Hiking the Torres del Paine W Circuit | Patagonia Day 2

After a successful day one in the Torres del Paine National Park, in southern Chile, we were ready to embark on day two.  This day would have re-trace our route from day one in reverse to get us to Refugio Paine Grander where we would spend the night.  It would be the only trail we would do a round-trip on. However, this day would start with a real treat.  It would include a Grey Glacier hike!

Good morning from Refugio Grey

As the group was too big to go as one onto the glacier, the group was split into two groups.  To my disappointment, I got assigned to the group that was leaving earlier that morning.  I like my sleep when I can get it.

I woke up 30 minutes earlier than I needed to, not on purpose.  Electricity had not yet been turned on at the refugio at that time in the morning, something I had not known (or stopped to think about) so it took me by surprise – and I had not been ready with my headlamp so I went out of the room in the dark.  Off I went, fumbling my way to the restroom down the hall…  Fun times!

Crossing the lake to get to Grey Glacier

After we all had breakfast, etc. we left the building to get going on the glacier hike.  We broke up into our two groups and off we went to the shores of the glacier.  The boat ride was uneventful, very short – around 20 minutes.  Getting off the boat was tricky as there was a big gap.  We had to jump to a narrow ledge on the rocks that was wet.  Happy to report that we had no accidents in either group!

On the moraine

At that point, we had to walk some along the moraine in order to get to the ice proper.  It took about 2 hours under a constant drizzle.  It made me nervous that the rocks were wet with the soft rain so I probably went slower than my normal.  The rock was slate which was surprisingly not slippery but the “doubting Thomas” in me wouldn’t take risks 🙂  I did not get to appreciate how beautiful this part of the hike was was until the return hike back to the boat when I was more awake, it was not raining, and I was riding high after the time on the glacier!

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

Our group after making it to the edge of the icefield

Give me my crampons and set me off

In any case, we got on the glacier proper and we were excited to get to the spot where we would enter the ice field.  At that spot, the gear was waiting for us.  A brief presentation showed us how to walk on ice and not die – or something like that.  Then, we proceeded to put on the crampons (mine looked like Peary or Amundsen used them over 100 years ago in their epic hikes through ice…), learned to use the ice pick, and climbed onto the ice.

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus, crampons

My crampons – antiques!

Finally on the real Grey Glacier hike

It had stopped raining shortly before getting to the ice.  The timing was great so we could enjoy being on the ice and not deal with water falling on us.  It did not rain again during the rest of our glacier hike – at least my group which went first. But it rained at the end of the hike of the second group. A good reminder to always be prepared for rain!  Fortunately, the sun was out most of the time which made for beautiful pictures.

We greatly enjoyed looking down crevices (I have to admit being a little gun-shy of getting too close to the edge)  Also, it was neat to see pools of water on the ice that looked like mirrors.  In total, we spent somewhere between an hour and hour-and-a-half on the glacier itself.  The hike on Grey glacier was a really neat experience that I would recommend as part of the W Circuit hike.  Or, actually, anywhere else in the world you can do a glacier hike!

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

My friends Mira and Kim – real explorers!

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

Beautiful colors!

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

Posing with all my Grey Glacier hike gear on

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

Trekking along the glacier – so cool!!!

Grey glacier, Chile, Torres del Paine, W circuit, glacier hike, Olympus

Coming off the ice field onto the moraine under MUCH better weather!

Comparing the Grey glacier hike to my Franz Josef glacier hike in New Zealand

I couldn’t help but compare this glacier hike to my helicopter ride onto the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand.  On the one hand, flying the heli to the glacier saved time so we spent more time on the glacier.  Plus just the thrill of flying in a helicopter and enjoying a magnificent approach to the glacier.  On the other hand, climbing the moraine at Grey Glacier was a fun experience.

However, I have to say I’d prefer doing Franz Josef over this one as we got to crawl in ice caves and do things like that over there.  But I enjoyed the Grey Glacier hike nevertheless because glaciers are amazing.  And I was with good friends, out on a beautiful day walking on ice!

glacier hike, blue ice, outdoors, adventure

Fun at the Franz Josef glacier

A brief stop at Refugio Grey

We made it back to the Refugio Grey after the glacier hike.  There we enjoyed some lunch prior to getting going on part two of our day:  hiking back to Refugio Paine Grande, where we had landed by boat the day before.  The lunch was a delicious plate of spaghetti and meatballs as you can appreciate from the picture below!

spaghetti, Refugio Grey, lunch, Chile, Torres del Paine, trekking

Delicious!

The main hike of day:  headed to Refugio Paine Grande

We started off on our hike at 3 PM which felt late.  It rained a good bit on the trail that day so I did not take as many pictures as I would usually do.  The good news was that the rain was hitting us from behind vs. the front which is way more annoying.  Not being able to take photos was not a big disappointment, though, because we were on the same trail we had walked the day before in the other direction to get to Refugio Grey.  Things finally cleared up when we were getting to the end of the trail (around 7 PM) which was nice.  I got a couple of pictures in anyway to remember the end of the day.

