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El Calafate
Reception at the El Calafate Airport and transfer to the hostel or inn, according to the chosen accommodation.
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Journey to the Torres del Paine National Park and the Guardería Laguna Amarga entrance
We leave Argentina to cross the border with Chile at the immigration centre of 'Cancha Carrera' and then go on to the Torres del Paine National Park, considered a Humanity Patrimony Site by UNESCO. We enter the park by the Guardería Laguna Amarga, that takes its name from the Estancia 'Laguna Amarga' that is in the zone and is situated some 115 kilometres from Port Natales. The trail starts at the Guardería and we go 7 kilometres by vehicle until the Estancia. Here, it is 600 metres above sea level and we camp at the Las Torres campsite. .
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Trail by the River Ascencio Valley to the base of Las Torres.
Breakfast in the Camping Full de Las Torres. We begin the trails to las Torres del Paine. The trekking starts on the slopes of the Almirante Nieto Mountain that borders the River Ascensio. We make a pronounced ascent to arrive at the River Ascensio Valley and then a further two hour climb to reach the Chilean refuge. We continue our walk crossing the forest of coihues, a Chilean evergreen used for thatching, with the objective of reaching our campsite at the base of Las Torres. This is popular point for the mountaineers to begin their climbing, with vertical faces of more than 880 metres. Later we arrive at the Las Torres viewpoint, a natural amphitheatre with magnificent views that is situated at the base of the vertical granite towers that are more than 2,700 metres high. Here we can see la Torre Sur, Central y Norte, el Nido de
Cóndores and the North face of the Almirante Nieto Mountain. Also we can see la Morena, a rocky formation, that has an altitude of 1,000 metres. Finally we return by the same path.
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Lodging |
Full Camp at Las Torres in double tent (area with sanitary services)
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Meals we provide |
Desayuno, Box Lunch y Cena |
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From / To |
Camping de Las Torres / Valley by River Ascensio / Mirador de Las Torres |
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Duration |
4 hours |
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Difficulty |
Intermediate |
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From Las Torres de los Cuernos del Paine and the Nordenskjöld Lake
After breakfast we leave to go to the 'Nordenskjöld crossing'. This route involves two days of intermediate level trekking, walking from the River Ascensio Vally camp site until the Pehoe Refuge. We spend the night in the Paso Los Cuernos refuge after three hours of trekking. This walk helps us to discover the native wildlife of the zone south of the banks of the River Paine by seeing birds and mammals of the National Park and also excellent views of the southern part of the lake, las Torres and the Almirante Nieto Mountain. The Paso Los Cuernos refuge has 32 beds, a restaurant and bathrooms with hot water showers. We find it on the banks of the Nordenskjöld Lake, surrounded by a forest of coihues and is in between the Torres and Valle Francés Refuges. The walk borders the
Nordenskjöld Lake and the base slopes of the Cuernos del Paine. It takes some three hours of trekking.
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Trekking to the Valle Francés
Breakfast in the Full Camping. We continue our trekking in the National Park in the direction of the Valle Francés, the mountain valley that descends from the mountain interior until the Nordenskjöld Lake, protected on the east by los Cuernos and on the west by the Paine Grande, that rises over 3,000 metres. Following our valley trail we enter to some impressive viewpoints that are found in a natural amphitheatre sculptured by the ice needles and the most impressive mountain walls: Cuernos, Espada, Máscara, Hoja, Aleta de Tiburón, Catedral and Paine Grande. The combination of the forests of coihues and the Paine Grande glaciers provoke a unique spectacle on this walk. We arrive at Valle Francés continuing by the same trail and then effectively west skirting the Scottberg Lake until we arrive at the Refuge Pehoe.
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Walk to the Grey Glacier Valley
Breakfast in the Full Camping. We begin our trekking to the Valle del Lago and the Grey Glacier, that originates from the Patagonian Ice Fields and goes into the northern sector of the lake surrounded by forests of lengas and morenas. The Grey Glacier forms part of the Southern Ice Fields and has a width of 6 kilometres and a height of 30 metres. Its bluish colour is produced by the absorption of the light by part of the ice. It is a glacier that is found in full regression, a combination of the global warming and the change of rain patterns in the southern Patagonian region. Blocks of blue coloured ice fall from the Grey Glacier and are blown south by the prevalent Patagonian winds. We continue by the track that defines our route for a further two hours until we reach a viewpoint where we can observe the lake and the glacier in its maximum splendour. Later we arrive at another viewpoint that puts us in front of the glacier, in a privileged position. The route crosses a forest of notros - whose reddish flower is a symbol of Patagonia - and a dense vegetation of thicket that are protected by the ice and are recovering the Paine Grande. Finally we return to the Pehoe Refuge.
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Navigating the waters of Lake Pehoe until Port Pudeto.
We breakfast a little later than usual in the Full Camping, taking the morning to rest somewhat after various days of trekking. After the deserved rest we set sail in a boat to cross the crystalline waters of the Pehoe Lake to go to Port Pudeto, where we take a bus until the campsite in Camping Pehoe. The Pehoe Lake is at the centre of the Torres del Paine National Park. After lunch we continue our route until the beautiful Salto Grande and later walk for less than one hour to arrive at the beaches of Nordenskjöld Lake. We spend the night in the Camping Pehoe camp site.
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Western Sector of the Torres del Paine National Park
Breakfast in the Full Camping. We acquaint ourselves with the western zone of the Park by making a walk by the southern shores of the Grey Lake, which is full of icebergs, and then we climb to the Ferrier viewpoint where we can see a panoramic view of the Paine Massif and the Andes Mountain range, especially with the Grey and Pingo Glaciers. We spend the night in the Camping Pehoe.
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Return to El Calafate
Breakfast in the Full camping before starting our journey back to Argentina and returning to El Calafate.
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El Calafate
Breakfast in the Hostel, We are taken to the El Calafate Airport and that signals the end of our trekking program.
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