O Trek Day 6-Camp Grey to Paine Grande
Day 6, leaving Refugio Grey and heading to Paine Grande was one of our shortest and easiest hiking day of the whole trek. We’d finally be on the W-section, so Lyle and I would be retracing our steps from our first trip in 2012 and were excited to compare our experiences. This section was completely devasted from a fire in 2011 due to the mishandling of burning toilet paper by a careless camper. Our first time here, we walked through a forest of charred tree skeletons. We had hope that with over a decade in between, this section would have grown back more than it had. It was disheartening to see the slow regeneration and to come to realize that it will take a very, very long time, if ever, for this area to see mature trees again.
Another reminder of climate change. From this same spot, in 2012, we had been able to see both the Western and Central faces of the Glacier Grey. Now, we can barely see just one. That said, the view was still so beautiful.
This segment is notorious for fierce, strong winds, making this one of the most fun sections of our trek. Javi having just hiked this leg the day before was excited to be going along with the wind instead of fighting it head-on! At a couple areas, the winds were so strong that I had to start running with it or I would have been knocked over! We all had trouble walking in a straight line, the winds pushed us about like toy dolls.
A massive dark rain cloud hovered over the lake to our right, and at times, the winds sent pellets of rain in our direction. With the constant threat of a heavy downpour, we hastened our steps. Yet there was always something interesting to distract us and cause us to pause, like this imposing caracara just hanging out on this tree branch or another bridge with missing planks.
How much Paine Grande had changed! First off, besides just a lonesome dock, there is now a stand-alone Welcome Center. We remember our first time getting to this dock to catch our ferry out and wondering if we were in the right place because there were no signs, just a lonely dock with a rope hanging on a couple poles.
The campground used to be just a meadow with a singular small general store. We had bought a delicious looking pound cake and gorged the whole buttery confection in a matter of minutes only to pay the price for our gluttony the rest of the day! On this trip, we had anticipated laying our hands on the same heavy pound cake, this time with more people to share it. Sadly though, the general store no longer carried it. That was too bad because it really was a delicious cake.
Now, Paine Grande is a very developed campground with multiple large restrooms and shower facilities, a modern two-story cafeteria, restaurant and bar, hotel rooms, and a backpacker’s cooking building. Lucky for us, platforms were just recently built for many of the rentable tents within the last year. Paine Grande was truly unrecognizable from memory. Quite a transformation.
In the cafeteria, we saw a fellow hiker who was on the O section with us. This time though, he had a giant, purple bruise around one of his eyes. It turned out that he had gotten into a little brawl the night before at the bar. Yeah, sometimes too much upgrading can be a problem.
After enjoying a quiet moment witnessing the last rays of sun setting the mountains aglow in its amber light, it was time to retire for the night.
O Trek Day 7-Paine Grande to Los Cuernos
Following the easiest day, Day 7 was just the opposite. It was our longest and among one of the hardest days. From Paine Grande we headed to Los Cuernos with a detour up the French Valley to the Britanico lookout before getting to camp. Lyle and I skipped this branch of the W on our last trip, so the French Valley would be all new to us too.
Fully lit by the bright morning sun, the lake shimmered in a gorgeous teal gown having casted off the dull gray cloak it wore the evening before. We walked along many bodies of water this day, and each of them owned a unique hue of blue, some rich and serious, others bright and playful. The winds whipped up some good whitecaps and even misty twisters right above the water’s surface. It was so loud we had to scream to hear each other. It was so much fun to be right in the middle of these crazy, unpredictable gusts; we never knew when another was going to hit. A hiker before us was caught by surprise from one of the violent bursts of wind and got knocked over so hard, it gave him a bloody nose!
After reorganizing our packs, we dropped our big bags at the Campamento Italiano and only carried our light day packs for the ascent up to the lookout. There was some discrepancy about the distance between the official park map, which had it at 4 km and Alltrails at 4 miles. In the end, it was determined that Alltrails was more accurate.
We headed into the lush forest, walking pretty easily on flat paths accompanied by the sound of the rushing river below us to our right. That didn’t last long. The first steep climb brought us above the forest with magnificent views of the milky turquois lake away in the distance. A little further up, we came to the first viewpoint of Glacier Frances. What a stunning backdrop! We could have spent a lot of time there hopping around the rocks, but this was just the first viewpoint, not the actual lookout.
