It is an abrupt land, bordered by an archipelago and occupied by dense forests, glaciers and rocky peaks. One of the areas of more easy access is the Paine mountain range, for years turned into National Park . Its spectacular landscapes have made this place one of the main tourist and sports claims of Chile. To get there, you must fly from Santiago - the capital of the country - to Punta Arenas (2,400 km between the 2 cities) and from this small city to Puerto Natales. The last 130 km that exists until the Torres del Paine , are made by road.
The entrance to the park is regulated and it is necessary to pay a small amount to the rangers, which in addition to guiding visitors, provide them camping permits if they intend to mount the store somewhere outside the 3 destined to this: Serrano, Petroe and Laguna Azul. The easiest way to travel the park is the walk circular, it is well marked and surrounds the massif in its entirety. This journey is made in approximately na week.
To facilitate things, there are arranged along the way a series of simple booths that can be used to take care if it is wrong or sleep.
There are no possibilities of get food within the park except for which it is served in the hostels. Therefore, it is necessary if it is intended to take some food to acquire it in Punta Arenas. With the water there is no problem but you have to purify it.
The time of hiking It begins from the second half of November and ends at the beginning of March. The temperature in this period is cold, but not extreme. However, the wind can reach speeds of 160 km/hour and thus be the main inconvenience. There are no altitude problems or need to carry, except if it is intended ascending by a glacier , crampons or piolet. Perhaps in any case a rope , in case we need to ensure to cross a more growning river than usual. The tent must be waterproof and particularly very resistant to wind. The quality boots and the "hot" bag , for a temperature that will lower slightly from the 0º.
The Torres del Paine are the emblematic mountains of the park. The Grande Paine is the highest of the three, exceeding 3,000 meters of altitude. The horns are other magnificent mountains in extravagant forms. The rivers that cross or accompany the route are four: the French river, the Paine, that of the dogs and the Gray.
And there are also lakes: the Lake Sarmiento , the Gray, the Dickson , the Nordenskjold, El Paine ... You should not stop visiting the Salto Grande, a spectacular cataract which serves as a water transfer between these last two. The lakes are born from the thaw of 2 large glaciers called Dickson and snowdrift Gray, both from one of the largest ice masses in the world: the south ice, more 300 kilometers long. As for fauna, within the park area there are wild pumas , but it is rare to meet them.
