Patagonia W Trek - French Valley — Michelle Goes Global

Patagonia is simply amazing! I probably say that about every place I visit, but the pictures and description of this trip should be viewed with a warning that you will most likely start saving money for a trip to Chile.

My visit to Chile was specifically to complete the W Trek, a famous route in the Torres del Paine National Park. The aerial view of the trek is in the shape of a "W" hence the name. The W Trek is divided into three very diverse hiking days: French Valley, Glacier Grey, and The Towers.

As part of the EcoCamp W Trek tour, we departed from the EcoCamp and drove through the park to our first boat launch. Being so far south, the sun doesn't make an appearance until around 8am in April. The Fall is also the low season for trekking, so there were only two boats: morning and evening. Due to the later morning boat, we were not going to make it to the farthest lookout in the French Valley, but a good view awaited us.

The French Valley is the middle prong in the "W." The trail winds up and down passed lakes and trees before beginning to climb to the lookout. There is a short section with a rock scramble, and more trees lining the path, following the glacier runoff. As we ascended, a loud thunderous noise drew our eyes to the mountain on our left... avalanches!

Wind in Patagonia is pretty much a guarantee. The strength of the wind is the only variable. Fall and late spring have strong breezes, compared with the gales in summer. When we reached the lookout, and our turnaround point for the day, I decided to opt for a "stand on a rock" pose. Just as I got ready for the picture, a strong gust of wind decided to knock me off of the rock perch, luckily I had a safe landing point scoped out.

On the return trip, the skies chasing us looked ominous. This has a way of increasing footsteps and speeding the return to shelter. Our hastened pace brought us to the Refugio before the rains got too heavy. The Refugio is a bunkhouse with a cafeteria and showers, a nice respite after a day's hike. Staying in the Refugio was necessary to complete two sections of the "W" before returning to the EcoCamp and our plush EcoDome.