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Location Date Asia 1577059200 South America 
1452297600 North America 1449878400 Europe 1438470000 -
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Location Date Arica 1330905600 San Pedro De Atacama 1330387200 Vicuña 1329350400 Illapel 1328659200 Santiago 1327017600 Pucón 1326672000 Castro 1325721600 Última Esperanza Province 1325203200 Puerto Williams 1324598400 Punta Arenas 1323388800 Puerto Natales
1323043200 Valparaiso
On the southern end of the Hielo Sur ice field, on the Chilean side of the Patagonian Andes is another range of impressive mountains with sheer rock faces and spiky pinnacles. And for hikers, there is a distinct advantage over their Argentine counterparts - it is possible to do a complete circuit around them without needing to step onto a glacier. So, carrying my camping gear and eight days' worth of food, I have done just that.
It's warm and sunny here in Puerto Natales, which is 110km south of Torres del Paine (and by the way that's pronounced Pie-knee). But a week ago, the night before I climbed over Paso John Gardner, I was sleeping in a freezing cold tent with snow falling outside. But once over the pass, with views of the mighty Glacier Grey, the weather started to improve. And by the time I got to climb to the Torres del Paine lookout before dawn on the last day, the skies were blue again.
It is probably the colours that I will remember most about this area; from the tiny red, purple and yellow flowers that cling to the wind-torn mountains to the darting birds of which there are too many types to name; except for the parakeets, which along with the condors have so far managed to escape my camera lens. Of the mammals, I saw guanacos and rheas, but nothing of the elusive puma or the endangered huemul deer. And thankfully neither did I find a wheat spider or black widow in my tent, both of which have a bit of a nasty bite. But there are no parasites in the rivers and streams, so it was great to be able to fill my water bottle and drink to my heart's content without having to do anything to it.
Puerto Natales is a pleasant town sitting on a fjord where geese, black-necked swans and cormorants congregate. There is plenty of seafood on the menu here, which makes a welcome change too. This part of Chile is fairly isolated from the north, since no roads can penetrate the fjords and ice fields. I have yet to work out how I travel back north from here, but for the moment, with the longest day fast approaching, I'm still south-bound.
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Dave Marshall Phil, one option might be to fly from Punta Arenas (a short drive south of Puerto Natales) up the West Coast of Chile (to Puerto Montt if I remember correctly). Then you can cross back over the Andes into Argentina via some amazing volcanic scenery. This is what we did on our trip, although we didn't see any of the scenery due to constant rain. Not sure how much the flight would be, but otherwise you'd probably have to backtrack the way you came, as I'm not sure there are any roads past the fjords in Chile. I guess a visit to Tierra del Fuego is an option too.
Phil Thanks Dave. I'm also considering the Navimag, which is a weekly ferry that connects Puerto Natales with Puerto Montt. It takes 3 days 4 nights sailing via the fjords, but it's expensive. I'm heading down to Tierra del Fuego first though.