Torres del Paine 2

We had opted for an all day hike today.  Ingrid thought that it was 10 'til 5 and was a little dismayed when she learned it was 8 until 8!  The day involved a drive of about 40 minutes to a dock, a catamaran trip of 30 minutes across a lake of an unreal blue and then a short time getting fixed to start walking.  We were to walk to the French valley.

What was advertised as a 15km walk should be the subject of a bit of an examination.  We had to walk 1km or a bit more to the trail.  When we reached the measured destination, we had another kilometre to the viewpoint over the French glacier that was our destination. 

The walk took us up a route behind the towers and into a glaciated valley.  The area had, as with a huge amount of the park, been badly affected by a fire in 2011.  Trees that take 100 years to grow 8 feet had been destroyed and areas that were forested are covered with grass and small bushes.  The recovery time is well beyond our lifetimes and all because a small group decided to burn their loo paper rather than carry it out of the park!

Trees, stripped of their burnt bark, were a beautiful silver colour (but very dead).

The views of the mountains and the differing Rock formations was great.  The glacier was in a few parts and, to be frank, we have been spoiled over the past 10 days.

One of the group was taken ill (a reaction to gluten) which threw the plans a bit.  We upped the pace on the way up so we could make a 1700 boat back, but the walk back was still relatively leisurely. (Pete's opinion not Ingrid's!)  In the end, as another guide has divulged, we did 20km or more today.  We returned tired but satisfied with the achievement.  The gluten free lady is fine now, so all worked out in the end.