TORRES DEL PAINE: BIG O CIRCUIT – 7 DAYS 6 NIGHTS

2 HOURS BY PRIVATE TRANSFER / 8-10 HOUR ROUND-TRIP, 21 KM We’ll pick you up in Puerto Natales at 7.30 am and travel to Torres del Paine National Park via unpaved roads and past lagoons and pampas; accompanied at times by the guanacos (relatives of llamas), grey foxes, flamingos and black-necked swans that call them home. Our first challenge is the ascent to the Towers base lookout point, following the Ascencio River into the Ascencio Valley. After our first hour’s trek we’ll pause to observe how the valley’s beauty unfolds with rich beech forests, glaciers and waterfalls. We’ll then continue uphill for another 90 minutes and prepare to ascend a gigantic terminal moraine (a ridge formed at a glacier’s end point). At the top, we’ll be rewarded by the arresting sight of the Towers themselves. At this lookout point 900 meters above sea level, the three granite spires appear to burst dramatically out of the rocky landscape, while at their base a green-blue lagoon provides a counterpoint of stillness. Here, we’ll have lunch and take pictures before beginning our descent down the same path and to our first campsite. Night at Camping Torres (BL-D).

4-5 HOURS, 9 KM

 

7-8 HOURS, 17 KM / 35 MINUTES BY CATAMARAN /2 HOURS BY PRIVATE TRANSFER Today\'s destination, the French Valley, is a spectacular natural basin surrounded by peaks and hanging glaciers. This is a return hike, so we will be able to leave our packs behind and trek lightly. We start by walking around Paine Grande, the highest peak in Torres del Paine, through native Patagonian firebush and evergreen beech forests. At the suspension bridge over the French River, the arresting hanging glacier atop the valley will come into sight. From here, we’ll walk for another hour, ascending 300m through a dreamlike Japanese garden landscape before arriving at the lookout point (the “Plateau”). Your reward is a heart-stirring bird’s eye view of granite peaks and hanging glaciers. To one side, the French Glacier and Paine Grande (3050 m); while to the other, La Espada, La Hoja, La Máscara and the main and north “horns” of Los Cuernos arch upwards. In the upper section of the Valley, Cerro Catedral and Cerro Fortaleza loom like turrets above the landscape. We’ll take our time to have lunch at the viewpoint, surrounded by these imposing peaks and open skies. Our return hike is along the same track, and the catamaran will take us back across Pehoe Lake to meet our private transfer back to Puerto Natales. (B-BL).