Undoubtedly one of the worlds most beautiful wild places, the mountains of Torres del Paine rise impossibly steeply to over 3000m from the flat Patagonia steppe. This glacier sculptured landscape covers over 1800 sq km of southern Chile and borders the Hielo Sur, the vast southern ice sheet. It includes the mighty Glaciar Grey and many other smaller glaciers. However to some extent the areas beauty and easy accessibility have been its downfall. Huge numbers of visitors, numbers are unregulated by the Chilean Authorities detract from the wilderness experience that people may have expected to find here and at the same time everybody must camp at the same locations and are restricted to a small area of the park. Despite being designated a National Park in 1959 and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1978 there is ongoing development of tourist infrastructure including refugios and  hotels within the park. In some ways you are left with the feeling of having visited an Art Gallery rather than completed a world class trek.

Photographs from one visit.

In February 2008, over nine days, we completed an anticlockwise circuit of the Paine massif, as well as visiting the Torres themselves at dawn. Starting from Guarderia Laguna Amarga the route heads out across the eastern side of the park, before heading in to the mountains towards Lago Dickson and climbing to Paso John Garner. The route sidles alongside Lago Grey and Lago Nordenskjold to finish at Camping Los Torres. There are two possible side trips, to the Torres del Paine Lookout and the Valle Frances. From the campsite the Torres lookout can be visited at dawn, which is an amazing experience. The route itself is not technically challenging, however the weather, especially the winds can be ferocious and can easily flatten the strongest tents. There are huts and campsites on route which are the only places camping is permitted. The campsites were shockingly overcrowded and there is an incredible amount of rubbish at the campsites and on the track. The track is exceptionally busy, you will rarely go for half an hour without seeing anyone and on the more popular sections you will meet hundreds of people.

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