A Trip to Torres del Paine

I went hiking in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park in 1998 and loved it, so I offer some tips which I hope will help other people go and have a good time despite the tremendous distance involved (the park is near the southern tip of Chile at latitude about -50). It took me 2 days to get there and 2 days to get back, so I would highly recommend spending more than the three nights that I spent in the park. Even so, the traveling was worth it! First I'll give a rough idea of what's involved, and then if you feel the urge to go, you may continue on to the sections with practical travel details.

I can't provide pictures which really do justice to the beauty of the park since my camera's batteries failed after just a few shots--don't let this happen to you! For more pictures and another traveler's perspective, browse Bruce Stumpf's fine website. And definitely buy a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to Chile (Lonely Planet offers some info on the web too.) Even the non-English-speaking travelers there were using Lonely Planet because it's better than anything in any other language. That said, don't trust it completely--businesses have moved, prices and schedules have changed since it was written. But it's a great starting point. I won't repeat its general advice here--I'll stick to things that are particular to going to Paine. From now on I'll refer to the Lonely Planet guide as LP.

If you have any questions not answered below, feel free to email me.

• Overview
• Places to stay
• What to see in the park
• Getting there from Punta Arenas
• Getting back
• Water
• Sun
• What to bring

Time and money: The nearest airport served by jets is Punta Arenas, Chile (airport code: PUQ), which is a full day's bus ride from the park. (You may want to split the bus ride over two days by staying overnight in Puerto Natales; see the Getting There section below.) Flights from the U.S. to Santiago generally are overnight and cost about a kilobuck. My flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas took 4.5 hours and cost $350. Thus, you need 48 hours to get there from the US, and that's without a lot of room for missed connections. Excluding the US-Santiago flight, my trip cost about USD$900, but I could have saved $200 on hotels had I been smarter. A longer trip would not have cost noticeably more since days spent camping in the park are incredibly cheap. If you have a lot of time, such as a monthlong trip around South America, you may want to take a bus from Argentina, since there are beautiful Argentine parks nearby. Consult LP for details.

Terminology: I stayed at the Refugio Las Torres, in the same complex as Hosteria Las Torres and Camping Las Torres. I'll refer to anything in that area as Las Torres, because the transportation info applies equally regardless of where you sleep. I'll give prices in Chilean pesos with the symbol they use ($). The rate was 420 pesos per dollar when I was there and seems to have been pretty stable over the last year. So when you see a price like $1500, don't panic--it's less than 4 dollars. On the other hand, I sometimes lapse into US dollars, so if you see a price like $32, you are supposed to think dollars, not pesos. A guarderia is a ranger station.

In the park: There are three levels of accommodation, with hosterias being the priciest, then refugios, then camping. I'll start with refugios since that's what I know most about.

Refugios: a system of lodges theoretically spaced a day's hike apart, which allows you to avoid carrying a tent. You pay USD$18 per night and put your sleeping bag on a bunkbed. I stayed at the same refugio all 3 nights since I didn't really know about this system before I came, so I can only provide details for the Las Torres refugio. There were six people per room (with maybe six rooms) and one bathroom per gender. Bathrooms were fairly clean and had hot water and toilet paper. There was a pleasant common area where breakfast was served (7:30-9:30 am, USD$5 continental, USD$8 with ham and eggs) and dinner as well (8:30 pm, order by 6:30 pm, USD$11, different each night, quite tasty). This is where I met and had some good conversations with fellow hikers. I would definitely recommend this for someone who wants to hike but not necessarily carry a tent down to Chile. I would recommend reservations if you are coming in high season, but it seemed that unannounced people were generally accomodated, as some people with reservations never showed up, presumably due to unpredictable hiking schedules. If they are really full, they will rent you a tent. (They rent sleeping bags too, but I wouldn't go without one myself.) If you are hiking the circuit, the refugios on the back side are too far apart to do in one day; you will have to camp at least one night. The refugio system is still being developed, as I saw one new-looking refugio and one almost-completed refugio which were not on any map.

Hosterias: high-priced hotels (more than USD$100) with real restaurants, set within the beauty of the park. I would recommend these only if you really want to pamper yourself, rent horses, eat at a fancy restaurant, etc, in which case you are probably not reading this for advice anyway. Before I knew about the refugios, I tried to make reservations at Hosteria Las Torres for January, and it was already full three weeks in advance. They were nice enough to make reservations for me at the refugio, though, so everything was for the best. I found their email reservations people (lastorres@chileaustral.com) needed a few days to answer, but they were helpful when they did.

Camping: You are supposed to camp at designated sites. Often these have bathrooms and showers, and there is a USD$5 charge. Other places have no facilities and are free. Some sites are next to refugios, so you can buy a beer or a dinner after a day of hiking, or even sleep inside (for USD$18) if you don't feel like putting up your tent in the rain, for instance. However, you can't count on a refugio having room or even extra dinners available if you show up unannounced--you definitely have to pack most of the food you think you will need. I heard that freeze-dried food is hard to get in Chile, so you will probably end up packing canned food unless you bring it in from your home country.

The circuit, a roughly 6-day loop around the entire Paine range, is the choice of many, if not most, of the hikers. In fact, LP calls it "inordinately popular". I put the question to some hikers who had just finished the circuit, and they agreed. They thought that the "back" side--the east and north sides--didn't have any of the spectacular views of the front side, so that it was basically a lot of walking over sometimes very poor trails for not much reward. In fact, the most famous view in the park, of the towers on the Rio Ascensio trail, isn't even part of the circuit--it's an extra out-and-back leg. They thought they would have been much better off doing a "W" in which the right vertical stroke is the Rio Ascensio out-and-back, the middle part goes over to Valle Frances and up the valley to the glacier, then back down the valley and over to Refugio Pehoe, and the left vertical stroke goes along Lago Grey and Glacier Grey and back down again. One could then take the boat from Refugio Pehoe across Lago Pehoe, which is supposed to have great views of the Paines, and catch the bus out of the park at Guarderia Lago Pehoe on the other side of the lake (see Getting Back). All accounts were that Glacier Grey was very impressive, but not if you only saw it edge-on from the lake. You have to hike up a way alongside it and then you realize how immense it is. My biggest regret is not having time to see it myself.

