Hiking the "W" - Day 1

An early start for us, 8am, and after picking up a few others, via a cave that once held miladon bones (giant sloth) and a wee panic that we had failed to succesfully use our espanol and ended up on a day trip instead, we arrive at the Ranger station and the entrance to the Torres del Paine National Park (Porteria Serrano).

After signing into to the park and discussing our plans with the ranger we head off into the wilderness with Stephie and Chris (a German couple that were on the boat) and Bo (an American professional skiier). The first leg is a 5 hour walk to the Refugio Paine Grande. From the off the views are spectacular, with the 3 Cuernos dominating the landscape with their snow capped black peaks, yellow-white middles and black bases, we happily tread the well worn path and appreciate the perfect hiking conditions. First stop was on the bend of the River Grey for a quick lunch (always good to get some weight out of our packs!) and then on to breathtaking site of the glacier blue water of Lake Pehoe before arriving, reasonably refreshed, at our home for the next couple of nights, Refugio Paine Grande. The refugio is a huge hostel beside the lake that is currently under construction, so no heating in the rooms and no running water or electricity in the mornings but as hardened travellers we took this in our stride! Cooked up our first pasta dinner of many and went to sleep excited about the adventure of the next day - Glacier Gray!