The W Trek

The W trek is a five day hike through the Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. It is the most popular of three hikes known as the W, Q and O named after the shape that they form on a map. Compared to hikes in some other areas of South America these are popular because they are easy enough to be tackled by people with relatively little long-distance hiking experience and they can be completed relatively cheaply as they do not require a guide. However probably the biggest reason for their popularity is the variety of scenery that can be experienced along the way.

The view from the Catamaran whilst crossing Lago Pehoé
The view from the Catamaran whilst crossing Lago Pehoé

We opted for the W trek in 5 days (the most common choice) and chose the West to East direction of the walk.

Our itinerary for the walk and preparation was as follows: Continue reading “The W Trek”

The Patagonian Wilderness – Road Trip Part 3

This post is the final part of our road trip, picking back up with us in the Patagonian wilderness of Argentina. This was probably the most difficult but also exciting section of our road trip with petrol strikes, broken cash machines and a lucky escape from a small electrical fire in the van, in the wilderness, at speed. Sound scary? it was…….

Day 15: Patagonian Steppe and Ruta 40 to El Chalten (365km)

I woke up at about 6am freezing cold in the van, although we’d parked somewhere with some wind shelter it had still become pretty cold overnight. At around 8am we gave up trying to sleep and got up to a sunny but freezing cold morning.

Continue reading “The Patagonian Wilderness – Road Trip Part 3”