Log One: The W Trek
Into the park
Puerto Natales > Torres Del Paine National Park
At 7am my new friend and hiking partner for the next four days, Alex, and I met at the Puerto Natales bus terminal. Along with many other tourists we boarded one of maybe ten buses heading for Torres Del Paine National Park.
We drove along, passing by a few haciendas with fields home to many beautiful horses, until mountains appeared out my window and we entered into the boundaries of the National Park. At the entrance of the park the buses parked in lines, everyone unloaded and formed a very long line outside the visitors center. The line was long but the scenery was good company while we waited. I was surprised to already see the infamous towers for which the park is named. I excepted them to be smaller and concealed by neighboring mountains.
For some people in line their experience here would be a day hike up to the lake at the base of the Torres Del Paine. For most people in line, including Alex and I, we would spend the next four to five days hiking “The W Trek”. These towers would be the conclusion, the grand finale to our hike. A smaller group of people in this line would hike a circuit trail called “The O Trek” and circumnavigate this national park in 7-9 days.
We moved quickly through this line and soon enough we were inside the visitors center. We passed through a simple identification check, permit check and then a fire safety video.
In 2011 a hiker caused a fire in the National Park that burned over 40,000 acres. The high winds here (I would learn this to be a trait of Patagonian weather across Chile & Argentina) assisted the spread of the fire, helping them to leap across bodies of water and continue to burn. It was a devastating accident resulting in rigid policies around making fires in the park - the long short of it is no fires anywhere anytime.
Once checked into the park we loaded back onto the bus heading to Guardería Pudeto, a port where we would catch a boat across Lago Pehoé.
The Boat
Guardería Pudeto to Paine Grande
A short ride later and the bus dropped us off at Guardería Pudeto at the northeast side of Lago Pehoé. Most people got off here and headed to the wooden pier to line up for the boat ride that would deliver us to Paine Grande, a campsite and refugio on the other side of the lake.
Unfortunately, we missed the first crossing because high winds decreased the boat’s capacity and it filled up before we could board. It was unclear exactly when the boat would return for its second journey across the lake, but the sun was out and Alex and I met two Australian gals to chat away the time with.
We were all relaxing in the grass, propped up by our packs, and enjoying the sunshine when the boat reappeared. This time we were the first on board and grabbed seats on the upper deck to take full advantage of the views across the lake. This half hour boat ride across Lago Pehoé is an insane introduction to this landscape: with truly turquoise water and views of the mountains we would hike around in the days to come.
Paine Grande peaks:
Bariloche Peak, central peak & paine grande maine peak
2600, 2730 & 3050 meters high
the francés glacier sits a top the Paine Grande peaks
Cuernos Del Paine Peaks (left to right):
Cuern Norte, Cuerno Principal, Cuerno Oriental & Cerro Almirante Nieto
2400, 2600, 2200 & 2540 meters high
ALL TOGETHER thIS GROUP OF MOUNTAINS IS CALLED CORDILLERA DEL PAINE. bETWEEN THE paine Grande (left) & cuernos del paine (right) is the french valley.
The Three peaks of the french valley (left to right):
aIETA DEL TIBURÓN, tRONCO bLANCO & CERRO CABEZA DEL INDIGO
2197, 2197 & 2230 METERS HIGH
Refugio & Camp Paine Grande
Our first campsite
Our plans for the next four days were dictated by Alex’s campsite reservations, as are the plans of everyone hiking the W or O trails. We were spending our first night at Paine Grande, a campsite right next to the pier where the boat dropped us off. Others, including our new Australian friends, were hiking up to another site, 11 km northwest called Guardería Glaciar Grey. This site is much closer to the first pinnacle of the W trek, Glaciar Grey but there are pros and cons to both campsites.
This hike is called the “W” trek because the trail follows the troughs and peaks of the letter “W”. The campsite called Guardería Glaciar Grey is positioned at the point where pen would first meet paper if writing a “W”. So this site and the glacier it is named after are the beginning of the trek.
If staying at Guardería Glaciar Grey, one must hike approximately 11 km form the boat with all their gear but once they arrive at camp they can ditch their things and spend as much time at the glacier as they like. On the other hand, if staying at Paine Grande, you have to hike out and back to the glacier on your first day. That is a fairly long day, especially in strong winds, and you might not have as much time to hang out at the mirador looking over the glaicer. However, a huge positive is that you can leave your big pack at Paine Grance and hike up to the glacier with just a day pack.
Once off the boat our plan was to scope out a campsite, pitch our tent, ditch our stuff inside and then hit the trail up to Glaciar Grey as quickly as possible, hoping to visit the glacier and get back to camp before dark.
Hiking to Glacier Grey
Our plan to hike up to Glacier Grey and back was still totally possible, but had been made slightly more intense since we had ended up on the later boat and it was already late afternoon.
From Paine Grande to Glacier Grey was approximately 12 km and our map suggested it might take 4 hours. Alex was sure we would be slightly quicker, but I didn’t want to assume. Plus, we had our eyes on hiking slightly beyond the Glacier Grey mirador to a suspension bridge with an epic view, which added on another kilometer or two.
We hit the trail at a brisk pace, excited to finally be hiking The W Trek. From our campsite the trail traced along a huge lake called Lago Grey, corresponding with the name of the glacier feeding into this body of water.
Approximately 5 km from camp we came to a mirador that offers views of Lago Grey. However, the winds blasting down Lago Grey were so strong we could barely remain vertical standing in the mirador’s clearing. A few steps farther down the trail I saw some rocks covered in what looked to be pretty fresh blood. Alex agreed it was blood and we spent the next few kilometers discussing all possible sources of this blood. We later learned that an older, female hiker had been knocked over by the strong winds and hit her head on a rock. Several hikers had come to her aid, bandaged her up and escorted her back to camp for medical assistance.
Just goes to show how serious the wind is here. While it never knocked me over, I did experience a wind-burn, a sensation similar to a sunburn. I highly recommend a buff to keep your face safe if the winds pick up.
Eventually we made it to the mirador overlooking the Glaciar Grey, the first glacier like this I had ever seen in person. It was mighty but quite far away and we wanted a closer look. Despite tired feet, we carried on a little farther to get to the bridge (below). The view was well worth the extra kilometer.
It was a long hike back and due to some rookie mistakes, I developed a collection of gnarly blisters that would haunt me for the rest of our time on The W Trek. Once back at the Paine Grande Campsite, I soaked my feet in Lago Pehoé before making a quick dinner and heading to bed.
