Day 5 – Campamento Los Torres to Campamento Seron

While most people climbed to see the towers, I slept in. Then as they began to return, I headed out of camp. The trip back down the mountain is far easier than the walk up, plus I was fresher than yesterday. I stopped for a brief break at Chileno, then climbed the hill to where my trail yesterday met the main trail. I took a break before heading down, aiming for Hotel Los Torres at the bottom. With good poles, the trip down was easy and I passed many day walkers going the there way.

The Hotel is extravagant, some calling it an eyesore, and there are a set of refugios not far from it for hikers to stay. I stopped for a coke, then headed on. From here on, I’m officially on the back of the park and there are less people. In fact, the only person I see until I reach camp is a man running – yes running – the other way early on. The trail led up a hill along a fence and through a forest of autumn colours on a 4WD track.

It reminded me very much of walking in Australia. As I came down the hill an hour later in the hot beaming sunlight, I could see the beautiful yellow plains with Rio Paine weaving its blue green way through it. I could also see the shining roof of the camp building.

I arrived on the plains and while it doesn’t look long, the walk just seemed to go on and on, mainly because there was little change in scenery and I was expectant of finding the camp after my long day of walking in the sun.

Eventually I arrived at camp to find 5 other walkers already camping, today being their first day. It would seem that my little group of five is growing.

I set up camp and met my new travelling companions.

Day 6 – Campamento Seron to Refugio Dickson

The night was warm and I was woken at one point by a rabbit who must have mistaken my green tent for the grass in the moonlight; I heard it bounce off and go bounding away. Then later in the morning a puma was sighted in the field, but not by me. Gusts of warm wind began buffeting my tent as I began to get ready for the day, a vast difference to the cold winds of days past.

The trail followed the river around initially on the plains, but quickly began rising into the hills and up the side of one particularly tall hill. At the top, the wind was gusting so heavily it was hard to walk, but we got a great view of Lago Paine with Rio Paine winding into the distance.

Angry clouds rolled past the tall mountains at the other end of the valley, making odd shapes as they crossed the peaks, thankfully not heading towards us.

We continued across the wind blasted hilltops before weaving our way along the side of the mountains at the edge of the plains. These mountains are the back of those we got close and personal with on the other side of the park. They look vastly different from here.

As we walked, the Patagonian Ice Field came into view at one end of the mountains, reminding me of my Antarctic trip not two weeks ago now. This was truly an unexpected and fantastic sight.

We walked on and at the end of the plains we crossed a muddy valley and came to a sign that said ’45 minutes to camp’. After a rest, we continued, crossing beams of wood that had been placed to help us not get so mud soaked. We climbed a final hill and saw Refugio Dickson sitting at the end of a flat peninsula jutting into Lago Dickson, and a river wending past it.

It was about here that the slight rain started. We crossed the hill and after a steep climb down, we made our way to the Refugio, where over a beer we stopped to wait out the rain. We then hurriedly erected our tents and went back to the refugio where the cook was hand making a meat and egg pie. It looked so delicious that I decided to sit in on the meal. It turned out to be an excellent decision.

Day 7 – Refugio Dickson to Campamento Los Perros

During the night it had been warm and I’d stripped off most my night clothes off. But at some point in the night there was a change and I got very cold, having to put everything on again and I still wasn’t warm. There was frost on the ground outside when I emerged. But along with the frost came blue skies and wispy white clouds.

Today’s an easy walk of only 9km and slightly up hill through a forest. Being short serves nicely as a warmup for tomorrow’s hard climb up and over Paso John Gardner.

We began walking around the hill that we’d climbed down last night in the rain and began the slow climb into the forest towards the most obvious pass through the mountains. At one point we came to a small rocky area which allowed us awesome views back to the ice field, then it was back into the trees. We climbed for most of the morning, vaguely following Rio Los Perros. The trail meandered through the forest before going around a large patch of the red moss I’d seen in Tierra del Fuego on the Paso de la Oveja hike.

The trail then went down the hill to a bridge crossing a stream that fed into the river. After walking for a while we soon came to a waterfall…

…where the Rio fed down into a narrow channel.

We stopped for a look and a break before charging on. The forest flattened out and I somehow managed to leave my companion behind. An hour passed and before I knew it I’d crossed a pair of bridges and was out of the forest and climbing up a field of rock towards the Galcier Los Perros. After a stiff climb, zig zagging up the slope, I eventually arrived at the top and looked down across the glacier lake to the glacier itself.

The view back down the valley where I’d come was just as impressive.

