It’s feels like along time in coming, we’re on the bus making our way to Torres del Paine National Park. It’s a drive along, initially tarmac roads but then deteriorating into gravel. The driver was quite obviously very confident with the sudden change in surface and his speed hardly altered, which meant that we flew over most of the potholes!
Camping Lago Pehoe was quite a revelation each spot had its own wooded enclosure, pyramid in shape with the front third missing and each had their own picnic table. Luxury, both bomb proof, wind proof and snoring proof… was this what we were to expect throughout the whole trek? In the afternoon we walked up to Mirador Condor, which very much gave us a taster of what was to come! The Col before the short climb up to the actual view point, funnelled the wind through the gap at a rate not suitable for a human unless they were on all fours and the summit was not a great deal calmer. A Mirador is an established view point, which I’m sure under a cloudless sky is a sight to behold, but when the cloud base is at 3 or 4 hundred metres and the mountains are over 2500 metres then the view is somewhat lost. To top it all it started raining. This is when I wished that I’d booked the Hotel Pehoe rather than Camping Lago Pehoe!
The rain passed as quickly as it started, a constant theme of the trip. The following day was a day of miradors (view points) and slowly making our way to Torres Central the true start of the trek. It wouldn’t be the first time and no doubt it won’t be the last I was reprimanded by a guide for taking photographs where technically the authorities didn’t want me to be! The sign said ‘Serious Risk of Falling’ I assessed the risk and decided the risk wasn’t that great. So I moved around the barrier to get the photograph of the waterfall that I wanted. Two minutes later a mountain guide appeared with a group and in no uncertain terms told me ‘to move back behind the barrier or he would inform the authorities and have me removed from the Park and it’s people like me that ruin it for everyone else’. I did as requested as I couldn’t risk being thrown out of the Park before starting the trek! Not sure it’s people like me that ruin it for others, I would say it’s others that ruin it for people like me! He reminded me of the guide I met on the Wales Coast Path who, after I said I was wild camping, said that ‘all wild campers are scum’ . I don’t suppose it’ll be the last time I have a run in with the ‘authorities’ or guides over taking photographs, it’s an occupational hazard!
At last we arrive at Torres Central, not as nice a campsite as Pohoe and I have my first pizza of the trek.