From 6th until 10th March I was in Torres del Paine National Park, hiking and camping. On 6th of March I started with the ‘tail of the Q’, a 5-hour walk from Administración to the Refugio Paine Grande, and from 7th to 10th March I did the ‘W’ hike. I went on the hike together with an Australian couple and a Spanish guy who I met on he bus from Ushuaia to Puerto Natales, the Chilean town you start the trip to the park from.
The day before we left we collected all the advice we could get from the hostel staff, other travellers and a daily information meeting held in another hostel in town. We then bought all the food necessary and rented/bought our equipment.
The food we rationed carefully so as to have enough for the 5-day hike without carrying around any superfluous weight.
The first day of the hike was a beautiful and relatively easy walk towards the mountains. It was tiring however because it was our first day of carrying the heavy backpacks and we had a very strong wind against us.

Torres del Paine - Day 1

Torres del Paine - Day 1

Torres del Paine - Day 1

Torres del Paine - Day 1

Torres del Paine - Day 1

Torres del Paine - Day 1
So we were happy to get to our first campsite, the Refugio Paine Grande, where we set up our tent, had a (hot!) shower and then sat in the (closed!) shelter preparing and eating our dinner and playing cards.

Torres del Paine - Refugio Paine Grande

Torres del Paine - our tent
During the next days, we hiked many hours each day through the beautiful national park. We got some incredible views and had a great time!
On the second day, we hiked for 9 hours. We walked up to Campamento Guardas from where we had great views of Glacier Grey!

Torres del Paine - Day 2

Torres del Paine - Day 2

Torres del Paine - Day 2
On the way back, we also walked down to a bay where the ice that had broken off the glacier accumulated, where we picked some pieces out of the water, played around with them, ate some of the ice and took funny photos :-) Fun with the glacier!

Torres del Paine - Day 2

Torres del Paine - Day 2
We spent that night at Refugio Paine Grande again, so that we were able to leave our big backpacks at the campsite and hiked that day only with small packs containing food for the day and some other necessities. This made the relatively steep hike much easier.
On our third day, we packed up our tents and our other belongings and made our way to Campamento Italiano, where we left the heavy stuff again to hike up to the Mirador above Campamento Británico in the Valle Francés.

Torres del Paine - Day 3

Torres del Paine - Day 3

Torres del Paine - Day 3
On the way up and down, we had a good look at Glaciar Francés which is located on the side of a very steep mountain and from which we could see some pieces coming off and falling down as a kind of avalanches. What a sight and sound!

Torres del Paine - Day 3
When we got to the Mirador, we were surrounded by amazing mountains of which we got great views because, just when we arrived there, the clouds cleared away and the blue sky behind appeared!

Torres del Paine - Day 3

Torres del Paine - Day 3
When we got back to Campamento Italiano, we picked up our bags and hiked for 2 more hours to Refugio Los Cuernos. This campsite was not as ‘luxurious’ as Refugio Paine Grande; there were hot showers, but there was no shelter to cook in/underneath. It was a long day again, we had been out hiking ofr about 10 hours. After dinner, we decided to sit in the Refugio’s café/bar/restaurant, where we drank some wine and played cards to heat ourselves up a bit.
The fourth day of hiking was not as spectacular because it was mainly about walking from one campsite to the other to get to a good position for the next morning, to see the Torres del Paine. It was therefore not too bad that it rained for a lot of that day.

Torres del Paine - Day 4
We did have some dry hours in the afternoon though, during which we got some nice views of the big lake along which many of the campsites and trails are located. When we got to the Refugio Chileno, we were wet and hungry and since we realised that we had a lot of time left that day before having to get to our destination to set up our tent (we were much faster than the time indications on the map), we stopped at the Refugio for about 2 hours, eating our lunch, drinking some hot drinks and drink and enjoying the heat of the fireplace.

Torres del Paine - Day 4
We then walked another hour to Campamento Las Torres, our last campsite and the first free one we stayed at. It was very basic with just one toilet, two rangers and no showers, but at least there was a basic shelter, under which we were able to prepare our dinner and stay dry. It was really cold that night, so after dinner, we decided to sit in one of our tents with some wine and play cards (again ;-) ). It was a tight fit (4 people in a 2-person tent), but it was fun nevertheless and kept us out of the cold outside.
The next morning, we had planned to get up early and climb up to the Mirador Las Torres to see the sunrise. However, when we woke up, it was raining slightly and then the rain suddenly turned into snow, so we decided to sleep a bit longer and walk up to the Mirador later. When we finally got up and left our tents, it was still snowing slightly. We grabbed our small backpacks and started our walk up the mountain. The higher up we got though, the more it was snowing and by the time we had almost reached the top the snow was really heavy and the wind was strong.

Torres del Paine - Day 5
Two of us decided to not go on because the climb was getting quite dangerous and we expected that the view was hidden by the clouds and snow anyway. The other two decided to continue the climb up, so we waited for them. When they came down, they confirmed that there was no view at all; the Torres were completed hidden behind clouds and snow. What a shame :-(
From there, we made our way back down to the campsite, packed up our tents and had breakfast and walked down to the Hotel Las Torres, from where we got a shuttle and then the bus back into town.

Torres del Paine - Day 5
We made it out of the park tired, but in good shape considering we had been hiking for 5 days. Strangely, my legs were not sore, my feet were not hurting and my backpack did not feel that heavy after getting used to carrying it on the first day. Although we had not seen the Torres dee Paine, the most famous part of the park, I enjoyed my time in the National Park very much. The views we had were incredible and I am glad I decided to do this hike and also to camp, which is much more fun than staying in the shelters. It is a great adventure and I recommend it to everyone coming to this part of the world!