Safety First: costs for rescue services are covered.
Self Guided W-Trek (Camping)
Duration: 5 days
Trails: T2 trails
Distance: 15 - 20 km per day
Ascent per day: 500 - 1000 m ascent per day
> No guide needed
> See all W-trek highlights
> Start at any date
This trek owes its name to its shape, which seen from above looks like a W. With the most varied and colorful landscapes, this trek is guaranteed to leave you speechless. Along the way you will find hanging glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and granite peaks. The red color given by the lengas in autumn and winter provide you with a dreamlike scenery.
This is a great option for those wanting to hike the complete W trek, starting at any time without having to join a group or hire a guide. The trip is designed so that you visit the three main valleys of the park that make up the W and include the following highlights: hiking to the lookout point to the famous Towers, the rushing French river and the hanging glacier of the French Valley and the magnificent Grey Glacier. Get ready to conquer some of the most austral peaks in the world. Book the W-trek to Torres del Paine now!
Important Note
* Availability of this trek depends on the availability of accommodation and permits in Torres del Paine National Park. No guarantees are given until your trekking company is able to confirm your trek.
*Note for early bookers: Full payment needs to be made at least 70 days prior to start date.
*The cancellation policy of Bookatrekking.com does not apply. If you are obliged to cancel the trek, you will lose your 15% deposit. Cancelling within 70 days means losing the full payment.
Itinerary
Day
1
Transfer to Torres del Paine – Round trip hike to Las Torres lookout point
Duration: 07:50 h
Distance: 19.7 km
Ascent: 880 m
Descent: 880 m
Starting from Puerto Natales at 7:00 AM, we drive all the way to Torres del Paine National Park. We will drive through open pampas and huge ranches (estancias), and chances are we will be able to observe one of the most typical animals in this area, the ñandu, (rare South American ostrich). The bus arrives at Laguna Amarga, the main entrance to the park where you connect with a shuttle to the Refugio Torre Central. After leaving your backpack at the Refugio, you start the trek with your lunch box to the base of the Towers, following the Ascencio River to enter the Ascencio Valley. The walk will be uphill for one hour before stopping to observe the first glimpses of the valley surrounded by unbelievable beech forests, glaciers, and waterfalls. You’ll continue through the valley for another hour and a half before ascending a huge terminal moraine to a lookout (900 M), excellent for picture taking. This amazing view will be accompanied by lunch to add to the enjoyment. After being awed by the towers you’ll start the descent, following the same path back to the hut. Dinner will be served in the Refugio.
Camping Torres Central
Day
2
One way hike to Los Cuernos lookout point
Duration: 06:00 h
Distance: 17 km
Ascent: 250 m
Descent: 300 m
After breakfast at the Refugio you request your pack lunch and start the hike to Refugio Los Cuernos. As we leave the hut we will arrive at Inge lagoon. Chances are, on this path, we may see the flight of an Andean condor or eagles hunting hares or small rodents. You follow a well marked trail ascending around (200 mts.) from the base of Almirante Nieto Mountain (2750 mts.), crossing the Bader River to arrive at Camping Francés where you will stay overnight, after enjoying a good meal.
Camping Francés
Day
3
One-way hike to Pehoe Lake, via the French Valley
Duration: 09:00 h
Distance: 22.7 km
Ascent: 730 m
Descent: 780 m
After a breakfast in the Refugio, and once you request your pack lunch from them; you will start the day with a 2-hour walk going to an undulating path until reaching the French River for your first glimpses of the hanging glacier. Then you will ascend (300 M) for one hour through a surreal Japanese garden landscape, crossing beech forests, to reach the French valley viewpoint gifting us with a magnificent view of both mountains and lakes. Your way back will be the same until you reach the entrance of the valley where you will continue on a different path around the South-West side of Paine Grande, the highest peak in the Park, through native forests of Chilean fire bush and evergreen beech (Nothofagus Bethuloides), up to the shore of the Pehoé Lake. Dinner will be served in the Refugio.
Camping Paine Grande
Day
4
One-way hike to Glacier Grey – Optional Ice hike or kayak
Duration: 04:00 h
Distance: 11 km
Ascent: 300 m
Descent: 260 m
You will begin the early morning with the hike to the Grey Glacier. Initially ascending 200mts up a winding narrow path leading us to Laguna Negra, a place where you will observe the first glimpses of the South Patagonia Ice Field with its many unclimbed mountains. You will advance through forests and rivers, with possible sightings of spectacle and flying steamer ducks, up to the glacier viewpoint. You will have lunch at this place to see, if we are lucky enough, ice calving from the huge glacier wall.
Camping Grey
Day
5
One-way hike to Catamaran – Transfer back to Puerto Natales
Duration: 06:00 h
Distance: 21.2 km
Ascent: 280 m
Descent: 310 m
You return to Paine Grande following the same path with views of Cordon Olguín and Paine Grande. You need to be on time to take the Catamaran to cross the Pehoe Lake. Once you arrived at the other side, a public bus will be waiting to drive back to Puerto Natales.
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