TORRES
DEL PAINE SECTOR
Torres
del Paine sector is an
extensive geographic zone
with numerous natural
attractions that includes
from the Torres del Paine
National Park, a known
world Biosphere Reserve
to the limit of Ultima
Esperanza and Magallanes
provinces. The Fairway
lighthouse is the southwestern
extreme of the zone and
is located in the Pacific
Ocean mouth of the Magellan
Strait.
TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL
PARK
It
was created in 1959 and
declared Biosphere Reserve
by UNESCO in 1978. Is
located in Ultima Esperanza
province, 145 km. north
of Puerto Natales. It
has 3 accesses: Porteria
Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga
and Laguna Azul.
It has a surface of
242,242 hectares, with
an altitude from 200 meters
to 3,050 (Paine Massifs).
PAINE MOUNTAIN CHAIN
It is an impressive
joint of mountains, governed
by steep granite towers
and by the photogenic
Corns and the imposing
Big Paine. The mountainous
massif is crowned by glaciers
and surrounded by lakes
with aquamarine, emerald,
turquoise, sapphire and
lapis lazuli colors. A
microclimate holds a rich
flora and many wild fauna
that romps freely around
lagoons and among beautiful
woods of bearded trees.
It is not a surprise that
UNESCO designated the
place as World Biosphere
Reserve or the Chilean
State as a National Park.
A web of well kept
paths, with widely separated
refuges allow access to
best corners and had contributed
to fill the dreams of
trekkers from all over
the world. If in addition
there are lodgings from
camping to well equipped
hotels, it is easy to
realize why Torres del
Paine is the crowning
point of every trip to
South America and why
this park justifies to
venture until the edge
of the world itself.
THE
PAINE HORNS
The
characteristic black rock
that crowns the Paine
Horns is an account of
the tectonics and icy
forces that sculpted this
massif. Something more
than ten millions years
ago, this kind of sedimentary
rock covered wide areas
in the region. Sometime
said rocks had contact
with the magma of the
inside of the earth, forming
the granite rocks. Afterwards,
the colossal pressures
of the planet bowels made
rise these impressive
mountains that we know
today as Torres del Paine.
When the glacial era
came, the ice covered
all the territory. Only
stacked out the top of
the highest mountains.
The withdrawal of the
ices brought the granite
to view, over which remained
the black rock not covered
by glaciation, because
of that today we may appreciate
huge Towers with different
colors in a same massif,
which is doubtless one
of the biggest silent
shows of Patagonian nature.
Source: SERNATUR Magallanes
|