Patagonia – Torres del Paine – The W hike

Ever since my trip to Iceland, I’ve been itching to go to Patagonia. I’ve seen so many pictures of this absolutely stunning place and each year my urge to go kept increasing. This year I decided to give myself this trip as a birthday present.

My trip started out with getting robbed in Santiago. Once I made it to Punta Arenas and cooled off, I was getting more and more excited about getting into the actual park. We were all picked up from our respective hotels by our driver from Wildland Trekking. We drove down to Puerto Natales and then onto Torres del Paine.

We dropped our stuff off at the refugio at Las Torres to start our first day of hiking up to the namesake of the park; Las Torres. Our hike involved a fairly steep ascent of almost 3000 feet within the first mile and a half of the hike. We then traversed across the Pass of the Winds which was faithful to its name. My 360 camera that I had with me got scratched up from all the dust being kicked up. We cut through some forests, up a rocky mountain side and we arrived at the Torres viewpoint. The three towers rose majestically overlooking a beautiful grayish blue lake. I filled up my water reservoir in this lake and the cold glacial waters tasted incredible.

On our way back, our group became spread out. I was focusing on filming and photography and became separated from the front of the pack. One other guy and I were walking down when we came to a fork. The left side looked like a river bed, the right a trail. We took the trail. About half an hour into it, we realized we were on the wrong trail. The sun was starting to set and the weather started to cool. We booked back and to my surprise a large paw print was on the trail. A puma had walked across the trail. The spot was less than ten minutes of a walk from where we turned around.

We finally got on to the right trail and arrived about an hour later than the rest of the crew. The guide was not happy. The next day an early start awaited us again. We left our refugio to our next destination, the French Domes. It was much more of a flat hike but the winds were wicked. We were walking next to a lake called Nordernskjold. The wind came in 60-70 mph gusts off the lake. We could see the water getting kicked up and then it would hit us, stopping us in our tracks and sometimes knocking us down. Shortly after we were trapped in a downpour and hail. We made it to the French Domes after dark; hungry and cold. These were definitely the most unique of the refugios. They were large canvas domes. The rain and the wind played music on the canvas all night long.

 The next day were were graced with pleasant weather to hike into the French valley and on to Paine Grande. From here we took a boat and then a car ride down to a little fishing town called Serrano. The most luxurious of all the places we stayed at, the refugio here had incredible food and equally incredible views. Back in to the park and the rain we went the next day, trudging towards Glacier Grey. Just like day two, the winds and rain pounded us on the way there. But the view was worth it. Ending on a black sand beach, the scenery was absolutely stunning.

A comfortable boat ride the next day and we were back to Puerto Natales. Even with a sprained knee, this trip was memorable. These were the most intense hiking conditions I’ve been in, but it felt great to have completed it. Our final tally was just short of 40 miles. If you get a chance, you should go down here.