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Torres del Paine W-Walk – Glacier Grey – Day 1

The Torres del Paine National Park is one of the spots you shouldn’t miss when travelling to Patagonia. It offers a stunning landscape and the opportunity to hike for multiple days with a change of scenery on every day. The most popular hike you can do is the so called W-Walk because on a map the trail looks like a W. It takes about 5 days to walk along the W. Other opportunities include day trips or the full circuit which according to guide books takes 8-9 days. Accommodation is offered in refuges with a dorm type of accommodation, paid campsites with facilities and free campsites with a bush camp character and no facilities.

What I personally found interesting is the opportunity to walk for multiple days in a safe environment and being completely self-contained thus carrying your camping equipment and food on your back. While on other multiple day hikes such as a special version of the Inca Trail or the Kilimanjaro hike I had porters to carry my stuff this time I wanted to experience how it actually is to carry all your stuff with you at all times. I also decided to do it the rough way and only stay at the bush camp type of campsites. Although this option is the cheapest one I didn’t do it to save money but for the outdoor experience.

Breakfast was at the base camp where my cooking group consisting of Mollie, Diann and myself served three different types of cornflakes (normal, whole-grain and chocolate) as well as fruit. Afterwards we arranged bread, meat, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers so people could make their packed lunch. Finally, I sorted out my luggage to prepare the backpack I will be carrying for the next five days. After I have packed it I was wondering how much stuff it was and thought I might have packed too much. I don’t know how heavy my backpack was but would guess 15kg or so. Actually it turned out this is really the amount of stuff I need to carry since 90% of it was camping equipment such as my tent, sleeping bag and mattress as well as food I will need to survive five days in the wilderness. Have you ever put everything what you plan to eat in five days on one pile? If not you should do so and lift it to see how heavy it actually is.

Before heading off for the hike the first issue appeared. The crew of the Dragoman truck we ran into yesterday told us due to strong wind the campsite at the “Refugio Paine Grande” is closed. This means instead of camping I will need to stay in the refuge for the first two nights. Since the refuges are booked out pretty quickly and we weren’t sure if there is any availability the rangers radioed them to find out if there is a spot for Ian and me. Luckily there was since it’s the end of the season. Everybody else in the group had booked and paid their accommodation well in advance which is the normal way of doing it.

At lunch time Anki drove us from our campsite “Lago Perhoé” to the ferry. Usually there are three ferry boats crossing the Perhoé Lake, one in the morning, one at midday and one in the evening. Since it’s the end of the season, there was only the midday and the evening one. Most of us took the one at midday, others came in the evening and a few people stayed at the base camp since they didn’t fancy to go hiking. The ferry brought us from the “Guardaria Pudeto” to the “Refugio Paine Grande” which was a 30 to 45min ride costing 12,000 Pesos (27 USD).

On the boat I met Tony who was travelling with us from Manaus to Rio and is now continuing his journey with Tucan. He and his friends were also challenged by the closure of the campsite at the “Refugio Paine Grande” and instead of staying at the refuge they were planning to camp at the paid campsite of “Refugio Grey” meaning a 3.5 hour hike up there. I spontaneously decided to do the same and told Ian I will have a no-show in the refuge and he should pay for me in case they insist on the reservation.

I also met two Israeli guys planning to walk up to the campsite and joined them walking. After 30-60min they stopped to cook lunch and so I said good-bye to them. I made up my mind and wanted to walk even further than to the campsite at “Refugio Grey” spending the night at the free bush camp type of campsite “Los Guardas” which was an additional two hours walk and I wanted to arrive before sunset. I also suffered a bit from the heavy load in my backpack. Usually you only carry your large backpack for a few minutes and not for hours, uphill and through strong wind as I experience it on my way at “Laguna Los Patos”. I was really questioning if I will survive five days like this or after a while suffer from back pain? I had also heard from the people of the other Dragoman truck that when they were hiking here in Torres del Paine some people got blown over so strong was the wind.

While walking up to the campsite I ran into some of my fellow travelers. The first ones were Ian and Jeremy who went for a seven hour return trip to “Refugio Grey” and the second ones were Ross and Stuart planning to do the full circuit in just five days. When resting at the “Refugio Grey” for a few minutes I met a German guy and his friends just finishing the full circuit. They told me the circuit part outside the W is actually less scenic and the main experience you have is walking for hours without meeting other people. They also said the trail will become very muddy, there is very strong wind when crossing the “John Gardner Paso” and they have met a guy who experienced a snow storm up on this pass just a couple of days ago. As much as I was tempted to join Ross and Stuart on their circuit experience the less I was prepared for it. While Ross and Stuart were not planning to camp they didn’t carry a heavy backpack which enables them to walk much faster. Their plan to do the full circuit in just five days involves a couple of very long hiking days including walking at nighttime which I don’t fancy too much. This night they will stay at the “Refugio Grey” and tomorrow walk for 15 hours to the “Refugio Dickson” including the crossing of the pass. I also didn’t wanted to be in a rush and take time to enjoy the landscape and talk to people I meet along the way. Lastly, I wasn’t prepared for a potential snow storm. I had no gloves with me and was walking in hiking sandals since during the last hike at Mount Fitz Roy my proper hiking boots caused blisters on my heels.

So I only joined Ross and Stuart to see the viewpoint at “Refugio Grey” where we had a nice view at Glacier Grey and the icebergs calving from it. Then I said good-bye to continue to the campsite “Los Guardas” where I arrived at 7pm. After pitching up my tent and having dinner I went straight away to bed so exhausted was I from carrying this heavy backpack all day.

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