Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they review their time in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chile. Located near the tip of South America, Torres del Paine is a mecca for trekking enthusiasts from all over the world. During this episode, you get a look at Los Torres or “The Towers”, as well as the French Glacier in the Valle Frances. Finally, you will see the Grey Glacier from both Earth’s surface, as well as from space (photo courtesy of NASA).
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Spanish Translation by: Cristina Luz García Gutiérrez (cristinaluzgarcia@gmail.com)
Full Disclosure: We paid full price for our stay and tours and did not receive any remuneration for this story.
Transcript:
0:12 Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is located near the tip of South America in the Patagonian
0:17 region of Chile. There are several trekking options in Torres
0:23 del Paine. We chose the four-day ‘W’ route.
0:28 Our first day’s hike was an “out and back” along the right-hand side of the ‘W’,
0:33 to the lookout point where we saw Los Torres or “The Towers”.
0:45 The central tower is an amazing 10,000 feet (or 3,050 meters) high.
0:56 Because of it’s difficultly, it wasn’t climbed until 1963 by a British expedition.
1:04 On the third day, we covered the distance between refugio Los Cuernos and Paine Grande
1:09 or the distance of approximately 12 miles (or 19 and a half kilometers).
1:20 The Valle del Francés or “French Valley” portion of the ‘W’ fell in the middle
1:28 of this day’s hike.
1:33 As we walked up the steep terrain, we witnessed the calving of French Glacier.
2:17 On the last day of our trek, we hiked for four hours (most of it in the rain) with the
2:21 goal of meeting a boat on Lago Grey at 1pm.
2:41 On the way back to civilization, we were treated to fantastic views of the Grey Glacier.
2:45 Here is an image of the Grey Glacier from space.
2:50 Whereas Lago Grey (the lake) is 10 ½ miles (or 17km) long, the Grey Glacier is nearly
2:56 twice as long at 17 miles (or 28 kilometers)!!!
3:02 Seeing the blue ice of the Grey Glacier was the perfect conclusion to our twelfth and
3:06 final trek!