The Fox and the Bad Wildlife Photographer - Torres del Paine Part 2.
Finally, we had made it to the park. With our camp set, and legs aching to be stretched after days in various planes, trains and automobiles, a few of us decided to go for a little exploration.
As we planned to walk up to the Towers in the dark on our final day (so we could catch them at sunrise), I thought a little route recce wouldn’t go amiss.
Sidenote: Torres del Paine means The Blue Towers (not 'The Towers of Pain', as cool as that would be), “paine” being “blue” in the native Tehuelche language.
From campsite Central, we headed up the Valle Ascencia deeper into the landscape of jagged granite. Millenia ago, deep underground, lava forced its way into cracks in the layers of soft sedimentary rock, then slowly cooled to form hard, igneous, granite. Colossal forces then lifted these layers to the surface, where the softer rock was worn away by wind, water and glacial erosion. What was left behind was the soaring rock walls and crazed spires of the Paine Massif.
You can find more about the Geography and Geology of the Paine Massif on the EcoCamp website.
Passing a pair of Gauchos (South American cowboys), and their pack horses, returning from resupplying the Refugio Chileno, we made it as far as the Guarderia Torres. This was the turning to the trail that would take us the final kilometre up and over to the Mirador Torres at the foot of the towers. Sadly, it had just hit three in the afternoon which, unbeknownst to us, was the cut off time for visiting the towers. We were turned back by the park rangers. As a consolation prize, we stopped at Chileno to enjoy a beer and sun ourselves by the river. All of us, that is, except Rhys, who knocked his bottle over and had to sheepishly take a double handful of broken glass to the refugio staff.
Apparently I thought Gauchos look best from a distance. If you were wanting to see what these guys actually look like (spoiler: pretty cool) check out the photo essay, 'Nomad Cowboys'.
Returning to Central, we found a large fox had made itself at home in the middle of our campsite. Bad wildlife photography has been a recurring theme of mine (as anyone who’s had the misfortune of following my Instagram will know). Not wanting to break the habit of a lifetime, I took a series of ever so slightly blurry, over/under exposed photos of a fox with its eyes closed, or back turned.
The fox, head in hands, despairing at my photographic efforts. David Attenborough and Co. must be quaking in their boots.
There were also parrots in the trees all around the campsite, I’m not even going to show you my attempts at capturing them….
The national park is home to some incredible flora and fauna, I'll once again refer you to the EcoCamp website, for a decent rundown of what you can see.
Anyway, on to....
Birdsong, Heat and a Swim in a Glacial River - Day 1 On The Trail.
The singing of the birds is what I remember from our first day on the trail. Waking in the morning, I could hear them through the thin fabric of the tent. In the afternoon, lying out in the sun, their song filled the air as they flitted amongst the Notro trees.
These low, scrubby trees, with clustered red flowers, carpeted the lower slopes of the mountains.
The sun shone down out of a cloud feathered sky as we shouldered our packs and headed out of Central. Ahead of us lay the 135km of the ‘O’ circuit.
As the path climbed, we slowly rounded the corner into the next valley. Through woodland and fields, we crossed small streams, spotted birds of prey, and passed a herd of horses. Picking up the the Rio Paine, a cloudy blue river of glacial melt water, we followed it to the campsite at Serón.
The Rio Paine.
Arriving at mid-day the sun was still high in the sky. Andy and I decided to cool off with a dip in the river. I grew up swimming in Swedish lakes, but that river was cold. Bone aching cold is a cliche, but it hurt. It took five attempts, slowly edging deeper into the water, before I finally plucked up the courage to sit down in the shallows, lean back, and dunk my head below the surface.
Refreshed, if slightly numb, I walked back across the field to camp, to lie in the sun and read (it’s hard work this adventuring).
Info, links, stuff:
Aston Martin magazine website: 'Nomad Cowboys: A Glimpse Into the Life of Chilean Gauchos'
EcoCamp website:
'Torres del Paine: Geography and Geology'
In fact, just check out the whole 'Torres del Paine National Park' section
