Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine W Trek

---

Arrived in Puerto Natales late Sunday night in rain & freezing cold - glad I was wearing skirt with tevas - not!! Quite an interesting bus trip from El Calafate & travelled through some old mining town in back of beyond where there was a lake with pink flamingos on it! When we got off bus there were people there asking if we needed a place to stay. This is the great thing about Chile as you can stay in some pretty decent places very cheaply. we went with a lady to Hospedaje Pauletta. The place was very basic & bathroom was very dingy (but fab shower with lots hot water) and we had a private double room & it was spotless so can't complain. We paid 6000 Chilean pesos each incl. breakfast. The landlady had even made a choc fudge cake for breakfast!! She was lovely & the night we arrived she gave a couple of girls lift into town so they could go to ATM & supermarket. We spent the next day sorting out stuff for W Trek. We hired all our camping equipment from hostel Nancy as this was cheaper than Erratic Rock (although the gas canisters were cheaper at Erratic). We also went to 3pm daily talk where they tell you what to take on the trek etc. Very helpful. Our landlady booked bus tickets & we were picked up from hostel at 7.30am next day.

Torres del Paine W Trek - 5 gruelling days of backpacking but well worth the effort & really glad I did it although my legs are still sore a week later!! We opted to walk from West to East & took catamaran to Paine Grande for start of walk. Weather was a bit miserable & nearly got blown over at one point!! Scenery was all the better with moody clouds & it was pretty stunning. We decided to camp at Los Guardos although we were a bit concerned when people coming the other way said we should carry on to next place as Los Guardos was empty & nothing there. There was no way I could have walked another 3 hours - plus the fact we had to walk back same way on day 2 so there was no point camping further up. Campsite was actually great as very sheltered & in middle of nowhere. We had place to ourselves initially & gradually got joined by a few others. The "toilet" was the most vile experience & made festival loos look 5 star luxury!! Putting this aside, we had a great view of a glacier which we enjoyed over coffee & biscuits. There was also a shelter to cook in. We were joined by a couple of Kiwis - Natalie & Debbie who were on our bus down to Puerto Natales so we spent the rest of the trek with them which was great for morale! Day 2 we walked on an hour & half & we were glad we didn't have to carry our packs as it was very steep up & downhill with 2 very steep ladders which I wasn't too keen on. We then retraced our footsteps from day before back to Paine Grande & met a Kiwi couple en route - Nina & Paul. We were quite a possie!! Paine Grande campsite was busy but we found a quiet corner for 2 tents & rewarded ourselves with a cold shower. You have to cook in a communal kitchen but at least it was warm although very busy. Day 3 was a mammoth 10 hour day but walked through beautiful wooded area past pretty streams & weather great. Had early lunch at Belgrano campsite that was closed at time of our visit but people still camping there. Ditched our packs for hike up Vale Frances - very steep & some boulders to clamber over but fab views & we saw a few min avalanches. View of Torres from Mirador was stunning. Walked another 4 hours to Los Cuernos campsite & route took us along lakeside which was stunning. We didn't get to campsite until 9pm & there was no 'space. Campsite itself very cramped & boggy & sewage outlet which looked like it was running into lake. Very poor facilities & clearly not set up to cater for so many people. Refugio looked pretty cramped too. Luckily we camped on the beach & the outlook was beautiful as it was right on the lake. Had the best night's sleep despite it being stoney!! Day 4 was a shorter day but a bit of a steep uphill slog. We arrived at campsite Torres in the afternoon so we were able to relax & have a "wash" in the stream. We had an early night as had to be up at crack of dawn ne xt day for 5.30am start to hike 40 mins up steep hill to watch sunrise over Torres peaks. It was an amazing experience watching a procession of people with headtorches wind their way up to the top. There was a full moon so pretty speactacular. Arrives at the top & cooked coffee & porridge whilst waiting for the sun to come up. Everyone was sat wrapped up in sleeping bags to keep warm!! Sadly we didn't get the red glow due to cloud cover but when the sun started shining on the peaks it was still great & well worth the effort of getting up so early! We wre surprised by how steep & slippy the path was as by the time we went down it was daylight & we were gl ad we could´'t see it on way up!! After packing up everything we had a final walk to the end of the W trek. Felt very smug watching people who were just starting out & struggling up in the heat! Natalie, Debbie & I rewarded ourselves with a pisco sour in the posh hotel at the end. We didn't care that we were sitting there in our smelly hiking gear!! Had a fantastic pizza back in Puerto Natales at a place called La Mesita Grande washed down with bottle of red & finished off with choc brownie & icecream. Then had another celebratory pisco sour in the microbrewery!!!

---