Refugio Las Torres to Campamento Serón, The O Circuit, Torres del Paine National Park - November 2012

Our walk started at Refugio Las Torres... this was the view from the camp site when we arrived the night before setting off on the walk... I've got a good feeling about this walk!

I'd always wanted to return to Patagonia since my first visit there in 2008. On that occasion Sam and I were able to check out the Glacier's around El Calafate, before heading down to Tierra Del Fuego and then Antarctica. The trek that had always appealed to me though was the full Torres Del Paine Circuit in Chile, sometimes known as the 'O'. This walk circumnavigates the Paine Grande Massif is rated medium-hard grade stroll in most guides so it promised to be a little challenging.

Making it from Punta Arenas to the start of the walk was an adventure in itself... including a breakdown on the lonely road between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales.

We entered Torres del Paine National Park at Guardería Laguna Amarga.

Guanaco in Torres del Paine National Park.

Guanaco

Once I'd settled on the walk the next thing that I needed to consider was whether to go independently or with a group. I decided that as I didn't have a great deal of time and I didn't speak the language then an organised group would give me the best chance of completing the circuit. I had some slight reservations about tackling the circuit early in the season as I was concerned that there may be too much snow on John Gardner Pass and that we may not be able to get over. However I figured that by having a guide it would give me my best chance so in the end I decided to book with World Expeditions.

We got in a bit of site seeing on our drive to Refugio Las Torres.

Our camp at Refugio Las Torres. This was my introduction to camping in the Patagonian wind.

Waking up today and looking towards the mountains from Refuge Las Torres conditions looked promising.

The start shot at our camp at Refugio Las Torres.

After much travel I eventually found myself at Refugio Las Torres and it was time to start walking. I'd had a comfortable nights sleep last night in my tent which came with an introduction to camping in Patagonia as the tent was collapsing onto my face during some of the fierce gusts of wind. After breakfast we had a couple of hours to kill as we waited for the porters to turn up so a couple of us went back to the hotel to use the internet and buy a few last minute items at the shop. After buying some sunscreen and finding out the results of the US election (Obama:) it was time to head back to camp and meet the porters. We then had to divvy up the gear and we were on the way at about 11am - yes, it wasn't an early start!

Climbing away from Refugio Las Torres.

Looking back towards Refugio Las Torres and the distant Lago Nordenskjöld.

We were following an old vehicle track for a lot of today.

From the camp ground we crossed over behind the refuge and started to climb along an old dirt road, after awhile picking up an old fence line as we started to contour high above the valley of the Rio Paine. The track along here crossed many streams cascading down from the peaks on our left and the Lenga forest provided welcome shade on what was becoming a reasonably warm day. Stopping for lunch at a beautiful cascade we had our introduction to the ferocious Torres Del Paine Mosquito and lunch was enjoyed in between the frantic swatting. With lunch finished we continued to follow the general direction of an old fence line with the occasional openings in the forest providing fine views over the lower country to our east.

The view to the west as we climbed was... impressive.

Signposting was pretty rudimentary.... but adequate.

After climbing for awhile we contoured through some Lenga Forest.

The old bridge had seen better days.

Soon the track started to descend to the grassy flats beside the Rio Paine. This area was still being used as farmland and we passed plenty of cattle grazing on the flats, with the huge snow covered mountains towering in the background it was a pretty sight. The river flats also provided the days challenge, yes the challenge was to cross all the creeks without removing your boots while at the same time not taking an undignified dunking by falling off the logs that we were trying to use to keep our feet dry. Apart from the creek crossings though the flats provided easy walking all the way to Campamento Serón.

The walking was pretty easy really today.

The long range views were stunning ... my photos - not so much.

The mozzies here were ferocious.

Looking north - we'd soon drop into that valley.

Once we arrived at Serón it was time to relax, organise the tent, and have a few Cerveza's (beer was one of my first Spanish words!). So I spent a relaxing afternoon drinking beer with Fred and Ann, while watching Milly conduct a yoga session for the more active members in the group. Sharing the camp with us was a group of middle aged blokes from Belgium who worked in banking, unfortunately, judging by some of their comments to the ladies in our group, it appeared that a bad case of DHS (Delusional hotness syndrome) had broken out in their group. From then on they would simply be referred to as the 'bankers'.

Torres del Paine National Park.

Passing through some more beautiful Lenga Forest as we dropped down towards the Rio Paine.

Dropping down towards the Rio Paine.

We passed by some nice tarns as we dropped.

The refuge at Serón was in what appeared to be an old farm house and dinner was taken in two settings, the bankers first and us second because everybody couldn't fit in at once. The refuge also had a flushing toilet and a hot shower so we had all the comforts of home. After dinner I retired to my tent, much later I awoke to the sound of rain on the tent... I hope it stops by the morning.

The Rio Paine.

Once down on the river flats the walking was even easier.

The Rio Paine flats had cattle grazing on them.

Rio Paine, Torrres del Paine National Park.

The Dirt.

I walked around 9 kilometres today and climbed around 550 metres on what I'd call an easy-medium grade days walking. Today's walk was mostly along old vehicle tracks that had slowly deteriorated into a pleasant walking track. After climbing away from Refugio Las Torres we were mostly in thick Lenga Forest until we dropped down onto the flats beside the Rio Paine. Once on the flats it was mostly golden grassland until we arrived at Campamento Serón. Water wasn't much of an issue today with numerous spots to re-fill our water bottles although with the cattle around I'd be treating it. The signposting today was basic but adequate however there was nothing in the way of track markers, you definitely needed some kind of map or notes. I used the notes and basic map out of Cicerones Torres Del Paine - Trekking In Chile's Premier National Park. As I mentioned the refuge at Campamento Serón had a flushing toilet and a hot shower, the camping area had a couple of picnic tables scattered around and lots of soft green grass. We had our dinner in the small dining area in the refuge.

Relevant Posts.

Puerto Natales & The Last Hope Sound, 2012.

El Calafate, 2008.

We've arrived.

The small refuge had a flushing toilet and a hot shower.

I'm thinking that there is a long cattle grazing history here.

Campamento Serón