Puerto Natales is the gateway for the very well-organised Torres de Paine national parque, perhaps the jewell in the Chilean mountain landscape and known world-wide for its A-class trekking opportunities. We spent four enjoyable days based there.
It is not often you look at icebegs a few yards from the lake shoreline, and get to handle small fragments of decades-old ice from them.
Although we enjoyed both the the park and the town, I must apologise to all the Torres del Paine fans out there; they say the first cut is the deepest, and for me Fitz-Roy won my heart and did not relinquish its grip on me.
Leaving Puerto Natales on April 1st we enjoyed a blistering southwest tailwind across the flat, exposed pampas, but this posed another problem; what of finding a sheltered campsite that night?
Problem solved when we spotted an unoccupied gauchos 'bothy' just 50m off the road. A quick inspection revealed a clean room, four bunk-bed frames and a wood stove.....I gathered just enough wood for a fire that night and in the morning, which staved off the 2 degree temperature. Perhaps I should introduce a star rating system for these bothys? It was rather cosy actually, listening to the wind howling outside, the interior far more attractive than its outward appearance suggest.
It's only the hairs on a gooseberry, that stops it from being a grape.
Dave, these photos are magnificent. We continue to enjoy following along with you. All the best, Jamie & Sue.
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