Patagonia Trip Report 2025

It would appear that (for me at least) travelling to Patagonia is like buses….I’ve wanted to go there for the last umpteen decades and in the last 2 years, I’ve now managed to travel there 3 times; lucky me!

Our team met up in our hotel in Puerto Natales for an initial briefing to go over the logistics for the next few days and to double check that everyone had the required kit for the notoriously fickle Patagonian climate. We were a wonderfully ‘international’ group with 2 Australians, 2 Canadians, 2 Americans and myself from the UK.

Day 1 – The first of many early starts….and a bus journey to the entrance of the Torres del Paine National Park. The views of the Torres as we drove towards the park were spectacular. The hiking on this day is a relatively gentle start through undulating terrain and small forests. We had an unseasonably warm day which found me hiking in my vest top all day (a ‘singlet’ I am reliably told is the Australian term…)

Our day 1 finishes at a campsite at Seron. The tents are new and are elevated on stilts with a ladder for access. It required some concentration getting in & out, especially in the dark, in order to avoid landing in an inelegant heap on the grass! In the warm afternoon sunshine and with beers in hand, our fabulous local guide, Sergio treated us to a long chat about the National Park and some of the history of Chile before we had dinner cooked by the staff in the refuge.

Day 2 – Breakfast in the refuge was welcome after a chilly night for some (several of our team took to renting a 2nd sleeping bag after this night!). We left our spare kit in the bags for the amazing porters: Andres and Luis and set off. This is a longer day than yesterday, but still a steady build up to what the trail delivers over the coming days. The O Circuit goes through a Park Ranger Check-point where it is mandatory to prove booked accommodation over the next few nights…no booking and you get turned back! Yet again we were all warmer than expected while hiking. Sunscreen, sun hats and sunglasses all got used all day….right up until we arrived at Dickson and the heavens opened to welcome us to our tents for the night. Sunbathing & napping during our picnic lunch gazing up at the distant glaciers suddenly seemed a long time ago!

Day 3 – The trail wanders through ancient Patagonian forest for nearly the entire day today. It is a quiet and peaceful hike and eventually comes out at the base of the Los Perros Glacier and our least favourite campsite (and meal) of the entire trek. It was an ‘entertaining’ dinner, thankfully much improved by the Canadian contingent smuggling in 2 bottles of red wine from our previous night’s refuge! (No alcohol sold in Los Perros)

Day 4 – The one redeeming feature of sleeping at Los Perros is that it’s a short night…breakfast was 5:30am and we were hiking in the dark with head-torches by 6:30am. Not all hikers leaving the campsite were lucky enough to be following a guide on the unclear, muddy trail and during the first 30 minutes several people emerged from the forest having had their own personal mystery tours in completely the wrong direction. Thankfully the slippy logs, deep puddles and soggy mud were soon left behind as we headed up onto firmer ground and the trail up to the John Gardner Pass. We were honoured with a fabulous dawn and clear views in all directions as we climbed up to the Pass. Clearly someone in our team had made the correct sacrifice to the weather gods because it stayed clear for us on the Pass itself…if somewhat chilly (I was wearing EVERYTHING as we descended). The view from here is unbelievably spectacular over the enormous Grey glacier and right out onto the rest of the Southern Patagonian Icefield. 

The trail descends towards the Grey Glacier and stays on its left bank all the way to the Grey refuge where we had a dormitory for the night. We all loved this refuge. Hard to know if it was the long day, the wood burners, the friendly staff, the good food or the quantity of Pisco Sours consumed….

Day 5 – Sergio and I had discussed 2 options for today and for once the weather gods were not on our side…so it was option B: straight to Paine Grande Refuge. This was our first experience during this trek of the notorious Patagonian winds. We think they were gusting around 85km…we felt rather smug that we had the wind & rain behind us on our hoods and felt rather sorry for the folk now coming in the other direction with the rain on their faces.

It was good to get a hot shower at Paine Grande Refuge. We had dormitory spaces here so that we could properly ‘enjoy’ listening to the variations in coughing and snoring techniques that we had within the whole team😊

Day 6 – A 7am breakfast again, softened slightly for me by the presence of real Twinings tea bags and for the Canadian contingent by the presence of a proper coffee machine. Small pleasures! Our plan today for the enthusiastic, fit team members was to hike to our cabins at the Cuernos campsite via the French Valley & French lookout. Others, with coughs etc would go directly to Cuernos. Unfortunately, the plan was utterly scuppered by the Rangers shutting the footpath up the French valley (the steady rain over the last couple of days had made the river crossing too dangerous) so we all hiked together for the day. This is the section along the edge of the Nord Skold Lake, so different terrain again, looking up at the imposing Cuernos (horns) high above us.

This was a great refuge and location for the evening. The cabins were delightful (especially after the wood burners were lit) and the refuge was welcoming and friendly with good food.

Day 7 – A very relaxed start to the day using the free wifi meant that many of us could phone home at a more helpful time than on previous days. The undulating and really enjoyable trail again follows the lake as it heads back towards the park entrance and our refuge at Central. This is a large, warm, well run refuge and once here, we had technically completed the whole of the O Circuit…anything else is a bonus.

Day 8 – Most of the team braved a 2:30am breakfast and set off with head-torches at 3am. The weather was calm and relatively mild and we had stars and a sliver of moon to help. The trail takes around 4 hours and is largely uphill. We took a few, very brief breaks. As we arrived up at the Torres, dawn was breaking with the most spectacular golden glow over the 3 towers. We really could not have asked for a better weather day, we were unbelievably lucky 😊. After several million photos, we headed back to the refuge and the bus that would take us back to Puerto Natales. Curiously the trail seemed to take twice as long on the descent!

Thank you to everyone in the team for your humour and for sharing the adventure. Our local guide and our 2 porters made the whole journey possible. We will be back in 2026 😊