07Central & South America · Chile (Patagonia)

Chile · Patagonia

Patagonia had the last word. Two days of wind, and every plan I arrived with quietly blew away.

Torres del Paine granite peaks catching warm dawn light above a turquoise glacial lake — Torres del Paine, Patagonia

From the notebook

An adventure, fulfilled

Jocelyn recently embarked on an incredible adventure to Patagonia, fulfilling a dream she's had for ages. It was an absolute blast — Torres del Paine, two days of wind, and the last word. The full day-by-day journal, photos, and notes from Chile (Patagonia) will appear here once the story is ready.

A small suspension footbridge crossing a churning river in a scrub-covered valley, with hikers crossing and distant hills — Puente Ascencio — the footbridge over the Rio Ascencio

A vast V-shaped mountain valley seen from a high hiking trail, with a thin river winding along the floor and snow-capped peaks under heavy clouds — The valley opens up on the trail to the towers

A panoramic view of a glacier terminus rising as a jagged wall of luminous blue ice above dark striated rock, with snow-covered mountains beyond — The glacier's edge — blue ice above dark moraine

A glacier meeting a milky green-grey lake, its jagged blue and white ice wall reflected in the still water under a partly cloudy sky — Where the glacier meets the milky lake

A woman in an olive jacket and orange helmet stands on a vast textured glacier holding a trekking pole, with snow-capped peaks in the distance — Out on the ice, geared up and moving

A person in mountaineering gear stands triumphantly on a glacier holding an ice axe aloft, smiling beneath an overcast sky — Ice axe high on the glacier

A woman in an olive jacket and orange helmet stands inside a deep narrow ice crevasse, surrounded by glowing translucent blue ice walls — Inside the crevasse — the blue glow of glacial ice

A boulder-strewn stream bed running through bright green beech forest, with jagged rock spires rising into low cloud above — Climbing beside the stream, spires in the cloud above

A wide glacial valley of scree and green forest leading toward snow-streaked mountains under a heavy grey sky — Scree, forest, and snow on the way back down

The three granite towers of Torres del Paine rising above a turquoise glacial lake ringed by boulders and snow — Base of the Towers — the turquoise lagoon below the three granite spires

Trail map of Torres del Paine National Park showing the W circuit routes, refugios, lookouts, and hiking times between them — The park trail map — routes, refugios, and hiking times

More of the Chile (Patagonia) story — and the rest of the Central & South America collection — continues in the journal.

Open the Chile (Patagonia) segment in the Central & South America journal →