Hello from Peru Again!

Day 7: Torres del Paine

Our last full day in Patagonia was pretty great. We completed our usual morning routine of eating breakfast, strapping on our our hiking gear, and meeting in the lobby for the mission briefing. Roberto was our guide again, and we were joined by just one other guest from the hotel – a friendly gentleman by the name of Ed, the owner of the travel company that organized the trip with the Oxford and Cambridge folks.

Roberto explains our route

We drove about 10 minutes south of the hotel to the starting point for the full-day Alto de Toro hike and the Lake Toro lookout. The route starts with a rise in elevation up the ridge, through a pass, and flattens out into highland terrain. The wind was strong but the sun was shining and the temperatures felt slightly warmer than the last few days.

Heading up the ridge

Wind howls over the landscape…

Creating mesmerizing patterns on the semi-frozen lakes

Other than burned trees and hearty bushes, the other main plant that thrives here is grass. First, gauchos figured out the native grass was delicious sheep food. Then they realized the grass is so tough it wears away sheep’s teeth after three years (at which point they go from wool-producing to leather and mutton). Roberto explained the unwritten social agreement that, during Christmas time or other big holidays, local Chilean families with less means can “steal” a sheep for their Christmas dinner, so long as they leave the hide behind for the gauchos.

As the wind whipped through the lakes and trees, the hike continued with a few ups and downs and some tricky stream crossings. Unlike the last two days, we actually passed another group of hikers (gasp!), who also reported not seeing any pumas. (To be honest, we don’t really care if we see one, the mountain views work just fine for us.)

Surviving a treacherous stream crossing

Viewing the massif

Slightly zoomed

We eventually made our way to a tree-covered section of the forest for refuge from the wind, and stopped for lunch “€ featuring the delicious soup, sandwiches, coffee, and dessert (you know, everyday hiking food).

Picnic lunch

Turing back to the west, we headed toward Mirador del Lago Toro. This area is home to numerous condor nests, and we saw a few along the way. We hiked up the lookout which provided a panoramic view of Lago Torro, and a 360-degree view of the Torres del Paine National Park. The only catch was the crazy wind which battered the exposed peak and made it hard to stand! Apparently, strong winds are less common in the winter, but typical (and stronger) in the summer. Score another point for visiting in the winter.

Sunny and snowy trail

Condor spotting

Altocumulus lenticularis (aka. UFO clouds)

Blown away

Rio Paine empties to Lago Toro with Andes in the distance

The remainder of the hike was a very steep decline down the ridge to the van. We arrived back at the hotel with plenty of daylight remaining, and time for another visit to the spa (where we totally didn’t lose a plastic champagne glass to the wind). This time, we both decided to jump in the freezing lake. The Cambridge alums watching from their jacuzzi thought we were nuts but cheered us on.

Downhill skiing on rocks

One more afternoon view from the room

As mentioned yesterday, the head of the astrophysics department at Oxford University, Robert Davies, presented his talk, “From galaxies to life” to the guides, the guests, and any of his fellow travelers who wanted to hear the talk for a second time. We thoroughly enjoyed the talk and speaking with the other attendees.

Sweet bonus lecture

Jo and Oxford mathematician Les (in Darwin’s tree of life t-shirt) enjoy lectures their own ways

After dinner, we relaxed by the fireplace before heading to sleep. We leave early tomorrow morning for our four-hour drive back to the Punta Arenas airport and our flight to Santiago. It’s hard to imagine we could have had better luck at Torres del Paine National Park than our past week. We saw everything we wanted to see, we had great weather, and we were dubbed “real Patagonians” by Roberto for jumping in the river. We will definitely miss it.

Day 6: Torres del Paine

This morning we started with our (now) usual scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast and gathered in the lobby at 8:45AM to start another adventure. Our guide for the day’s first activity was Mercedes and we were joined by John and Angela, a couple of friendly Kiwis who arrived at Explora last night via an overland drive from Argentina. After a 40-minute van ride to the eastern sector of the park, we embarked on our hike along the Aonikenk Trail with clear skies and brisk morning air.

Important puma safety information

Did you not read the sign?

Our route was a one-way, 7km path that runs south toward Lake Sarmiento “€ often right along a fence that separates the National Park from private property (owned by a couple of Croatian bros). This natural pampas area (fertile lowland) is known for having a variety of wildlife and beautiful views of the Paine massif from the southeast.

