Day 1 – March 7, 2015

Daily Distance: 10.5 mi (17 km)

Time: 3.5 – 4 hrs

Start: CONAF Administration Building

Finish: Paine Grande Refugio Y Campamento

Maps: I used a CONAF water resistant map which are available at any of the gift or camping stores in Puerto Natales. I also used the smaller CONAF map below, which can be printed from their website.

Map – The Q Circuit TDP

As soon as I got off the bus I checked my backpack liner was sealed and that all of my gear was water tight in a ziplock bag or dry sack. The temperature was in the low 50’s to high 40’s, raining with high winds. The trail was well marked and headed into the howling wind. I took a few steps off of the porch and headed back within a few minutes, as the rain was pelting my face and I couldn’t see the trail ahead of me. Thank God, my nephew  Scott gave me some Smith sunglasses for Xmas with interchangeable lenses. I put in the clear lenses, which enabled me to see into the blowing rain. The trail was flat and muddy and would have been easy going had the wind not been gusting so hard directly into my face. A few times I had to brace myself against my trekking poles or turn my back to the wind until it died

I can’t remember. Why did I come here?

With the wind in my face, it took me about 2 hours to reach Las Carretas Camp. This is a free campsite but I didn’t see any inviting areas to set up a tent. I walked around to the shelter to get out of the wind and rain and met another couple cooking soup for lunch. They introduced themselves as Albere and Nancy from France and invited me to join them for some soup. At first, I turned them down but when they asked me again and it smelled so good, I decided to go for it. The soup was amazing! They told me they were both chefs and worked in restaurants in a small village in the Bordeaux Region of France. This was their last day of hiking TDP and the weather had been the same as today for the entire 5 days of their trip. They said they still had a great time and stayed in Refugios 2 nights and enjoyed soaking in a hot bath and eating in the restaurant after hiking in the cold rain all day. I was encouraged that they said it was still a beautiful trip despite the weather. I thanked them both and said good bye as some other hikers arrived. As I was leaving, Nancy told me the name of the restaurants they worked at, which I quickly forgot and she said to be sure and visit when I travel to Bordeaux.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the hospitality I had just been shown as I continued walking down the trail.

Albere and Nancy

After Las Carretas the trail continues to follow the Rio Grey. After about 30 minutes I saw two hikers with huge backpacks in front of me struggling in the wind. As I got closer I realized that they not only had large backpacks but they were wearing large capes over their packs, like ponchos made out of a thick woolen fabric material. The capes must have weighed 10 lbs each. As I came closer they were still struggling but did not want to let me pass them on the trail. No worries I just stuck on their heels and waited for a steep climb and flew by them. As I passed and got a good look at their set up, I realized their packs were HUGE! Maybe 80 lbs each and they both had a parachute thing going on with their capes. Later, at the campsite I saw them folding their capes and they told me they were from Austria and the capes were custom made to keep their packs dry in foul weather.

What Not To Wear!

After about an hour I could see Lago Pehoe in the distance.

Lago Pehoe

The view just kept getting better as the weather cleared up and the sun came out.

Lago Pehoe

After another hour I arrived at Paine Grande Refugio and Camp and I wasn’t alone.

Campamento Paine Grande

I was able to find a protected area that was somewhat secluded away from the masses. I was the only one in the park with a lightweight 3 season tent. I only saw 4 season tents, which made me nervous the first few nights as the wind began to howl at 3 am. I brought double tent stakes extra guyline but never used them. I just looked for a protected area away from the wind at each campsite.  In 2011 Torres del Paine suffered a larger fire caused by a careless camper. The fire destroyed several thousand acres. Since then fires are only allowed in designated cooking areas at each campsite. After I got my tent set up I went into the designated shelter for cooking and cooked dinner, then went to bed.

Campamento Pine Grande