We left Torres del Paine National Park last night on the very last bus out. The sun was setting, casting its final golden glow on the soaring mountains, their glaciers and snow laden valleys still sparkling and glistening in the last rays, the wispy clouds streaming from the highest peaks tinged a rosy hue. It was a gloriously fitting end to our fabulous 5-day trek along the W.
The W was everything we could ever have hoped it would be, and then some! It was not quite as strenuous as I expected overall, but I think we are pretty walking fit right now, and in spite of that, there were a couple of moments when my legs did not want to go any more. The climbs were steep, sometimes ridiculously so, but we were always forewarned it would be so, and most of the time that it was very steep we did not have to carry our packs as they were up/down viewpoint stretches. The trail was often crowded and busy, but the camps never felt crowded or unpleasant. The views were simply spectacular, and very often the outer stretches had few people on them, especially if you left camp early. Looking through my pictures now I can hardly believe how blessed we are to be able to see such breathtaking places as this.
The day trippers were irritating, mainly because there were just so incredibly many of them, and they had no clue of trail etiquette. You would wait for 3 or 4 people at a narrow point in the trail, and find yourself still there 35 people later waiting for a gap in the traffic to make your break. Honestly, it was only a problem on the first day as everyone (literally a constant stream of people) tries to go up to Base Torres as a day hike, even when it is pouring with rain and there is not a mountain peak visible for miles. Further down the trail, the larger groups are guided, and the guides were pretty good about saying ‘we’re 15 people, you go ahead’.
So, some of the biggest surprises of our week here :
- How much make-up was being carried (and applied) on this trail. Wow, I had no idea! I don’t think I ever went into a bathroom without at least two ladies at the washbasin busily making themselves look different. Clearly, I am missing something.
- How flexible walking the W can be. You really can do as much or as little as you want, and you can do it however you want. There were people doing a full W, people doing a little W, people doing an L on its side, people doing a U with a tail, and people just walking the base trail from Central to Paine Grande taking in the magnificent views from afar. There were people carrying monster backpacks with tents and food and everything, to people carrying tiny backpacks with a change of clothes, water and the day’s lunch. And, of course, everything in between those two extremes.
- It was not nearly as cold as we expected it to be. The weather did not always play along, and we had two full days of rain, but we were never cold. I suspect it is the low elevation that makes such a difference.
- There was a lot more food and drink available along the way than we expected. You really could hike the trail without carrying any food at all, buying everything you needed before leaving the Refugio each day.
Not knowing all of this, we 1) took no makeup, 2) expected we had to do the entire trail as laid out by Torres Hike and did not think to skip pieces, or arrange for transport into/out of specific camps, 3) carried far too much warm gear, and 4) carried way more food than we needed to. All that said, I still think we did it the best possible way, and I am forever grateful to Torres Hike for the simple itinerary and superb logistical support offered. And for the fact that we did absolutely no research on the trail before arriving in Puerto Natales.
Through Torres Hike we had arranged for tents and mattresses at all 4 camps, as well as dinner and breakfast on the nights available in order to minimize how much food we had to carry. We carried sleeping bags, liners for the cold (not needed), one change of hiking clothes, one set of camp clothes, long johns (not needed), hat, gloves, beanies and wet weather gear (definitely needed!). A few toiletries and camp towel, sunscreen (fortunately purchased at the last minute in Puerto Natales as it was heavily used on days 2 & 3). And because we had to cater for at least one dinner, we had to carry a camp stove and the necessary accessories plus lunch, tea, coffee, energy bars, and snacks for the entire trip. So, while we definitely did not have the largest packs on the trail, they were certainly not the lightest either. Honestly, it is more than I have carried for a quite a while, and the first day was hard as a result, but it was nothing compared to packing a tent and a bear cannister with 7 days of food on the John Muir Trail in California!
One of the highlights of the trip was the people we shared our adventure with. Most of the people we connected with were a lot younger than us, and it was such fun to find out what is going on in Gen Z world outside of our own kids. We met 3 young couples all on 4-5 month adventures around the world, one from Australia, one from England and one from the US. They were on the same track as us, and we caught up on ideas and dreams and compared trail notes every day over a shared coffee or a drink at the bar. We also had the pleasure of spending an evening with three totally different couples at one camp cooking table, half Brits, half Americans. And we waited out the bus on the way home with two Ecuadorian sisters from Florida. They were all wonderfully interesting, intelligent, motivated, fun-loving people. We had a NASA engineer, a nuclear scientist, a young man building submarines for the US Navy, a quantity surveyor, a Citibank finance manager, and a public health policy advisor amongst them. Conversation was fascinating.
