Since the Torres del Paine Nationalpark is the main attraction on the Chilenean site of Patagonia, we had to book all campgrounds a couple of weeks earlier. This led to the situation that we arrived in Puerto Natales, the town near the park, a week too early. There is not much to do there except for the not exactly close national park, so we quickly grew bored of relaxing days in bed. Finally these boring days were over and we routinely shopped for food and packed our backpacks for 11 days in the park.
Day 1: Ranger Station Laguna Amarga - Camp Seron
Our bus to the park leaves way too early, 7.30 am, and at 9.00 am we arrive at the park entrance. However, the "check-in" process takes its time and we are ready to start our hike at 11 am. We leave civilization behind and make our way over fields and through woods towards a glacier river valley. The landscape is nice but nothing special and the hike only takes around 3 hours. The cloudy sky lets the sun peak through once in a while. We set up our tent and it starts to rain and doesn't stop for the whole night. Even though the campground has a shelter, it is uncomfortably cold and windy to hang around there. Unfortunately we meet a couple of people that had to return from Paso Gardner, as it was closed due to bad weather. We hope that it changes for the better during the following days.
At least we booked dinner in the local refuge and are happy to sit next to a fire in a cozy wooden hut. The dinner is quite nice, tomato soup and fresh bread as a starter followed by awesome roast potatoes and beef ragout. Afterwards we cuddle into our sleeping bags, listen to the rain and read until we fall asleep.
Day 2: Camp Seron - Camp Dickson
It is still raining when we wake up. Breakfast in the refuge is great, lots of bread, scrambled eggs and huge ham slices. We even have leftovers to take away for lunch. After breakfast the rain subsides and we are able to pack up our tent and backpacks and continue onwards. The first real ascent awaits us and we are happy that we have our walking sticks, which is a huge relief for the legs and knees when walking with the heavy backpack. The landscape looks more and more alpine, except for many low bushes that just start to bloom a bright orange to red. The weather is sometimes nice, sometimes, windy, sometimes rainy, but we make it through the day drily.
Camp Dickson is located beautifully at a lake featuring large icebergs broken off from a glacier in the distance and a great view to the backside of the Paine Mountain Massive. The refuge shelter is really cozy and we hang around reading until dinner is ready. Some kind of beef soup is followed by vegetable filled chicken breast and mashed potato/pumpkin mix. Dessert is a massive brownie covered with dulce the leche. It snows outside.
Day 3: Camp Dickson - Camp Los Perros
After an extensive breakfast in Camp Dickson, we pack up our things and start walking towards Los Perros. During the night it snowed a lot and the snow came down quite low. A ranger lets us know that there are about 30 cm snow in the next camp and that Paso Gardner, which we need to cross the next day, is still closed due to bad weather and 1 - 1.50 m of snow. Still we continue, hoping that the weather will improve and that we will be able to cross the pass. Our way leads us slowly upwards and soon we reach a gorgeous viewpoint, where we see the glacier near Camp Dickson, the Paine Mountains and into the Los Perros Valley. The weather is actually great, sun is shining and the clouds are beautifully illuminated. We continue and eventually reach the snow border, however since it is really warm, the snow already starts to melt. Shortly before the Camp Los Perros we pass by the Los Perros Glacier, a massive hanging glacier flowing into a lake. Strong gusts of wind prevent us from hanging out there too long.
The camp is quite packed, since the pass has been closed for 2 days and people who could afford to wait did this instead of turning around. We set up our tent and enjoy the snowy landscape around us. This camp unfortunately does not offer food, so we have to cook by ourselves. Rumors spread that the rangers will decide tonight whether we can cross the pass tomorrow or not. A bit after 8 pm a ranger appears and lets us know that the pass is open again, but that there will still be a lot of snow. He encourages us to start as early as possible and no later than 8 am, since the weather tends to get worse in the afternoon.
Day 4: Camp Los Perros - Pass John Gardner - Camp Paso
The alarm rings at 6 am and we quickly pack up our things while eating the sandwiches we prepared the evening before. The snow at the campground melted away during the night. At 7 am we are ready to leave. Not much of a warm-up stroll today, the ascend starts immediately. The massive snow melt left the path very muddy and we are glad to have our walking sticks to balance across wooden trunks or little bridges in the mud. Nevertheless, the both of us manage to sink into the mud once and our shoes get wet and dirty. The path remains like that until we exit the woods and find ourselves in a truly alpine landscape. Snow covered mountains everywhere and we make our way over rocks and through sometimes deep snow fields. Grey clouds cover the sky but there is no rain or snow and only little wind. Finally we reach the pass and a stunning view presents itself: the massive Grey Glacier is flowing out from the extensive Southern Patagonian Icefield. Ice and snow-capped mountains as far as you can see.
The hardest part of the day and actually of the whole trek starts now: the descend to Camp Paso. Way steeper than the ascend but equally muddy. Our legs and knees hurt, it is hard going when you have to concentrate on every step, trying not to fall down while the backpack tries to push you down. When we finally reach the camp, we are exhausted and so happy, that we do not have to continue today.
Day 5: Rest day at Camp Paso
We had to book in a rest day at Camp Paso, since the following camps were already full that night. Not too bad after the strenuous hike the day before, but also a bit boring, since it is too cold to hang around outside. Thus we spent the majority of our time in the tent, reading and sleeping. Later in the day a large travel group arrives, with porters who carry all equipment and food. Suddenly the campground is overflowing and the shelter is occupied constantly by this group. It is annoying, noisy and we are looking forward to leaving.
Day 6: Camp Paso - Camp Grey
Our descend continues, but it is not as bad as the path directly after the Paso Gardner. The sun is shining and we have an ever changing but always stunning view towards the Grey Glacier. To Claudis dismay, we have to cross two large hanging bridges. The hike is short today and beautiful and soon we reach Camp Grey, our entrance into the famous "W trek". It is quite big but beautifully located next to the glacier and with views of massive stone walls.