From here it was another 20 min walk picking my way around the lake and across another rocky field before entering the forest to arrive at Campamento Los Perros.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Day 3 – Campamento Italiano to Refugio Los Cuernos

Most of today will be spent climbing along the length of Valle del Frances. French Valley is the central park of the W and is a fairly rocky climb all the way to the top. The good thing about the valley is you must come back the same way meaning there’s no need to carry your pack. So with a day pack and some water we headed off up the valley. The climb is fairly strenuous, starting out by climb up through the forest alongside the glacier where every now and again a loud thunderous crack would announce another piece of ice falling from it.

The trail followed Rio del Frances up to a large tarn at the base of the glacier previously unseen. After crossing a gully with a small waterfall, the terrain grew rockier and headed further up the side of the river which was crashing down across the rocks.

Looking back, the plains below started to open up and we could see the lagos at the base of the mountains.

The trail headed into the forest again, this time steeper.
After a while, we popped out at an open rocky area and looked to to see we were surrounded by mountains. The view here was amazing in all directions. Ten minutes further on we arrived at the closed Campamento Britanico. We pushed on further for ten minutes to arrive at the mirador, a small peak set in the middle of the mountains.

Standing on the peak, it felt like we were standing on the tongue of the mountains surrounded by teeth with the molars behind us to the jagged incisors ahead of us. Unfortunately no picture could truly capture the sense of being surround by these peaks.

There was a sign telling us that we had reached the end of the mountain trail with a rather obvious trail going beyond it. My companion and I followed it for a while to another rubbly peak a little higher.

It took us about an hour to make our way back down again. Back at camp, we packed up and headed on to Refugio Cuernos. This next Refugio is the most expensive of the Parque Nacional and my companion decided to walk on to the next camp beyond it instead of paying the price – another 5 hours walk – so I walked on alone. The rest of the trail wasn’t too difficult, along the edge of Lago Nordernskjold.

I crossed a pair of hills before arriving at the Refugio Los Cuernos where they had platforms available to pitch tents upon. The wind was too strong to use my camp stove, so I opted for dinner at the refugio, but for the amount I paid it wasn’t that great. As darkness fell, I headed to bed with the hardest part of the W ahead of me.

Day 4 – Refugio Y Campamento Los Cuernos to Campamento Los Torres

Overnight the sky cleared and the full moon was bright in the sky. Camping on platforms among trees sheltered my tent from the slight wind. I’d expected rain overnight too but none came and today I’m greeted by a slightly cloudy day. The weather has been great so far, thankfully.

I headed out of camp and up a hill, looking back across the refugio and the small chalets that are part of it.

My morning was spent walking up and down slight hills as I worked my way alongside Lago Nordenskjold and under the peaks of Cuernos del Paine.

At the top of some of the hills there are good views of the lake in both directions. The trail plodded on and I had to step aside on occasion for a train of horses heading one way or the other along the trail.

We have been told of a shortcut and I came to the sign about three quarters of the way to Hotel Los Torres and followed it.

It seemed to run parallel to the other trail for a while then began climbing the hill towards Refugio Chileno. The terrain changed as I walked, from the yellow grass into flowing green grasslands. I looked back to see a small lake.

The climb isn’t steep, but it climbs steadily, which can be worse. Thankfully there is the occasional flat area giving some respite. Soon the path connects with the one coming from the Hotel Los Torres, the path changes and there are more day walkers. There’s a short steep climb before it heads down equally steeply towards Chileno, just visible where the river meets the forest.

The refugio is now closed for the season but it’s still a good place to stop for lunch. I crossed the river and dropped my pack at a picnic table, sitting in the sun. After 30 minutes I headed on for the last part of the day’s walk.

Within 5 minutes, the trail crossed back across the river and was a difficult climb for 90 minutes through the forest. I veritably crawled into Campamento Los Torres and after a rest, I set up my tent. I then decided to climb further up the mountain to see the towers in the afternoon light.

While they say it’s best at sunrise and most people will be climbing up in the morning, my walk tomorrow is long and I don’t wish to add to it. The track begins climbing steeply through the forest and is hard work, I sit and rest after 15 minutes before continuing up a rocky section of the track which meanders through the boulders for another 30 minutes before eventually coming out at the towers and the glacier lake below it. The view in the afternoon sun is still stunning. I walk down to the edge of the pristine blue green lake and drink from the water.

After enjoying the view for a while, I headed down again.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is the most famous national park in Chile. The Torres del Paine – The Towers of Paine – is technically part of the Patagonian Andes Mountain range, but isn’t actually part of the main Andes chain. It’s also the second most expensive hiking area in South America after Machu Picchu.

There are three main hikes in the Parque Nacional, the W, the O and the Q.

The W is the main reason the park is so popular. It sees hundred of thousands of walkers a year, sometimes with a hundred tents at each camping site each day during peak times – December to March. It’s called the W because of the distinctive W shape that it makes from one end to the other. On average it takes between 3 and 5 days to hike and there are refugios – small hotel facilities that rent beds, provide food etc – along the way, so not all travellers have to carry equipment or camp if they choose not to. You must pay to camp and most camping sites and they provide facilities such as toilets. During the low season, some of the campsites are closed – you can still camp there, it’s free, but the facilities are all closed.

