W Trek Patagonia tour – Torres del Paine

We’ll depart from El Calafate early in the morning towards our camp in Paine (6 hours drive through the Patagonian Steppe, crossing the Chilean border at Cancha Carrera/ Cerro Castillo). The landscape starts changing while approaching the Park.  The main highlights (mountains) are the Paine Grande, the Horns, Admiral Nieto and the Towers. Once in the Park, we’ll familiarize ourselves with the surroundings through a 1-2 hour trek. The wildlife at the Park is very rich: guanacos, lesser rheas, condors and all types of wetland and buzzard birds surprise us at every step. Also lots of flowers. After the walk, we drive towards our camp at the foot of Paine massif.

Meals Included: Breakfast,  Lunch Box, Dinner.
Lodging: Full Camp*.

*Full Camps are equipped with igloo tents (double or singles), insulation mat and sleeping bags. There is also a dining tent, a kitchen tent, tables, benches or chairs and a full set of table service and kitchenware. This is an area WITH sanitary services.

We’ll work towards the bridge over the Ascensio river, headtrail for the world famous Paine towers. We “warm up” hiking a steep one hour slope, to get inside the valley itself, a narrow “V” shape alpine valley coming from inside the Paine massif. Those who are not willing to do the full day hike, can get back at the “Refugio Chileno”, a comfortable point on the way. We continue at a gentle march along the river side and inside beech forest. After a  final climb on moraine, we reach the Towers viewpoint: a glacier origin lagoon and the three towers rising vertically 1000 mts from the glacier:  just amazing!!! We hike back to our camp along the same trail.  The hike takes around 7-8 hs.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Box, Dinner.
Lodging: Full Camp.

We’ll drive to Pudeto’s Port (still in the Park), in order to board a Catamaran that leads us to the other side of lake Pehoe (another area of the W trek). Once we reach it, we start our French Valley trek.  We’ll skirt Paine Grande south slopes and lake Skottberg, until reaching the hanging bridge upon the French River: a breathtaking location view to the Horns. We continue our walk 1 h further  (Italian camp), surrounded by beautuful landscapes. After lunch and some photos, we retrace our steps back to Paine Grande Full Camp.Walking time: around  5-6 hs.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Box, Dinner.
Lodging: Full Camp.

Lake Grey trail leads from Pehoe valley across ridges to reach Grey valley. This magnificent valley flows down
60 km from the Patagonian Icefield, featuring the huge glacier calving down in the grey colour lake. Our trail
skirts the lake, going up and down the westerns slopes of Paine Grande, offering some of the most impressive
sights of the Park. From the high sections of the trail, many different viewpoints allow us to see the south end
of the lake where the blue icebergs gather, the mountains rising far in the distance above glaciers Grey and
Tyndall, and of course lake and glacier Grey. We reach the main viewpoint, a rocky point somewhat 2 hs away
from Pehoe, with views over the Lake and Glacier Grey and the surrounding glaciers and mountains. We
come back along the same trail, crossing bogs, shrublands and forest. By noon we take the boat to cross lake
Pehoe back and then we go to our accommodation in Puerto Natales, a picturesque fishermen town located in the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) fiord.

Meals included: Breakfast,  Lunch Box, Dinner.
Lodging: Hotel/Lodge.

We leave early in the morning Puerto Natales, as our fellow travelers are going south in a long drive today and we are getting back to the border to reenter Argentina and drive back to El Calafate. Upon arrival to El Calafate you will be met by our staff and transferred to you accommodation. The rest of the day is at your own to visit town.

Meals included: Breakfast.
Lodging: Hotel/Lodge.

At an agreed upon time, transfer to the airport.

Meals included: Breakfast.

– * Full Camps are pitched up early in the season, so we find the camp ready upon arrival. It offers comfortable 3 people igloo type tents for each 2 passengers, with mattresses and sleeping bags. An inside cotton sheet is provided as inner clothing for the sleeping bag. The camp also features a spacious dinning tent, a kitchen tent, tables, benches or chairs and a full set of table service and kitchenware. In Torres del Paine, there is a sanitary service area (shared bathroom with showers available on request). There is no electricity in the camp sites, therefore is recommended to bring a backup of batteries.

– In Patagonia, the weather is very unpredictable. It means that it can change from sunny to cloudy, unstable, windy and rainy at any time, which can make the conditions difficult to have good pictures or nice views. Particularly in El Chaltén, due to the big ice field behind Fitz Roy Mount. Nevertheless, February is within the best time to go.

Recommended gear

Backpack, 50 lts or so
Thermal underwear
Trekking shoes or boots
Trekking pants
Fleece
Softshell jacket
Parka and overpants
Gaiters
Gloves
Termal socks
The necessary spare cloth
Wool hat
Sun hat
Sun glasses
Sun screen (UV is very strong during the southern spring, from september thru december)
Personal items
Lamp
Trekking poles (recommended, if you are use to them)
Personal medication
Personal documents to cross the border between Argentina and Chile.

Notes

The travel agency holds the right of changing the itinerary or cancel any of the activities when any natural cause (or any other cause of any type) justifies it in order to look after the group safety.

If you are interested in Patagonia, we invite you to check out our other Patagonia Tours.

We invite you to see our Argentina Tours, where you can experience the true Argentine culture.