Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park

We woke up early on January 17, stuffed our faces at breakfast, and headed out  with Felipe and three other fit guests towards the start of the hike up to the Mirador Los Torres in Torres del Paine National Park. This was billed as the most strenuous hike on offer at Tierra Patagonia, and also the one with the best views of the famous rock towers. The trail kicked uphill almost immediately as we loosely followed the path of the Rio Ascencio as it carved its way down the mountains from the glacier-fed lake at the base of the towers. We crossed the river many times on the way up.The views were consistently fantastic, and the trail was never overly technical. It did get quite a bit steeper towards the top, as this helpful trail sign illustrates.The views off to the right on the small plateau you can see on the elevation profile before it gets steep were especially attractive.The last half a kilometer involved a lot of rock scrambling until we reached the Mirador and had an awesome picnic on the shore of the lake at the base of the towers. Here's a photo of me halfway up the steep part.See if you can make out the trail in this shot of the final section of the hike:We had the best weather imaginable -- hardly any wind, which is extremely unusual for summertime in Patagonia -- and could actually see the towers.We contemplated a swim in the lake, but thought better of it. Felipe did take his boots off and soak his feet in the cold water. Even though he comes up to this spot several times a week, he said it never gets old.You can see the map and details of this awesome hike on Strava.