Different perspective of the Paine massif

Heading towards the caves (those elevated rock formations in the distance)

We hiked to a series of conglomerate formations that rose above the landscape in the morning light. Here, we could see a few of the 4,000 year-old cave paintings left on the rocks by the Anoikenk, the original aboriginal people of Patagonia who were nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Atop the conglomerate rock formations

I think it says “condor, puma, hand”

I’m lichen these rocks

We enjoyed a quick snack while checking the rocks for other ancient cave paintings, and then continued walking towards Lago Sarmiento. Plenty of guanacos roamed the landscape. Mercedes told us that guanacos travel in families, but one guanaco will usually act as a lookout “€ watching for pumas “€ as the rest of the family eats.

From Lago Amarca, to the caves, to Lago Sarmiento

The guanaco beaches are currently frozen

Guanaco family and their trusty lookout

We also spotted a gray fox. It looked interested in catching a bird at first, but realized that might be kinda hard, so we watched as it stealthily approached a bush and pounced on a mouse instead “€ a delicious afternoon snack.

Fox is hungry. Birds are hard to catch.

Mouse is easier and tasty!

As for pumas “€ the prime wildlife attraction in the area “€ we saw plenty evidence of their presence (many guanaco bones and puma prints), but no actual pumas. When we got back to the van, our driver, Raul, showed us a photo he took of some pumas he saw while we were on the hike.

Now we saw pumas!

Back at the hotel, we had time for lunch and prepared for our afternoon horseback trip at the Explora stables. We suited up and headed out to meet the horses once again (we each had a new horse today). This time, we rode south through the pampa where our horses had space to spread out. The views during the ride were spectacular. Afterwards, we warmed up by the stove, continued increasing our tolerance for mate, and still could not win the gauchos’ ring toss game.

Gaucho Alexis leading our ride

Roberto approves of the view…

…we agree!

Domesticated pets (except this gaucho cat) are not allowed in the park. So look! More “wildlife”

Gather round the wood-burning stove to warm up and drink mate

Yesterday’s spa visit was pretty great, so we returned for some more outdoor jacuzzi time. Many of the guides have suggested jumping into the river for a cold dip (some more seriously than others). After spending a few minutes in the sauna to heat up, Matt was adventurous enough to try it.

Back to the hotel from the spa

Refreshed and rejuvenated, we headed back inside to pick tomorrow’s exploration and attend the nightly talk, this time about geology. We have been joined by 14 new guests at the hotel tonight. But do not worry! It turns out they are a group of Oxford and Cambridge University alums who were up in La Serena for the eclipse a few days ago. They asked the Explora guides if there were any astronomy-related talks (which we asked about earlier to no avail) and when they found out not so much, the group jokingly suggested they could give the guides a talk. We immediately chimed in and told them we would 100 percent attend. And with that, I believe the department chair and professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University (Roger L. Davies) was conscripted into giving us a lecture tomorrow night. Awesome!!!

Day 5: Torres del Paine

Today’s adventure started with a short walk to the hotel dock and a 30-minute voyage aboard a catamaran to the north shore of Lake Pehoé “€ a welcome change from the slightly carsick-inducing roads. We were joined once again by Dan and Tara as well as our guide Nacho from the Condor Lookout hike we did on Sunday. The boat docked at the Paine Grande Refuge (a summer campground and hostel inside the park), Nacho briefed us on our route, and we were on our way toward the French Valley (the middle part of the “W” circuit).

Whose boat is this boat?

Only you can prevent INCENDIOS FORESTALES

The Paine Grande massif

Nacho led the way and made a few stops to explain the flora and fauna. One fun trick he showed us involved freaking out a couple of small birds with an owl call he played from his phone. This probably wasn’t as much fun for the birds, so he only played the call twice so as to not stress them out for the rest of the day.

We also stopped to try some chaura berries. Pronounced like someone from Boston would say “chowder” (so, easy for Dan), these berries are small and red, and accordingly to Nacho, taste like cotton candy. They bloom twice a year, but not in winter. The bush we found had been preserved since the last season (flash-frozen, essentially), but alas, they did not taste sweet.

Cotton Candy Berries with serious freezer burn

As we neared our lookout point in the French Valley, we crossed a suspension bridge with a maximum capacity of… one. That’s always comforting. As each of us passed over the bridge, we noticed many of the planks could use some attention. We later met the ranger (who was LITERALLY the only other person we saw all day) and he mentioned he’s been meaning to replace some of the planks. Um, good idea.

