French Valley

A big day - I have harboured a long term ambition to do the W walk in Torres del Paine but I realise I can no longer backpack and camp out in tents so I am here doing it in day walks. Today is the central section French Valley which starts with a 25min boat trip across a glacial lake to a camp ground from which we walked along the lake in and out of beech forests until we reached the entrance to French Valley which extends into the central section of the Paine Massif. Picture don't do justice to the beautiful 270 degree view of jagged mountain peaks, hanging glaciers, waterfalls and clouds. It was a challenging walk because we had a deadline to go up and get back in time to catch the 5pm boat back - in the end we clocked 7km in 90 minutes getting home over tough terrain. But just a wonderful landscape of monumental proportions.Read more