Grinding Out The W

The Great Northern boldly treks Torres Del Paine National Park.

By Peak Design

Chile's Torres Del Paine National Park is one of Patagonia's most stunning landscapes, which is really saying something. That's like being one of San Francisco's most gentrified neighborhoods, or one of Bon Iver's most sleep-inducing songs. Through the park runs a giant W-shaped trail that most folks simply call "The W." Truthfully, it's more butt-shaped, but our grass-roots effort to popularize the nickname "The Butt" has been 100% unsuccessful. Whatever, that's not what this Field Note is about.

This is about friend Rachel Nichols in Denver. She started an extremely dope photography and design agency called The Great Northern (grtntn.co) with her friends Elizabeth and Jonathan Combs (you'll hear from Elizabeth and Jonathon in another Field Note soon). They've done some stellar work for our pals at Oru Kayak and Kammok, and through that mutual connection we began our own.

Rachel and her husband Chad recently did a mad dash through Torres Del Paine (well, a strenuously-paced dash) and lived to tell the story. Maybe it was their physical fitness and keen outdoor acumen that got them through it, or maybe it was the Peak Design gear that they brought. Scientists may never know. The following words and pictures are by Rachel herself.

The Crew

Presenting Rachel and Chad Nichols...

I braced myself on the edge of the cliff, eyes fixed ahead on Glacier Grey as 60km/per hour winds pushed back against me. Before this trek someone had told us: "the winds in Patagonia will change your life." I think this is what they meant.

While our journey to Southern Patagonia had been sprinkled with a few hiccups, we were finally on the trail in Torres del Paine National Park, embarking on the adventure we had planned for months. Packs strapped tight, trekking poles in hand, and the Everyday Sling by our side, we began our route, dubbed the “W,” starting at Paine Grande campground, and snaking back around to Los Torres, one of the most iconic vistas in the world.

Bag pictured: Everyday Sling by Peak Design

While in years past, backpackers have been free to hike the W or O circuit in the park unhindered, a reservation system was put into place in 2016, limiting the spots available at each campground every night. The campgrounds scattered around the park are owned by three different companies (Fantastico Sur, Conaf, and Vertice), so planning our route with no intel beforehand was challenging. Due to full campgrounds, we had to condense a five day trek into four, with two 7-mile days, followed by a 17-mile and then 22-mile day (guh!).

Pro Tip:

If you are planning on backpacking without reserving many spots before hand, give yourself a few days of lead time in Puerto Natales to plan your trek and definitely attend Erratic Rock’s 3pm information session they hold every day concerning the park.

As our trail curved around the massif, countless streams and waterfalls crossed our path, carrying with them some of the purest drinking water in the world. The Colorado backpacker in me balked at the thought of not using ANY purification method, but sure enough, no iodine, Steripen, or filtration was required. We simply dipped our bottles in the water sources and drank up. As of writing this, it's 3 weeks later and there are no signs of giardia. Yay!

We literally hobbled into our final campsite on night 4, utterly exhausted and hurting in a million different places. The long day had us craving a splurge on cold beer or glass of wine from the Refugio, but after setting up our tent and preparing our final freeze dried meal, all we could do was crawl into our sleeping bags and pass out.

The next morning we broke camp and took refuge from the rain at Refugio Torre, sipping on hot chocolate and resting our legs as the other hikers finished their treks and waited for the 2:30 bus back to Puerto Natales.

Bag pictured: Everyday Backpack 30L by Peak Design

It was time for the next adventure: The Fitz Roy.

As we bused into El Chalten, we could see the clear skies surrounding the Fitz darken as thick grey clouds encroached. Patagonia’s finicky weather had finally decided to greet us. We spent the first few days in the town wondering if the massif would even show its face.

On our last day the weather broke and we set off on the 15 mile hike up to Laguna de Los Tres, nestled at the base of the massive ridgeline. As we walked farther and farther in, clouds started to float in and out of the peaks, bringing out the wild colors of the rock. We stood in awe of the sheer granite faces before us, imaging what it would have been like to see the peaks form and break free from the earth thousands of feet below.

It’s not just the roaring wind that changes lives in Patagonia. It’s the sharp peaks and deep valleys, the raging waterfalls and quiet streams, the thick forests and open plains.