Everybody has a goal or just wants to do something without an apparet reason. The last few days of our trip in the Patagonia, we met a Chilean friend, Mauro, who -as he told us- for a few months had the goal to hike from the Bader valley (in the base of “Los Cuernos, La Máscara, La Hoja y La Espada”)  towards the Torre Valley (in the base of South, Central and North towers) in Torres del Paine, Chile. As the good friends that we are, we joined our friend to accomplish his goal.  For us it sounded like a very interesting trek, far away from the crowd that you may find in the famous “W” hike in Torres del Paine.  We left Puerto Natales in a bus that goes directly to the Park entrance ($25 foreign fee), took a transfer towards one of the nice lodges in the area.  And here is where the adventure started.  The first day, the hike was nice and short (2 hours).  At night it rained a lot!, the next morning we were about to quit.  But an hour later, the sky openened, and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast under the nice and warm sunlight.  We decided to continue the hike, it was his lifertime dream, it wasn’t fair to quit! We had time to get our stuff dry and started a long hike.  We had to walk barefoot to cross streams that had become actual rivers that day because of the rain.  The water was cold, very cold.  9 hours later we arrived to the heart of Bader valley, an amazing place.  We were surrounded by huge granite walls and had to camp under very patagonian conditions (cold and wind).  The next was a hard day (again).  We spent almost 10 hours walking in a morraine with huge rocks, rapelling 200 m (with rocks falling) and walking in a glacier, towards the lagoon in the base of the towers, that was a great place to spend our third and last night in the Park.  The next day, we hiked 3 more hours, and back to Pueto Natales to enjoy a delicious “Lomo a lo pobre” that was one of our biggest motivations up there..

Aerial view of Torres del Paine. In red, our hike! I am very happy that we did this hike, we could enjoy a unique part of Torres del Paine.  I bet that the “W” hike is as great a what we did, but having the chance to enjoy the towers with a feeling of solitude is irrepleaceable.  Up there, I felt that we were alone in the world.  and that is  a wonderful feeling.  Is a great experience for those searching a little more adventure when visiting the Torres del Paine, althought it has to be done with the companion of an experienced mountaineer. Here a short slideshow of this trip..

If you like comfort: By car, you can get to any of the few nice and warm lodges, with great views and great food as well.  In this places, you can enjoy activities like horseback riding, one day hikes  or just enjoy the views sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Click here to see some of the lodging options in the area

Panoramic view from the Bader valley in Torres del Paine, Chile Being in Patagonia was one of my lifetime dreams.  I clearly remember once that I was watching in TV a documentary of Torres del Paine (Chile), and thought that I should visit that place.  Later, when I started climbing, I heard stories of climbers in Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, I was specially attracted by those stories about strong winds that can pull you out from the wall, or that the rope goes up instead of going down when you throw it for rappelling.  So many things I read and I heard, including of course those videos of Ermanno Salvaterra, an italian man that is in love with Patagonia and Cerro Torre.  All those things together made me think that I had to be there, someday. And so, that day arrived, on December 27th, 2008 I was flying to Santiago de Chile, took long bus rides for days and finally arrived to Patagonia, the house of some of the most beautiful mountains and landscapes of the world (at least for me).  I also had the chance to hike up there, to the base of some of these wonderful peaks.  Now, I am back in Ecuador, with the strong feeling that I will soon be back to Patagonia, and thinking that any person that likes outdoors and nature should go there, at least once.  If you are one of those, you will absolutely fall in love with Patagonia. During the next few weeks I will share with you some of my experiences in this part of the world, information about traveling and the highlights of a couple of cities.  Enjoy them.

Fitz Roy Cord

1 UPANO RIVER:

At a glance: Morona Santiago Province, Sucua is the nearest town. Class IV, IV+ The Upano is a dream come true. The River of the Sacred Waterfalls so deep in the Amazon jungle that its sheer solitude makes you be one with nature once again. Class IV and V rivers surrounded by waterfalls, deep green vegetation and jungle citizens that have inhabited the area for centuries. To read more detail about the Upano please read Upano River. Rafting the Canyon of The Sacred Waterfalls

2 QUIJOS RIVER

At a glance: Napo Province.  El Chaco, Class IV, IV+

3 MISAHUALLI RIVER

At a glance: 2 secciones   Prov. Napo.  Tena, Class IV, IV+

4 JONDACHI-HOLLIN

Prov. Napo. Tena, Class IV

5 INTAG

Prov. Imbabura. Intag, Class IV

6 BLANCO RIVER

Prov. Santo Domingo de los Ts’achilas. Los Bancos, Class IV

7 JATUNYACU RIVER

Prov. Napo. Tena, Class III

8 TOACHI RIVER

Prov Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. Santo Domingo, Class III-IV

9 MIRA RIVER

Prov. Imbabura.  Ibarra Class III-IV

10 ANZU RIVER

Prov. Napo. Tena, Class II-III Considerations for this ranking:

We’ve mentioned the province to which they belong, the closes city and the river class. All of these rivers are commercial. Barefoot Expeditions operates trips in all the rivers mentioned above. We did not list any rivers in the Banos area because they are contaminated and we do not support the utilization of those rivers for water activities nor we endorse the blatant disregard by the authorities of the issues that these rivers face.