Hiking the W circuit in Torres del Paine

Our first hike in Patagonia was in Torres del Paine. We chose to do the W circuit from east to west. Most of the hikers we met were going in the opposite direction because this is what was suggested by the people at Base Camp in Puerto Natales. The reasoning for going west to east is that you get the highlight of the towers as a reward at the end of the trip and don't have to worry about getting to Paine Grande in time to catch the noon boat out at the end of the trip. However, we knew that the next two days were expected to be clear weather-wise so we decided it was best to visit the towers first.

We planned to do the hike as follows:
Day 1 - Hike to Campamento Torres.
Day 2 - Short hike back out to Refugio/Campamento Chileno.
Day 3 - Hike to Refugio/Camping Cuernos.
Day 4 - Hike to Campamento Italiano.
Day 5 - Hike up and down Valle del Frances and stay another night at Italiano.
Day 6 - Hike to Refugio/Camping Grey.
Day 7 - Hike partway up John Garner Pass and stay another night at Grey.
Day 8 - Hike out to Paine Grande and catch the boat out from there to the minibus.

This would be entirely possible however it didn't pan out that way. We set out from Puerto Natales on a minibus early in the morning of April 14th. Our bus driver was super nice and let us hop out to take photos along the way. Our first glimpse of the towers was jaw-dropping.

Taken from Laguna Amarga, just before entering the park.

The minibus dropped us off near the very posh Hotel Torres at about 11:30 am. We hit the trail right away.

The hike went up the Ascencio river valley to the camp site. We passed Refugio/Campamento Chileno on the way and noted that the refugio was already closed for the season. Not a problem since we were planning on camping anyhow. We made it to Campamento Torres (7 km) and set up our tent in a nice wooded area with a stream running through it for fresh water. Then we continued up to the lookout onto the towers; partly this was to see them up close and partly it was to check out the trail to see how doable it would be before sunrise the next morning. This was a fairly steep scramble but we decided that it would be possible at dawn.  Good news!

We headed back to camp, had dinner and prepared to go to bed. Joe decided to have a look at the stars and came back to tell me that I had to come see. It was an amazingly clear night and almost a full moon. The moonlight was so bright that we had visible shadows and were able to take a photo of the mountain.

Photo by moonlight: note the upside-down Orion constellation

It was COLD overnight (below freezing) but we were ok. We got up before dawn and scrambled up to the towers again to see the sunrise. We brought breakfast with us to the top. It was extremely cold and was a mistake to not eat before heading up.  Cold AND hungry is not a good combination. But, the view was worth it.

Torres at dawn

We headed back down and packed up. Instead of going just to Chileno, which was totally deserted, we decided to press on to Cuernos. Our day two ended up being quite long as a result - 17 km. Too long - my left achilles tendon was aching by about the 12 km mark. By the time we got to Cuernos, I was really hobbling.

After camping at Cuernos, we headed over to Campamento Italiano (5.5 km). To give my foot a rest, we didn't do any exploring that day. The next day was rainy and very grey so we hiked a short ways up Valle del Frances to see the glacier. We heard pieces falling off periodically making very loud thunder-like noises. We decided that further trekking into the mist would reveal little of interest other than the inside of clouds and banks of mist.

Glaciar Frances

We stayed another night at Italiano for more foot recovery time.

The next day, still wet and misty, we headed over to Paine Grande (8km) and set up camp here. At sunrise the following morning, we were treated to a great view of a misty Paine Grande Massif.

Because of my foot, we decided to shorten our trip and stay two nights at Paine Grande. We managed a short hike up the valley to the Galciar Grey lookout (6 km each way) and gawked at the huge glacier for a while.

Glaciar Grey

The winds here were very strong though so we found shelter periodically to warm up.

The next morning we packed up camp and caught the boat out to meet up with the shuttle bus back to Puerto Natales.

Our revised trip was as follows:
April 14th, Day 1 - Hike to Campamento Torres, 7 km.
April 15th, Day 2 - Hike to Refugio/Campamento Cuernos, 17 km.
April 16th, Day 3 - Hike to Campamento Italiano, 5.5 km.
April 17th, Day 4 - Day hike up and down Valle del Frances. Hike to Refugio/Campamento Paine Grande, 8 km.
April 18th, Day 5 - Day hike up and back to the Glaciar Grey lookout, 12 km roundtrip.
April 19th, Day 6 - Leave via catamaran and minibus.

Now that we know what the terrain and distances are like, I would make the trip slightly easier for a return visit by camping for two nights at the bottom of each valley and day hiking up the valleys without the heavy backpacks. Alternatively, splurge and stay at the refugios so that we don't need as much gear. This would also have to be done earlier in the season though because the refugios were shutting down for the winter when we were there.

All in all, an amazing hike.