PN Torres del Paine: Wind

I think that the third element of Patagonia has to be wind. Wind that brings you to a standstill when walking against it. Wind that tears tents out of the ground. Wind that keeps anything except for the hardiest plants from growing. I was reading a book about Patagonia in one of the hostels we were staying at, and came upon this quote that I thought is very true of Patagonian wind:

¨In these inhospitable lands blows the fastest wind in the world. It carries thousands and thousands of ice darts from the pole that pierce any protection, sinking cruelly into veins and bones, instead of providing living warmth. What vegetation can resist these many blasts?¨

- Robert Caillois, Patagonia


Not to say that it is always windy, and there are places that are protected geographically where the wind is not so harsh, but there is a definite presence of the wind in all that grows and lives here. Some of the points that we had hiked around while hiking in both Torres del Paine and now on Isla Navarino have cute pictures of an old guy blowing, indicating that it might be windy at those points on the contour map...and I have learned that the old guy´s lungs are working great.

Andrew took this video with his camera, and I think it´s pretty indicative of the wind, because ýou can´t even hear his voice, only the wind flapping things around:

From Torres Del Paine

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Some more pictures from Torres that I wanted to post, just because I liked them...not that they have anything to do with wind, other than it was probably windy when I took them.

The cuernos of PN Torres del Paine in the background.

From Torres del Paine

Trail leading beside Glacier grey, which looks alot like a sea in the background between the peaks.

From Torres del Paine

Leaving Torres del Paine on a particularly clear day.

From Torres del Paine

PN Torres Del Paine: Ice

Torres del Paine abuts the Hielo Sur, an icefield in Patagonia that stretches from 48 degrees south to 51 degrees south. It's termini extend below 1000 feet above sea level. Imagine glaciers wiping out Issaquah and extending all the way to Vancouver and you get the idea of how big it is, how low it is, and how temperate in latitude it is.

Glacier Grey is just one terminus of the field. It ends in Laguna Grey, where it periodically calves seracs, which turn into icebergs in the lake. You might guess from this photo that it is windy. You would be right.

From Torres Del Paine

Glacier Grey, itself is massive. You hike above it for nearly 15 km; a half day. Turn your head left and there it is, blue. The metaphor my brain kept finding was hiking along a lake, or the sea. But it's not. It's ice.

From Torres Del Paine

From Torres Del Paine

Maybe on a clear day you can see all the way up the plateau to the Hielo Sur. We could not.

From Torres Del Paine

PN Torres Del Paine: Rocks

We hiked the big circuit in seven days. Torres has some of the most amazing alpine scenery I've ever seen in the ranges that I've known and loved: Cascades, Sierra, Rockies.

Monte Admirante Nieto. Maybe skiable, but not this aspect...

From Torres Del Paine

Los Cuernos del Paine. Cody, has anyone ever enchained them?

From Torres Del Paine

The Torres have to be one of the most incredible escarpments I have ever laid eyes upon. They are like rocketships shooting up from the cirque, so abrupt it's hard to believe. These pictures do them poor justice. You really should try to make it to the mirador some day when there is clear weather. You will hike up a the remains of a moraine for a few hundred meters with little view of anything except the crest of the talus, when suddenly, WHAMMO! The torres.

From Torres Del Paine

Torres at the end of the hike

From Torres Del Paine