Torres del Paine, Chile, trekking, hiking, South America, Olympus

Not ideal weather but it was not hard rain either…

Torres del Paine, Chile, trekking, hiking, South America, Olympus

The weather was beginning to clear up…

Torres del Paine, Chile, trekking, hiking, South America, Olympus

My hiking partner that afternoon was Mira. We were thrilled to see the refugio ahead and blue skies!

The end of a fun but long day in Patagonia

Day 2 on the W Circuit was almost one for the books.  In spite of the rain, it was a pretty incredible day on good account due to the Grey Glacier hike!  And after a great meal (meat with mashed potatoes, red wine and a brownie!), the time to rest came.  I gladly climbed on my bed as the wind howled outside – nice to be dry and warm inside!!

Torres del Paine, Chile, trekking, hiking, South America, Olympus

My bed was the bottom one!

——–  Read more about the trek ———

Day 1 at Torres del Paine

Day 3 at Torres del Paine

Hiking around Fitz Roy in Argentina

Hiking the Torres del Paine W Circuit | Patagonia Day 1

My first visit to Patagonia left me wanting to go hiking the Torres del Paine National Park.  That was 2010.  Luckily, the opportunity arose in 2015 to return to Patagonia to trek the W Circuit, the set of trails that goes around the Torres del Paine peaks in the park.

Back in 2010, I was not into hiking but I recall seeing people who had just finished the hike.  I was left wondering what it would be like and wishing I got to do something like that.  So, the wish became true when the opportunity arose with my friends from Trekking for Kids.  And now here I was on day one of the five day trek!

Getting to the starting point at the Torres del Paine NP

We had made it to Puerto Natales, the gateway to the Torres del Paine, from Argentina where we had gone hiking around Fitz Roy.  That was one long and mostly forgettable drive – hours and hours.  At least the bus the group had was fairly comfortable.  And the group was fun.

In any case, on day 1, we left Puerto Natales early in the morning.  We had to cover the 2-hour+ route to get to the port where we would take a catamaran to cross Lake Pehoé.  The boat ride took about 30 minutes. But, before getting on the boat, we got a preview of the majesty we would be getting ourselves into and explore during our hike.

The peaks or towers of the Torres del Paine stood before us in simple but great majesty.  Do you agree??

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, lago Patos,Olympus

The Paine Grande on the left and the towers/peaks on the right. Awesome view!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, lake Pehoe,OlympusThis boat ride would take us to the Refugio Paine Grande, the starting point in our hike.  Right at the departure “port,” we saw evidence of the fires that ravaged the area a few years ago.  The trees were reminders of the fragility of the environment there (or anywhere, for that matter).Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, dead tree,OlympusThe map below shows where we took the catamaran (A), where we landed at near Refugio Paine Grande (B), and where we were going to hike that day, Refugio Grey (C).  The next day we would return to and stay at Refugio Paine Grande again.Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, map,Olympus

But, before hiking the Torres del Paine, let’s have lunch

The ride was smooth and the views were awesome, especially because the day was so beautiful.  By the time we got to the refugio, it was about lunch time so we had lunch at the refugio.  The meal was simple but pretty tasty and, certainly, hefty enough to help us with the trek ahead.  However, by the time I was done eating the lentils and rice dish, I was longing for a nap, not a hike 🙂

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, refugio Paine Grande, lentils, food, Olympus

My first lunch on the trail!

Off to Refugio Grey

We got on our way to Refugio Grey around 2 PM.  The landscape started a little on the bland side and then we moved through forest of burnt trees before stepping back into the beauty of life with purple, pink and yellow flowers as we bordered lakes.Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, refugio Paine Grande, OlympusChile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, dead tree, Samsung GalaxyChile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, wild berries,Samsung Galaxy Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, dead tree, flowers, flora,Samsung Galaxy Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, flora, flowers,OlympusApproaching a high point overlooking Laguna Los Patos, we got our first taste of strong winds – and our first long break.  The route is not overly signed but I did like the signs located along the way.

At this point, we had covered 1/3 of the total hike for the day as the sign at Laguna Los Patos shows.  We would encounter a couple more of these signs before reaching our destination.Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, OlympusSoon after we could see the end of the lake facing the Grey glacier.  In 2010 I had visited that edge of the lake and walked it, resigned to see the glacier from a distance.  This time, I would get to walk on it!!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, Samsung Galaxy

Behind me, the grounds I walked on 2010!

One of our vantage points, the Mirador Lago Grey, was close to the highest point on this trail sitting at around 250m over sea level.  By virtue of its location and altitude, it offered phenomenal view of the glacier straight ahead.  And it was WINDY up there!!!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Olympus

About to have the best views of the glacier at this point

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Olympus

Our first full frontal view of the Grey Glacier

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Samsung Galaxy

The next day, we would be hiking on the glacier (the left corner in this pic)!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Samsung Galaxy

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Samsung Galaxy

Fellow trekkers Jose and Kat fighting the wind to take photos of the glacier

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Grey glacier, glaciar,Olympus

At some point, one must pose for a photo with the glacier!

