Our Patagonia Adventure: The Full Circuit of Torres del Paine

When planning this 7 month adventure, we had a handful of "anchors"- things that we booked waayy in advance because we knew that, no matter what, we did not want to miss them. The full circuit [aka: "the O"] in Patagonia was the first thing we booked, and that was one of the smartest calls we've made. I mean seriously, these views:

Before we get into the gorgeousness of the day-by-day, let's set the stage a bit:

1. There are 2 main treks in Torres del Paine (the name of the park in the Patagonia region): the W (the red line) and the O (the green and red lines combined). The W is a shorter, more popular trek, whereas the O takes 7-10 days, and is off the beaten path like whoa baby.  We hiked the O, and did the whole thing counterclockwise.
2. It's hard. Like no joke. We had heard that it's  made up of some very long days, but not too technical or rigorous. If anyone tells you that, they're lying. (This goes for both the W and the O).
3. Okay maybe it's medium-hard. If we're being totally honest, 3 months of lounging around Southeast Asia hadn't exactly prepared us for 8 days of exercise in the backwoods.
4. It is one of the few remaining places in the whole world where you can drink directly out of any stream without treating the water. It was one of our favorite parts.
5. One thing we have learned time and time again on this trip is cool people do cool shit. We have met some of the nicest, most interesting people on this trek! Doctors, lawyers, students, economists, developers... from all over the world. Every night brought thought-provoking and entertaining conversation.

Day 1: Hike to Campamento Seron (9 km/4.5 hrs)

We had a nice little 4 hour warm up as we headed to our first camp site! With heavy AF packs and our most positive attitudes, we had a beautiful afternoon hike [and only got lost once. #protip: the orange flags in trees that say "TRAIL" are lying to you]. Seron was a great campsite, and we had enough time to hang out and enjoy the evening.

Day 2: Seron to Dickson (18.5 km/7 hrs)

After peaking out our tent first thing in the morning to confirm that the Patagonian winds had not, in fact, transported us to the Land of Oz, we were treated to the most amazing rainbow over the camp site. Our hike to Dickson took us an hour longer than we expected largely due to the hail storm that slapped us in the face on our way over a mountain pass [and possibly because of our less-than-superior state of fitness]. Day 2 was one of the most beautiful days with seemingly endless rainbows.

Right as we got into Dickson, it started to rain. It poured almost all evening/night/morning, which made for a very wet dinner. We were grateful it didn't start while we were hiking, though.

Day 3: Dickson to Los Perros (9 km/6 hrs)

We learned this funny thing on day 3: 14 hours of rain in the wilderness leads to 1 thing- MUD. So. Much. Mud. This day was supposed to be an easy 4 hr hike, but it took us a full 2 hours more just trying to keep our shoes on our feet. We both agree that it's still better than hiking in the rain.

Right before the Los Perros campsite we got our first glimpse of a GLACIER! Neither of us had seen one before, and we were absolutely stunned by it's beauty. We also both apologized to it profusely on behalf of mankind. Hug a glacier, reduce your plastic consumption, turn your lights off.

Day 4: Los Perros to Paso (12 km/5.5 hrs)

This is the big day on the O known as "the pass." It's a huge climb, then a long ways through the saddle, before a steep decline, all for the best views of your life [if the weather cooperates]. About 15 minutes before we got to the saddle, it started to snow, but as soon as we reached the top, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and a rainbow appeared. I cried it was so beautiful.

Day 5: Paso to Paine Grande (21 km/8 hrs)

After our amazing day of summiting the pass, we headed into our longest day [and scariest #ihatehangingbridges]. We hiked right next to the glacier with gorgeous views all day, and, because it hadn't rained and we were getting into the more populated portion of the trek, the trails were in great shape.

Grey is a camp site between the Paso and Paine Grande, and the official start of the W. Once we hit Grey, our entire experience changed. It felt like we had "come back into town,"  which is kind of hilarious. Paine Grande is one of the biggest camp sites, and we splurged on a bottle of wine to go with our dinner that we ate in a heated hut [#luxury].

Day 6: Paine Grande to Italiano (7.6 km/2.5 hrs)

It started raining about the time we crawled into our tent at the end of day 5, and didn't stop until we went to bed on day 6. Sad day for us that Italiano is the free campsite, so no wine or warm fire like at Paine Grande. We were supposed to hike up to a beautiful lookout, but it was closed because the rain had made the rivers too dangerous to cross, so we hunkered down and tried to stay dry.

Day 7: Italiano to Chileno (~21 km/8.5 hrs)

Our last full day of hiking! Because we're quick learners, we knew that after all of the rain, we would have some mud ahead of us, but the b.e.a.u.tiful weather, combined with light packs after having eaten every morsel of food, and knowing that we had pre-paid for our dinner and wouldn't need to cook, had us in a fantastic mood.

After 6.5 hrs, it started to rain cats and dogs, which was a bummer, but Chileno is the perfect place to be after the rain: they do all the cooking for you, there are hot showers (!!) inside!, and there is a warming/drying room! We hung out with awesome people from all over the world, drank a celebratory amount of red wine, and feasted on hot meals.

Day 8: Chileno back to Puerto Natales (5.5 km/2 hrs)

Our initial plan was to hike up to The Mirador at 4:30 AM to catch a beautiful sunrise, but when we woke to still-pouring-down rain, we shut off the alarm and went back to sleep. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and a leisurely-paced return to the bus before heading back to Puerto Natales to partake in much-needed basic hygiene practices.

If you're thinking about heading to Patagonia: GO!! 100% recommend. A ton of folks tackle this hike as their first backpacking trip ever, so it's definitely doable. We are working on another blog post to try and help with all of the planning that goes into it.

Regardless of whether or not you want to go, we wanted to throw out a friendly reminder to be a little bit less of an asshole to Mother Earth. We are all the problem, and it's our job to allow future generations the opportunity to feel appropriately small in an incredibly wondrous world. Even the small stuff, like biking, buying local, carpooling, eating less meat, or using reusable bags, makes a difference.

Because, seriously, who doesn't want to save this killer view?