Complete the "W"-shaped path in 3 days

Torres del Paine National Park may be the most visited place in Chile. Every years, it attracts lots of trekkers to come here. What sceneries can be seen depends on the weather of the area. If it's rainy day, you might not see anything but just trekking along the path; but if it's distant sky, you would be shown the amazing mountain peaks.

It's almost off season in the nation park in Apr. It's going to be windy and rainy -- not good for trekking.

We bring with no tent but sleeping bags only. Since we have only 3 days to do the "W", we have to carry light backpack. So we plan to stay in refugios (refuge with beds, food and shower facilities) all the nights and have meals there, though we know everything is a bit expensive inside the park.

Path "W" means the shape of the path that one will trek along. Some trekkers may like to do the circuit path, which surrounds the mountains in a circle. Normally, travelers start from the east side of the "W" to see the stars of the national park first -- the 3 towers (torres) of specially-shaped mountains. We were told, however, that the wind is now blowing from west to east, it would be easier to do it from the west.

9 Apr 2006

On the first day, at 1:10pm (after making reservation on a refugio), we begin to hike to Grey Glacier. According to the map, it takes 3.5 hours one way. Theoretically we will come back at around 8pm, which means we will have to walk at night. So we walk fast to try to avoid this.

There is less sunlight today but it doesn't rain, which is already better than expected. The air is cool and fresh. The windy weather is good for trekking. I am thankful for the nice weather.

After 3 hrs 15 minutes (4:25pm), we arrive at a viewpoint. The Grey Glacier is a big glacier divided by an island in the middle of it. Although the lighting is not good, the blue color of the glacier is still apparent.

We stay there for about 20 minutes and head back. We walk like soldiers. Wai Wai claims himself "the first Ghurka in China"; naturally, I become the second.

Finally we come back to the refugio at around 7:30pm, meaning we use 2 hrs 40 minutes to hike back. We have a delicious dinner (US$15) which includes vegetable soup, chicken legs (yummy) with rice, orange juice, vegetable salad and desert.

The shower facility is good, except the hot water does not flow steadily. We intentionally extend the shower time to let warm water massage the showders. Feel enjoyable of such life.

10 Apr 2006

At 8:25, we begin today's long walk (around 10 hours).

Today's weather is good. It's a bit sunny, much better than expected, and better than yesterday. Thank God.

Shined by the sunlight, the top of spectacular mountains around can be seen. Sometimes, they're partially covered by fog, making them even better topics for taking photos. The scenery is beautiful. We sing while hiking. Enjoyable.

The original 2.5-hour hike to campsite Italiano takes us more than 3 hours to finish. We have packed lunch and pack and hide unnecessary things in the campsite. We hang food up in a tree branch as I heard there are mouses here. We are going to hike up to a valley and then back later today.

We begin to hike uphill along the Valle del Frances shortly after noon. The mountains are covered with trees of different colors. The color of the fall is really attractive.

We meet an Irish girl who hikes fast. It's the 2nd time we meet since yesterday. We share the same path, direction and strategy (staying in refugio instead of camping).

It takes us almost 3 hours to reach campsite Britanico up there. Since not having enough time, we do not go further up to the viewpoint. It takes us 1 hr 45 minutes to reach campsite Itaniano again. Our rucksack back is there but the food bag hanging on the tree branch is gone. Trekkers should not do such kind of thing as we are all trekkers there.

The batteries of my big camera has run out. I carry only the backup battery for my DC but not the big camera. Hopefully there will be charger (which seems unlikely) or new AA batteries in the refugio tonight.

We start at 4:30pm to hike to Cuernos Refugio. The hike seems to be easy according to the map. But we get loss at the last hour. We think we do not follow the formal trail as we do not see the orange marks (marking the formal path) anymore during the lost. Luckily we manage to go back to the main path and arrive at the refugio before 7pm.

The rent is US$33 and the meal package US$30, including dinner, breakfast and packed lunch. I know we should not claim myself a budget travel again with such "luxury" life. The chicken and Wai Wai's beef is too tough, but I am still thankful that I have such good meal and refugio to stay. Then take a hot shower and hot water massage again. Enjoyable again.

Today, we have hiked for about 10.5 hours, something that I haven't done since the TrailWalker in 1999. I feel tired.

Note. A trekker Czech Republic does carry a AA charger with him. Even though I can only charge 2 out of 4 batteries the whole night, as long as my camera can operate again with 2 charged, it doesn't matter.

11 Apr 2006

At 8:15am, we set off with a packed lunch of an unexpected variety of food including sandwiches, chocolate, green apple, pineapple juice and water. The weather was not as good as yesterday. Fog covers the top of the mountains.

It starts with an easy 4-hour hike, so we can have more time chatting. We talk about the food we cook back home, from fishes to meat, from soup to vegetables. We even divide fishes into 3 categories to talk about: fishes living near to the water surface, the middle and the bottom. We share the ways we cook dishes at home. I miss the fishes that I have in HK, and the dishes that we normaly have when brothers and sisters come visiting my home. They are all delicious. I also miss instant noodle, even though I know it's not a healthy food.

Close to the intersection of the right part of "W," we take a shortcut to go to Torres del Paine.

After getting to the main path again, we hide some unnecessary stuff (except sleeping bags as we cannot afford losing it) behind a tree.

It's getting cold (6 degree Celcius), cloudy and windy. We can foresee there are noting to see up there. But we still go as far as possible.

The trees are colorful here as well. Even having taken lots of photos on this in Tronador of Bariloche, I am still interested to take more here.

We eat some snacks at Refugio Chileno and decide to continue the hike. It begins to snow.

At around 4, we arrive at Campamento Torres, an hour away from the viewpoint of the 3 towers. It's still snowing. We decide to stop here and head back. Shortly after we leave the campsite, the weather gets a bit better. We can see the contour of mountains, probably the 3 towers. Even though we do not see the towers, I am already glad with what we see and do. I do not regret of not seeing the towers.

We arrive at Refugio Los Torres at 7:15pm after spending a little bit time looking for the hidden refugio. According to my stop-watch, we have walked 11:11:18 today, the new record since the TrailWalker.

The rent is US$32 and the meal package US$29. Luxury again.

The Irish girl arrived here at 5:30pm and is waiting for staff cooking her rice. We tell her the nickname we give her -- the first Irish Ghurka. She laughs.

The dinner is fishes with rice, soup, bread and desert. Enjoyable.

Finally, we finish the "W" in 3 days. It's like extensive training to us. I am happy I can make it. I notice my legs are not as sore as after the trek in Tronador. Some stronger muscles might have been built up there.

12 Apr 2006

After 7am, the hill behind our refugio is shined by golden morning sunlight. The sky is clear. The weather turns good again.

We climb up to the top of the hill behind the refugio in the hope of taking photos of Torres del Paine with better angles. But we find that it's blocked by another hill after reaching the top. I am already glad that we see the top of Torres del Paine.

We wait here in the refugio for the shuttle bus to the nearest bus stop.