TORRES DEL PAINE DAY 2

Mirador Cuernos and Salto Grande waterfall

The weather was still damp by morning and the mountains according to the forecast weren’t due to clear till the afternoon – we certainly couldn’t see much of them from the Rio Serrano area though a brief clearing gave us a fine view of Paine Grande…

There were other attractive ranges to the west but they don’t get much of a look in given the Eye Candy of the main Cordillera…

Decided to start our day with a visit to Rio Serrano hotel itself.Like many in the Park, the hotel doesn’t look much from the outside, just a big rectangular long box but inside,  it was really lovely. Huge ceilings, big stone fireplace,lots of wood and top notch finishes and decoration.Nice books to read.

Good Cafe Lattes too.In fact, we liked it so much we decided to ask about booking dinner one night but they were very reluctant .If we WhatsApped them tomorrow afternoon, they might be able to say whether there was a space.It all seemed a bit of a faff and as if non residents weren’t really welcome.

Left the hotel around 10.45am and made our way to the NP entrance on Y150, just 10 mins away.First, a brief stop at the viewpoint from the road looking over the area…

The range was certainly clearing more quickly than forecast…

Rio Serrano NP entrance building…road above goes to our cabin area and the hotel…

I’d bought our Nat Park tickets online , not expensive and they covered us for the next 5 days. We had to show these at the Visitor Centre every day.

Spotted a Caracara on the ground near the road…

Roads were a bit of a shock – maybe at the end of a busy summer season they had taken a hammering but driving over the ridged gravel created a vibration similar to a pneumatic drill even at 40km/25mph and the pot holes were constant; often this was just multiple small pitting across the whole road so it wasn’t easily avoidable though not too serious for the tyres, just uncomfortable.I must admit, this made each journey a bit of a trial and detracted a lot from our enjoyment of the Park.Photos don’t really relay how poor the roads are…

There were several pull in places to stop as the light on the mountains was changing all the time…

The best views really opened up as we approached Lago Pehoe.

Got out at a viewpoint above Hosteria Pehoe as the mountains were just clearing from the rain and looked incredibly atmospheric. A complete wow! I don’t think anything prepares you for the sheer scale and majesty of that iconic view – if anything, it was even better than photos I’d seen.

 

The photo below shows a tiny bit of good road which suddenly emerged…

Stopped off at the Hosteria (in photo above)which confirmed to me that this was THE  place to stay in the Park.but firstly, time to let a fox cross the bridge – apparently he visits the island all the time!

I had tried to get a booking but they never answered my emails.Popped into the hotel on its wee island, a delightful spot and despite hearing that the whole place was very basic,  it looked really nice inside.In fact, several third party operators I had contacted about the hotel really talked it down. I do wonder whether this in itself is to ensure that new visitors go to the expensive hotels, thereby giving these operators a bigger cut.Reception was advertising about £250 per night for a double room. We ended up having coffee here twice and also an excellent lunch.Charming place all round.

The plan now was to get to the parking for Salto Grande beyond the Pudeto catamaran jetty and then extend the walk to Mirador Cuernos which had really taken my fancy as it looked like the one of the best viewpoints in the Park.

On route we got another closer view of possibly a Condor or Caracara…not sure…

Just a 10 min drive took us past Pudeto cafe (catamaran leaves here) and to the Salton Grande/Mirador Cuernos parking area.It was quiet and we followed an excellent path to the waterfall which was gorgeous.We also got our first close up view of  Paine Grande towering over 2884m above us.It had been an easy 5 min stroll to this point.The elevation here was only 65m so there was a LOT of mountain to see.It looked truly magnificent.Photos just don’t capture the scale of things here.

The river itself, emptying from Lago Nordenskjold,  was stunning and of course the lakes were that almost unreal glacial, opaque turquoise – very like the lakes in the Canadian Rockies.It was a gorgeous spot with a rainbow completing the picture.

On we headed along the lovely path…

Some of the shrubs marked with information tags which were helpful to look up later.The range was clear now…

It was about another easy 45 mins to the Mirador, albeit we were strolling and taking photos.It was a delightful walk…

Paine Grande getting closer…

What a stunning spot!

There were a handful of people at the viewpoint which sits above Lago Nordenskold and wow, what a spot it is! It really must offer one of the world’s finest mountain views.

Took loads of photos then spotted a small herd of Guanacos which were quietly grazing with one acting as a look out on a higher bit of ground. They are members of the Camel family.

Presumably they know human beings are ‘safe’ as they came quite close. I wondered whether it was the same as at home albeit with completely different wildlife; here, puffins will return to their nests when there are human beings about, because we keep away the big bird predators like skuas and gulls.Looking over to French Valley…

Also got a view of a pair of large predatory birds – Caracaras? Condors? Too far away to tell but they made for a fine sight against the peaks opposite.Just visible in the photo below…

Sat and had our ham and cheese sandwiches and just enjoyed the wonderful situation.

Got another view this time of a White Fronted Caracara coming in close…

Sunshine and shadows as we sat enjoying this amazing viewpoint, which must be the best in the Park and for so little effort…

The wind picked up on the return and we were severely buffeted at the waterfall. How lucky were we that it was perfectly calm at the viewpoint?

In fact, this was the only wind we experienced on the rest of the trip.We enjoyed a very calm TDP – something I had barely dreamed of but had mild hopes that April might mean that the winds did tail off.

Stopped off on the way back at the Pudeto Café (advertising Guanaco Goulash!) filled with lots of young hikers. I often felt that we looked by far the oldest people in the NP!

I presume they were heading in to Paine Grande to start the W or O treks.Chris and I have done quite a bit of multi day hiking and still enjoy wild camping.This was mainly when he was supervising groups doing their Duke of Edinburgh Award but I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed lugging a heavy pack over mountain and glen.That said, the Rifugios, for a price, must mean that less weight can be carried as everyone has a bed for the night and food.

Nice coffee and on the off chance, I asked the guy serving if they had any milk they could sell me.Incredibly he said they had and I came away with two pints of semi skimmed milk for about £5 – a lot yes but what a relief to get real milk!

Some photos of our simple but warm cabin…

It was a glorious afternoon now as we drove back to Rio Serrano.Great first day.Ate at the cabin where I made some Bolognaise to do us a couple of nights in case we didn’t get booked for dinner. We were keen to eat out at Hotel Lago Grey tomorrow after the Glacier Boat trip – if they would have us, that is!

Next : Hotel Lago Grey and the Grey Glacier Boat Trip