W Treck - Refugio Grey > Refugio Paine Grande
Wednesday, November 9th: Torres del Paine, Chile
It was day #2 on the W. We we the first to rise in our refugio dorm room as the sun started peeping through the windows around 6:00 AM. We tip toed around in the dark, had breakfast, bought two unnecessary yellow ponchos, packed up our bags in the hallway while our roommates slept and got on the trail back toward the suspension bridges. It was mighty windy, but the forest gave us some shelter as we scrambled up and down the trail that followed the lake closer and closer to the glacier. We reached the first suspension bridge and skeptically made our way across. And then onto the next. We skipped the third like everyone else we talked to.
We made our way back to Refugio Grey, had a snack, redistributed the items in the backpacks and made our way back to Refugio Paine Grande. The steep incline at the beginning of the trail took us back to Mirador Grey, and it was an easy, fast-paced trek back after that.
We checked into the refugio, which was much larger than Refugio Grey, and claimed our bunks in our second-floor room. Raf (Belgium) was already there and in a deep sleep. Tabea was in our room again and arrived shortly after us. Lukas and his girlfriend / wife (who possibly had COVID or the flu and coughed all night long) occupied the last two top bunks. We made ramen noodles, sat in the common room and changed our plans for the next day to stay at Refugio Frances instead of Cuernos (costing us an extra $250 just to avoid the extra 5 KM in). At dinner, we gawked at a couple cooking the little round orange mushrooms we saw growing on trees throughout the park. The man offered us one to try, and we did. It was fairly bland with a texture that was a mix between a vegetable and mushroom, but they recommended sautéing it in a bit of oil. We talked to George and his wife (originally from Maui) who live in Chicago and Charlie and Chloe (England / France). Chloe is Liz’s dog soul sister with a love for all dogs, but a special one for black labs. They run Master of Movement, an online based personal training business.
We played a few rounds of Solitaire, re-acclimating ourselves to the strategy and rules of Yukon and Spider.
Mileage: 14.5 Miles
Accommodations: Refugio Paine Grande, Torres del Paine, Chile
