South American Adventure - Argentina

VUP Torres Del Paine Turnaround Circuit
13 days – 12 nights (strenuous expedition)

Departures: Saturdays, each 14 days.

Season: November to March

Starts at: El Calafate

Ends at: El Calafate

Group Departures

Minimum Group Size: 3 passengers

This wonderful trek is the most complete traverse you can do through the National Park.
We turnaround the whole massif from the arid steppe to the majestic Ice Field. We pass forests, bushes, always with the scenery compose by mountain, lakes and Glaciers.
Physically demanding, it’s a rewarding trip. We cross in our trek guanacos, condors, wolfs, a wide range of birds and flowers.
We combine the comfort from our Full Camp with the logistic provided by the Refuges. All the nights we lodge in tents. When there are refuges, we use them to have meals.
Our staff is in charge of purvey our Expedition Camps.
Passengers will carry their personal items, sleeping bags and insulating mattress.

01	El Calafate Airport – El Calafate

02	El Calafate - Torres del Paine

03	Las Torres – Valle Ascencio

04	Las Torres – Seron

05	Seron – Dickson

06	Dickson - Los Perros

07	Los Perros – Paso John Garner

08	Paso Garner – Refugio Grey

09	Refugio Grey – Refugio Pehoe

10	Refugio Pehoe - Valle Frances

11	Refugio Pehoe – Lago Pehoe

12	Lago Pehoe – El Calafate

13	El Calafate –El Calafate Airport

ITINERARY

Day 1 El Calafate Airport - El Calafate
We receive you at El Calafate Airport from there you are transferred to El Calafate City, where at 7 pm the group meet by first time at the Hostal del Lago Libertador, at Del Libertador 587, El Calafate. You meet your guide, and you enjoy a dinner with you expedition partners while chatting on the program details for tomorrow
Lodge at Hostel Room with shared bathroom
Meals Included: Dinner

Day 2 El Calafate - Torres del Paine. Las Torres
We depart in the morning, by a pavement route (approx 90 km/55 miles) until reach the Route 40, where we turn south 70 km/45 miles more in a gravel route After almost 4 hours we arrive to the border crossing with Chile, Cancha Carrera Cerro Castillo Path.
After complete custom procedures we continue 2 hours and arrive to the Torres del Paine National Park, entering by Amarga Lake side, with Las Torres in front of us.
Finally we arrive to our Las Torres Full Camp
Lodging at Las Torres in Full Camp double base (area with sanitarium services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 3 Las Torres - Valle Ascencio
We dedicate this day to one of the most spectacular and classical trekking in the park: the Torres Trail. We transfer after breakfast by bus to the trail start at Las Torres area. We cross a suspended bridge and remount the slopes of the Almirante Nieto Mount, bordering the Ascencio River. After one hour ascending we go into the Valley, and reach Chileno Refuge. From there the trail leads us through the forest, in the middle of unforgettable landscapes, to Las Torres base camp. There the climbers wait good weather conditions to climb Las Torres. We trek one hour more to reach the Las Torres Viewpoint, an amazing natural amphitheater at the bottom of the vertical granite towers that reach 2800 meters height. We return by the same way. It’s a total 7-hour trek.
At evening we prepare our backpacks with the necessary for the next days trekking, leaving the rest in our bus, which will meet us again at Refugio Pehoe Camp
Lodging at Las Torres in Full Camp double base (area with sanitarium services)
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 4 Las Torres - Seron
Today we start the traverse departing our Las Torres Camp at the beginning of the Ascencio Valley. We cross plane bush fields, on the border of the Paine river, until arrive to Seron Camp. It’s around 5 hours trekking, without big ascents. We are going into the more wild part of the massif.
Lodging at Seron in Expedition Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 5 Seron - Dickson
From Seron we walk the Paine river valley. After an significant ascent we lead to the west, offering us to see the first views of massif’s rear part. We can see on the horizon the John Garner path (1250 meters/4100 ft), the higher point of our expedition.
After 3 hours of ascents and descents, and another 3 hours walking the valley, we arrive to Dickson Lake, where the Dickson refuge is located.
Lodging at Dickson in Expedition Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 6 Dickson - Los Perros
From Dickson we enter into the forest, and you feel you were entering the Lord of the Ring story. Imagine how do feel yourself arriving at the end of the world, in this day you will feel like that. After some ascents, the Lengas trees forest of the Los Perros Valley look like a magical place.
We cross the forest, the lake, and the glacier Perros, and camp in the forest beside the glacier moraine.
Lodging at Los Perros in Expedition Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 7 Los Perros - Paso John Garner
We continue trekking by a region with some mud and water, which is our main obstacle before ascending by the pebbles trail which lead us to John Garner Path (1250 meters/4100 ft). After 3 hours of ascent, we reach the path, where we have a brilliant perspective of South Patagonia Ice Filed, the Grey glacier and a ridge of mountains, most of them untouched by the men. A last ascent lead us to our next camp.
Lodging at John Garner Path in Expedition Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 8 Paso John Garner - Refugio Grey
From our Garner camp, we round through a dense forest, always with the Grey glacier on our right side. It’s the most wet sector of the Park, which is seen in the kind of flora we find. We trek 6 hours until the north shore of the Grey Lake, in front of the glacier and the refuge where we camp.
Lodging at Refugio Grey in Expedition Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 9 Refugio Grey - Refugio Pehoe
We dedicate the morning to visit the front part of the glacier, and afternoon we start our trek to Pehoe Lake, walking 4 hours with ascents and descents. We cross some viewpoints to observe the Park.
When we arrive to Pehoe Refuge we meet our Full Camp and the personal luggage we left at Las Torres. In these two days we travel the Grey valley almost completed.
Lodging at Refugio Pehoe in Full Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 10 Refugio Pehoe - Valle Frances
Today we visit Frances Valley, the inner valley of the massif, which descent to the Nordenskjold lake, between the Cuernos del Paine and Paine Grande, two of the most impressive pieces of the massif.
Walking around the Skottberg lake, we get to the end of the valley where we view the Frances glacier. For those who reach the upper viewpoints they will be rewarded with the amphitheater surrounded of needles and vertical walls. It’s a 9 hours trek we do carrying only a daily backpack.
Lodging at Refugio Pehoe in Full Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

