Mirador Las Torres
December 15 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
The big hiking objective for me (Alex) was the 12 mile hike up to Mirador Las Torres. It was an all day affair and thankfully I had done a 12 mile hike a few weeks ago at home to test the gear and body. Good thing as it was a bit harder than that test. But no problems and the reward was the most amazing view of the signature 3 peaks in the Torres del Paine Massif. You can kind of get the view if you get close from the park road but the Torres are on the back side of a horseshoe with a little lake in the middle so you really do have to do the hike to get the full experience.
We - me and my two companions Kim Couranz and Laura Jeffers, this was a little much for Lisa but she did her own shorter hikes that day - left early for the hour and a half drive to the welcome center at the base. It took a little longer than expected because we stopped at every overlook for pictures. Every time you turned a corner there was a freakin post card shot!
The route is essentially up the valley made by the river that the lake at the top drains into, although it doesn’t really follow the grade of the river. It occasionally goes way up above the valley in places, then down across various foot bridges.
This is the route: Torres del Paine viewpoint via Las Torres - El Chileno Trail on All Trails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/chile/magallane…
It was a very chilly morning but the cloud cover cleared by the hike start and the outer layer didn’t last long. We started a little on the late side at 9:15 (for the early shift anyway) and the reviews said it would be sort of a “conga line” affair which turned out to be pretty much true as this is the most popular hike in the park. It’s rated hard due to the length but is pretty accessible for a fit hiker, adding to the number of people that do it. That said, I was a bit surprised to see some really young kids and some adults that looked pretty out of shape. I’m a reasonably fit guy and it was hard for me. But then again, I do have to enroll in Medicare this year… It’s mostly just walking up with a number of steep spots, switchbacks, and rutted paths though wooded areas and much of the surface was loose granite rocks. Trekking poles really helped. The last 1.5k gets much steeper, just shy of “scrambling” but you had to pick your way through the boulders and seemed like it went on forever. Just when you think it was right around the corner there was another pitch. But eventually you could see Las Torres peak (pun intended) over the rock and the next turn was the “Ta Da” view.
Like climbing in cycling, you have to go at a pace that is comfortable for you regardless of what others are doing. I went out ahead of my companions as I am a pretty fast walker and took advantage of wider spots of trail to get around slower sections of the conga line. I didn’t stop at the refuge center half way and pressed on to the top not wanting to cool down, for a total time to the top of 3:15. I wasn’t sure where they were so found a good spot to eat my lunch and soak up the views. They are almost surreal in a way, the pictures really don’t do it justice.
After eating and relaxing for 45 min or so I decided to head back down and ran into Kim and Laura just getting to the top so we all hung out while they ate which made for about an hour and a half at the top.
The weather was SPECTACULAR with not much wind and bright sunshine. The forecast a week out had been for rain everyday so we got really lucky. We saw TWO proposals and a gazillion Instagram poses with las Torres as a backdrop.
The trip down was about the same, 3 and a half hours. While it was easier, I was being cautious not to slip and/or pound my knees too badly as I definitely was getting tired. That’s when you start making mistakes, so caution was key. Again I was doing a pretty good job of leap frogging the conga line and again distanced myself. I waited at the refuge center for a bit and we joined up after a brief rest and to shed the final layer of leggings.
Getting towards the bottom, I was definitely smelling the barn (and needing el baño) so I booked it on the last easy mile to the end and waited for Kim and Laura to finish. We finally got back to the lodge for dinner at about 8pm where Lisa and her hiking companion Carol Cronin and the Callisons, who arrived that day, were just sitting down to dinner. The two beers felt really good! I was a bit sore the next day but we did a shorter WINDY hike with another killer view.Read more