The Torres del Paine (pronounced Pie-nay) National Park is in the Chilean part of Patagonia. It is very close to Puerto Natales from which most hikers bus into the park before beginning the five day “W” trek or the 8 day + “O” trek. We took a bus from Calafate to Puerto Natales and took a day to prepare for our adventure. The one piece of advice I received from hikers that I will continue to pass on is go to the ERRATIC ROCK informational session held daily at 3:00pm. We almost skipped it, but we were really thankful we went. The Erratic Rock is a hostel, but you don’t have to be staying there to go to the informational session. It is free and the employees there do a great job of going through what to expect each day, what routes to take, what the refugios are like, what to bring, and how to deal with the unpredictable weather of the park. Due to the park’s proximity to a massive glacier, the it has its own micro climate. It can be sunny and calm one minute and raining with strong gusts of wind the next. We had initially wanted to spend four days trekking, but were strongly informed that just wasn’t going to be feasible. So we took their advice and set out to buy food supplies for five days.
The two stores in Puerto Natales I recommend are Don Bosco and Frutos Seco. The first is a family ran grocery store that carries some great trekking options. They have soup packets that can be used as sauces. Just put half the required water in with the powder and you have a great sauce to add to polenta. We carried more weight than other hikers, but we ate a lot better. We pretty much ate tuna for lunch every day and had polenta/soup for dinner. No matter where we are breakfast is always oatmeal and that didn’t change on the trail. Frutos Seco has a huge variety of dried fruits and nuts. It was amazing how afford the nuts were especially after being used to the extreme prices in Argentina.
Before even getting to the park, we met a fellow hiker who would be a character we ran into along the way. His name is Michael and he is a librarian at a school of the arts in South Carolina. He was a very friendly guy and came to my aid with cold medicine at several points on the trail. It was already obvious on the first day that there is a strong sense of comradery amongst hikers. You all share the same blister issues, exhaustion, etc. This year my brother did the Pacific Crest Trail (a hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border). He has an endless list of stories about other hikers and how close they all became out there with the bears, rattlesnakes, and unpredictable access to water. We only trekked for five days, not five months! I can only imagine how strong the bond would be if you were together for that long out in nature.
I won’t bore you with all the details of each day. I will give a few pieces of advice to others who plan to do the W trek:
Day 1- Most people head to Refugio Grey on the first day. The hike up was pretty boring other than seeing Glacier Grey itself. I suggest adding a sixth day to the trek and going all the way up to Campo Paso. The proper viewpoint of the glacier is two hours past Refugio Grey and another two hours to Campo Paso. We only made it to the viewpoint, but were told by others that Campo Paso is absolutely amazing. The camp is about midway up the glacier and gives the feeling that you are out on the glacier itself. At Refugio Grey set up your tent in the trees. The wind here can be really strong and setting up in the field is not ideal.
Day 2- We trekked back down to where we started and then made the two hour trek to Campo Italiano. This stretch is the flattest and easiest part of the W. We constantly joked about Chileans’ definition of flat because the signage of the park was really inaccurate and horrible. “Is this next chunk going to be flat or a Chilean flat?” A sign would state you had completed 2 km after four hours of trekking and the elevation charts would show a section being flat or downhill and then we would be ascending for a couple hours, ergo don’t believe any signage. The maps show the average amount of time between camps and these estimates seem to be pretty accurate. Campo Italiano has issues with rats. Be extra careful with any food you have here. Try to make it early because very few campsites are flat. The cooking hut here is also really nasty- just be prepared.
Day 3- If you plan to hike all the way into the French Valley, get up early. Due to strong winds and weather, we only made it an hour in. We still had awesome views of the hanging glacier and felt pretty content with what we saw. Others who went all the way said the views were pretty similar. We then made it to our favorite campsite, Refugio Los Cuernos. In warm weather this would be a cool place to just hang out for a bit.
Day 4- If you go West to East like we did, this is by far the hardest day. *Make sure you follow the sign for the shortcut to Refugio Chileno!!! - If you think the trail is getting really narrow and doesn’t seem right, you have probably joined a horse trail by accident.* We trekked all the way from Refugio Los Cuernos through shire like terrain with a mountain lion sighting and past Refugio Chileno to Campamento Torres. The last hour was pretty steep and we were exhausted. At one point Nico said, “I don’t think I have ever been this tired in my life.” One American /German couple we met coming down from Refugio Grey were there and the woman was in tears of exhaustion/pride that she had made it.
Day 5- We woke up at 3:30am to make the final 45 minute ascent to view the sunrise at Los Torres. The wind was howling and the tent was shaking. I was actually pretty concerned about the safety of going up in this weather. The park is notorious for its strong winds and we had actually been advised to sit down in strong winds because people are frequently knocked off their feet. We waited till we saw a few headlamps and decided we were going to do it. We met up with the German/American couple, an Italian, and a German couple. As a group we slowly climbed hoping that we were actually going to be able to see something past the clouds. We made it just in time to catch a golden sliver of light break over the horizon. We all celebrated together and felt bad for the group who decided to go back down just before reaching the top. If you make it to Campamento Torres, regardless of temperature force yourself to be part of the 40% of people who actually get up for sunrise.
After recharging at camp we headed down in perfectly clear weather. We met a group of Americans who were running the whole thing. They even opted to not take the bus back into town and ran all the way. Cool! Oh and if you decide to take a horse down to to Hosteria Las Torres (where the bus picks you up) I may judge you a bit. You made the effort to walk all the way up- you can walk yourself down. Almost to the Hosteria we saw a tall couple approaching. I called back to Nico, “Hey, we know that hair!” Yep, it was Raphael and Martina. Our lovely tall Swiss friends were just starting their first day of the W. We all laughed at how small the world is. This marked our fifth encounter.
