Torres Del Paine - Patagonia

December 2024

Total Miles: 82 miles

O Circuit - Torres Del Paine Patagonia

Why Torres Del Paine?

The tower view in Torres Del Paine is something that has called me for many years since I first saw it. The thought of heading down to the bottom of the world to experience the most pristine nature felt like an incredible journey to experience in this lifetime. I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to visit this incredible, magical place and I'm excited to share my journey with you.

Day 0: Getting there / SFO to LAX to Santiago (Chile) to Punta Arenas and then a bus to Puerto Natales

Today was a long 21 hours of flights and layovers down to the bottom of the world. Luckily I was able to meet up with a buddy of mine at LAX airport for lunch for a couple hours. It was great catching up after such a long time apart. 

After I got through all the customs and rechecked in, I was really excited that I did it all by speaking in Spanish. 

TIP: Once in Santiago, I noticed there is a direct flight from Santiago to Puerto Natales. Ugh, I would totally recommend doing that. I didn’t realize that was an option when I was booking my flights, or maybe it was just more expensive or not available on the day I was flying out. 

When I arrived in Punta Arenas, I had a few hours to spare waiting for my bus. While I was here two buses from the same company (Bus Sur) arrived, but they didn’t have room for me so I had to wait. I tried to leave room in between flights and layovers in case there was a delay so I wouldn’t miss anything. I was pleasantly surprised that everything on my trip, for the most part, went smoothly and all things arrived on time. 

I had lunch at a restaurant called Ultima Llegar, which means The Last Stop. You do feel like you’re at the end of the world out here. It feels very far from anything and everything, and it’s an exciting feeling to have as a start to this big adventure. 

The bus ride to Puerto Natales was the first real sleep I’d had since I left. When I arrived into town it was incredibly cold, colder than I thought as the wind made the frigid air more piercing. 

The town is small but has several outfitters and I was able to get some fuel for my cook stove and grab a nice cooked meal at a pizza joint in town called Napoli. There are lots of mom and pop pizza places in Puerto Natales. The food was good at Napoli and I savored every bite as I figured it might be the last cooked meal like this until I was done with the trek. 

I had a nice warm shower and got into bed around 10:30pm. It’s still a light outside. 

Day 1: Central to Base Torres to Serón - 22.5 miles

I had a great night sleep at my tiny Airbnb and was up and out at 6am to get my bus by 7am. The weather is crispy this morning and the familiar sound of roosters and barking dogs greet me as I walk down the street and begin my adventure. 

On the bus ride to the entrance of the park, a young girl named Rio sat next to me. She’s from Ireland and is traveling for a year away from school. She’s a medical student and is planning to travel all around South America then heading back home to return to her studies. 

Like most, I enjoy meeting different people on my travels, and we get to share some experiences and then you never see them again. Maybe that’s why it’s easy for people to open up with these brief encounters. 

The bus ride to the Park was nice and smooth. As the name implies, Central is one of the main hubs for arriving at the park. 

I was on the trail at 9:30am and headed up to the towers first. The hike up to the towers is strenuous for sure. There’s a lot of uphill climb and the terrain is quite rocky. There are a lot of people hiking up to the towers. After all, it is one of the key features of this park. 

Camp Chileno is quite nice. They have big tents that look like the ones I’ve seen on top of trucks these days. Really fancy, but they’re just on platforms and really nice. You enter them from underneath and get inside, they look really awesome. 

At Chileno there’s a little restaurant, but they were out of most things like quesadillas and tortillas. There’s also a little market where they sell sandwiches and sodas. I popped my head in to look around, but didn’t buy anything.

I had a snack while sitting on the benches and headed on my way to the towers.

The hike up to the towers is pretty awesome. You traverse through these really incredible parts of Patagonian forest. It looks a little bit like Lord of the Rings walking through some of these sections.

You know when you're getting close to the towers because you can see them for quite a while. One thing about the trail that I found interesting and quite different is that it really doesn’t traverse back-and-forth up the mountain, the trail pretty much just goes straight up. Tough on the legs for sure. 

