April 1, 2016

Los Cuernos to El Chileno with a Day Hike to the Towers

The hike from Los Cuernos to Campamento Torres is advertised as a 20 KM hike, mostly uphill. As the day turned out for us, it was a bit longer.

As you leave Los Cuernos, the trail continues east above the coast of Lago Nordernskjöld. Like the hike from Italiano to Los Cuernos, the trail is gently rolling. Anticipating a hike of 5-6 hours to El Chileno and still feeling the foot injuries suffered the first day, I decided to stop for lunch while I still had a view of the lake. I was grateful for the boxed lunch as granola bars and peanut butter were getting old. George and Ian pressed forward towards El Chileno.

Ecuadorian cowboys manage a herd of horses that carry people (I
can't bring myself to call them hikers) and supplies from Hosteria
Las Torres to El Chileno. Perhaps these horses had the day off?
Four hours or so after leaving Los Cuernos, I reached the cutoff for the trail north to El Chileno. Leaving the lake views of  Lago Nordernskjöld that I had enjoyed over the past two days behind, the trail changes at this point into a steady climb over dry and scrubby terrain. After about an hour, you reach Rio Ascensio and merge with the trail coming up from Hosteria Las Torres. One more hour up the Ascensio river valley (not quite as scenic as Valle de Frances) and you cross the river on a footbridge and walk into El Chileno.

Rio Ascensio below El Chileno
I had caught up with George and Ian as we entered the river valley. They had heard along the way that Campamento Torres was full and that our only camping option was El Chileno.  This was not unexpected as we had heard the previous day that this might be the case.

We were a bit disappointed by this turn of events. Camping at Torres affords hikers willing to rise early the opportunity of reaching the towers before sunrise when viewing is said to be the best. That aside, I saw a silver lining in the news. Weary after the uphill hike which included
re-injuring to my twisted ankle, I was only too happy to shed my pack. Our decision was reinforced when we looked over the weather forecast at the lodge which called for cloudy and rainy weather that might obscure the view the next morning.

The campground snakes up the river for a few hundred meters. We found suitable campsites in short order and set up camp. Though the walk from the more distant campsites to the restrooms and kitchen facilities was a hike in itself, I have always considered camping within earshot of rivers to be a big plus. Restrooms and showers were very nice, though I could have done without the 30 minute lines for a shower.


Rio Ascensio upriver from El Chileno


Towers in the evening
As soon as we finished setting up camp, we made our decision to set out on a day hike to the towers. We were all tired, but, relieved of our packs and thinking that the current mostly sunny conditions were likely to be our bet for a clear view, we continued up the trail to the towers. The hike started out along Rio Ascensio, but soon began to wind up the slopes of the river valley. After following the mostly forested trail for approximately an hour, we passed Campamento Torres.

At that point, the trail bed turns to loose rock for the final kilometer climb to the Mirador de Las Torres. The trail was steep and seemed much longer than a kilometer to me, but the view was well worth the effort. The elevation at the mirador is 2,600 meters, the highest I would hike to during my trip to Patagonia. I'd like to see the towers in the morning sunlight, but that will need to be another trip.

After an hour at the towers, we retraced our steps to camp.  We had covered 31 KM and were happy to be done hiking for the day.

Notes:  In Los Cuernos and El Chileno, steep slopes limit available camping area and tents are pitched nuts to butts (an old army phrase). A "suitable campsite" means that you have found a flat piece of ground large enough to permit ingress and egress to and from your tent without crawling through the tents of your nearest neighbors.  Again, if camping in very close proximity to others isn't your cup of tea, you may want to consider visiting during the shoulder season.

Distances in my blog are based in part on published sources, but I also relied on my iPhone as the length of detours and route modifications are difficult to pin down.

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