One of Chile’s many crown jewels – the Torres del Paine massif – is tucked away near the southern end of the continent. It is far from just about everywhere, yet it has become a destination for backpackers and big wall climbers from around the globe. Maggie and I made our way to this remote corner of the planet to embark on the 70 mile “O” trek, a circuit around these spectacular mountains.
26 January 2023
Maggie and I packed up and left El Chaltén. On the edge of town, we picked up a couple of hitchhikers, Flora and Martín. They were going to El Calafate, which was more or less on our route. The rental car was low on gas, and there was no gas available (only diesel) in El Chaltén. It was a nerve wracking drive to El Calafate, watching the fuel tank range tick down, but the conversation with Flora and Martín helped distract us from the impending doom. They were from northern Argentina and enjoying some traveling before seeking full time careers. They shared some hot maté tea with us, an essential Argentinian beverage. By some miracle, we had just enough gas to make it to El Calafate. We dropped off our passengers and continued south to our next border crossing. The crossing was uneventful, other than having to hand over some produce to the Chilean customs agents. A couple more hours through open steppe and rolling hills. We could see the Torres del Paine on the horizon, flirting with the clouds.
We made it to Puerto Natales by mid-afternoon. We checked into our AirBnb, a lovely little casita, then dropped off laundry and went grocery shopping. Maggie and I made dinner then relaxed after a long day of driving.
27 January 2023
Expecting some early mornings in the days to come, Maggie and I made sure to sleep in. Our chores were mostly done, so we had most of the day to explore town and relax. We walked through town and down to the water.
The sea breeze was stiff, and we found an apropos monument to the wind. To be blunt, there was nothing special about Puerto Natales, but nothing really to complain about either.
Unsure of what else to do, we went back to the room, picking up our clean clothes on the way. We chilled some more, then went out for sushi and seafood noodle stirfry. This was one of our favorite meals on the trip.
Back at the room, we prepared for our trek into the mountains the next day.
28 January 2023
We were up early, making breakfast and packing up in the casita. On the road a little after 7 am, we drove to Torres del Paine National Park. The towers stood large and in charge on the horizon, basking in a rare sunny day here in Patagonia.
A salty lake near the park entrance hosted a flock of flamingos, and we tried our best to take pictures from the road.
There were several tour buses parked at the entrance with people unloading to get entrance tickets. Maggie and I had digital tickets, so we got ours scanned and skipped the line. We parked at the visitor center, which was more of a bar and concession stand. The place was swarming with people, and while we were getting ready, a couple buses dropped off even more people. I guess the upshot is that very few people are driving to Torres del Paine, as the parking lot is fairly small. We set off for the Base Torres view point hike on this beautiful Saturday morning. Ahead of us were literal bus loads of people, so we hiked fast to pass the crowds.
The trail started off wide, but soon got steeper and narrower, making for long conga lines of hikers to maneuver around. We were ripping it. A steady Patagonian breeze was blowing, which we felt in full force at Pasa del Vientos – pass of the winds. Otherwise, the hike was fairly protected from the wind, weaving through the beech forest. We passed Chileno refugio, and the smell of food made our stomachs grumble. We weren’t even half way! Maggie and I passed more and more people, and the crowd was eventually thinning out as we neared the top.
There wasn’t much scenery to speak of on the hike up, a river, lots of forest, a small waterfall. All of this paled in comparison to the torres (towers), which were obscured from view for much of the hike. We turned the corner to Lago Torres and looked up at the imposing granite spires. Simply gorgeous and awe inspiring.
Maggie and I found a nice shade spot under a boulder to take in the view and eat lunch. We inspected the towers with our monocular, scoping out climbing routes we will never try. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, sunny with only a few wind swept high clouds. For the most part, everyone was sitting quietly, taking pictures on the rocks by the lake.
After an hour of admiring at the mirador, we made our way back down. Fighting the crowds coming down was almost worse, because at several points we had to wait for people coming up as well. Sorry if I sound whiny, I’ll address this all later.
