Puerto Natales – last stop on the continent! Getting into port was interesting as they had to send a pilot boat ahead to check the water depth through a few of the fjord passages, to ensure we could get through and that our timing (with respect to the tides) was perfect to do so.
Once we docked, we were whisked away for a tour of Torres del Paines National Park. This park has glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, mountains, and rivers, and is beautiful! It is quite the hot spot for hikers. The weather wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. The sun was kind enough to make occasional appearances, chasing off clouds here and there, so we were able to snap a few pics.
The park is known for three granite peaks – Torres d’Agostini, Torres Central and Torres Monzino – that are nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. And of course, have to get the obligatory shots of “us” in…
One unique experience we had was a ‘short hike’ to see the waterfall known as ‘Salto Grande’. Seeing the waterfall wasn’t the unique experience. Getting to it was the true experience due to the strong head wind we encountered.
(The park actually closes trails when the winds get up to 60 and 70 mph (fairly common), and there were several hiking excursions from our ship that got cancelled for just that reason, trails closed due to winds.)
Luckily the trail to the waterfall was not. People were leaning into the wind at unnatural angles to make their way up the 500-meter path (about 1500 feet)! The views did not disappoint, and it was worth the effort it took to get there. The bright side was that getting back to the bus from the waterfall was a quick task since the wind was at our backs and you could almost “jacket sail” back!
The last photo op stop was another windy stop, but it gave us quite a view of Grey Glacier, the massive glacier that feeds Lago Grey (Grey Lake). For context, since size isn’t obvious in the picture, the glacier is 6 kilometers (approx. 3.5 miles) wide. Yes, it’s THAT big!!
Of course it’s hard to see, but it is at the upper left of the lake in the photo above.
Fun side note for anyone who has watched “Long Way Up” with Ewan McGregor and his bestie Charlie.
We made a quick “technical stop” on the way to the park. As we were walking up to a heavily sticker-ed building, Tim said “I think they stopped here, and I bet we find a ‘Long Way Up’ sticker”. There are thousands of stickers everywhere. None-the-less, Jay spotted a ‘Long Way Up’ sticker on the door! Nicely done Jay.
There was one more quick relief stop before heading back to the ship, and there we caught a rainbow with all of the colors. Nice way to close out the day in Torres del Paines indeed.
We then headed back to the ship, and since we’re docked overnight in Puerto Natales, we’ll see more of it and you tomorrow.