W Treck - Puerto Natales > Refugio Grey

Tuesday, November 8th: Puerto Natales > Torres del Paine, Chile

• It was day #1 of the W trail, and it was a good start. We left our car at the AirB&B and walked a couple blocks to the bus station. We were in the Mecca of hiking. The only people traveling were backpacking. We made friends with the dogs wandering in the terminal and then boarded the bus for Pudeto. It was a three-hour journey, but we napped for half of the trip and the bus made a few stops along the way. We occupied ourselves by eaves dropping on the solo travelers making conversation behind us, Carlos from Chile and a girl from Germany. 

• We arrived in Pudeto and fought the wind while waiting for the catamaran. We boarded, dropped our bag at the front of the ship and took a 45-minute cruise to Refugio Paine Grande. We hit the trail for 11 KM, a nice introduction to the trek with beautiful views of Grey Glacier and Lake along the way, plus mountains in the background and the occasional iceberg. 

• We made it to Refugio Grey in the middle of the afternoon, checked into our room that would be later shared with up to four others (Tabea from Germany, Matias and his girlfriend from Chile). The lodge has an open concept dining room, which was set for dinner awaiting the lucky hikers that opted for the meal plan (in hindsight, we should have done that). It also had a mini market, a couple of leather couches, several outdoor and indoor picnic style tables and the camping grounds with pitched tents. 

• We showered with water that was lukewarm at best and made Mountain House meals for dinner.

• Mileage: 9.75 Miles 

• Accommodations: Refugio Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile