In March of 2016, I hiked five days through the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. 45 miles traversed in the Patagonian back country, we battled high winds, rain and hunger. Well sort of, we'll get to that part later. We began our trip where all aspiring Torres del Paine trekkers do: at the Base Camp Pub adjacent to the Erratic Rock Hostel in Punta Arenas.
We attended an information session about how to tackle this endeavor, made our plan of attack for The W, booked a hostel stay for the night of our return, and shopped for supplies. We drank at the pub and then returned to our budget hostel. Erratic Rock was booked when we arrived into town, along with most every nice hostel in the city limits. Crowding would become a theme on this trip.
The following morning we arose before sun-up, and met our bus at the central bus station. For hours we rode in the struggling coach to our destination, stopping once for bathrooms and snacks.
Our charismatic guide back at Base Camp advised us to take the short jaunt to a waterfall near the bus drop off spot once in the park. We were assured that we had plenty of time to make the hike before the ferry would leave. "Don't worry, the ferry will never leave without you." I believe were the exact words. We were rewarded with some great views, of waterfalls & our destination in the background.
Upon returning to the ferry, we discovered that the ferry was full, and could not take us. It left without us, causing us to wait 90 minutes for its return for a second trip. Thanks Base Camp.
The ferry ride was short and windy, and delivered fantastic views during our voyage across the lake.
Arriving at the beginning of our hike (Refugio Paine Grande), we snacked and then hit the trail. We were behind schedule, and still had 9 miles to hike up hill and against the wind to Refugio Grey to camp for the night.
At some of the crests of the hike, we experienced 60+ mph winds, that threatened to knock us down with one misstep. Trekking poles were highly recommended, and we were glad we brought them. Even so, Luke injured his ankle. A light sprain was not something to take lightly at the beginning of a 50 mile trek.
Arriving into camp we found ourselves joining 200 of our closest friends (sarcasm) at a crowded spot, with most of the good spots taken. We first decided to set up camp in an open field that looked suspiciously neglected, only to find it was empty due to the gale force winds collapsing my 3 season tent. We relocated to a spot in the woods.
That night while cooking dinner in the crowded stove shelter, we experienced a potentially trip ruining problem: our stove was damaged while cooking spaghetti and our new friends weren't generous enough to lend us a stove. Besides our lunches, every meal had to be cooked, so we feared for the worst. Luckily backpacking the W is far from roughing it, and the park is much more like Disney Land than the PCT. Our camp had a small general store, and we loaded up on the most calorie dense food available: Snicker's bars.
The following morning after a breakfast of.... Snicker's bars, we decided that we'd give Luke some Advil and monitor his situation as we retraced our steps back to Paine Grande. If he wasn't feeling it, we could just take the ferry back and be on our way home. The walk back was much more leisurely, giving us time to enjoy the views.
Back at the ferry port, Luke decide he was good to press on, so we continued along the trail to Campamento Italiano. Luke found a great tacky pair of Oakleys on the trail, and in the spirit of Leave No Trace he decided to adopt them for safe keeping.
The area between Refugio Paine Grande and Campamento Italiano saw the majority of the fire damage from recent wildfires in the region, and we hiked through the rain between the burnt carcasses of trees everywhere. The wind constantly barraged us with scattered showers that seemed to come in sideway. The clouds raced along the peaks at break-neck speed.
Upon arriving at camp for the second night, we enjoyed a dinner of Snicker's bars before turning in for the night. I was kept up be the sound of the slender trees rattling against each other as the winds picked up overnight, as well as the sounds of the nearby glaciers shifting & adjusting, shedding massive chunks of ice that sounded like cannon shots throughout the night.
Before sunrise we awoke and ascended the Valle Frances to the Britanico Lookout. The warm pink hues in the mists surrounding the peaks that loomed overhead were mesmerizing.
We made quick work of the hike, and paused at the lookout to take some photos before turning around. The Alete de Tiburon was a majestic rock formation that rivaled some of the largest granite walls in Yosemite, and in every direction was a majestic view.
Throughout our trek, we had the privilege of being able to drink directly from the streams. The water was safe to drink and we carried less water at any one time, decreasing our load and making our journey easier.
After returning to Campamento Italiano, we tore down our campsite and continued east towards Refugio Cuernos. This section of the trail was by far the easiest, and we even got to hike along the flat lake shore for a brief duration. Shortly after, we crossed from the park boundary into private lands. These private lands had various huts and hotels we could see off in the distance, and we soon shared the trail with horse caravans carrying water to these spots.
Given that our stove was still broken, we decided to pay an enormous sum of money to enjoy a mediocre (yet very welcome) warm meal at Refugio Cuernos. Liz was extremely happy about this, but as you can see Luke is still feeling the pain from trekking on an injured ankle with a full pack.
Refugio Cuernos was otherwise the worst camp of the trip; our third night was spent on wooden platforms above soggy ground, and my water bladder was attacked by mice looking for a sip of water. Luckily the restaurant turned into a pub after the meal, so we tended to our spirits with some local Cerveza Austral.
The fourth day, waking before dawn I enjoyed a peaceful sunrise before we set out for the most grueling day of hiking: ascending the aptly named Valle Ascencio.
After the painful uphill, we finally arrived at our final campsite: the Torres Campsite. We quickly passed our after begrudgingly consuming more Snickers bars, easily putting our individual counts into the teens. The next day we awoke extremely early. 3:30AM early. We shed our jackets, and began to hike up the hill towards the grand finale of our trip. We were the first to arrive, and staked out our spot with tripods and waited for the sun to rise.
Unfortunately this turned out to be less of an advantage as we thought, as several hundred trekkers arrived after us and set up their tripods immediately in front of us, blocking our shots. After some moving around, and waiting in freezing temperatures with the ever-present wind sandblasting our faces, we got to witness the coolest sight of the trip: the sunrise at the Torres del Paine.
After we decided we were all awed-out, we descended to our campsite and packed up for the final trek to the bus pickup spot at Hosteria Las Torres. The hike back was tough on the legs, but our packs were now light having been freed of all food from the trip. After passing what felt like the hundredth tourist being ferried up the mountain on horses, we had a quick lunch at Refugio Chileno.
Finally we crossed the last bridge, and made it to the end of The W. We enjoyed some well-deserved ice cream while waiting for the bus, having endured a moderate adventure in the Patagonia wilderness.
According to my GPS tracker, we had hiked 71.1 km and ascended nearly 3 km of elevation gain. All Trails was a nice companion during this trip, as I was able to save the topo map and consult our progress digitally. You can see below why people call this trek "The W".
