Chile 2011: Day-1 "W" Trek at Torres del Paine

Day 1 Mountain Lodge Paine Grande to Refugio Lago Grey

Picked up by Via Paine bus (paid $12,000 at the hostel for return ticket) at my hostel Singing Lamb in Puerto Natales at 7:30. After 1 stop at a café/souvenir shop, we arrived at Laguna Amarga at about 9:30 where everybody had to get off the bus to buy the entrance ticket to the National Park ($15,000).

Trekkers doing the W from east to west got off and start their trekking.from here, or taking another shuttle bus to Hotel Las Torres and starting the trek from there.

I got off the next stop, Pudeto, to catch the catamaran to Mountain Lodge Paine Grande.

We arrived at Pudeto about 11:00, but the catamaran would not go before 12:00, so I took my picnic lunch here. I bought bread and ham at big supermarket Unimarc the day before at Puerto Natales.

The catamaran started to sail at 12:00 for about 30 minutes. The view of snowy peaks of Paine Grande and Cuernos del Paine in the front, and the color of Lago Pehoe were beautiful.

Arriving at the Mountain Lodge Paine Grande, I took the path on the right, passed the Guardia post, then headed to the left to the north.

According to the map, the distance from Mountain Lodge Paine Grande to Refugio Lago Grey was 3.5 hours.

I started the trek at 12:45 and arrived at the Refugio Lago Grey at 16:15, exactly 3.5 hours. I walked with Cathryn, a nice Australian lady.

We checked in, made reservation for the dinner and put our bag in the room. We were lucky we got a room with 4 beds and only Cathryn and I were in the room. I paid with US dolar, but the recepcionist didn’t give me the price without tax (if we paid with US dolar, we could have been exempted for paying 19% tax).

The refugio was located just near the lake and we could see some ice chunks in the lake, but not really the glaciers.

A Canadian guy told me that the mirador with amazing view was just 10 minutes walking from the refugio.

The dinner was started 7pm, and this time I met with my new friends, which would do the same path of W trek. In addition to Cathryn, they were a Dutch-US couple, Jasper and Kate; German-French couple, Martin and Sicyl; and New Jersey couple, Bob and Amber.

After the dinner, since it was still not dark, I decided to walk alone to the mirador. After 10 minutes walk, I saw a spectacular view of the Lago Grey glacier. From the hill top, I saw glaciers with an island in the middle. The hill I stood up was in the bay where a lot of floating ice chunks were accumulated. Since it was getting dark, I decided to return the next morning to see the sunrise here.

At Laguna Amarga Bus Stop, the entrance to Torres del Paine National Park

Pile of bags of the trekkers on the catamaran (ferry) at Lago Pehoe

Paine Grande and Cuernos del Paine from Lago Pehoe, the dock of catamaran

Trekking Path to Refugio Grey

Amazing Lago Grey lake, with the glaciers in the far

Far view of the glaciers of Lago Grey

Refugio Lago Grey, where I stayed on the first night trekking

the view from Lago Grey mirador

How cool this ice! (view from Lago Grey mirador)

Summary

My highlight in this traveling (25Feb-14Mar 2011) was trekking "W" route at Torres del Paine National Park, and getting on 4 days ferry trip through Patagonian fjord in Chile.
Flying from Qatar by British Air and American Airlines, after stay over at UK to see my friend, and stay over in Dallas due to plane delay, finally I entered Chile on 26 Feb 2011.
Stayed in my couchsurfing host, Paula, for 1 night, the next day I walked around Santiago city.
I flied to Punta Arenas, a city in south Patagonia, then by bus went to Puerto Natales, the city where acted as the connecting point to the famous national park Torres del Paine.
I had been planning to do "W" route trekking before I went, I planned day by day, reserved my accommodations at the refugios (mountain hostel?!).
I started the 5 days trekking at the Torres del Paine on 2 March 2011.
In 5 days, I walked and walked, walked 4 hours in the first day, then 7 hours on the second day, then 13 hours on the third day, 12 hours on the fourth day, and 7 hours on the fifth day.
(I was glad I did jogging since 2 weeks before I went... :p)
However, the view was really rewarding.
The dinner at the refugio after long hour walk was really amazing.
And meeting people during the trekking was great.

Here are the happiest moments during 5 days trek:
1. Looking at Lago Grey glaciers at the end of first day trekking, said wow many times :)
2. Dipped bare naked alone at night in outdoor hot water wooden tab at Refugio Los Cuernos, with magnificent peaks of Cuernos del Paine in the back, Lake Nordenskjold in the front, under the stars, I was happy alive :)
3. Having hot dinners in the refugios after trekking with good new mates, Cathryn Kate and Jasper, Secyl and Martin, Amber and Bob.
4. Looking at Torres del Paine, the crown of the park during the sunrise.
5. Trekking along the river in Frances Valley, between the magnificent Paine Grande snowy mountain which the glaciers cracked every 10 minutes, and the gorgeous jagged peak of Cuernos del Paine.

And the saddest things:
1. Lost in Frances Valley on the way to Camp Britanico.
2. Walking in the dark alone on the way to Torres del Paine peak at night to see the sunrise.
3. Sore feet after a long walk.

After 5 days trekking, since I had time before my 4 days ferry trip, I decided to return to Punta Arenas and see the penguins in Isla Magdalena. 5 hours trip to the island with a big ferry.

4 days ferry trip with Navimag started on 9 March 2011.
I didn't expect so much and was a bit regret before I went, but finally I was glad I did it for experience.
I upgraded my cabin to 4 persons in a cabin with window by paying with my old USD 50 travellers cheque.
I planned to write travel diary during the trip, but somehow failed... :p
The happiest moments were when we came to beautiful view of fjords with mountains and islands, the a great glaciers, and pretty rainbows. I saw few dolphins, seals swimming around, birds flying around and blue whales from far. Also socializing with people, especially my encounter with Oga, the only Asian mate on the boat. And dancing with the locals in the last night.
The saddest moment was 12 hours being shaked in the open sea (Pacific Ocean). I was seasick and vomited all my stomach contain, then I had to lay still on my bad to avoid being nausea.
They said the wave was only 3-4 meters, which was normal.
I couldn't imagine when the wave 12 meters during the storm...

Then in the third day, the captain announced the earthquake in Japan, a big one he said...
He had no further information at that time...
I was also far from internet connection for few days after the trip then found out that Miyagi the area where I lived during my 4 years school had suffered the most in this natural disaster...

Day-1 "W" Trek at Torres del Paine

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