Among the beautiful scenes I saw was this marsh or bog (not sure what it was, technically) which sat, across the lake, the Grey glacier.  Out of a movie!Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, marsh, bog peat,OlympusChile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, marsh, bog peat,Samsung GalaxyAnother neat spot was when we crossed the small but quite powerful Rio Olguin.  We were getting close to the destination!Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Rio Olguin, Olympus Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Rio Olguin, Olympus

Overnight at the Refugio Grey

And finally, we arrived, 4 hours and 15 minutes later!  The Refugio Grey was very welcoming and a great place to rest and relax.  The outdoor seating area hosted us as we sipped some wine after showering.  Eventually we made it inside for a great meal (carne mechada and rice chased by chocolate mousse!) and camaraderie.

Soon thereafter, I crashed, ready to let my body recover before our fun-filled day 2.  The sights from this day confirmed for me that hiking the Torres del Paine National Park was a great thing to have aimed for!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Refugio Grey,Olympus

Welcome to Refugio Grey!

Chile, Patagonia, Torres del Paine, W circuit, hiking, trekking, travel, photo, Refugio Grey,Samsung Galaxy

Outdoor porch – very nice!

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hiking the Torres del Paine, W circuit, Patagonia, Chile

Out and About to Check Out the Torres del Paine!

The Torres del Paine National Park, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, is the main “attraction” in the Chilean Patagonia.  Certainly, there is a lot more to explore in the region (Perito Moreno in Argentina, Puerto Natales, penguin colonies, etc.) but nothing seems as well known as this National Park and its centerpiece the mountains that carry the name “Paine”.  The picture below will not do them justice but it may ring a bell for some readers (read on… better pictures below!).

Seeing these mountains was the top goal for my trip down south.  (For more info about the park, check out http://www.torresdelpaine.com/ingles/index.asp).   I wish I had had the time and “knee-health” to do the hike (the famous “W” hike) everyone else does but that was not to be.  So I signed up for a driven tour of the park which ended up being a really good way to see more in a limited time window.  (I used a Chilean travel agency named Comapa (http://www.comapa.com/en/) – there were about 14 of us in a mid-sized bus – it was very well-organized.)  While generally I prefer more “on my own” traveling, one good thing about this type of travel is meeting other folks and this particular day was not exception as I met friendly folks from Brazil and Chile.  Sometimes it is not only the sights but the people one meets along the way that make a trip worthwhile!

In any case, the day started by visiting the Cueva del Milodón, a cave carved by a glacier thousands and thousands of years ago and where the remains of a prehistoric type of beast that resembles a bear with a long tail were found.  Here is my picture of a milodón (or, I should say, a statue of one).Cueva del Milodón near Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia

Cueva del Milodón near Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia, north of Puerto Natales

The entrance to la Cueva del Milodón

The visit to the cave involved a nice short hike through one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever seen.  Ever.

Vista of Patagonia's majesty from la Cueva del Milodón

Wow. Just wow. No digital enhancement of colors. Wow again.

We proceeded to enter the main part of the park and visiting lake after lake, each beautiful in its own way and most with a view of the Torres themselves.  As the day started, there was a cloud-cover on the Torres but over the morning the cover mostly dissipated providing us visitors an almost clear view of the Torres.  Since it can be hit or miss, I was worried I may get to  see the Torres on the day when they would actually not be visible rending this a rather long distance to go and not see them…  But luck was on my side and I was glad for the almost perfect view of the Torres.

Map of the National Park

In any case, we visited Lake Sarmiento, Lake Nordenskjol (beautiful colored water), Lake Pehoé (where we had lunch at a local place sitting on the shore of the lake AND looking straight at the Torres!), Lake Grey and the glacier with the same name (which was way too far from the lake’s edge where we were to enjoy it much; but the short hike to get there was nice), and Lago del Toro.  The views were majestic and offered way too many photo opportunities.  But the Torres remained wrapped in fog.  I kept getting dis-heartened as there is no guarantee that on a given day, the fog clears…

Foggy view of the Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia with lake in front

Foggy view of the Torres del Paine

Foggy view of the Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia

Close up but a little foggy still…

Finally, the fog lifted enough for incredible views as we went further away from the Torres.  Incredible land!!!

Amazing photo of Torres del Paine on a beautiful day with Canon EOS Rebel

Glorious!

The visit to the park absolutely met my expectations of the landscape.  I only wish I had been able to stay right there at a place with a view of the Torres so I could see them at sunset and sunrise (assuming a clear view) – I can imagine how spectacular the setting must become at those times and with that type of light…  Maybe another visit?  But I still had more to discover about Patagonia in the next couple of days, including crossing the border to Argentina…

Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia with Canon EOS Rebel

Happy traveler!


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