11. The Towers

28th Nov 2013

      It is another long and windy night and having the tent on a wooden platform made for a hard bed. It is snowing and very windy when we wake at 4am, we get going by 4.25, about 1/2 an hour later than other hikers suggested we should leave. We head out at a run and about 10 mins later Andrew realises he has left his glasses behind and makes a dash back to get them, by the time he returns we are running very late. We make really good time and arrive just as the sun hits the towers and the day has turned from bleak to beautiful with blue skies and scattered clouds. We spend 1 1/2 hours enjoying the changing light on the towers and would have stayed longer but it is cold and Andrew is hungry so we head down to Camp Torres for a quick breakfast.

Chileno to the towers and finishing in Las Torres - 13.5km

Time to head out

And we are off and running

Andrew on his way back after retrieving his glasses

We just beat the sun

Sorry for the duplicate photo, I couldn't decide which I prefer

On our way down, it is sunny but very cold

 If there is anything I would do differently about this hike it would be to stay at Camp Torres instead of Chileno

     At Camp Torres we settled into the cooking shelter with group of trekkers that it turns out had also done the 'O Circuit" one couple had a Biolite Camp Stove, it runs on small wood chips, with a self charging battery powered fan and a USB charging port, very clever. After breakfast we intended to head up to the end of the valley but about 5 mins from camp were greeted by a large sign saying it was forbiden to go any further so it was back to Chileno to break camp and work out how we were going to get back to Puerto Natales.

Enjoying breakfast with fellow 'o circuit' trekkers

Biolite Camping Stove

Another bridge with character

Looking up the valley from Chileno

A beautiful calm day 

Supplies being delivered to Chileno

The signs we saw along the way saying 'Give way to the horses' make sense now.

All is calm at ' The Corner ' today

A last glimpse up the valley before heading around the corner and down to Las Torres

     We arrived back at Las Torres around midday and determined that we would be able to catch a shuttle bus out to the main road and then hopefully get a seat on one of the buses heading to Puerto Natales. While waiting for the shuttle Andrew bought a packet of chocolate coated orange doughnuts ( doughnut shaped orange flavoured chocolate biscuits ) and politely offered them around, I gratefully took one a ate it slowly while chatting with other hikers, when I turned to Andrew to procure another biscuit I was greeted by Andrews very guilty face and an empty packet of biscuits, he had 'accidentially' eaten them all while the rest of us were talking. We get the last two seats seats on a bus and Andrew sleeps the entire trip ( eating that much can make you tired I'm told but I wouldn't know I only got one biscuit! ) I just enjoyed the scenery and snapped a few pics along the way. 

Guanacos

 Nandu ( very similar to an Emu but smaller )

     We arrived back at Hostel Alcazar 2 days early and are relieved to find that they have a room for us, time to have a long hot shower and get some clothes washed. I would highly recommend the Torres del Paine 'O Circuit' to any keen hiker, it is up there with The Overland Track ( Tasmania ), The Milford and Routeburn Tracks ( New Zealand ), The Annapurnas ( Nepal ) and the Maliau Basin ( Sabah Borneo ) as one of the greatest hikes I have ever done.  Would I do it again? In a heart beat. Fabuloso!