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Preparing for the ‘W’ trek

Patrick McKinnon

‘Torres Del Paine.’ A wonderland of adventure, beautiful vistas and isolation. You’ve heard of it. Everyone’s heard of it. However, every traveler you meet has conflicting advice on what trek you should do, when you should do it, and what you should pack. The guy in the dorm next to you claims that you can hike there in July, while your friends back home say that you have to arrive on February. Some say that the weather will be mild, while others say that you should expect arctic conditions. To make matters more confusing, old blogs that you read tell you that you don’t need to plan ahead at all - you just need to turn up with a tent and get hiking. To make matters worse, the cheapest guided tours are charging you $1500 US. To put it bluntly, this is tantamount to highway robbery, and there is absolutely no reason that you can’t complete the ‘W’ trek free of the hassle, and for a price that will let you eat for the rest of your time in South America. Luckily for you I’ve compiled the most succinct and useful guide that I could muster on how to do so. If you want more information, read my other post on the W trek over here.

‘O’ vs ‘W’

When hiking in the Torres Del Paine National Park you’ve got two basic trails to choose from, either the ‘O’ or the ‘W.’ Look at any map of the area and you’ll figure out why they are so named, with both trails taking a route that vaguely resembles the letter they are named after. The ‘W’ circuit will take you about 4-5 days whilst the ‘O’ can take anywhere between 6-10. While neither the ‘O’ or the ‘W’ is noted to be a particularly difficult hike, it should be noted that the ‘O’ circuit is considerably longer, as it encompasses both a full trek along the back section of the park, and finishes with doing the ‘W’ trek in full. The ‘W’ Trek is approximately 80 km/50 miles long while the O Circuit is 110 km/68 miles. Conditions on both routes vary depending on the time of year that you’re hiking - however, when I first hiked the ‘O’ circuit in 2014 the weather was so inclement that I was forced to turn back at the first campsite and then go right ahead and complete the ‘W’ circuit, without the additional ‘O’ circuit. When I hiked in Torres Del Paine way back then this wasn’t a concern - you could just turn up with a tent, and plan out your route day by day, no bookings were required for any leg of the hike. I had the luxury of being able to figure it out on my own, disregarding the occasionally counter intuitive advice of travelers. However, since 2016, everything has changed. Now, hikers need to pre-book campsites, the ‘O’ circuit can only be done counter clockwise and several of the old campsites have been closed permanently. As you read through the guide, please refer to the maps strewn throughout the post - I found that having a visual aid was super helpful when booking and planning my route in Torres Del Paine.

PLANNING

The first factor to address when planing your hike in the Torres Del Paine is going to be bound by season. The trekking season in the park lasts from about November until April, with the winter season being completely off limits to casual hikers. The peak months for hiking generally occur between December to February - during these months expect the park to be at capacity every single day. Knowing this, you’ll then have to decide where you want to start the trek from. Generally speaking, any guide to Torres Del Paine will use the campsites as the main points of interest, as most of your hikes will begin and end here. If you’ve opted for the ‘W’, you’ve got two choices of where to start, you can start from either Hotel Las Torres or Paine Grand. If you’re doing the ‘O’ circuit you’re going to start from Hotel Las Torres and move in a counter clockwise direction around the back of the park from there, before completing the ‘W’ leg of the route after reaching Paine Grande. Generally speaking, the way to plan your route is to figure out how much distance you can comfortably cover in a day and work out which campsite you plan to stay at each night. If I were doing the ‘W’, I’d plan to camp at the base sites of the the three arms of the the ‘W’ each night of the hike - at Camp Torres, Italiano and Paine Grande, and finally at the tip of the left-most ‘W’ arm at camp Grey for your last night in the park. You can then hike to the campsite in the morning, leave your packs with the ranger, and then hike up to each of the ‘arms’ of the ‘W.’ This will prevent you from having to cart all of your belongings up and down the heavy ascents of each arm of the ‘W’ to the Torres del Paine and to Mirador Britanica.

BOOKING

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Anyone hiking in the Torres Del Paine National Park and attempting either of the two routes needs to pre-book accommodation, either in refugios or at campsites. While campsites should be self explanatory in terms of the level of comfort offered, the refugios are generally dorm rooms within cabins located at the campsites. Given that there are three separate companies (CONAF, Vertice, Fantástico Sur) that manage the campsites throughout the park, this becomes an increasingly complicated process once you look at starting the booking process. My biggest piece of advice to anybody looking to hike either of the two routes is to book ahead, start a spreadsheet with each campsite, and start by attempting to book your nights sequentially in the park. On one factor however, I need to be extremely clear - book ahead. The campsites are small, and the park is one of the most popular places to visit in all of South America. If you don’t book your campsites in advance you’ll be turned away at the gates, so you’ll need to bring proof of booking with you to the park. Try and be flexible in your dates when booking, I’d recommend having a range of dates that you’re happy to visit Torres Del Paine and try and book out each campsite in order. Expect to pay about $10 US for each campsite - all of which you can pay online at the time of booking. The following can read as a general guide for which campsites you need to book for each night of the hike;

‘O’ TREK

‘W’ TREK

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GETTING INTO and out of THE PARK

  • Daily buses run from Puerto Natales, which takes about 2 hours. Buses leave twice a day from Puerto Natales, the first at 7.30 am, and the second at 2:30 pm. All buses will drop you off at the main entrance to the park, Laguna Amarga. From this point, there are shuttles available to get you to the base of the Las Torres trek - from here you can either start the ‘O’ or the ‘W’. You can roughly expect to pay about $20 US dollars for a return ticket (you’ll need this to get back to Puerto Natales at the end of the trek)

  • Anyone entering the park needs to go via the entrance office, located at Laguna Amarga, which is conveniently the same spot where the main bus will drop you off. Here you will pay about $30 US for entrance to the park. You only need to pay this fee once - once you’re in, you can stay as long as you need.

