Day Seventy Two--Saturday--March 5--Torre del Paine--easy day

Day Seventy Two--Saturday--March 5--Torre del Paine--easy day

I  like it here.  I thought that the hikes and other activities would start at a very early time in the morning.  However, they don’t, 9:15 today for the horseback ride.  I was able to have some breakfast and get myself to the front of the hotel for the 2 hour horseback ride with my new friends Angela and Shawn.  

This was their last day but Angela was afraid she couldn’t handle a long walk so they decided to take this short half-day excursion.  Angela had never ridden a horse before and was a bit worried because she has some siadica problems.

Angela gets on her horse

We walked over to where they keep the horses, a very short distance from the main entrance to the hotel.  We let Angela get on first.  

Shawn on her horse

Then Shawn then me.  Angela was on the horse but shortly after said she was uncomfortable and wanted to get off.  

Our guide suggested that he would hold her reins and guide the horse for her.  She was agreeable to that so off we went. 

view from the horse stable

The weather was beautiful, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was quite amazing actually.  I was thinking maybe I should have gone on the Tower’s excursion today especially because the first and last part of the day was on horseback.  Out of the 8 hours of hiking, 4 would be on horseback.  Oh well I’d made my choice.

Our guide today (can’t remember his name) is a cousin of the hotel owner and had come to the hotel for summers since he was a young boy.  Now he works here all the time and told us, this (the great outdoors) is his office.  Not bad.  

our guide

We rode the horses along a trail that followed the base of Mt. Almirante just beside the hotel.  About 10 minutes into the ride we were told that we were going to cross the river on the horses.  Don’t worry, we were told, the horses do this everyday.  O.k.

Let me explain why there was a bit of hesitation, we were going to cross a rushing river with large boulders and other assorted rocks.    Something you would see in a Western movie.  Also, I wasn’t sure as to what the depth of this river was.  However, at this point there wasn’t a choice.  

me on the shadow

Putting my faith in our guide I kicked the horse and I can tell you that the water came up to my shoes and I got a bit wet, but the horse kept walking and I got through just fine.  Wasn’t this suppose to be relaxing?  

After successfully crossing the river we climbed a bit of a hill and had an incredible view of another lake, Lake Nordenskjold.

It was nice to walk on the horse and take in the views.  The mountain was so clear and it seemed like we were so close. 

About an hour into the ride we stopped at the crest of the hill and got off the horses to enjoy the view of the lakes and the mountain.  

Our guide and his helper were real “gauchos”.

After our brief stop we got back on the horses and went around the other side of the hill back to the hotel.  Angela felt comfortable enough that she rode by herself without having the guide lead her.  Oh and yes, we had to cross the river again but I wasn’t as nervous this time.  

The nature here is incredible.  I am glad it is so isolated and difficult to get to because I think it will help to keep it in it’s pristine condition for a long time.  

We safely returned to the corral and got off the horses.  The girls and I decided we would take a walk to visit the Cascada eco-domes up on the hill.  What looked so close took us almost an hour to walk.  We did stop in the creek and talk to a woman.

at the Cascade Eco-lodge

The eco-domes were very interested.  We didn’t see or talk to anyone but walked around and saw the dining room and the bar.  They also had a “gift shop” of a sort and a wonderful outdoor sitting area with a great view of the Towers (Torres).

We wanted to see inside one of the domes but weren’t able to.  We walked back to our hotel and had lunch in the dining room.

Angela and Shawn were egging me on about my “big” excursion tomorrow.  Asking me if I was going to go etc.  I was a bit nervous and excited at the same time. 

There wasn’t much going on in the evenings here.  Most people go on excursions during the day and are pretty exhausted when they return.  The one activity they have is the 7:00 guide talk.  Each evening the guides talk about the excursions that are available for the next day.  I had one day left and only one excursion was for me, the walk to the Torres.  The Towers of Paine an 8 - 10 hour day.

I needed a good nights rest for the big day.

I had a drink with Angela and Shawn and said goodbye to my new friends.

The walk to my room takes me outside where I can see an incredible sky filled with stars and galaxies.  I wish I knew how to find the southern cross.  No matter seeing this many stars is incredible enough.  I told Alfredo that they need an astronomer at the hotel.