29th December Torres del Paine 86 miles

This is a Natioal Park and one of the main features are the grite rocks formed into three towers, that is not the only attraction by any means. They have made a good job of setting out the park with ripio road for vehicles to follow and trailks for the backpackers with various campsites strategically placed so that you could walk for 6 hours and there is a campsite. There are enough trails for you to spend about a week hiking around here. From the various car parks there are short, or longer walks to take to see the various sites.
Having packed up we go towards Lago Grey, the ripio here is not too bad, or are we finally getting used to it, time will tell. We arrive at the car park and prepare to set out on a 45 minute walk, we thought we may do this in a t shirt and shorts, but our old friend the wind was blowing very hard and although it wasn’t cold, 24 degrees, with the wind chill it did warrent a jacket. The start of the walk was across a wooden suspension bridge so I had to take a photo of Martin to prove he had crossed it, he is a bit nervous when it comes to heights and little bridges. This walk was supposed to take 45 minutes and after 25 minutes through woodland we emerged onto what can best be described as a beach, well we must be fast walkers because this will not take 45 minutes.
As we cross the beach there is a blue, and it really is blue, iceberg, we cannot see the glacier yet. Traverse acroos the beach and we can see the glacier in the distance, a few photos and I then discovered a path leading up the side of the lake, after another 10 minutes, so it is a 45 minute walk, we emerge to a viewing gallery and 2 more icebergs have now come into view and we have walked right past the other one giving us a fantastic view.
I wont bore you withe the detail but an information board explains the difference between magma and lava and internal and external volcanos and subsequently how these rocks were formed some 12 – 13 million years ago.
Back on the bikes we move through the park and stop frequently to take photographs, it is absolutely stunning, some of the lakes are such a rich blue that you could be forgiven for thinking it unnatural. By 5.30pm we reach a campsite and discuss our options, stay her or go on another 15 miles and stop at the last campsite. 5.30 is a tad early so lets explore some more, 15 miles will only take about 30 minutes or so. Naturally more photos on route and we come across the most amazing waterfall, its fantastic, you will have to wait for the photos to see just how good it is. Onward to the campsite and we arrive 1 hour 40 minutes later, so much for half an hour. Guess what it’s closed, no signs, no former info at the previous sites such as you would have in a ski resort. Had we been walking we would have been completely stuffes, but the only thing we can do is back track to the other site the 18 miles it turned out to be.
We pitch our tents, again next to a river, fast moving this tim, Jo would love the sound of the water going by. Tonight we go to the hotel and have a drink and something to eat.
Tomorrow we leave the park and head back into Argentina, Martin doesn’t want to leave the park and I can see him coming back with his backpack one day to investigate further.