A whole lot more climbing brought us to the actual lookout. Here, it felt like we were face to face with the mountain and the glacier. This had to be one of our best lunch spots ever, watching the snowmelt sliding off the mountain’s face and listening to the moaning and groaning of the glacier. Twice the ambient sound was punctuated by a terrific boom indicating an avalanche had just occurred. We’d turn to witness the snowfall cascading down the mountain and piling into a mound underneath the fall point. It really brings home the point that a glacier is alive, moving and ever changing.
The next destination was Britanico Viewpoint. Along the way, we had asked several hikers about this viewpoint and was it worth hiking all that way up there. Unlike Glacier Frances where the positive sentiment was unanimous, we received mixed reports about Britanico. Some said it was definitely one of the best views in the park while others concluded that the views were not worth all the effort of getting there. Well, we had to complete the W this time, and the Britanico Viewpoint is the tip of the middle leg of the W, so onward and upward we went.
After a tiring final push up a steep rocky scramble, we arrived on the top of a massive rock that protruded above the trees surrounding it. We were deep in the middle of the French Valley now. From this vantage point we had a full 360-degree view of the valley, from the gigantic granite massifs that formed the wall of the valley all the way back down the valley out to the lake. It was definitely one of the iconic views within the park, and it was worth our effort to reach the viewpoint. On the other hand, if you were short on time and energy, the view from the meadow below offered almost as good a view without having to complete the last mile and steep climb to the actual viewpoint. So, I can understand the differing views regarding Britanico Viewpoint.
It was a long and tiring hike back to Italiano to pick up our packs. By this point, we were on Mile 12, but we still had another 3 miles to get to our campground for the night, Los Cuernos.
Retracing this part of the trek brought back such acute visceral memories of our first backpacking trip here. It was along this section that we first heard and witnessed a glacial avalanche. We were both frightened and at awe of it. It was also right at this tree where Lyle had suffered from exhaustion after a long day of shooting and squatting with a heavy pack in the heat. We were ever so thankful for the shade of this tree, giving us refuge from the sun and a respite from the uphill walking.
In no time at all, we were walking along the shores of the lake we had first glimpsed from Glacier Frances. It had looked so far away then. We wanted very much to spend more time at the beach and even in the water, but we knew we were cutting it close to dinner time, so we marched on.
When we arrived, last in the group as usual, Sandy had already checked us in, received our tent assignments for the night, and reserved our dinner time. Yay! We’re back in the elevated tents again.
We had just enough time before dinner to take care of the most pressing issue at the moment, Javi’s shoes.
Javi arrived with old shoes and after the first day, they started showing signs of falling apart. At Grey Glacier, he taped just the tip, and it barely made the 5 miles to Paine Grande. He taped it again at Paine Grande using a different strategy, but with the long distance and tough ascents the tape did not hold up. So, for the remainder of the trek, our last 2 days on the circuit, Javi decided he would tape up the whole shoe! The whole shoe--leaving him with no traction at all! It was quite an adventure for Javi on our last day climbing up to Los Torres and sliding down steep descents in those traction-less, smooth, shinny, silver, duct-taped shoes. Luckily his youth and athleticism compensated for the lack of proper footwear, and he still completed each day’s hike before Lyle and me.
Phong had old shoe issues on our Everest Base Camp trek, but luckily in that case, our guide Kirin had an extra pair of shoes Phong’s size. We’ve seen this same scenario played out over and over again on various treks on different continents. I think we’ve all learned a couple of lessons here. 1. Pack along some sort of adhesive and 2. Do not wear old, worn-out shoes on long trekking trips. Sandy thought it was so funny, she appropriately changed the name of our Signal group to Duct Tape Adventures!
Dinner was baked salmon and rice, which really hit the spot after a long hard day of hiking. We hiked a total of 16.5 miles and were on our feet for 12 hours. It was a well-deserved meal.
O Trek Day 8-Los Cuernos to Camping Central
Day 8 was supposed to be a quick and easy day with just 8 miles to get from Los Cuernos back to Camping Central where we began. Most of the day’s path rolled along the lake’s shoreline so we thought the scenery would be pretty much the same throughout, and we wouldn’t have to stop so often for video footage and pictures. How wrong we were. Even though the path did weave along the shoreline, there were always so many interesting and beautiful details in the landscape or in the sky that we had to stop and breath it all in.
The weather on this section was also noticeably warmer and less windy than all the previous sections, so we were thankful for all the marshmallowy white clouds in the sky.
Towards the end, Lyle and I decided not to take the main route around the lake back to Camping Central since we had already walked that path the last time we here. We decided to take a shortcut that required a steep climb up a hill, across a muddy marshy field, through a meadow full of scattered cow pies, and finally over another hill to meet up with the main trail. We don’t recommend this shortcut at all.
