HollyWould: Torres del Paine National Park

Valle Francais (French Valley)

Torres del Paine National Park has been on my list of places to visit for a long time. I finally arrived there two Mondays ago and hiked and camped within the park for 140+kilometers (85 miles)10 nights which was a long time for me. I hadn't done a hiking trip of that duration since I was in Nepal in '92 with Kim. Back then I wasn't carrying a tent, sleeping bag, stove, food etc which amounted this time to carrying 42-49 pounds of gear (depending on the water I was carrying at the time). It was a good workout for me of very different muscles than what it takes to cycle.

Susan and I goofing at Dickson Glacier

Unfortunately, a couple of weeks before I was heading to the park there was a fire set by a careless tourist that caused a lot of the park to be burned and subsequently closed for travel. I was able to hike in as much as was allowed of the main areas of interest so I feel pretty satisfied in what I saw.

Susan, a friend of mine from my second season in Antarctica, was in touch with me and happened to be in the area of Puerto Natales when I arrived. She was planning on going into the park as well so we met up to hike together for 5 of my 11 days of hiking which was super cool.
I will let the photos speak for themselves!