Arriving at the Towers truly is a magical experience. It’s quiet and peaceful. There are others there, but everyone seems to treat this place with respect. I don’t think that the pictures I’ve seen while planning this adventure have captured the magic and grandness of it. It truly is spectacular. The towers look otherworldly. Nature tends to simplify things, but the towers look like an anomaly in a really cool way. 

The lake, a key feature of the towers, is crystal blue without any filters at all. The Giant granite faces of the towers are mind blowing because they’re set back and the face of each one is absolutely huge! Something that, again, photos don’t capture. 

I had hoped to walk around the lake as far as I could, but there’s a rope to the left that prohibits you from going further. There’s also no swimming in the lake, which is something I definitely wanted to do. But that’s okay as we need to respect nature and leave no trace. 

I enjoyed the view tremendously and gave thanks for the awesomeness of nature and my gratitude for allowing me to be here to enjoy it. 

I was up there for about an hour-and-a-half. Just taking it in, taking photos and just sitting with it and enjoying being here in all its grandeur. 

Luckily, the towers were clear pretty much the whole time. The clouds were dark behind, but luckily I didn’t experience any rain the entire day. 

After a bit more time, I decided to head down. After all, I still had to go back to where I started my day at Central then head up to camp Serón for the night. 

On the way back the trail is equally awesome. I stopped again at Chileno campground and grabbed a candy bar as I was needing some extra food and a little rest. After that, I headed back down to Central, which was a pretty smooth hike down. 

At Central, I finally got my satellite communication device to work as it wasn’t working well on the trail. I wanted to make sure I was able to text home so my wife and daughter knew that I’m doing well. That’s the agreement that we have. I can go on these treks to remote places as long as I also keep in touch with them. I love that I also get a text back from them too. It makes me feel close to them when I’m out here so far away. 

The hike from Central to Serón is mostly on a fire road. I’m not a huge fan of fire road trails as it feels like a cheat, especially here in Patagonia. It feels like there should be something a bit more special. There are parts that traverse through the mountain side, but you always come back to the fire road. 

About 4 miles in, an incredible river emerges below, which looks a lot like the river at the beginning of the Disney logo where you fly over the river and up to the castle. There’s no castle here. Just incredibly inspiring snow capped mountains. 

About ¼ mile from Serón there is a river crossing and I was surprised that there was no bridge. There have been bridges everywhere on the hike today, but this one didn’t have one. I was so close to Serón at this point and I didn’t want to get my shoes wet. So I decided to take my shoes and socks off and walk through this ice piercing river crossing. Brrrr. When I got to the other side there were a bunch of mosquitoes to greet me, and they graciously gave me a couple bites on my back. Overall the mosquitoes have been pretty chill, so it wasn’t too bad, and I really enjoyed getting a fresh rinse on my feet as it feels so good after a long day of hiking. Back at it, and on my way to Serón.

On the entire hike from Central to Serón I saw no other hikers. I was the only one. I guess this makes sense since I left so late towards Serón. Although this part of the trail was not my favorite, it was nice to be alone with my thoughts.

I got into Serón around 8 o’clock. I checked in and a nice woman named Claudia showed me to my tent. I was surprised to see it was one of those big tents like I saw earlier today at Chileno! The kind up on stilts. 

The bottom is covered with a giant plush math that is so comfortable. And it also has two comfy pillows! Needless to say, I slept so well. I do have all my own gear for camping, but there are parts of the O Circuit where they make you stay in their tents. In part for additional revenue for the park/companies that run these and in part to reduce the impact on the environment. Serón is one of the campgrounds where I had to stay in their equipment. But it was a nice way to end the first night on a really nice bed. 

I ate dinner and took a shower, which actually had hot water, and was really nice. My camp towel is a 12 x 12 inch piece of cloth. So I was judicious about which areas I dried and which areas I would let drip dry, like my hair. 

