W Circuit – Base of the Towers Trek

Total Distance: ~70 (felt like 100) miles (113 kms)
Starting Point: Las Torres Refugio (Torre Norte)
End Point: Grey Refuge
Highest Point: Mirador Britanico, 2510 ft
Accomodations: Campsites, Refugios (hostels)

The bus picked us up from our hotel at 7 am, to take us to the Torres del Paine National Park. We made it there roughly around 9 in the morning. We checked in at Los Torres Refugio which would be our tonight’s accommodation. This was going to be our starting point for our day hike to the base of the Towers. The base of the Paine Towers is the main hike that the national park is named after. We were super excited for our today’s excursion.

We filled up our water bottles and ate some protein bars and started walking at 10 am. The beginning part started off straighter but soon we started walking on what it felt like endless switchbacks. The scenery of the blue lake on one side and hanging glaciers on the other made it all rewarding.

After a couple of hours, we entered a lush forest. We kept on gaining some gentle elevation, as we walked into the forests next to the river. After several hours of walking, we stood in front of a huge pile of loose rocks where the forest ended.

This was supposed to be the toughest part of the hike. The steep slope up on loose gravels seemed never-ending, it started getting tiring at this point. After an hour or so, the towers came to the clearer view, and in another 20 minutes, we finally stood in front of the aquamarine lake precisely at the base of the Paine Towers.

The towers stayed partly covered with moving clouds, the view constantly kept on changing. Although, we didn’t get to see the peaks of the towers, it was mighty impressive view regardless!

This probably is one of the most breathtaking finales I have ever encountered in any day-hike. The pristine lake, the majestic towers, and the glaciers were so surreal, I am not even going to try to describe the scene I had witnessed in words!

After spending a good amount of time there, it was time to return. The return trek was all downhill, it took us about 3.5 maybe 4 hours to get back to the Refugio.

The entire trek was quite demanding and it definitely drained some good amount of energy out from all of us. We were excited to meet Reshma, who was supposed to be at the Refugio waiting for us.

The day ended with a reunion, some tears of joy, a nice dinner, hot showers, and comfy beds!