The last time we showered was the day before starting our trek, meaning actually 7 days ago. Since it was cold most of the time, we didn't sweat that much, but now that the sun is out, we feel filthy. However, hot water is only availabe from 6.30 pm to 10 pm and we have booked into kayaking at 5 pm... thus we do the impossible and shower with fresh, clean and freezing cold glacier water. Washing the body is fine, cold, but not that bad. But washing the hair is just painful, ultimate brain freeze headache. But we are clean and have the sun to warm us up again.
Before we make our way to the kayak center, we stop by the nearby gorgeous Glacier Grey lookout and take a couple of pictures. The weather is fantastic. Then it is time to prepare for the kayaking, we get thick neoprene suits, helmets, jackets and are lounged into the turbid glacier lake. Euphoria grips us once we find ourselves close to the massive, blue icebergs in the lake. We paddle along and Domi fishes out a few small icebergs to suck on the millennia old glacier ice. We continue towards the glacier, impressive walls of the bluest jagged ice. Our guides tell us the sad story that this glacier loses massive amounts of ice each year and we already see from the surrounding rock marks that the glacier used to be not only much longer, but also much higher. Still, this kayak trip was an amazing experience and we are very glad that we had the chance to experience this. Happily we make our way to the refuge for dinner and allow each of us a beer for 5 USD. Tastes great, unlike the dinner, which is only mediocre.
Day 7: Camp Grey - Camp Italiano
Breakfast in Camp Grey sucks! The crew is unorganized and chaotic, lots of things ran out and it takes a long time until we finally get something to eat and drink. It probably does not help that the water supply broke down and the tap water is running no longer. Our moods improve once we are walking again, the weather is gorgeous and we enjoy our last views of the impressive Grey Glacier. In the afternoon we reach the refuge Paine Grande where we are happy to buy apples and a coke in the minimarket. The apples taste sooo good. We continue towards Camp Italiano and are surprised that it is nowhere near as full as Camp Grey, even though it is for free. We cook dinner in the shelter and soon retire into our tent. While reading we are hearing rumbling sounds and are wondering, whether this could be a thunder storm. However, no clowd is to be seen in the blue sky above. We guess that the sounds could come from the nearby glaciers on the south side of Paine Grande. The thundering sounds continue throughout the night.
Day 8: Camp Italiano - Mirrador Britanico - Camp Cuernos
The great weather from the previous day disappeared over night and the sky is overhung with thick grey clouds. We leave our things in Camp Italiano and begin our ascend into the Valle Frances. We are coming closer and closer to the south side of Paine Grande and realize that the thundering sound that we have heard the whole night are indeed avalanches coming down every 10 minutes or so. What an impressive sight! This side of the mountain anyway is gorgeous, with glaciers, snowfields and innumerable waterfalls, but to see and hear the avalanches coming down so frequently is just great. We continue to ascend into the Valle Frances and soon find ourselves surrounded by several mountain peaks featuring huge vertical cliffs. After making our way back to Camp Italiano, we pick up our luggage and walk the rest of the way towards Camp Cuernos, which turns out to be the least appealing of all campgrounds. Not because of the location, which is gorgeous, but because of the whole set up. The crew even let us wait for more than half an hour before somebody comes along to show us a spot to camp. As if we couldn't find one ourselves...
During dinner we sit next to nice but very talkative people, unfortunately the dining room is the exact opposite and as noisy as a packed bar at 11 pm, which makes it next to impossible to have a good conversation. Not what we would have liked after such a long day. The bread they serve and the lentil soup for starter are very good, but the main dish is not. We ask for more bread and as soon as dessert is over, we gladly make our way into the tent to sleep.
Day 9: Camp Cuernos - Camp Chileno
During breakfast we manage to sit by ourselves and are happy about the choice of joghurt and cereals. We even take a cup of coffee to our tent and drink it while packing up. Weather is great again and we enjoy the hike towards our next camp, even though the landscape is not as stunning as it has been the last days. We arrive early and are shown to a wooden platform where we set up our tent. The campground is small and cozy. And even better, there are hot showers, which we enjoy after this sweaty day. Until dinner we spent our time sitting outside in the sun and enjoy a couple of beers. Dinner is very good and we have a nice chat with the German couple sitting next to us. Not too many people in the dining room and thus not too loud.
Day 10: Camp Chileno - Camp Torres - Base de las Torres
We have to get up at 7 am for breakfast. It is a bit chaotic, but overall nice and we drink several cups of coffee. We are even a bit sad to leave this great campground.
Today is a short day and we only need 1 hour to reach the next campground. We quickly set up everything and then continue the steep ascend towards the three Torres del Paine. It is a gorgeous day again and we spend several hours sitting at the small glacier lake watching the towers and people around us. There is even a fox walking around searching for left over food. Back at the campground, we cook our last dinner. Again, we stalk a fox who is walking around the campground and try to take some pictures.
Day 11: Camp Torres - Ranger Station Laguna Amarga
This is our last day and all we have to do is walk back to the entrance station. No stunning landscapes anymore, no surprises. Weather anyway is not so nice, which means a good temperature for walking. We take our time but still only need about 2 hours for the hike. We arrive at a very fancy hotel, where the food and drinks are way too expensive and instead buy a coke at the nearby kiosk and wait outside until a shuttle bus takes us to the entrance station. There, we spend our time taking pictures of guanacos until our bus back to Puerto Natales leaves. Back in civilization we gorge on lamb and salmon pizzas and drink two bottles of wine. And not to forget: We have a long, hot shower and get to wear clean clothes afterwards.