Inside the tent it was warm all night long. I headed to bed at 10pm and it was still daylight, so I pulled my beanie over my eyes and said, “good night.” What a great first day. 

Day 2: Serón to Los Perros

I know I mentioned it already, but oh man, I slept so well. Warm, comfortable and refreshed. After hiking 22.5 miles yesterday I was worried my legs might be sore as there was a lot of up and down yesterday but, happily, I woke up completely refreshed. I think the hot shower and the Ibuprofen I took last night may have helped a bit, too.

The mosquitoes at Serón are definitely present, but they aren’t too much of a nuisance. So long as you move around, and you stay in the common area I found I was fine. In fact, I didn’t get a single bite while at Serón. 

They have a sink outside, so it’s easy to wash things and fill up your water. I still used my water filter just in case. 

I was on the trail at 7am and seems like I’m the only one out here so far, which is a nice way to start this peaceful morning. 

I heard that the O Circuit is a lot less crowded and more in nature than the W trek and I definitely feel that for sure. It makes sense as the towers are really a key feature and something a lot of people want to see and the hike up and around the mountain range might not be as appealing for many, but for me it definitely is. To really bond with a place and feel fully immersed on a long hike, I like to know that I’ve hiked the entire area and have seen all the wonderful things to be seen. It’s also nice that such a beautiful hike is sparse with people instead of incredibly overcrowded with other hikers. 

While hiking this morning I kept saying out loud, “I’m in Patagonia!” I said this out loud as I want to remind myself to stay present in this incredible place. There’s so much to see and simply being here, taking in the sights, the rabbits, foxes, horses, and the mosquitoes are all part of this incredible place.

The trail today is absolutely stunning. Yesterday I was hiking mostly on a fire road to Serón. Today is a proper trail that weaves in and out of the mountains, and is right next to lakes and an incredible river and lined with massive snow capped mountains in the background. Wow!  The views are absolutely magical and pristine. This is definitely what I hoped hiking in Patagonia would look like and I’m definitely not disappointed at all. This is something to see.

There’s a checkpoint as you head towards Dixon. On this trail rangers check you in and make sure you understand the rules of the park and to make sure that you’re getting from place to place as intended. You check in at the checkpoints and also at the campgrounds where you stay each night. You have to give them your passport number and show your permits as well. This is also in an effort to make sure no one gets lost on the trail. It’s nice to see they have a system for checking that. I’ve never experienced it on any other trail before like this. It was really comforting. 

When reviewing my plan last night for today, I thought my hike was only 9 miles, which is really short for me, but it was already 11.5 miles just to get to Dixon and it’ll be at least another 8-9 miles to get to Los Perros.

I stopped at Dixon for a break which was perfect timing. My legs are starting to get a little bit sore. And it was just nice to sit down and relax a little bit. I had some snacks. Bought a Twix bar for the road and washed my hands. I was back on the trail at 12:30.

The trail from Dixon to Los Perros you’re under a big canopy of trees that sway back and forth with the powerful Patagonia winds. At one point you can start to see what might be Gardener pass. This will be the big pass I have to go over tomorrow. It looks covered in snow, but I don’t let it phase me. I’m here and I’m ready for whatever nature has in store. 

I have to say the snow that covers Gardener pass right now looks awesome and it feels exciting to be in a different looking environment from the rest of the trail.

My overall impressions of the trail today have been outstanding. This is what I dreamed of here and it’s definitely better than I thought, even though the clouds cover some of the peaks. 

I listened to a couple of podcasts today on the way out of Dixon, which was nice and comforting to hear other peoples voices as I’ve only mostly spoken Spanish to people while I’ve been on this journey. It’s been amazing getting to use my Spanish more. I’ve been learning for about two years now, and it’s definitely a massive challenge and I like it. 

REMEMBER: One thing I’m making a note of is, when I get back home I want to learn kilometers because most trails in the world are measured in kilometers. Also, when all is said and done I think I will have hiked about 19.5  miles today versus the 9 miles I had planned.

