Chile: torres del paine w-trek

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia / 80kms / 2-4 days returns or one way / Intermediate

This trip was part of my bigger South American adventure including Salkantay Trek and Machu Picchu hike in Peru, 4WD road trip through Salar del Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and hikes in Patagonia Argentina.

Arrival: Puerto Natales

There are several ways to arrive at Puerto Natales. By flying, prices can be expensive, and also the airport is also small with limited flights, probably even further now with COVID-19. Another option is to fly to Punta Arenas in Chile, or El Calafate in Argentina, and take a public bus or other transfers such as rental car to this gateway to the Torres del Paine.

I opted to fly to Punta Arenas, arriving around 2am and take a first bus at 7am to Puerto Natales. There are plenty of options to take with different bus companies however there is no difference on pricing if you have been booking earlier, or at the time of your arrival. The bus ride was easy because I made a booking earlier to ensure sure I had an allocated seat reserved to avoid any delays. I decided to arrive a few days earlier to have time off to explore surroundings and get a good rest before my multi day group hike.

Puerto Natales is the entrance way to Torres del Paine National Park. During those few days in town I had a chance to explore the town, do a few day trips including a quick visit to the Torres del Paine park for a sneak peek, enjoy local food and rest well for the upcoming hike. It is also a last place to do any last-minute shopping or rent all the equipment I needed for the hike, however pricing can be a bit higher than elsewhere so make sure you are prepared prior to arrival.

There are plenty of accommodation options available depending of your budget, from camping grounds, hostels and hotels.

The pre trip to the park is totally worth it if you don’t have a car to go and explore it yourself. You get to see slightly different point of views and lookouts what is waiting for you, as well as few side trips including the Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument - massive underground cave - where they have found remnants of extinct animals and human remnants.

Day 1 hike: Puerto Natales, base de las torres lookout and Serrano Camp

The first hiking day was all about trekking the route through dense forest and mountain paths at the east side of the park to the base of Las Torres lookout, to see the famous three towers and turquoise lagoon. The hike wasn’t very demanding, and roughly 16kms return, which took 9-10 hours in total. I must say I truly enjoyed the wintery conditions we had due to the unusual late winter toward the end of October. The last bit of the climb was covered with ice and snow, which gave a truly dramatic view of the towers. We were lucky thou, as the track was closed for several days due to the weather conditions, yet our trek happened - with a little window of bearable conditions. The climb and descent of our trek was a slippery slide in below zero celsius conditions which took an extra toll, however it didn’t effect any of the spirit and excitement what was lying ahead. I can imagine this place being filled with fellow trekkers during peak season, however this time we had the whole place and scenery mostly to ourselves to relax, take photos and have a little lunch, and to replenish the energy for the return along the same route as we came in.

After the hike we took a transfer to the campsite for a well earned dinner and sleep. The campsite was a little drive away from the main park, right next to the lake Azul.

Day 2 hike: Serrano Camp/Paine Grande Camp via grey lookout

Waking up with incredible landscapes, the coldest strong winds and rain was an indication of what lie ahead for second day. We opted to do the east side hike, including a 45 minute long ferry ride on Lake Pehoé to get to the Paine Grande Camp site. We arrived early to catch a ferry, to ensure we missed the queue and get the earliest possible ferry, to avoid losing active hiking time to the lookout point of Grey Glacier. This is crucial if you have a schedule.

The hike itself was only 11kms long, which would have taken 4-5 hours to the Grey lookout. With my faster hiking pace and fitness level, I opted to leave the group, sign a waiver to go alone for a longer hike to see first hanging bridges past Grey Lodge - making a total of 26kms round trip, which took roughly 6.5 hours. This was a highly demanding day, with heavy rain and gusty wind, reaching speeds of up to 200kms/hour, but I was determined to see Grey Glazier up close.

