This is post 3 in a series of a 7 day/6 night guided hike in Torres del Paine National Park with Dittmar Adventures. We followed the modified O Trek which connects camps Japones and Dickson over the Oggioni Pass. As this part of the trail is not marked, it can be only done with a guide. If you are looking for something a little more challenging with fewer trekkers and spectacular views this may be the route for you.
Day 3 – Refugio Dickson to Los Perros Camp
Total Distance: 11 kilometers/6.8 miles
Average Time: 4.5 hours
A semi-rest day – Carlos tells us the night before that we don’t have to leave until 11AM. We wake just before 8 for breakfast. Camille announces, “It’s raining.” I take out my earplugs and look out the window and sure enough we’re back under a cloud, a high windless rain. The amazing view now nearly completely obscured. I feel fortunate to have a dry bed inside but am not looking forward to the prospect of packing up our belongings and stomping through the rain and mud.
Breakfast includes – grilled bread, cheese, salami, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, Nescafé and a pineapple drink.
We hang out in the lounge, warm and dry and enjoying the rain from the inside and hoping for one the famous Patagonia changes in weather. At 10AM we have to leave the refugio to the shelter of the front porch waiting for our departure.
We leave close to noon. The rain has tapered off but it’s still dripping from the trees. Carlos sets a brisk pace slowed down only by puddle crossings.
Most of the views are obscured but beautiful with the peaks poking through the cloud layer.
The day stayed the same, a muddy march through a beautiful forest. It looks like it rains here. The forest floor covered in low plants, moss and lichen.
The river is a torrent of rushing water, sometimes through narrow rock canyons.
Thankfully there are bridges. No climbing through trees to cross the river.
The track is steep coming out of Dickson but flattens once you get back to the Los Perros viewpoint and continues to roll up and down for most of the afternoon.
Near the end of the day Los Perros Glacier can be seen from a bridge. Past here peaks can be glimpsed through the tops of the trees.
Soon we’re out of the woods with a clear view of the glacier,
but there is a better viewpoint a short distance further at the top of a moraine. A clear view of the glacier, the surrounding mountains and the lake below.
Campamento Los Perros
Los Perros Camp is just a few more minutes. More rustic than Dickson it looks like a tent city. The river is a short ways from camp just through the trees.
The crowded kitchen/dining room, more European style than American, has plastic panels in the ceiling that let in the light. The bathroom facilities include – flush toilets, sinks, and a cold shower. There is also a small store with beer, sodas and chocolate.
Dinner, prepared by Nico, starts with tomato soup with vegetables followed by rice, quinoa and vegetables with ham chunks.
It’s amazing all the fresh vegetables they carry in and what Nico can do with them.
February 15, 2018
For links to all the posts in this series see the Hiking in Patagonia page.
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