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South America | Visiting Torres del Paine
Intro | Where to make reservations | The Base Camp method | Refugios | Other trip reports
[This information is based on 2 relatively short visits to TDP in late February and mid-March, 2004.]
This was the park I was most concerned about visiting, partly because I had so many expectations after years of wanting to visit. I was drawn in 7 or 8 years ago by a Galen Rowell photo of Lago Pehoe and the Cuernos. As the impetus for my whole trip to Patagonia, Torres del Paine was the main location I wanted to photograph. But figuring out how to get around the park and fears about wicked weather also meant this was the most difficult part of my trip to plan. Of course, some things did go awry—my carefully planned stay at Refugio Pehoe to capture the full moon rising behind the Cuernos was thwarted by 2 straight days of rain. But most days were terrific.
Now, "Torrents del Paine" and "Torres del Pain" were two phrases oft-mentioned in the refugios' comments books. (I recall one pre-dinner "conversation" entailed a somewhat gruesome, yet fascinating, show and tell of whose toes/feet were most destroyed by the hiking.) Now, I can undertand being disappointed if you had rain for your entire "W" circuit. Definitely a tough break. But I also saw a bunch of complaints regarding the refugio prices in the park, which I thought was unfair. It was $47 US for full room and board or $22 if you just wanted a bed. Granted, that is far more than you would pay for a bed in a youth hostel in town somewhere. BUT, these are basically backcountry lodges with pretty nice amenities (hot showers and hot meals). For comparison's sake, the price for a spot in one of Yosemite's High Sierra camps will run you $112 US a night, if you are even lucky enough to get a spot in their yearly lottery.
You may have spectacular weather on your trip—blue skies, minimal wind, a fairy godmother granting your every wish... Or you might end up with 4 straight days of rain, never once glimpsing the Torres or Cuernos. But the park is simply stunning (particularly if the sun is out!) and, without question, worth every effort to get there. Just go in with the right attitude—expect anything.
Booking in advance is a good idea for popular refugios because it is hard to predict when they will have space. In high season I'd say reservations are required if you have a tightly scheduled trek and need to be in certain refugios on certain days. Oddly enough I was able to book Refugio Pehoe with one day's notice at the end of February (still high season) but wasn't able to book it with one week's notice in mid-March (supposedly low season). I ended up at Refugio Las Torres on that second visit to the park and the place was mostly empty. So, I can't explain why Pehoe was booked solid that late in the season (maybe some tour groups in there?).
Path@Gone – If you want to book multiple refugios in TDP, use path@gone. Yes, you can book through the individual companies (Andescape, Fantastico Sur, and Vertice) but then you have to know which company operates which refugio and that can get confusing at times, even more so when refugios change ownership (e.g., Refugio Pehoe is now operated by Vertice Patagonia, an ownership change that occurred after all my guidebooks had been printed). You can make reservations in person or via email. At one point I was emailing/faxing them from Ushuaia before embarking on the Mare Australis cruise. Some hostels in Puerto Natales (I heard Casa Cecilia is quite good in this regard) will make reservations for you as well. But path@gone takes credit cards :-) I was able to book Las Torres, Pehoe, and Glaciar Grey, plus appropriate transportation, at path@gone. One note: the new Mountain Lodge Pehoe was not finished at the time I was there so I can't guarantee path@gone will be handling those reservations. They list Comapa as the official sales/ticket agents on their website.
Comapa Another tour operator that you will most likely run across in your travels in Patagonia. They handle both the Navimag ferry (which I loved) and the Mare Australis cruises (simply spectacular). More importantly, they now have updated information about the Mountain Lodge Pehoe, the brand new replacement for Refugio Pehoe. It was still under construction when I was there in February but it appears that the new and expanded lodging will open at the end of September 2004. The new "refugio" can accommodate a much larger number of guests and the location is unbeatable.
There are tons of trip reports on the web that detail travelers' treks along the "W" or Paine circuits. I'll try to link to some of them in the trip reports section below. My needs were different, though, and in fact I didn't meet many other people taking my approach. As a photographer on a very limited budget my biggest challenge in TDP was figuring out where to stay and how to see the park without actually carrying all my luggage on the "W". My daypack filled with camera gear was almost as heavy as most hikers' overnight packs. There was no way I could carry my fullsize pack plus my daypack along the trail day after day. Together both packs weighed about 68lbs; the camera gear, full size tripod, film (100 rolls of Velvia is surprisingly heavy), clothing, and books all added up to, well, too much. I knew upfront I'd need stay at refugios and do the individual sections of the "W" as day hikes. And since I wasn't actually hiking the "W" I also had to figure out which refugios I could reach via public transportation and minimal walking with full luggage. In hindsight I do wish I had rented a car and camping gear for several days as that would have allowed me more photographic access to areas south of the main park road. I think the expense would have been worth it, especially since I really would have loved to stay at the beautifully located Camping Pehoe. It's right along the main park road but it's something like a 4 mile walk from the bus stop at Pudeto; again, impossible with my heavy packs. The other problem—if you are on a budget—is that once you are away from the main road (e.g., along the "W" or Paine circuits) there are no roads at all so the car will be idle on those days. I couldn't afford to rent a car for a week, only to use it half the time.