Day 11 Refugio Pehoe - Lago Pehoe
We cross sailing Pehoe Lake with all our luggage, in a boat to arrive to Puerto Pudeto, where our bus is waiting for us. We transfer Camping Pehoe where our next Full Camp is located. After a brief lunch, we visit Salto Grande of the Paine River, and the south shore of the Grey Lake, a place full of icebergs separate from the glacier. It’s a dream place.
Lodging at Camping Pehoe in Full Camp double base
Included meals: breakfast, lunch box and dinner.

SERVICE DETAILS

Included Services

Certified Mountain Guide from AAGM Mountain Guide Argentina Association.
Tents and Camp equipment
All the land and sail transfers detailed in the program
All the meals and lodges detailed in the program.

Cartage Service. Carrying equipment and luggage.
We transport all the equipment and the passengers are expected to carry their own luggage, including their sleeping bags and insulating mattresses.
When we operate this Expedition for your Private Group under your own brand, we are able to provide Cartage Services to carry passenger personal belongings up to 8 kilograms per passenger.

More Explanations
Camino Abierto retains the right to change the itinerary or to suspend some of the activities when some climatic cause or other cause of any other nature justifies it in favor of the security of each member of the group.
Previous experience in trekking and camping is required.

List of Equipment and Clothes you should bring

Backpack 70/85 litres capacity,
Sleeping bag, duvet, for -20ºC,
Sleeping pad (therm-a-rest type recommended),
Interior synthetic clothes (polipropilene, lifa o capilene): 1 long-sleeved shirt, 1 long pant,
1 cotton t-shirt,
1 pant of polar fiber,
1 polar fiber jacket or coat,
Goretex jacket with hood or similar,
Goretex shell pants with full-length sided zippers,
1 pair of gaiters,
2 pairs of wool or synthetic mittens,
waterproof mitten shells (goretex or similar),
1 pair of thin synthetic gloves,
2 pairs of thick synthetic socks, polar fiber or wool,
2 pairs of synthetic liner thin socks,
Ski sticks, telescopic type,
Thin scarf or handkerchief for your neck,
Balaclava of wool or polar fiber,
Cap of wool or polar fiber,
Sunglasses with UV filter for high solar radiation,
Snow goggles,
Sun protector creme for skin (factor 30) and for lips (balm),
Thermo or plastic bottle,
Wide adhesive tape (cloth athletic),
Personal hygiene kit, elements reduced to minimum necessity,
Swiss Army knife, Victorinox or similar,
Headlamp (miners type, like Petzl) with batteries.

South American Adventure - Argentina

VUP Torres Del Paine Turnaround Circuit 13 days – 12 nights (strenuous expedition)

VUP Torres Del Paine Turnaround Circuit
13 days – 12 nights (strenuous expedition)