sorry, only google translate…
The Torres del Paine National Park is one of the (if not the) highlight (s) of Chile. One of its attractions is a 4-5 day hike, the so-called W-Track, on which you can see the three main sights up close. The Glaciar Gray, the central massif of the Torres and finally the highlight the three towers that give the park its name. We will not miss this time, because we would have had to book campsites along the way in advance and our camper would just be around for a few days (and whether Kerstin is actually fit enough for such a multi-day hike, we still have to do that still find out). That was already clear to us before the vacation, otherwise we would probably have booked the camper differently and we limit ourselves to day hikes.
Unfortunately, this shows the excessive commercialization of the park in our opinion. For example, you could reach the first sections of the W-Track without the overnight stays, but you have to book a boat for € 50. Even though the start of the hike is only a few hundred meters as the crow flies from our first place to sleep on Lago Gray. There are also (of course) boat trips to Glaciar Gray, including whiskey with glacial ice. We save that without a guilty conscience.
Only the Torres can be reached as a day hike without much effort. But before we tackle this, we do a little physical training on the “Mirador Ferrier” viewpoint near Glaciar Gray. 750 meters of altitude on a 3km route are tough and the whole thing with Patagonian drizzle, but it’s worth it. In the afternoon the weather gets better, we drive a little around the lakes in the park and enjoy the weather and later a wonderful sunset over the mountain range at the “Mirador Cuernos”. As with the drive to the park, its sight is somehow unreal. Unfortunately, the puma frequently sighted at our overnight stay remains hidden.
The next day begins with one of the red sunrises that Torres is famous for. It also stays full of sunshine during the day and we take the 8-hour hike to Torres early in the morning. It is difficult to put into words and the pictures actually speak for themselves. It is similar to Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, you stand in front of this mountain or in this case in front of the towers and think all the time you stand in front of a kitschy screen. As if that wasn’t enough, a condor circles over our heads at regular intervals.
Back at the van, we try to overpower our luck and lie in wait for another puma in another parking lot. Unfortunately, the trail is already closed with good prospects of sighting (and the ranger does not let anyone talk to him), so we are denied this sight. Till the next morning. At the exit from the park we see a photo tour at a small pond and there are actually 5 (or 6, we are not quite sure) Pumas Winking smile Only 20-30m away. Our visit to the park couldn’t have ended better !!!
And what about mass tourism now?
Even if we would have liked to have made the W-Track, we are completely enthusiastic about the park, except for the partially exaggerated prices and obvious commercialization. In particular, we would have expected significantly more tourists (as in other places). It is quite busy during the day and the buses bustle in the park, but we are looking in vain for crowds like those in Thailand or in some national parks in the USA. I don’t know what that is. We actually only have two guesses, either the political turmoil in Chile prevented many travelers, or we simply got a good time window despite the high season. Because vacations are actually nowhere and in fact you see mostly seniors on the buses. But we should be 😉