Okay, now that I've gone off on the car rental tangent, back to my original premise: good base camp locations. I used three that can be reached via transporation and minimal hiking yet still provide access to the most beautiful hikes in the park. In order, from East to West (it's helpful to look at a map if you are not familiar with the park layout):
Refugio Las Torres — part of the large Hosteria Las Torres complex, but located about a 15 minute walk from the hotel portion. As you can guess from the name it is the perfect jumping-off point for a hike to the base of las Torres. It's also the first stop for hikers doing the "W" circuit from east to west. A not insignificant bonus is that this location had the best showers among the refugios I stayed in. It also had the most entertaining comments/suggestions book. Getting here is fairly easy. Take a bus from Puerto Natales (there are several in the morning) and get off at Laguna Armaga, the first stop in the park. Actually, you have to get off the bus since Laguna Armaga is where you pay your entrance fee and sign in. Instead of reboarding, take your pack off the bus and transfer it to one of the Las Torres minivans (the transfer is free if you are staying at Las Torres and it saves you a 7 km walk) and ask them to drop you off at Albergue Las Torres instead of Hosteria Las Torres.
Refugio Pehoe — easily my favorite refugio. Even getting there is fun. Take the bus (either direct from Puerto Natales or from the morning pickup at Laguna Amarga) and get off at Refugio Pudeto. This is stop #2 in the park (Laguna Amarga is #1). At Pudeto you board a catamaran that will take you across Lago Pehoe. You can buy your ticket once you are on board the catamaran so don't worry about picking up tickets ahead of time or making reservations (although you can buy them at path@gone in Puerto Natales if you want). If you know you'll be returning via the catamaran (instead of hiking out) go ahead and buy a round trip fare to save a few pesos. The buses are timed to get you to the boat dock in time for the catamaran departures (you may even have enough time to do a little bit of hiking up the hill). And when heading out of the park, the buses wait for the catamaran to return. After a spectacular half hour trip across Lago Pehoe you disembark at a boat dock that is only a few hundred feet from the refugio.
As I mentioned previously, I stayed at the original refugio but a brand new and expanded lodge is just about complete and will open in September 2004. Situated next to Lago Pehoe and with spectacular views of los Cuernos the refugio is, more importantly, close to two of the most scenic sections of the park. A short, 1 hour 45 minute hike will deliver you to Campamento Italiano and the beginning of Valle Francés, a beautiful valley with amazing views of Glaciar Francés. Traveling in the opposite direction from Refugio Pehoe will drop you along the windy shoreline of Lago Grey (I met several people who had their glasses/hats whipped off by the wind and tossed into whereabouts unknown).
Refugio Grey — this was the big question mark among my base camp options. I'd read conflicting reports on the regularity of the Glaciar Grey boat tour; heck, I didn't even know if the tour boat would drop you off at the Refugio, or if you could bring luggage on the boat. Then there was the question of how to get to Hosteria Grey, the departure point for the tour. The final stop for the park buses was the administration building, a good 45 minute drive from Hosteria Grey. And what about reservations for the tour? It was too much to figure out on my own so I went to path@gone in Puerto Natales and they took care of just about everything. I had decided I wanted to spend two nights at Refugio Grey (again, this was only problematic because I wasn't hiking to the Refugio). They made reservations for the boat tour, arranged for a transfer between Administration and Hosteria Grey, and booked the refugio. For the timing to work you have to be on the first bus of the morning. You exit at Administration and wait there for a minivan or pickup truck from Hosteria Grey. That will get you to Hosteria Grey in time for the afternoon boat tour to Glaciar Grey. (The morning tour departs at 10:00am so there's no way to make it in time unless you have a car or are staying at the Hosteria.) There was no problem bringing luggage on board the boat. Even better, the captain was kind enough to do the glacier tour before dropping off the departing passengers at Refugio Grey. (Since you pass by the refugio before you get to the glacier I had been concerned I'd miss out on the tour.) If nothing else I got very used to unusual boat docks and pickup locations while in Patagonia.
The glacier tour is fantastic and well worth the cost. And think about it, I had to buy two tours (once to get out to the refugio and a second time for the return) and I don't regret spending a penny of it. But remember how I mentioned being concerned about the regularity of the boat? It is subject to the whims of Patagonian weather. The day after I was dropped off I hiked out to a viewpoint that would allow me to get pics of the morning tour boat dwarfed by the awesome icebergs in the lake. The boat leaves Hosteria Grey at 10:00am and it normally reaches the glacier in about an hour's time. But the wind was so strong that morning that it took almost an extra hour to reach the glacier. And the afternoon tour was cancelled entirely. Which meant all the campers who had packed up, expecting a boat ride back to the Hosteria, had to set up camp again (or book a night at the refugio) and hope they could get out the next morning. Of course, I was one of those people praying the boat would be running again in the morning because the only way for me to reach Refugio Las Torres by nightfall the next day was to be on the 10:00am boat (the 3:00pm boat tour would be too late since it delivers you to Hosteria Grey around 6:00pm-too late to reach the last bus of the day at Administration). So, as you can see, relying on the boat is definitely do-able but your schedule may take a hit if bad weather cancels a tour or two. (Of course, you can always hike 4 hours to Refugio Pehoe and take the catamaran back to the bus pickup.)
As for the refugio itself, it was definitely cozy (I had to sit in the lounge for dinner one night). And the showers left a lot to be desired (Hot water? Yes. Clean floors? No.) But again, I'm amazed at the comfort and meals provided at such a remote location.
And I do want to mention, yet again, that all this crazy scheduling and collection of transportation transfers was really specific to my needs. Most visitors to the park are either backpacking their way through (and thus, only need to hop on the bus once or twice) or have a rental car and are staying at one of the high-end hotels. I was really in this twilight zone of needing more time in specific locations (I had to spend 4 days at Refugio Pehoe in order to get a day and a half of good weather) while not having the budget to stay in a hotel. Thankfully, it was possible.
Louie Escober's trip report and recs for TDP – I've linked to his Patagonia trip report as well but his page on Torres del Paine is very helpful and full of the kind of details anyone planning to hike the "W" would want to know.
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