Anyway, the details:
Day 1: 3.7 miles (5.9km) and 1,388ft
We caught the bus out of Puerto Natales at 7am for our 2.5-hour journey to the Central camp in Torres Del Paine National Park.
Upon arrival, contrary to expectation, no one checked our agenda or our passes or our passports. We simply donned our packs and walked through the Welcome Center and headed up the hill towards Chileno Refugio. It was a steep 3.7 mile slog up over Windy Pass. We were two of a handful of people with larger packs on and were really second-guessing our decision to start in the East, and to stay in Chileno and not Central.
There was no wind, but the rain started in earnest about halfway up, drenching us in minutes. Wet weather gear on, pack covers on and on we went. The rain never let up, and we joined the masses trying to find refuge from the deluge at Refugio Chileno. The very kind camp staffer at Chileno got us into a tent as quickly as possible where we sat out the rain for the rest of the day. I guess this was the benefit of lugging all our stuff up here with us – we could lie and read and wait for the rain to stop before going any further.
Day 2 : 16.6 miles (26.5km) and 4,425ft
We were up and packed and checked out by 5am this morning. The camp staff were super about sunrise hikes and had set our breakfast out in the early hours so that we could either eat early, or pack it up and take it along.
It was a fun walk in the dark, followed by a steep climb, but we made Base Torres for sunrise and it was simply mind-blowing. We sat there stunned as the Torres slowly changed color before our eyes, going light pink, then red, then deep orange, then golden. No words could describe it.
We headed back down to Chileno for a cup of coffee and a second breakfast (the eggs they had given us were not boiled, which led to a slight issue when we tried to eat them on the way!) and then loaded up our packs for the 11 or so miles to Refugio Frances. It was a spectacularly clear day with bright blue skies, and we got to see all the wonderful vistas we had missed in the cloud and rain the day before.
But it was a very long day. We walked into Frances at 5:30pm, a full 12 hours after we left for Base Torres this morning. It’s probably the longest day I have ever hiked.
Day 3 : 13.9 miles (22.2km) and 3,114ft
Off to the Italiano Ranger Station to drop our packs first thing in the morning, and head on up to Mirador Frances. It was a clear blue-sky day and the mountain panorama was incredible. We witnessed a few glaciers calving thunderously down the mountainside along the way. We were a little disappointed in Mirador Britanico. We were in the heart of the mountains, and it was impressive, but I would trade it for Mirador Frances any day.
After that, it was on to Refugio Paine Grande, a lovely camp set right under the Paine Grande massif. A crazy rainstorm set in just after we arrived, and the night was interrupted often by howling gusts and heavy rain.
Day 4 : 7 miles (11km) and 1,667 ft
Still raining this morning, so off to Refugio Grey in all our wet gear. An easier day than the last two, and with packs significantly lighter, we got it done by lunch and crashed in our tent all afternoon. I think the two heavy days are catching up. The wind was also up, gusting to 76km/h, the first really heavy wind we have experienced thus far. Must say, these are pretty sturdy tents!
Day 5 : 12 miles (19.2 km) and 3,104ft
We had wanted to hit at least two of the suspension bridges on the way up to Paso and see the Grey Glacier up close, and since it rained the day before we decided to do it on our last day as it dawned with clearer skies and slightly better weather. It was not ideal since we had a 5pm ferry deadline down at Refugio Grey that day, but oh well.
We were up and packed by 6:30am, and after our last breakfast on the trail we headed on up the mountainside. We got across both bridges without seeing anyone else and so had the Grey Mirador all to ourselves. It was totally worth the extra 6 miles.
After a quick lunch in the kitchen at the Refugio Grey, we picked up our packs and hot-footed it down to Paine Grande to catch the boat. There was a very strong and highly unpleasant wind the whole way, so we were glad we got to see a little of it the day before. And that it had been a relatively quiet morning by comparison, especially on those long, swaying suspension bridges!
Total: 53.2 miles (85km) and 13,698ft
In 3 big days : 42.5 miles (68km) and 10,643ft
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