We did it and it was a really great experience to share. What I forgot to mention is that the night before we started I came down with a seriously bad cold. So not only was I tired from the trek, but I was struggling to breathe. I felt so content getting back to our hostel in Puerto Natales!
The two stores in Puerto Natales I recommend are Don Bosco and Frutos Seco. The first is a family ran grocery store that carries some great trekking options. They have soup packets that can be used as sauces. Just put half the required water in with the powder and you have a great sauce to add to polenta. We carried more weight than other hikers, but we ate a lot better. We pretty much ate tuna for lunch every day and had polenta/soup for dinner. No matter where we are breakfast is always oatmeal and that didn’t change on the trail. Frutos Seco has a huge variety of dried fruits and nuts. It was amazing how afford the nuts were especially after being used to the extreme prices in Argentina.
Before even getting to the park, we met a fellow hiker who would be a character we ran into along the way. His name is Michael and he is a librarian at a school of the arts in South Carolina. He was a very friendly guy and came to my aid with cold medicine at several points on the trail. It was already obvious on the first day that there is a strong sense of comradery amongst hikers. You all share the same blister issues, exhaustion, etc. This year my brother did the Pacific Crest Trail (a hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border). He has an endless list of stories about other hikers and how close they all became out there with the bears, rattlesnakes, and unpredictable access to water. We only trekked for five days, not five months! I can only imagine how strong the bond would be if you were together for that long out in nature.
I won’t bore you with all the details of each day. I will give a few pieces of advice to others who plan to do the W trek:
Day 1- Most people head to Refugio Grey on the first day. The hike up was pretty boring other than seeing Glacier Grey itself. I suggest adding a sixth day to the trek and going all the way up to Campo Paso. The proper viewpoint of the glacier is two hours past Refugio Grey and another two hours to Campo Paso. We only made it to the viewpoint, but were told by others that Campo Paso is absolutely amazing. The camp is about midway up the glacier and gives the feeling that you are out on the glacier itself. At Refugio Grey set up your tent in the trees. The wind here can be really strong and setting up in the field is not ideal.
Day 2- We trekked back down to where we started and then made the two hour trek to Campo Italiano. This stretch is the flattest and easiest part of the W. We constantly joked about Chileans’ definition of flat because the signage of the park was really inaccurate and horrible. “Is this next chunk going to be flat or a Chilean flat?” A sign would state you had completed 2 km after four hours of trekking and the elevation charts would show a section being flat or downhill and then we would be ascending for a couple hours, ergo don’t believe any signage. The maps show the average amount of time between camps and these estimates seem to be pretty accurate. Campo Italiano has issues with rats. Be extra careful with any food you have here. Try to make it early because very few campsites are flat. The cooking hut here is also really nasty- just be prepared.
Day 3- If you plan to hike all the way into the French Valley, get up early. Due to strong winds and weather, we only made it an hour in. We still had awesome views of the hanging glacier and felt pretty content with what we saw. Others who went all the way said the views were pretty similar. We then made it to our favorite campsite, Refugio Los Cuernos. In warm weather this would be a cool place to just hang out for a bit.
Day 4- If you go West to East like we did, this is by far the hardest day. *Make sure you follow the sign for the shortcut to Refugio Chileno!!! - If you think the trail is getting really narrow and doesn’t seem right, you have probably joined a horse trail by accident.* We trekked all the way from Refugio Los Cuernos through shire like terrain with a mountain lion sighting and past Refugio Chileno to Campamento Torres. The last hour was pretty steep and we were exhausted. At one point Nico said, “I don’t think I have ever been this tired in my life.” One American /German couple we met coming down from Refugio Grey were there and the woman was in tears of exhaustion/pride that she had made it.
Day 5- We woke up at 3:30am to make the final 45 minute ascent to view the sunrise at Los Torres. The wind was howling and the tent was shaking. I was actually pretty concerned about the safety of going up in this weather. The park is notorious for its strong winds and we had actually been advised to sit down in strong winds because people are frequently knocked off their feet. We waited till we saw a few headlamps and decided we were going to do it. We met up with the German/American couple, an Italian, and a German couple. As a group we slowly climbed hoping that we were actually going to be able to see something past the clouds. We made it just in time to catch a golden sliver of light break over the horizon. We all celebrated together and felt bad for the group who decided to go back down just before reaching the top. If you make it to Campamento Torres, regardless of temperature force yourself to be part of the 40% of people who actually get up for sunrise.
After recharging at camp we headed down in perfectly clear weather. We met a group of Americans who were running the whole thing. They even opted to not take the bus back into town and ran all the way. Cool! Oh and if you decide to take a horse down to to Hosteria Las Torres (where the bus picks you up) I may judge you a bit. You made the effort to walk all the way up- you can walk yourself down. Almost to the Hosteria we saw a tall couple approaching. I called back to Nico, “Hey, we know that hair!” Yep, it was Raphael and Martina. Our lovely tall Swiss friends were just starting their first day of the W. We all laughed at how small the world is. This marked our fifth encounter.
We did it and it was a really great experience to share. What I forgot to mention is that the night before we started I came down with a seriously bad cold. So not only was I tired from the trek, but I was struggling to breathe. I felt so content getting back to our hostel in Puerto Natales!
