While we were in the neighborhood, Tori and I decided to do one of the most iconic hikes in Torres Del Paine, the 22 km (~13.7 mile) hike to the Base Torres viewpoint to see the Las Torres (The Towers). We tried to prepare for this over the winter, but there’s not much terrain in CT to practice climbing in the Andes. The hike is expect to take about 8 hours total for the average hiker. It’s a popular route in the afternoon and the trailhead was about 1.5 hours from our hotel, so we woke up before dawn (and before coffee was ready at the hotel) to start the drive. Our guide, Valentina, had it even worse — she was working the reception desk until 11pm the night before and drew the short straw in having to come with us.
The sun rose as we were driving through the park, slowly revealing the landscape. There was a bright teal and pink sky when we arrived at the trailhead, reflecting off the granite of Las Torres.
The hike started off flat for about two miles out of the welcome center as we made out way to the mountain, where we abruptly hit a 20% grade and climbed over 1,000 feet in the next two miles until we got our first view of Ascension Valley. From here, we actually descended a few hundred feel while we walked along the valley to the mountain’s base camp. Many hikers to the first bit in the afternoon, sleep at the camp, then do the rest of the climb in the dark of the next morning to catch sunrise from the summit.
The trail meandered through the forest for the next few miles. The trail was never flat and had more ups than downs, gaining about 500 feet during this section while crossing several picturesque mountain streams making their way down to the Rio Ascencio.
Eventually the mountain trail started getting steeper and steeper, and before we knew it were were above the treeline and scrambling over the rocks of the boulder field. This last mile of the hike gave us another 1,000 feet in total elevation and took over an hour as the narrow, winding path meant bottlenecks of hikers crossing each other and waiting for their turn to either ascend or descend.
While the first few miles were tough just from the sheer steepness, this section ramped the grade up even more and added loose stones, boulders, and sheer exposure. We lucked out with clear skies and relatively low wind but could only imagine how tough it would be in rougher weather. Eventually we reached the top and got to enjoy our packed lunches while looking at the high alpine lake and taking in Las Torres from the closest possible viewpoint. There were dozens of hikers, but luckily there was enough room to spread out and not feel too cramped. Valentina, bless her, had also been lugging a Stanley thermos of hot water and offered us coffee and cookies at the top.
After the much-needed rest, we turned back around and fought through the crowds to descend — sometimes needing to stop for five minutes at a time to let long trains of hikers pass (climbers having the right of way). All considered, we still made good time as we retraced out steps back down the mountain and through the valley. On the return from the base camp, we even met trains of horses bringing beer, soda, and emergency supplies to the base camp. We made it back to the welcome center around 5:30, then due to some kind of miscommunication at the lodge had about two hours of waiting with Valentina for our ride to get us.
Valentina set us up with an evening hot tub reservation complete with wine, beer, cheese, and fruits to help our muscles relax before we managed to climb the stairs to bed and get some rest. While ~13 miles isn’t the longest hike we’ve done, the grade and exposure were like nothing we’ve done before. With all the ups and downs of the trail, we climbed a total of 3,366 feet over the 6.4 miles of the ascent.