As soon the ferry arrived to the Paine Grande, I started hiking to ensure I had spare time to finish, with enough time before it closed. It was all worth it, even thou there were times when thoughts were creeping into my mind “What am I here for?”. Seeing some of the fellow trekkers equipment being torn apart because of strong winds, really reminded me of the importance of quality gear.

The moments of sunshine helped to set the mood higher and a surprise catch up with my Finnish friends, who I didn’t have any idea would be here. This was one of the most memorable moments ever. Sharing some quick stories by the fire and hot chocolate at the Grey Lodge for half an hour was pure gold! Due to time restrictions, I had to jog back to the Paine Grande Camp site to have a prepared dinner, which was truly appreciated after the wet, physically demanding day.

If you are doing the ‘O-Trek’, you automatically see all these highlights along the way of the loop track. I am already planning to return and doing this to get a whole new view of the park and back of the majestic mountains.

Day 3 hike: Paine Grande Camp/Cuernos Camp via frances lookout

The hike to reach the middle section of the “W” was cut shorter than the trek usually is. the full trek would reach the Britanico lookout. However, by cutting it shorter by 5-6 hours and turning back from the French Valley lookout allowed more time to be immersed by the awe-inspiring views of the mountain range, spreading across the national park while witnessing avalanches breaking free from the ice. I don’t think I missed much with this decision, as it was truly magical to be impressed by the power of nature in front of my eyes.

This was a 14km hiking day. The first stretch from the Paine Grande Camp site to the Italian Camp was relatively easy, before taking the French Valley Mirador climb up to the Frances Lookout, which be came a lot harder. To witness dramatic views of multiple glaziers coming together, and hearing the thunderous avalanche, and seeing them breaking down from the glazier’s edge, is one of the biggest moments I wasn’t prepared for. After spending an hour to admire the view, it was time to return to the Italian Camp, while admiring light blue lakes contrasting against the deep green forests. The rest of it was a gentle hike to the Cuernos Camp, which was the most impressive campsite of this trip. The majestic backdrop of the mountains under the clear starry sky, truly gave me a chance to acknowledge what I had achieved before my last day of the “W”.

Day 4 Hike: Cuernos Camp to Puerto Natales

My final day of the W-trek was purely enjoying the sunniest and warmest day of the hike. Waking up right next to the amazing views of the Cuernos del Paine (the Horns of Paine) and continue the treck of another 9kms to Las Torres Campsite, in hindsight, was all about relaxing, enjoyment, laughs and reflection of the accomplishment we had achieved in the past few days. We had plenty of breaks, incredible vivid sceneries and a sense of familiarity with the New Zealand surroundings, was a great reminder of how small we are in this amazing world. It is incredible to realise how once upon a time this side of the world was connected to New Zealand and Australia. This can still be seen in nature and fauna all of these places share, even thou they are thousands of kilometres apart. Just before the end of the hike, I spotted a small waterfall where I took a quick refreshing, yet freezing shower, with a big beaming smile across my face. These are the small touches travelling and exploring the world is all about.

Once I reached the car park it was time for the few hours drive to reach Puerto Natales, farewell our incredible mountain guides and a final local dinner and drinks with our small, short term family I formed, with plenty of laughs.

Departure: Puerto Natales to argentina

After a good night sleep it was time for the next bus ride to the El Calafate in Argentina, and immediately catching a bus to El Chalten for new hikes and adventures.

To summarise it, all I can say that it was a truly famous Patagonia experience, with all the possible weather conditions. I feel so grateful to achieve everything I planned, without missing anything because of the weather. Plus I managed to squeeze in some extra kilometres to cover more of the park.

There is no doubt I will be back to cover the other areas of the Torres del Paine in a future!

quick tips:

First choose: do you wish to do an independent trek or join a tour where meals and accommodation are organised and provided for you. Tours are not compulsory, however they are a good way to experience the hikes and fully immerse yourself with the incredible views and maximise the time spent on routes, because as you don’t require packing and unpacking equipment, or cooking meals. I found sometimes the pace of tours were too slow for my liking, however this tour offered a waiver to break free from the group and do an independent hike, at times of my choice. This was a great option that I took onboard, knowing I had the experience, if things go wrong - then the waiver released the tour company from any responsibility during the time I was away.

