Trekking in Torres del Paine National Park
Base Las Torres
After about a week of exploring Patagonia’s Argentinian side, it was time to try out Chile’s version. Puerto Natales, Chile’s jumping off point for southern Patagonia, is just about a 3-hour bus ride from El Calafate, Argentina.
My friend and I arrived to Puerto Natales the afternoon before we headed out on our “W Circuit” trek through the company Las Torres in Torres del Paine National Park. Upon arriving we rented some trekking poles (highly recommended due to Patagonia’s high winds) from Rental Natales, attended a briefing for our trek at the Las Torres office in town, went out for a good dinner, and got some rest before the big day.
W Circuit — Chileno Sector
Campground and horses at the Chileno sector
We caught a bus early the first morning of our scheduled trek to the national park from town, and then a shuttle to Las Torres Hotel. Since I would be conducting interviews for a case study on Las Torres (stay tuned!), I was assigned a marketing contact from the company to assist with any hospitality needs and staff interviews. She kindly showed us around the hotel and Central sector of the reserve before we started out on our trek to the Chileno sector late that morning.
The hike up to Chileno was fairly short, yet steep. We had to take a few breaks and walk over a windy pass so once we saw the refugio (also known as a mountain hostel) in sight, we were relieved. The Chileno refugio and campground is set next to a river in a beautiful spot between two mountain ranges. I found it to be very scenic and peaceful, and really enjoyed being surrounded by the sounds of the river. We met a great group of hikers going the opposite direction a few hours after we got there so we enjoyed conversations with them as well as a cozy and warm tent to sleep in that night.
Our Chileno sector crew
Las Torres Reserve
Horseback riding on Las Torres Reserve
The next morning we hiked to Base Las Torres, also known as “The Towers.” It is one of the hardest sections to trek on the W, but it was totally rewarding and gave me the confidence to take on the rest of the trek. The towers are incredibly majestic and while the climb to the base is tough, it is worth it.
Later in the day, we headed back down to the Central sector, where we rested in the refugio and then met back up with our Las Torres contact at the hotel. I learned a lot about AMA, Las Torres’ NGO, from its team leader, Christian Andrade. He sat down with me to tell me about the different programs they manage to support conservation in the reserve. Three of the main areas they fundraise for and work on are reforestation for the native Linga tree, building new trails and trail maintenance, and educational programs for schools. The main focus right now is the new trail up to Chileno as a lot of recent rain caused erosion on the trail, since it was originally a horse trail. To build it, they partnered with Conaf, Chile’s national forest service organization, so they can ensure its built with low environmental impact goals in mind.
After learning a lot, having a beautiful meal at dinner, and a good night’s sleep at the Central sector refugio, we headed out for horseback riding on the reserve the next morning. We learned about the variety of horses at the stables (and how they are used for different purposes), the care for the horses, and how to properly ride them. For a few hours we rode on the horse trails and took in the views of the region. It was an exciting and relaxing ride that offered a whole new perspective of the reserve and connected us to the history of the land.
Being served a sustainable cocktail at Hotel Las Torres
The rest of the day was spent eating the delicious food at the reserve, visiting the organic garden (where 30% of the food for the hotel comes from), and learning about the sustainable cocktails (which are made from ingredients from the garden or land, and made 100% with recycled materials). The hotel was peaceful and relaxing, and the incredible hospitality was the cherry on top.
W Circuit — Francés Sector and Paine Grande
View from the trail to Francés sector
After a couple relaxing days exploring the Las Torres Reserve, it was time to get back on the trail to finish the W. We spent about 7 hours trekking from Central sector to Francés sector. Along the way, we passed mountain streams, small waterfalls, blue lakes, alpine mountains, dry bush, and lush forests. The most striking part to me was the Nordenskjold Lake, which most of the section of this part of the trail is parallel to. It had a unique blue color tone that I’ve never seen before and with the views of high alpine peaks in the background paired with rainbows from the mist coming off the lake, I felt like I was living in a fairytale. The variety of landscape we passed through in just those seven hours was hard to believe, yet it was real. That’s Torres del Paine for you.
Our stay at the Francés sector that night was a bit more chaotic. As it turned out, some extremely strong winds were expected to come through the evening into the next day — strong enough that parts of the W trail ended up closing. Needless to say, our night up at Francés was very windy. We were supposed to camp, but ended up upgrading to a couple beds in domes, which served as the refugio in this sector. The domes had several bunk beds, a bathroom and showers, and a small gas fireplace. They were simple yet secure and with all the wind, they made us feel a bit more comfortable.
On our last day we made the trek to Paine Grande sector, which took around two and a half hours. We were offered more beautiful lake views and passed the Francés Valley, where many hikers on the W explore for Frances Glacier and Británico — an area we decided to slip due to a lack of time and energy.
Windy times on the W trail along Lago Grey
View of Grey Glacier from the 1st Lookout
Although Paine Grande was our final stop, we decided to continue on the W trek to the 1st lookout of Grey Glacier. The conditions were still extremely windy so the hike up against the wind was pretty exhausting, but we pushed on. The viewpoint of the glacier was beautiful, but the wind was too intense to stay for very long without blowing away. We snapped a couple pictures and headed back fairly quickly. It wouldn’t be the real Patagonia experience without a bit of wind!
The adventure ended at Paine Grande, where we shared a pizza, had some beer and reflected on the past few days. We took a catamaran back across Lake Pehoé with people who we attended the briefing with before the trek and passed multiple times during our time on the trail. It was fun to share the experience with strangers who became friends, and talk about how each of our journeys went. Leaving the National Park, I felt a great sense of accomplishment and pride. It took a whole lot of dreaming, planning and trekking to make the W Circuit dream a reality so to have successfully completed it felt really good. I reflected a lot on the bus ride out of the park while looking at the striking Patagonian peaks about life at “home” and where life will lead me to next. Nature is always a great reminder as to how change is an essential part to living life.