Upon reflecting on my plan this evening I realized that I was looking at the hike tomorrow from Los Perros to Grey campground. I have to stop at Grey so there’s not going past that point. It’ll be nice to have a short day tomorrow. 

Even though I think I’ll arrive at Los Perros around 3:30pm I still have a bunch of the day to chill and relax.

When I left Dixon, I thought to myself. I don’t think I’m gonna see many people going from here to Los Perros today because the people seem to start on the trail much later in the morning. So, going from Dixon to Los Perros I saw 0 people on the trail. I love that sense of feeling lost in nature, especially in a place so dynamic as Patagonia.

Prepping for this hike I was only able to do a little bit of training on the trail. I wasn’t able to be on trail as much due to the rains back home and life stuff, so I did more things at the gym like squats, deadlifts and I think that really helped a lot. I’m on day 2 now and I feel like my legs are rock and solid. 

I’m about a mile and a half out from Los Perros campground and there is a glacier here that is mind blowing. I’ve never seen anything like this in person. It’s so close and magical and it’s taking my breath away. 

I followed the mirador path to the glacier. It is so incredible being here. I took a bunch of pictures, but none of them actually capture the awesomeness of it. I hung out in awe for about 30 minutes. It felt great to not feel rushed. 

Los Perros is very far out from the other campgrounds without easy access so it’s really simple. No store or items to buy. The showers only have cold water. I opted not to have a shower today as the cold water did not appeal to me in this snowy part of the trek. 

Inside the common area, there were a couple dozen people making their meals and talking it up. I met a guy named Nick from Canada. He was doing a similar trip to me, but heading home after hiking the O Circuit. 

I ate dinner then went into the office where I met Esteban, who works here in Los Perros. We talked in Spanish for about 15 minutes and had an awesome conversation. He was super patient with me, and it felt like the best conversation I’ve ever had in Spanish and I was feeling so happy about that. He invited his friend Carlos to join in the conversation to talk with me. He was also patient with my Spanish. 

I learned a lot about them both. They are both artists. Esteban is a painter of acrylics and also sculpture. Carlos is an artist that does pointillism. They showed me some of their incredible artwork, and I was really into both of their styles. 

It came back to my tent and set up all the little things inside to get ready for bed. I can already tell. It’s going to be incredibly cold tonight. I’m sleeping in my own tent with my own things tonight, which is what I’m used to. Off to bed at 9pm.

Day 3: Los Perros to Grey Campground

I was up at 5am with the sound of the first person talking. I knew it was going to be a big day to get over the pass so I decided to get an early start.

I was on the trail at 6am.

Los Perros campground is right at the base of John Gardener pass, so the moment you start hiking you’re going straight up and over the pass. 

The pass wasn’t too difficult overall. However, as you approach it, it looks huge, but that’s not really where you pass. You usually pass in a part that is easier to go over than going over the top of the highest point on the mountain.

I was glad I brought my snow clips for my trekking poles because I needed it in the parts that had snow. 

Going through the snow is always slow going. But the views were amazing and luckily I had the sun to my back.

At the top an incredible view opens up of the giant glacier below. Grey Glacier. I have seen this so many times before in videos and pictures of Torres del Paine. It’s huge in person and, because you are above it, you can see that it goes for miles and miles as far back as you can see! 

At the top of the pass I met a girl from Belgium named Matilda. She’s traveling for six weeks all around Patagonia and different places in Chile. We talked for a bit and this was the first of many chats we’d have today as we were hiking at about the same pace. I sat for a bit longer by myself to take in the awesomeness of the glacier then started to head down. 

Going down the pass is quite tricky as the snow was hard packed near the top and was incredibly slippery. At one point Matilda sat down and decided to slide down on her butt. We weren’t sure if it would be safe but she did it anyway. As she started going she picked up an incredible amount of speed and started to panic. I could see her scrambling with her feet and trekking poles trying to get an edge to slow down, but it wasn’t working. She was rapidly approaching the side of the cliff where, if she didn’t stop she would surely go over. I felt helpless as there was nothing I could do.. Luckily as she approached close to the cliff's edge, she was able to slow down. Her feet hit the rocks and she had about another 4 feet of room before she would have gone over. She stood up and said, “wow, that was a little scary!”

