Torres del Paine Trek - Day 4 - Campamento Torres to Campamento Seron

Again we arose at 4:00 am to catch the sunrise. Sadly, the show was nowhere as spectacular as the previous day. With nothing to compare it to, those who were there for the first time thought it was pretty awesome. We waited around for a bit, but after a brief glimmer of hope, the skies clouded over. So we headed back down, ate breakfast and started a leisurely waddle down back to the valley.

We had only intended to walk to the campground near Hosteria Las Torres, so we took our time. Hordes of people were coming up in large groups on the main trail. Most were not trekkers, but day hikers, many of whom were coming from the $200/night hotel at the base of the trail. One dude was even hiking with a full umbrella, maybe a good call considering the weather patterns.

We made great time down the trail and reached the “high end” hotel in three hours. As weird as a high-class hotel seemed ona trek, we were more intrigued by a nondescript, little store outside. We bought three small sandwiches, an apple, a banana, an orange, a liter of orange juice, a liter of peach juice and potato chips for a total of $11. It was a shame we didn’t know the degree to which we could resupply on the trail. Besides appealing to our culinary tastes, we could have saved quite a bit of weight by buying supplies along the way.

We debated staying there for the night, but I wanted to push on an extra seven miles to recoup the lost day. Hell, we ate great and it was barely 1:00 pm with 9 hours of daylight left. So we headed down the trail. As we progressed, the land opened up and the remains of a forest fire were evident. Nature is powerful, though, and much of the land was in recovery with wildflowers and ornamental grasses everywhere. A beautiful, aqua green river snaked silently in the valley we were approaching. In contrast to the previous raging rapids, this silent serpent moved with an incredible current, but no sound.

The picturesque nature of the trail continued to improve with a gigantic field of daisies stretching before us as far as the eye could see. We stopped for a water and rest break, feasting on the sight.

The trail went on longer than we felt it should until we finally arrived at the campsite.The grounds were still in the field of daisies making for an incredible backdrop while we did our nightly chores. We cooked dinner, cleaned up and got ready for bed just as it started to rain. While the campsite was the prettiest so far, it was also the most exposed. By the time we woke, the rain stopped. We cooked breakfast and slowly broke camp. While we did, a pair of foxes came by and ran through the daisy field. It was the perfect accent to one of the best views we had from a campsite.

The story continues...