  • If you do as I did and finish your trek at Paine Grande, you’ll need to catch a catamaran from here to Pudeto, and then catch a bus from here back into Puerto Natales.

PREPARING

If you weren’t aware, the weather in Patagonia could be described as being capricious. It could also be described as being inclement, arctic and icy. Depending on the time of year that you go, expect high winds, snow, heavy rains, muddy tracks and temperatures well below zero at night. During my hike there in 2014 the weather ranged dramatically over my 6 days in the park - with the rain coming at us sideways on the first day hiking out to Camp Seron, right through to glorious sun melting the snow up at the Torres Del Paine. In short, it pays to be very, very prepared. As a general rule of thumb, you’re going to want boots that are completely water proof, a pair of pants that you can wear around at night, a pair of hiking pants, a heavy duty rain jacket. Oh, and definitely bring garbage bags. As a special mention, if you’re hiring your camping gear, go right ahead and grab it at erratic rock (https://www.erraticrock.com/). They certainly helped me out when I was there, and I really can’t recommend their products and advice enough.

  • Food

    • You’re going to want to bring food with you. While you can buy meals at the refugios, expect to pay around $30 US per meal. Again, prices here are exorbitant, so the smart hiker will be packing enough food to last them at least 4 days if doing the ‘W’ circuit, and 10 days if doing the ‘O.’

    • Try to opt for food that packs down, provides slow burning energy, and is easily transported. Think trail mix, rice, beans. Opt for ready made meals, and avoid carrying things that are likely to split apart in your bag. The huge supermarket in Puerto Natales will absolutely cover you for any need that you’ll have in this regard

    • Make sure you buy an ample amount of garbage bags - you’ll need these to both secure your food supplies from the tiny little mice that inhabit the park and also to store your rubbish,

  • Water

    • Luckily for you, there is absolutely no reason to carry water with you into the park. Just bring a large bottle, as any of the the streams and lakes that you come upon will provide just about the purest water that you’ll find anywhere. You’ll never want for water on any of your day hikes due to the huge range of streams and rivulets that you’ll come across, and every campsite has taps available.

    • Bring hydralyte. While you may not be sweating throughout the day, you’re definitely losing water - so you’ll want to bring hydralyte to help keep your fluids up, there’s nothing worse than trying to sleep when dehydrated.

  • Clothing

    • Rain jacket: whilst this should be obvious, I’m going to mention it. You need to bring a rain jacket that can withstand pelting rain and sleet. Opt for gore tex.

    • Mid layer: this is going to be a lifesaver. I forgot to pack anything that remotely constituted a mid layer and suffered as a result. Opt for something that will pack down well, but provides ample warmth - think fleece.

    • Thermals: again, learn from my mistakes - bring both top and bottom thermals, it’s going to get really cold at night.

    • Hiking pants

    • Pants to wear at night

    • Hiking boots: NB; these need to be waterproof.

    • Gloves

    • Beanie

    • Socks: have enough for every day of hiking plus one to wear at night

  • Equipment (hire at https://www.erraticrock.com/)

    • Waterproof Tent or dome

    • Cold temperature sleeping bag

    • Insulated mattresses/sleeping mat

    • Camp stove with gas

    • Nylon

HACKS

  • Use the refugios. Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean that you can’t steal some warmth at each of the refugios along the way. Most of the refugios will also have a drying room - head to them with to buy a beer (drink it real slowly), dry out your socks from the day and then sneak back to your camp afterwards - you’ve just gained all of the benefits offered by refugio (alcohol, warmth) but saved yourself at least $50 US.

  • Bring cash. Many of the shops within the park only accept pesos, so don’t come in waving a VISA or wad of US dollars expecting to be served anytime soon.

  • Every afternoon at Erratic Rock (https://www.erraticrock.com/) in Puerto Natales they run a brief seminar on the various hikes in the park, the booking process, and will answer any questions that you could possibly have about the park. It’s definitely a great opportunity to have any questions you have answered, but will also provide you the chance to meet fellow hikers, link up with people to hike with, and to get free advice on the process of hiking in Torres Del Paine. Head to Baquedano 719, Puerto Natales at 3:00 pm any day of the week - this is a must.

  • Hike in the shoulder season. Avoid the extraordinarily busy months of December-January and go for times that are less likely to attract the bulk of visitors. While you can expect considerably worse conditions in April you can also expect to see fewer people on any of the circuits at this time of year, which is an absolute bonus. Cop the reduction in daylight for reduction of hikers taking up the paths.

Any questions, queries or concerns about the advice above? Let us know in the comments down below!

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