The moment we joined up with the main trail, we were mesmerized by the views before our eyes. The entire hillside was alive with dancing white daisies! The entire floor of the valley below was white as snow covered in flowers. We waited patiently at first for the clouds to break apart for a sunny shot of the flowers, but the clouds were thick and moved so quickly that when there was an opening for light to come through, it was filled in within seconds. After half an hour of waiting, our patience ran dry, and we had to be content with what we had.
Moving past the daisies, our path meandered through fields full of those puffy clusters of thorny plants with yellow flowers that we had seen at the beginning of the trek. We’d come a full circle indeed.
Although we had finished the O-circuit, we had not completed the W. The most iconic formation, the Torres del Paine, was still waiting for us at the tip of the eastern leg of the W.
O Trek Day 9-Hike to Los Torres
To avoid the weekend crowd and the heat later in the day, we left camp a good hour before sunrise. The horizon turned colorful as we approached the first hard incline of the day. With the light came the bugs! They swarmed around us, thick and active, attracted to the heat and smell of our sweat, even this early in the morning.
A little over 3 miles in, we arrived at Refugio Chileano just in time to see the first sunbeams illuminating the Torres in its golden shower. We couldn’t have asked for a better first view of the Torres! A good omen!
The hike to the base of Los Torres del Paine was about 7 miles one way with about 2800 ft. of vertical gain, the steepest and toughest part being close to the top. On our way up the rocky section of the hike, we came across the couple from the Netherlands who had taken the boat tour at Grey Glacier with us. They had camped at Refugio Chileano, hiked up to the base of the Torres in the wee hours of the night and was fortunate enough to witness a glorious sunrise at the Torres. We would see this couple again in Punta Arenas on our tour to see the penguins of Magdalena Island.
By the time we arrived at the Torres, those who had camped out for sunset had left and so there were only a handful of people around. We found a large boulder away from the lagoon to set our packs down and have breakfast, thanks to Javi who charmed the kitchen crew into providing sack breakfasts for the rest of us. Javi couldn’t wait to take off his silver shoes and parade around in his socks. Hahaha
It was absolutely gorgeous, so calm, quiet and peaceful. We stayed for a couple hours and decided it was time to head down when we saw a line start to form at the Instagram spot with the rock in the water.
We briskly walked back down, this time having to step aside for the day hikers on their way up. It was in a way alarming to see all the different tourists who were attempting this difficult hike. At least half of them seemed underprepared as far as food, water and footwear. Perhaps Chileano was their final destination.
The final steep descent to the valley floor was by far my worse hiking experience ever. Not only was the grade steep, but the terrain was also strewn with loose rocks and deep ruts, booby-traps waiting to snap. With every step, my feet, toes, ankles and knees complained and cried in agony. I was in so much pain, it was miserable. This was my first long hiking trip after a stubborn ankle injury that had left me hobbling for the first 7 months of the year. I had only started hiking again in August, just months before this trip. Perhaps 9 days was my limit at this point, and luckily this was the last day of our trek.
Limping my way towards the lodge, Lyle nudged me to look up from the ground. What do I behold but the most perfect bunch of giant colorful lupines modestly smiling at me from the back of the field. I’ve been looking for lupines this whole trek and hadn’t found not even one plant. And now when I needed it most, somehow, they magically appeared! We walked this same path the day before. How did we not see them then? These lupines were heaven-sent. We spent so much time admiring them, their vibrant colors and healthy full blooms. How beautiful they were! This little encounter sent a rush of endorphins through my body and gave me the strength and spirit to keep pushing until we got back to camp.
We had given ourselves an extra day in the park just in case the weather was bad, but as we had nearly perfect weather on the whole trek, we finished early, and everyone agreed to leave later that evening. After some complications with rearranging our transportation back to Puerto Natales, with happy hearts and a feeling of accomplishment, we bid farewell to Torres del Paine National Park. Javi already wants to go back to complete the O-Circuit.
Getting back to Puerto Natales, we had to split up. Anh Vu and Javi took the first bus, departing 10 minutes before the rest of us. Unlucky for them, their bus was packed full, and their bus driver made everyone bring all their packs and gear onto the bus instead of using the storage area under the bus. For some reason, they were unable to open the windows so they had to sit in that warm stew of fermented body odor and sour feet smell the whole way back. A noxious affront to all the senses! Kudos to them for not throwing up!
We, on the other hand, had a bus that was half-full with windows fully open, and a working undercarriage storage compartments that held all our dirty packs. Our bus ride was quite enjoyable.