DAY 63 (2 OF 3) – PAINE GRANDE TO GLACIER GREY, TORRES DEL PAINE, CHILE

The catamaran docked near Refugio Paine Grande at 1pm. From this point on, we had finally set foot on the W-trek. We had four more hours of trekking ahead of us before reaching Refugio Grey, our accommodation of the night. The 11-kilometer hike began with a pleasant walk through a valley. At this time of the year, wild flowers including several orchids could be found everywhere. Roughly an hour into the hike, we reached a lookout at a small glacier lagoon called Laguna los Pasos. Half an hour later, we finally had the first glimpse of the blue floating ice on Lago Grey’s milky water. Soon after, we were exhilarated to see the beautiful Glacier Grey from a distance. From this point on, the glacier just got closer and closer from one lookout to another. There was a fair bit of ascends and descends on the trail. By the time we finally arrived at Refugio Grey, we were both tired and hungry. Situated close to the front of Glacier Grey, Refugio Grey is a clean and simple mountain lodge with 60 beds in total. The refugio wasn’t full, and we were delighted to find that we could have the room all by ourselves.