After that I decided not to slide down on my butt. 

Once I got past the ice I went through the forest canopy which goes down, down, down. This part is rough on the legs for sure. 

After many miles, I arrived at the checkpoint and signed in at 9:40 A.M. I had a snack with Matilda and two other guys that arrived shortly after me. After a short break I headed out on my way again solo. 

This part of the hike is cool as you go in and out of this incredible forest labyrinth and it also features 3 huge hanging bridges that are between here and today's campground, Grey Campground. 

I don’t think photos really captured the awesomeness of all that I am seeing here, so I just enjoy walking and being here in this incredible wonder. 

I arrived at the first hanging bridge. I think this is the new one that was recently rebuilt. It was out for about a month and people were able to zipline across with the assistance of a Parker Ranger. Apparently, this was only happening for about two weeks at the beginning of November and they fixed it by mid November. So no zipline for me. But the bridge was new, awesome and reminded me of Indiana Jones! When you look down at your feet you can see how far down it goes and it’s pretty freaky and shaky on the legs. I really enjoyed the bridge as the view in the background is of the canyon below and the massive glacier on my right. 

I decided to head down to mirador Grey to see the front of the glacier. There are times when I’m waking where the glacier pops out and I’m able to look down and it just gets closer and cooler. I think the best way to see glaciers is when they are really close as you can see all the incredibly intricate detail. 

Just before the second hanging bridge I came to mirador Grey. When I arrived Matilda and the two guys I met earlier were already there. We all hung out together and talked for about 20 minutes about life and the spirit of adventure. 

They packed up and I decided to hang out for about 10 more minutes talking in the awesomeness of this area. The break was really nice and needed. 

Back on the trail I started to pass other hikers coming toward me wearing day clothes and no packs so I figured I was getting close to Grey Campground. About 10 minutes later I arrived. I arrived at 1:30pm. It’s a short day overall as I guess the park wants to make sure everyone makes it over Gardener Pass as, depending on the weather, I’m sure it can take a lot longer than it did for me today.

Grey Campground is really nice. They have a restaurant, showers and all the things you’d expect. This feels like a real European Refugio, although I haven’t been to one yet ;) 

I set up camp and ordered a pizza. I ate half and decided to save the other half for later. 

For the rest of the day I chilled, talked to other hikers, took a shower and had an early dinner. It was nice to have a bit of a chill day as tomorrow is gonna be another big one. Little did I know just HOW big it was going to be.

I’m off to bed at 10:20pm and it’s still daylight. 

Day 4: Grey Campground to Central (finish of the O Circuit)

I’m on the trail at 6am. It’s a nice crispy morning. Definitely colder than yesterday. Also, as I got on the trail, I looked back at John Gardner Pass and saw that it was completely covered in dark clouds. I’m thankful that I had amazing weather going over the pass  yesterday as that could have been rough. It definitely made it much easier than not having to wade through the rain, thick fog and possibly snow. 

I had great views yesterday, too. Today, I have great views below, but the tops of the mountains are covered in clouds. I hope the clouds burn off slowly throughout the day as my plan is to go to Mirador Frances and Británico later and if they are covered in clouds that would be a bit unfortunate. I just have to go with the flow no matter what and enjoy every moment. 

I arrived at Pine Grande at 8:30am. It only took 2 1/2 hours to get here and it was beautiful all the way down. There’s a canyon I hiked through right before entering Paine Grande and it looks a little bit like the North Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon. 

At Paine Grande I took a short break to use the bathroom and have a power bar then I was on my way.

The hike to camp Italiano was nice and reminded me of hikes back home. The terrain felt familiar except for the giant powder blue lake to my right that goes along this whole part of the trail through to the end at Central. 