I had time for only two hikes, but I would classify both of them as must-do. The first was the Rio Ascensio trail to the famous view of the towers. The Rio Ascensio valley itself is very beautiful--even though you have to wait for the very end to see the towers, you will be entranced the whole way. This hike is nominally 3.5 hours each way; people with day packs were taking 2.5 hours each way. Do this one in the morning, since clouds build up around the towers throughout the day. Although you can see them against a blue sky at 9 am, at noon you will see them against a gray backdrop of clouds and later in the afternoon the clouds may be between you and the towers! The last 45 minutes before getting to the view of the towers is a very steep scramble up an enormous pile of rubble. If you have a heavy pack, I recommend leaving it at the bottom and taking a day pack with camera, warm clothes, and lunch up to the top.

The other hike I did was from the Las Torres complex to Valle Frances, nominally 6 hours but 4-4.5 hours each way with a day pack. The views of the Cuernos del Paine ("Horns of Paine") are great from about the 2-hour point onwards, and near the end you see up the Valle Frances to the glacier which is feeding the river. Along the way you also get great views of the lakes with their unique pale green color, and cross numerous picturesque streams carrying ice-cold glacier melt. I really regret that I did not have the extra 2 hours to continue up the valley and see the glacier close up. Thus I would not recommend a day hike for this one--camp in the valley or take advantage of the refugio halfway between Las Torres and Valle Frances, which was almost complete when I was there. The next refugio is on Lago Pehoe, 2 hours from Valle Frances.

We actually left at 3:15 since they had to scrounge a bigger bus than the minivan they originally brought. We arrived at Laguna Amarga at about 5:40, with a 15-minute stop at a cafeteria at the halfway point (thankfully, since the bus was too small to have a bathroom). It took about 15 minutes for everyone to sign in--you'll need your passport and $5000--and then some of us transferred to the minivan going the 7 km to the Las Torres site ($1500) while the rest continued on to other places along the main road. I arrived at the Refugio Las Torres at about 6:20 pm after mistakenly thinking I had to check in at the Hosteria Las Torres. So it really took all day and I didn't have time for a hike, although I took a very pleasant run up the first part of the Rio Ascensio trail.

I used to have a paragraph here about using air service to avoid the bus between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales. Things have changed since 1998 and it seems that this is no longer available. But don't take my word for it. You may just find a better way to get there. One thing to consider is coming in from Argentina if you want to see parks there too, which are rumored to be quite beautiful. That's well beyond my experience, so I am not recommending it, but I am encouraging you to be creative and seek out the best possibilities at the time you travel, without too many preconceptions based on my experience in 1998.

If staying at Las Torres, you might be tempted to do the Rio Ascensio hike early in the day and then get to Laguna Amarga in time for the 4:30 departures. Although this minimizes time spent on buses, you would miss some great views of the Paine range from the road, which you can't get from the hiking trails, as the road is set back from the range and provides a more sweeping view. Remember to grab a window seat on the appropriate side. Also keep an eye out for guanacos, the wild progenitors of the domesticated llama, in the fields along the road. I saw many more of these on the side of the road opposite the view of the Paines, so you may want to sit on the south side once and the north side once. If you ask the driver in advance, he will stop and let people off when there is a good guanaco photo-op.

My bus had a 2-hour, 45-minute stop at the visitor center, where the exhibits are interesting enough for maybe 30 minutes of browsing. I later found out that one of the unmarked buildings nearby was a restaurant, which would have been a good use of this time. Even better, get off before the visitor center, at the boathouse (this is after the guanacos and the mountain views). I found that the bus waits for the boat, so it is safe to take the boat ride across Lake Pehoe, which is supposed to have great views of the Paines, and back again. You might even have an hour to spend looking around the other side before the boat returns.

Clothing: You have to be prepared for all types of weather. On the Rio Ascensio hike, I started out wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was warm enough. At the top it started snowing! Thus you need easily removable layers. Always have a waterproof layer available, as the rain can come and go quickly over small areas. The next day, I was sweltering in the morning and never really cooled down despite rain and clouds later. The day after that, it felt bitterly cold due to the wind, even though the temperature was probably in the 50's. So be prepeared for everything. I was able to spend most of the time in shorts, though. Light gloves are a good idea, so that you don't find yourself hiking with your hands in your pockets, which can throw off your balance.

Footwear: Sturdy hiking boots are a must if you have a heavy pack. On my day hikes, I wore running shoes which allowed me to skip across the streams without getting my feet wet and to easily scramble up the rockpile to view the towers.

Money: My total expenses were distorted by the exorbitant hotel in Punta Arenas. Without that, they were about $300, apart from airfare. Three nights at the refugio, with 3 breakfasts and 3 dinners and all the bottled water I needed to hike, came to USD$122.25. I didn't really have lunch, just Power Bars and dried fruit I brought from the US. Total bus fares were about USD$35, and airport taxes were about the same (they charge you at the airport before departure instead of just adding it to your ticket price). The rest was for meals while traveling and miscellaneous stuff like replacing my camera batteries at outrageous cost, postcards (the only place to mail these inside the park is from the visitor center), map, etc.