February 7, 2018
Los Torres socked in by some clouds. (Tye Chapman)
IMG Senior Guide Dustin Balderach checked in from Refugio Chileno in Torres del Paine National Park this afternoon reporting that he and his team “had a great day today”. They got a nice early start from Puerto Natales which put them on the trail about 10:30am. Once on the trail they made their way up to Refugio Chileno where they had lunch and cached the bulk of their gear, before heading up to see Los Torres (AKA – The Towers).
From Refugio Chileno it’s about 2 hours up the trail to Los Torres. In those two hours, Dustin said they experienced all 4 seasons! It started out with rain (we’ll call this spring), then the wind picked up and it got colder (fall) and then the rain turned to snow (winter). Eventually the sun trumped everything giving the team a peakaboo view of the towers!
Once back down at Refugio Chileno, the team toasted a great day in Chilean Patagonia with cold beer and a hot meal. On the menu tonight, soup, salad and chicken & potatoes.
Tomorrow, the team will make their way up into the Silence Valley where they’ll likely be the only trekkers. It takes a special permit to get into the Silence Valley, so it’s quite common have the valley to ourselves, and maybe a few rock climbers.
All is well in Patagonia!
Tye Chapman