I took a short break at Italiano and overheard a woman say that the forecast had Miradors Francés and Británico at 95% cloud cover for the day. Oh well, I thought. But I’m here, so I decided to head up anyway just in case. The weather was actually great today, it’s just the clouds that decided to hang low, covering the peaks of the large mountain tops.

The hike up to Frances and Britannico is possibly the most difficult of the entire hike. There is a lot of rock scrambling and stepping from one rock to the next. 

Upon reaching Mirador Frances I hung out for a bit but the spire never fully decided to show itself. I was, however, able to see the main spire quite well from time to time, and it is impressive. I hung out here for a bit longer then headed on up to Mirador Britanico. There’s a beautiful raging river that runs along this part of the trail that weaves in and out all the way up. I got about halfway up to Britanico and decided to stop as the peaks are completely covered. I can only see part of the formation towards the bottom.

Standing there, I had a thought, “If I head back now. I might possibly be able to continue on through to the end of the Hike today.” It’s not that I was rushing. But, if I have that extra day, I would be able to head up to El Chalten afterwards to hike up to Fitz Roy. So I decided to turn back here and head back down toward Camp Frances. 

On my way to Camp Frances I ran into an older woman named Lilly, from Ecuador. She was hiking solo and had never done anything like this. She said she was getting older and had decided to go for it. Her three kids were all grown up and worried for her, but not enough to come with her. She decided to go for it and it inspired me to hear her story. She said she was worried she might be lonely, but said, “Nunca sola” I’m never alone. We have each other, nature and the awesomeness of life and this magical place. We had the entire conversation in Spanish and I was so touched by her story and energy. We talked for a while longer, then both went our separate directions. Of all the people I met on this trail I think I will remember her the most. 

Upon arriving at Camp Frances I was still full of energy and this camp area didn’t have anything other than the tents up on stilts. No shop, food options or anything else. A guy from the campground came out to ask me if I had a permit to sleep there. I decided to say no, as I was worried they might actually make me stop here. I asked him when the last bus from Central was and he said 7pm. He wasn’t sure if I could book it when I got there, but I figured I could deal with that when I got there.  So I decided to hike on. 

At this point it was all systems go to the finish line. I made the decision to get to Central by 7pm and figure out how to get back to Puerto Natales that evening. 

I got to Cuernos campground and was very impressed. This place is incredible. There were a ton of people here, two restaurants and a beach area. On my way up I saw 3 girls running into the lake naked to do a polar plunge. As I passed I heard them all scream as the water was freezing cold. The campground seemed like a lot of fun. But I just used the restroom, filled up my water bottle and headed out. 

Hiking out of Cuernos there is an incredible part where the mountains, lake and the campground come together in a magical vista. It looks tropical just in this one spot. I was able to take a picture that captured the beauty of this spot. It’s really, really beautiful. 

Overall I didn’t see many people hiking today. After Cuernos I maybe saw 3 other hikers the rest of the day.

Along through the rest of the hike I took pictures and video along the way. Every time I said, “wow” or, “whoa” was a moment to stop for a breath and a moment to enjoy each spot. 

I know I was getting close to the end of the hike as I could now see Central in the distance. It was 6:15pm and I knew I was going to make it by 7pm. Yay! 

Upon arrival at Central I stopped for a mental check in as I wanted to give myself a moment of gratitude for completing the hike, for being here and for the awesomeness of nature for sharing this place with me. I had done it and I was so happy with every moment I had on this incredible trail. 

The O Circuit overall is not a hard trail, but one that is varied holding views and landscapes many unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I was able to buy my tickets all the way to Puerto Natales and booked a place to stay for the night on Booking.com. I was set, just one more thing remained, getting some food at Central as I would be arriving to Puerto Natales too late to get food in town. 

I grabbed a small veggie pizza they had and gobbled it up. I was able to text home to let my girls know I had finished the hike and was safe and sound. 

I had an incredible first leg of this trip and I was happy that I finished two days early as this would give me the time I needed to head up to hike Fitz Roy in Argentina, but that’s another story for another post.