This seems totally safe and fine

Italian Camp directions very clear on use of tent

Rounding the last corner, the hanging glacier atop the Paine Grande massif came into perfect view. The clouds dispersed, and we enjoyed an unobstructed view. While we were eating lunch, we heard a loud rumble, similar to thunder, and spotted an avalanche. Usually, cold temperatures diminish the chances of avalanches, but the recent snowfall apparently bumped the odds back in our favor and we were lucky to see a couple of them.

Our view from lunch

AVALANCHE! (in the lower left)

After lunch, we hiked back down the same path, including parts of the forest that had been destroyed by fire in 2011. Thanks to the rapidly-shifting winds in this area, you can see pockets of the forest that were spared from the flames in and amongst the charred white husks of the dead forest trees where the fire spread. Although the fire was almost 10 years ago, the trees are remarkably well preserved due to the dry environment.

This is how high the sun gets at 1:55PM

Which is great if you like the early-bird golden hour!

The dark strip of trees somehow avoided the fire

The morning clouds that were blocking our view of the Los Cuernos across Lago Skötttsberg on our way to the French Valley were no longer present. We saw two jet trails pass overhead in the clear blue sky, which were likely our flights “€ both into and out of Punta Arenas “€ and by 4PM, we made it back to the dock with our catamaran.

The horns at sunset

Overlooking Lake Pehoé near the end of the hike

Almost there!

We arrived back at the boat a bit earlier than planned, so the captain sailed us around the lake for some great views before we returned to the hotel. To ease our well worked muscles, we ventured over to the hotel spa and throughly enjoyed the outdoor jacuzzi.

Just your average afternoon commute

Getting some fresh air in the room

Say goodbye to sore muscles

Finally, we headed back indoors to pick tomorrow’s adventure(s), eat dinner (turns out Jo likes guanaco too), and relax on the comfy couches. There are a couple new guests in the hotel each day, but we still have the fireplace to ourselves in the evening!

Day 4: Torres del Paine

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As noted previously, they get about eight hours of daylight in these parts during early July, so today we woke up well before sunrise to embark on our Torres del Paine base towers hike (given the hike itself was going to be ~8.5 hours). We ate a quick breakfast, grabbed our packs and headed to the lobby to gather with our trusty hiking friends Tara and Dan, as well our guide Roberto (who also led our horseback trip). We loaded the van and drove an hour northeast to the trailhead.

Two at a time!

The hike begins at the Cerro Paine Ranch, which is closed for the season, but they allow Explora to use their parking lot and walk through their property. In the winter, the trail is closed to the public, and only those with guides are allowed through. Because the Torres (towers) are an iconic and popular destination, the trail during the summer can be incredibly crowded. There are two suspension bridges at the very beginning of the hike where only two people are allowed across at a time. Roberto said in the summer, he’s had to wait 30 minutes to cross. Uh, we did not.

Windy Pass. Wasn’t very windy. But that’s ok.

Snow-covered park map (our route is basically the yellow line in shaded box, plus some extra)

Heading toward higher elevations, the trail was soon covered in snow (some fresh from yesterday, we suspect). We donned our YakTrax and continued on our way. We eventually saw one other group, but no one else. After our initial ascent, the journey continued down into a forest region with trees covered in fresh snow.

I think we took a wrong turn into Narnia

After traversing the forested winter wonderland, we headed back up to the last, and hardest part of the hike, the moraines. The towers were carved by a glacier, which deposited rocks as it retreated. Now these snow-covered boulders were all that lay between us and our view of the towers.

Snow-covered moraine

When we finally reached the base of the Torres del Paine, we took a break for lunch and enjoyed the view. The towers are creatively named the North Tower, the Central Tower, and the South Tower. Fun fact… Although the typical view from the lookout makes the South Tower looks the smallest, it is actually the largest.

We made it!

Ask south tower about after-hours events

The Torres del Paine

Lunch time!

After a tasty canister lunch and watching misty clouds begin to form and swirl above the lake, we dusted the snow from our pants and began the trek back. An epic battle between sunshine and snow clouds followed us all the way down back to the forest and windy pass.