We had passed most everyone in the first mile or two, and we even found ourselves alone at a few points. Sweet relief. We walked a little slower in the gaps, enjoying the great outdoors. We made it back to the car around 3 pm, 12 miles and 2,000 feet of vert later. We intended to camp near the visitor center at an established campground. Only thing was, we hadn’t made a reservation, and it was supposedly $25 per person. The two guys we had met on our Avellanos hike told us that the reservation system is bogus – there is a ton of space, and they don’t really check if you have a reservation. We debated back and forth on what to do, but we eventually decided to pack up our backpacking gear, walk over, and check it out. We intently ignored the reception kiosk and set up our tent on the edge of the campground. We were a bit nervous for sure, but as the evening wore on, it felt like we were in the clear. Maggie and I made dinner at our picnic table and watched hikers file in. We did our dishes by the bathrooms and hangout tent, where 30+ hikers were chatting and eating. We liked our quiet corner more, so we returned to the tent to chill as lenticular clouds hovered in the sky and the sun dipped behind the mountains. Another successful stealth camp.
*Warning: Long Rant Ahead*
Some thoughts on the administration of Torres del Paine National Park: I’m sure most people reading this have been to at least one national park in the United States. Let me say, the National Park Service has set a high bar for how to welcome guests and manage public land. Simple fee structures – one payment per vehicle. High quality interpretative, historical, and geologic information. Ample campgrounds/back country camping, and minimal regulations on trail use beyond “leave no trace”. All of these elements make America’s national parks a joy to visit. Do they get crowded? Yes. But I have found it’s easy to go off season, or far out, to escape the crowds.
Now, for Torres del Paine. I had read a comment online saying that this park has been over commercialized for bucket listers and instagram influencers to go glamping in the back country. You could easily argue I fall into one of those groups, or their ilk. I’m as much a part of the crowd as anyone else looking to get a great experience in the outdoors. However, the way the park is managed is clearly to cash in on the natural beauty, rather than to let people enjoy it as they please. Chile’s national park service (CONAF) has allowed three concessionaires to set up shop, and these private companies run the campgrounds and refugios. You are required to stay at these campgrounds, which also offer beds for up to $200/night, and food for $20-30 per meal. Basic camping with your own gear wasn’t exorbitantly pricey – $84 for four nights – but the booking system is split between the three companies. The whole reservation was a nightmare. Add to that, the entrance ticket is $49 per person for a stay over 3 nights. Not including the food we got at the grocery store, we are already at $182 before we even got in the gate, and we were doing it on the cheap! We had seen reports of people spending $1600 for the O-trek… For this amount of money, I was expecting this park to be immaculate. Imagine my surprise when we pull up into a tiny, ungraded dirt parking lot. The visitor center was constructed of a wooden frame with clear corrugated plastic siding, not exactly the highest quality. The finish inside was nice, but like I said earlier, it was mainly a bar. No interpretation, history, nor wildlife information. No rangers either to answer your questions, just staff in street clothes behind a desk to take your money for snacks and beer. I do have another Chilean park to compare it to: Conguillío National Park, which had a lovely visitor center, and relatively simple camping reservations. I know CONAF can do better.
Then add the buses of people. Again, I’m in favor of the carpooling, but there seems to be no limit on how many people they bus in, all of them paying a park entrance fee, some of them camping out for one of the longer treks. They must be printing money here! Who knows what amount of tax payer dollars support this park as well. At first glance, there would appear to be a mismatch between resources coming in for the resources provided to visitors. The one thing they did splurge on was baños, as all the toilets in the park are flush toilets.
Overall, it upsets me because everyone spends a significant amount of time and money to get here, all for it to be another overcrowded tourist trap. Many of the US’s National Parks have started instituting a daily reservation system to control crowds. While I hate to take away spontaneity, I would rather wait my turn for an enjoyable experience than hike with 300 people. It seems to be too late for Torres del Paine, as it has been infected by the disease of capitalism, cashing in on #wanderlust without regard for its own visitors, turning adventure into an amusement park.
That said, I must admit, the whole experience in Torres del Paine turned out to be wonderful. I was a little skeptical after the first day, but once we got into the backcountry, Maggie and I had a great hike…
Distance Over Time 