The Paine Circuit, is called the O because it walks you around the entire Paine Massif. It’s not really in the shape of an O, as it includes the W and takes 8-10 days to complete. It’s where hikers go to both avoid the crowds of the W and to get a more hardcore experience – the paso John Gardner. During peak seasons, though, there can still be plentiful people on the O, sometimes up to 50 tents at the the one Refugio on the other side.

The Q, is simply the O, but with the extension added, a small ‘tail’ heading from the Administration building, for almost 20km to the beginning of the W. This adds another day to the O.

For my hike, I decided to do the Q and went along to the daily information session at the Erratic Rock, a hostel in Puerto Natales, to find other hikers to do it with. There were 4 others that I joined up with and while I’d only be walking with one other during the day, we’d hang out together as a group at each campsite. Walking alone is not recommended when doing the circuit, as Paso John Gardner can be challenging. We also planned to do the hike over 10 days, although that could change as we go depending on whether and length of some sections. At Erratic Rock, there were 30 other people that were planning to do the W. It’s low season, but it will still be fairly busy.

Day 1 – Administrativa to Campamento Las Carretas

We designed today to be a short day along the tail of the Q and as an initial warm up for the coming days.

At 7:30am the bus picked up the masses from around town to head the 2 hour journey to the entrance of the Parque Nacional. While it’s the end of the season, there are still 5 buses going. We stop at the entrance – Porteria Y Guardia Laguna Amarga – where we pay the entrance fee and watch a short ‘be nice to our parque’ video. Some walkers leave from here via a short van ride to the Hotel Las Torres – the official eastern starting point of the hike – but most continue on to the western start point, via catamaran across the Lago Pehoe – another 30 minutes on the bus.

Then on a single bus, my little team of five, continue for yet another 30 minutes to the parque administrativa centre and the beginning of the Q.

After some last minute preparation, we walked out across the flat grassy plain with the entire massif in the distance. Most of the two hours of todays hike was flat until the last couple of hundred metres where hills ran up the side of Rio Grey.

As we walk, we split into two teams, myself and an American guy walk together, while the others are two Australians – a guy and girl – and a female Brit. It doesn’t take us long to arrive at the camp site and we set up our tents and check out the place. There are only a small number of tent sites, a cooking shelter and a toilet, that we promptly ban anyone from using, preferring the wilderness latrine style of digging a hole. The day had been beautiful, so the five of us hung out as we cooked dinner and chatted until it grew dark.

While we were there, we met a Polish couple going the other way. They had just done the W and it had rained for all 5 days. We are hoping for a better experience.

Overnight it did rain a little and we were woken by brisk winds blasting at our tents. While the wind remained in the morning, there were blue skies.

Day 2 – Campamento Las Carretas to Campamento Italiano

We headed out into the brisk wind through the hills above Rio Grey. We weaved along the side of the river for some time eventually taking a break in a protected valley as the rio turned off.

The hill then led down onto a yellow grass plain where wind hurtled towards us with such force that at times we couldn’t move forward. With packs on, the wind can really blow you around. We struggled on towards the main towers of Cerro Paine Grande.

Eventually we arrived at Mirador Pehoe – a lookout across Lago Pehoe – the aqua waters being hammered by the winds.

We spied the midday catamaran crossing the lake to deliver a new load of hikers to the refugio. From the mirador the terrain became more hilly and we climbed up and down through burnt forest. We eventually came down a steep hill and arrived at Refugio Paine Grande where we stopped for lunch.

The refugio has a shop and I enjoyed a coke and some chocolate before we headed off again. The terrain became fairly hilly as we headed for the next campsite under the 3km tall towering mass of Cerro Paine Grande – the tallest peak of the massif. We passed several groups of people, going in both directions. The next couple of days is going to be busy as we’re on the W, the most popular part of the hike. We then walked along the length of the Lago Skottsberg, it’s water a totally different blue…

We took a break as the trail began to get a little muddy. It was here that the burnt trees stopped and living trees began again. We set off again towards the rocky spires of Cuernos del Paine, which will be above tonight’s campsite.

A one point, a group of guys came past and between them a guy sitting on a specially designed wheeled carriage, obviously specially designed for him. It was great to see how the group had found a way for their less able friend to hike with them. We continued on passing the snow covered glacier face of Cumbre Principle – the main peak of Cerro Paine Grande. We arrived at a river and crossed into Campamento Italiano. After setting up camp, our little group of five sat at the river watching pieces of the glacier calve off from the mountain.

The Trail Wanderer