That’s how high the sun gets at 2PM

That’s a big rock

Glacial stream

On our way back, we fortuitously ended up with a semi-clear view of the sun just minutes before the solar eclipse (amazing considering the weather and being in a valley and all). North of Santiago, viewers would see a total solar eclipse, but in Patagonia, Roberto’s app informed us that 46 percent totality could be seen. Can’t say we saw anything near that percentage, but with the use of some Chile-themed eclipse glasses, we definitely saw a small amount of coverage before the snow clouds returned. It was cool and an unexpected bonus!

BTW, our guide is Jon Snow (credit to Tara)

Eclipse viewing in the snow

Matt sees (roughly 90 percent of) the light!

Returning below the snow line

The new Patagonia OS wallpaper looks great

When we finally made it back to the van “€ after 8 hours, 12 miles, and 3,783 feet in elevation “€ we were treated to a cheese and fruit plate, along with cooler of Chilean beer. We drove the hour back to the hotel, and signed up for tomorrow’s exploration. Since the weather is forecasted to be nice again, we are going for another full day hike, though it won’t be quite as intense. 

Drinking a Patagonian Eclipse while learning about glaciers

We made it to the educational talk tonight about glaciers. A good lecture pairs nicely with the drink of the day, the “Patagonia Eclipse.” At dinner, we ventured into authentic Patagonian food and tried the Guanaco. Turns out the pumas are right… they are pretty tasty! We also had a desert very similar to a Pot du Chocolate, but with raspberries in the center. Upon recommendation from Chef Claus, we also tried a popular Chilean dessert called cremoso de huesillo (basically ice cream made from sun-dried, sugar-intused, and refrozen peaches). We are pretty sure they have a pacojet back in the kitchen. I think these Chileans are on to something.

Day 3: Torres del Paine

It feels strange to sleep until 8AM and wake up with the sky still completely dark. Having said that, it does allow us to enjoy the sunrise after breakfast.

Guess what Jo needs…

…Cappuccino!

View from our room at 9:24AM

We layered up for our morning horseback ride, met our guide Roberto, and drove about 20 minutes south through the park to the stables. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by Andres and several other gauchos, who showed us the proper Chilean riding technique (both reins in one hand) and paired us up with our horses. Andres then led us onto the trails with new views from the transition region of the park (south of the hotel).

You’re next!

On the trail

Looking north

Horse photo op

On the way back

Just horsing around

When we were done with the ride, we gathered in the stables for a traditional mate tea ceremony. Served in a dried gourd mug and consumed through a steel straw, mate is made from a heap of Yerba tea leaves and mixed with hot water, then shared with the gaucho and the guests. Etiquette dictates that when you’ve had enough, you return the cup with the straw facing the gaucho and say “gracias,” or else you will be served indefinitely. Eventually we all gracias’d our way back to the van.

Haute cow-ture; the gauchos used this unborn cow skin to store the mate (drunk in the gourd mug)

We returned to Explora for a leisurely lunch, changed into our hiking gear, and headed back out for our afternoon hike. All SIX guests who are currently staying at the hotel (yep, six) went on the hike with our guide, Danny. We drove about 20 minutes northeast and started walking to Lago Sarmiento. Along the way, we saw some guanacos along the road. Danny pointed out the condors (as one does) and we finally realized that Condors might get extra attention here because they are featured in the Chilean Coat of Arms (akin to bald eagles in America).

Relaxing in Explora common area before lunch

Drop-off point for our afternoon hike

Lake Sarmiento has a pH of 9, making it extremely alkaline, so only bacteria can survive. When the bacteria interacted with calcium carbonate from the last ice age, it formed white porous rocks called thrombolites. The thrombolites often have open, cave-like areas that make a good shelter for pumas. We saw some bones strewn about and a guanaco carcass, but alas, we did not get to pet any pumas.

Cool oxidized rocks above Lake Sarmiento

Fun new gameshow! Wood or bone?!?

Thrombolites

The hiking group!

With daylight fading and snow clouds enshrouding the peaks of the Paine range beyond, we hiked out to the van and drove back to Explora. We have determined the Explora van drivers are some seasoned pros, given the winding and narrow roads, as well as their amazing manual shifting prowess on the uphills.

The new nightly routine is hard to beat. Change of clothes, relax at the bar, and plan tomorrow’s exploration “€ which will be a full-day trek to the base of the Torres del Paine towers. Then delicious dinner, some quality couch time to type this up, and we’ll see ya tomorrow night!