Glacier Grey, Glacier Dickson.
IN 1978 the park was declared world biosphere reserve by Unesco.
It’s a paradise for trekkers with one day to one week trails including the famous W treck, emblem of « El Paine ».
Parque Torres de Paine
First thing this morning, is going back to the lavanderia to get a missing towel.
The we have 90 km to cover to reach Torres del Paine. The acces road is partly asphalted, partly ripio ( not the best one).
The landscape is a diversity of lakes, rivers, cascades, plains and forests.
On arrival we display our 3 days pass and head to one of the only 2 allowed bivouac places near Lago Grey . The road to get there is a hell. The camper suffers a lot.
One again we spend the evnening with Fany and Co…Always happy to meet them.
Gas bottle story
We absolutely have to find a solution for our gas problem.
After leaving Patagonia, it will be very difficult to have our gas bottle filled up or exchanged.
We cant take the risk to be short of gas.
Our last experience in Brasil is still fresh in our memory.
We went yesterday to « Gasco » to check if they have any other bottle which can be connected without pressure reductor. Answer is NO !
It’s been our principal worry and subject of conversation for those last few days. We spent the whole evening trying to find a solution.
As we neither can buy a chilean gas bottle or refill the argentine or american one, the only solution is to go to Argentina to refill the argentine one and buy a second one to replace the american one.
But where to find a retailer ? According to internet, the nearest one is in Rio Gallegos, that’s to say 500 km return.
So we send an email to SURGAS main office and ask where was the nearest retailer on the other side of the border.
We got an answer the next morning locating the nearest one 36km away from here in a village called « 28 de noviembre ». We also got the whatsapp number of the owner.
We contact him and after talking to the father, then to the son we have the confirmation that he can exchange our argentine bottle and sell us a new one ( at an incredibly high price, but we have no choice). Good news. We tell him we’ll be coming the following monday .
Keeping searching on internet, Jean Pierre finds a website for boat world travellers where a sailor said he had a gas bottle refilled in town (at the place where we went for enquiries).
So, we go back to that place, and the lady tells us, after checking the type of bottle we have, she can do it.
We take an appointment for the following monday.
We now have three possibilities :
*Refill of our bottle in Puerto Natales
*refill our argentine one and buy a new one in 28 de Noviembre close to the border
* refill our argentine one and buy a new one in Rio Gallegos
We finally will be refilling our 2 bottles here in Puerto Arenas : end of the story.
Puerto Natales
Today, we prepare our visit of the Parque Torres del Paine.
*Lavanderia
* Tourism office where we got a lot of detailed informations and leaflets.
* Search of a solution for our gas problem (cant find one).
*shopping : we finaly found our electric heater.
*change of bivouac for a more sheltered one.
End of the afternoon with Pascal, Fanny and the kids who leave tonight to the park as,
according to the facebook group , the entrance to the park is free during the strike.
Puerto Natales
We’re on our way to the most beautifull chilian park, according to the guide book.
We leave Carole, Julien and Valentine. Sure that we’ll meet again along the roads or in France next summer.
Before leaving, we make a stop at the butcher and fruit market to make supply.
The road we take is boring and we got a very strong wind all along the trip. Pascal had warned us ; so we’re not surprised.
It’s quite comfortable to have friends a few days ahead of us. We get informations in real time !
Once in town, we settle in a parking lot close to the harbour.
The city of Puerto Natales was founded in 1911. Its small houses covered by colored corrugated iron give a city a certain charm.
In times past, it was an important harbour dedicated to sheep’s industry but nowadays it’s an inescapable touristic center to discover the wonderfull Parque Nacional Torres del Paine
.
Scrolling on facebook, we learn that all national parcs are on strike for another two days., which has been confirmed at the Parc’s office in town.
In the evening , Fanny and her family joined us.
ROAD BOOK 193
Pivoter pour une meilleure lecture
MAVROS ODYSSEE
