Hiking the 'W' - 6 of 10

After our night’s stay on Lago Pehoé we embarked on our 2 day hike of the W Trail starting with a boat ride across Pehoé. There are two main hiking/trekking routes in the Torres del Paine Park. One is called the circuit and takes 7 to 10 days to hike around the Torres, Cuernos and Cerros. The other is called the W and can be done in 3 to 5 days. We only had 2 and a half days for hiking, so we opted to do a lower cased U or a J depending on how you like to write your letters.

If you think of the Cuernos as center point (they are the peaks and spires that are purple and white in the picture to the left), then Lago and Glacier Grey along with the Cerros are on the far and middle left and the Torres are on the right, and up in the middle (the middle point of a W) is the Frances Glacier. Many people start their hiking on either end of the W and follow the trail – either beginning with a hike up to the Torres or beginning with a boat ride on Lago Grey and hiking back down towards Lago Pehoé. We opted to start right in between Lago Grey and Frances Glacier (or to use the W one last time, at the left bottom tip) at the Paine Grande Lodge on Lago Pehoé.
















As good an up close panorama of the Torres as I could get.
On the left is Glaciar Grey and the Cerros and Cuernos (The Cerros are in the left foreground).
On the right are the Cuernos and behind them are the Torres with Glaciar Frances just visible on the left.


After disembarking from the boat, which was jam packed full of day hikers, we decided to leave our packs at the Paine Grande Lodge and take a short hike up to a look out over Lago Grey. The hike up to the lake was our first taste in the Torres wind. We would be walking along, the sun shining, the rufous collared sparrows singing and wham! We would be hit with a blast of wind. The wind was so strong that we at times had to steady ourselves on the trail – keep in mind that we didn’t even have our backpacks on.

We made it up to the lake but were still such a distance from the glacier that we couldn’t see it. However, we were able to see the chucks of ice that were floating in the lake that had fallen off the glacier some time before. And as you may have guessed, the lake itself is a murky shade of grey. We headed back down the trail, back to the Paine Grande Lodge to pick up our bags and have some lunch.

After lunch, we started our trek to the Cuernos Refugio, the place where we would be staying the night. The W trail in Torres has a series of buildings called refugios, where you can buy a space to bunk or camp for the night. They had places where you can cook your own food or order dinner from the kitchen. The refugios have showers and have rooms with 8 bunks. They sell wine and even offer Pisco Sours. Of course everything has its price, but the network offers you the choice of packing in all your own food or making your experience more akin to Nepal where you trek from guesthouse to guesthouse only needing to worry about day snacks, water and enough money to buy your next meal. In Torres del Paine, because of the price mark-ups, our nightly concern hinged more on whether we had enough money to buy that next bottle of wine. (Good thing we brought our cash reserves!)

14 kilometers and 5 hours after lunch we arrived at the Los Cuernos Refugio. But along the way we were buffeted by the winds, treated to two beautiful alpine lakes of Lago Skottberg and Lago Nordenskjold, and frozen in awe by the immense size and beauty of the Glaciar Frances. The hike was long, blisters were forming on all of our feet, and our lunch had been too small, such that by the time we reached the Cuernos Refugio all we wanted to do was have something, anything to revive the spirit. As it turned out, we needed showers, Piscos, wine and dinner before feeling completely restored. Our roommates for the night were a Japanese couple and their Chilean guide, and the view of the Cuernos from the Refugio dining room was incredible. We played a few hands of bridge before turning in for the night.











































Starting top left and moving clockwise: Lago Pehoé, Sarah on the trail, Lago Nordenskjold, Glaciar Frances (bottom two as well), view of the Cuernos from the refugio, and an alpine lake.











The next morning, we set out early for the Chilenos Refugio. We were warned that there would be 2 big inclines on the morning hike. We quickly met them and pressed on. Later in the morning we had to ford a wide mountain stream jumping from boulder to boulder with our packs. All in all it was not too hard other than the following two facts: there was no marking as to where to cross and had Bruce not pushed on ahead and come back to lend a hand at the widest jump, we could have had at least one soaking foot. (Thanks Bruce!)

The late morning and early afternoon brought a hike across a southern facing slope which offered little shade from the hot sun. The trail continued to gain in elevation until we reached the Ascencio Valley where the Chilenos Refugio is located. Once we turned into this valley, the wind was fierce. As we hiked closer to our destination for the night we could hear the rush of the Río Ascensio below the trail and the trail began to slope quickly down.

We arrived around 1:45 in the afternoon. We claimed our bunks and had a brief respite before attempting the hike up to see the famed Torres. This day’s hike had also been around 14 kilometers during which Sarah had slightly twisted her knee. The weather in the valley was colder than on the south facing mountain side. Sarah deciding to stay behind at the Refugio, so Bruce, Jane and I packed some water, donned on our cold weather gear and began the 2 hour hike to the Torres.

Chilenos Refugio and the Río Ascencio.

As we made our way up the trail, we passed streams of day hikers heading back to their buses to hotels in other parts of the park. The weather was at times windy and cold and spitting rain. The trail followed the river up the valley through meadows and forests. Roughly halfway there, we met a couple from the Netherlands whom I had met in Villarrica the month before. They were coming back from the Torres with their two small children. We spoke with them for a few minutes, said our hellos and expressed our delight in seeing each other on the trail. Bruce and I pushed on as Jane, nursing a bruised tailbone from a Christmas day fall, decided to return to Chilenos Refugio with this couple. (We later learned they had hot chocolate and cookies! If only I would have known…)

After another 10 or 15 minutes, the trail spilt in two, with the left fork leading up a boulder field and the right fork continuing up the valley. To get to the lookout for the Torres, you have to scramble up the boulder field, so we headed left. After 35 or 40 minutes of hustling up through the boulders we came to the lookout. It continued to be windy, cold and spitting rain. There were a couple dozen people huddling around each other, snapping photos and otherwise wishing they had packed another jacket.

The tips of the Torres were shrouded in clouds, but their height and vertical walls made them a sight worth savoring. Below them is a small glacial lake with what looked to be a retreating glacier. The mirador (scenic lookout) where we were standing seemed to be a Glacial moraine from long ago, and Bruce and I had our pictures taken by fellow, friendly tourist. We took in one last look before turning around and hurrying our way back to the Refugio in order to get to dinner on time. (These refugios can be strict!)

Pictures from the trail on the way to the Torres and at the Torres.

That night we ate dinner with a family from the U.S. who has been living in Santiago for the past 3 years. The mom and one of the three children were birders so we talked about Flightless Steamer Ducks and Torrent Ducks among many others. And by the end of the meal, I was being taught by the kids how to play Egyptian Rat Screw, a card game of speedy card slapping. After playing this fun game, Sarah and I taught the whole family how to play “Oh Shaw!”, the Warren family classic.

The next morning we headed back down the trail and back to hosteria living. The weather was rainy and slightly cold. We slowly hiked the 2 hours down and caught a bus and negotiated a van ride back to our car where we promptly ate lunch. Afterwards we drove over to Lago Grey in hopes of seeing the Glacier.

Pictures from the Trail.