W Trail - Day 1

Day 1: Bus, catamaran, hike to Glacier Grey; 6.8 miles

Talk about a rough start. After a 5:20am wake up call, we got on the bus to Torres del Paine eager for our adventure. The earlier bus was supposed to be better because we’d have an hour less on the bus plus arrive for the earlier catamaran giving us an extra 2 hours of time in the park. When we were only 30 minutes away from our stop, the bus broke down. So we just had to sit and wait while another bus came the 2 hours from Puerto Natales. As it was pouring down rain and I was dreading the weather once we would start hiking, I was happy it to be in the bus a little longer.

Finally a new bus came, we made it to our stop and after some “negotiating” with the catamaran captain we were on our way. The clouds cleared and we got some great views to start. Once we arrived on land, we started out for our supposed 3.5 hour hike with some enthusiasm. That quickly ended thanks to the massive mud puddles along the route. Due to all the rain the previous few days, there wasn’t much trail and it was almost nonstop mud and walking in creeks. At one point it was literally like walking down a waterfall.
Then Brice fell and broke his walking pole - at least it wasn’t his leg! But that just sent him over the edge. We weren’t enjoying the day and it just seemed worse.
Finally we got to the lodge - in 5 hours vs the 3.5 hours we expected.

Fortunately Refugio Grey was super nice, our room comfortable and the other people in our dorm friendly (and quiet sleepers!). We had a delicious and filling dinner while complaining with other hikers about the hard day. It was nice knowing everyone else struggled too. Plus we agreed we would bail out if the second day was just as rough. Not the best start to a trek I’d been planning for over two years by any means but trying to be hopeful for improvement.Read more