If you are travelling around by bus, make sure you do bookings on them as soon as possible as all the seat are allocated and they are on high demand.

Do NOT set fire anywhere. on trails until clearly marked. There was an incident which almost destroyed the whole park and the signs of if are still visible with skeleton trees. You don’t want to end up up to 3 years in prison and thousands of dollars of fines.

Also drone usage is a no no, which effects wildlife in the park.

Stay on marked trails to keep local flare and fauna protected. This also extends to take EVERY single bit of rubbish with you.

Each trail have a time limit, you need to be aware of and complete prior closing. Hiking is only permitted in a day light.

Either way, doing an independent adventure or joining a pre-organised tour, you need to choose if you want to do W, O (Circuit) or Q-Trek. See the map here.

The W-Trek is the most popular which usually takes 5 days, but it can be done in 3-4 days by shortening a few of the routes. The treks can be done in any order, depending how you are planning to move from one area to another. All three routes are return trips - returning the same way you went.

The O-Trek or Circuit includes all of the W-Trek I you choose, and a full loop around the back of the Torres del Paine. This can be done in 7 to 13 days, depending what pace you prefer and how detailed you wish to explore the W-Trek.

The Q-Trek is the Circuit and added section to form a tail of a Q if you wish to hike a bit more. All the details can be found from the park’s official website http://www.parquetorresdelpaine.cl/en/

Basically it all comes down to how relaxed you want your hike to be.

Next step is to plan your itinerary as detailed as possible if you decide to go independently. All the treks are reservation only treks due the popularity and overcrowding of the park. Each camp site you are staying at, reservations are required and to be produced upon your arrival. Prepare your plan based on your trekking pace and how far/detailed you wish to explore your chosen trek. You need to rely on the reservation system, which puts limits on all of the planning. Luckily this can be done online. Also, all the treks have starting and ending times, which sets a limitation on the latest start and time. There are also a limitation on how many sections you are allowed to skip per day. So study the park carefully.

There is an option to do daily hikes while locating yourself in Puerto Natales and driving or busing into a park, however the travel time is roughly 2.5hrs each way. This takes a lot of time away from your trekking, however this option comes in handy, if all of the accommodation options are sold out.

Staying in the park gives you an opportunity of being immersed with the incredible scenery. When reserving your campsite of Refugio, you have four options:

Park Campamentos are the most basic campsites, which include dirt tent sites, clean water, common cooking area and toilets - and they are free.

Private Campamentos have a few more amenities such as showers, tent rental and few of them even have an option to buy a dinner. These have small fees to use.

Refugios offers beds and slightly nicer showers and other facilities - yet costs a bit more.

The last and most costly option is a hotel, for amore convenient stay - which are fully serviced.

When making your plans, you might come across issues such as you may fall short of a campsite, or you have to modify an order for your treks, when you have to start looking for a routes requiring either a car, bus or ferry transportation. As some of the tickets can sell out, especially if you plan to make an early start with your hike, which require morning transportation. Queuing early enough is important as some of them are on high demand. In case you fall short with a single campsite, keep reaching out to companies directly for cancellations, to beat the online booking systems.

So planning is quite a crucial part when visiting this park. It is extremely popular, however weather will set its own challenges for the treks as well. Like me, you can literally have below zero temperatures and snowing on one day, 200km/hr gust winds and rain the next, followed by scorching heat and sunshine. Some of the routes can be closed in the case of bad weather which will put hikes on hold, and then routes will get extremely busy when the closures are lifted.

Other things to consider are the gear you will take with you and the food for your treks, as well as rest stops. Also transportation to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine is good to keep in mind. Not to even mention the time of the year you want to go. I am not going through these details in this section, however if you have any concerns or questions, feel free to reach out and I will share my experience.

Happy planning!