We spent 5 nights camping in the Torres del Paine National Park. The Torres were covered in cloud the day we were there, but we were lucky to get great views of the Valle del Frances and Glacier Grey. Given the volatility of the weather in this area, we were pretty happy with that result!
Day 1 – Puerto Natales to Campamento Paine Grande
It was raining in Puerto Natales and not much had changed after the 2hr bus trip to the park. We didn’t do any walking on this day as the track we were planning to hike was closed, so we took the catamaran to the campsite, set the tent up and settled in for a cold and windy night.
Day 2 – Campamento Paine Grande to Campamento Italiano + Valle del Frances (19km)
Erin really struggled for the first three hours of this day, as our weight distribution between the bags was very poor and she ended up carrying far more than she should have. Once we ditched the backpacks at Campamento Italiano, the day was a lot more comfortable.
Day 3 – Campamento Italiano to Campamento Torres (24km)
This was a long day. We had to set up our tent in the rain, and this combined with our already soaked gear meant that we couldn’t dry ourselves and were incredibly cold all night.
Day 4 – Campamento Torres to Campamento Paine Grande (9km)
Our alarm sounded at 4am in order to get up in time for the sunrise at the Torres, but after hearing the heavy rain from inside the tent, we decided to have a sleep in. When we got up there at around 9, the cloud had still not shifted. From the Torres, we made our way back to Pudeto and caught the catamaran back over to Paine Grande.
Day 5 – Day trip from Paine Grande to Grey Glacier (26km)
We left our big bags at the campsite, which was great as this ended up being a very tiring day. It was recommended to us to walk a bit beyond the traditional turn-around point of the W-trek and we were very glad that we took this advice, as we got to see a bit more of the glacier.
Day 6 – Campamento Paine Grande to Puerto Natales
We took the catamaran back across Lago Pehoe and walked about an hour to a lookout with excellent views of Paine Grande and the Cuernos – a great finish to our time in the national park.
Erin and Andrew
dred 