The 'W' trek

Day 1

Got the bus into TdP, left our backpacks at the refugio and set off. Although we only had day packs this was still a tough trek with some steep climbs scrambling over rocks and the guys in our group were racing on without breaks. But the weather was pretty good and it all seemed worthwhile when we got to the mirador Torres to find this amazing view.


After a break for a late lunch we set off and arrived back at the campsite around 18.45 in time to set up our tents, get cooking, and even have a hot shower, tired but feeling ok.

Day 2

 We needed to get from the base at Las Torres to campsite Italiano, officially a 7 hour, 16km trek and this time with main backpacks. This is where it started unravelling for me as the extra weight of a tent, food and cold-weather sleeping bag was a real drag and I didn't enjoy the beautiful lake views nearly as much as I should have. The last couple of hours before lunch were particularly tough.

But having made it this far I felt there was no going back and I settled down at our very basic campsite (no hot showers this time!) for hopefully a good nights sleep.

Day 3

 Awoke after a very restless, cold and wet night. We decided to leave the tents up in an attempt to dry them out, left our main packs and set off for a 5 hr round hike in the French Valley. Unfortunately the weather didn't improve and overnight rain turned to strong winds and snow. We could barely see anything of the supposedly amazing views and were getting colder as the day went on. After turning back just before the final mirador I made it back to camp for a late lunch and packed up the tent as we were still 2 hrs away from our next campsite.

Freezing cold in the French Valley

This is where it really went wrong. Getting caught in a snow storm we arrived at the camp at 7pm completely wet and freezing cold. I'd had enough. Enquiring how much it was to stay in the next door refugio myself and one other guy from our group booked ourselves in for a hot meal and a night's stay where we could at least have hot showers, a bed for the night and dry out our soaking wet clothes.

Day 4

The view!

Having effectively split from the rest of the group we awoke not too early, warm, and to reasonably dry clothes, a big improvement. We left our main packs behind and set off for the 6hr round hike to glacier grey. Although it continued to snow on and off all day I almost began to enjoy it, particularly as I was able to have tea and dry off at a refugio halfway through.

A misty Glacier Grey

I arrived back at base camp in time for another hot drink and a quick dry-off before catching a catamaran across the lake and then a connecting bus back to Puerto Natales. I arrived at 10pm, exhausted, and ready to catch an 8am bus the next morning back to Argentina.