{"id":22526,"date":"2023-10-31T22:46:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T22:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prikanowski.nl\/wandelen\/?p=22526"},"modified":"2023-12-22T11:07:35","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T11:07:35","slug":"20231031-w-trek-day-1-grey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prikanowski.nl\/wandelen\/index.php\/2023\/10\/31\/20231031-w-trek-day-1-grey\/","title":{"rendered":"20231031 W-trek day 1 – Grey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Date: 20231031<\/p>\n

Time: 7:30 – 17:30<\/p>\n

Distance: 30,7 km<\/p>\n

Overnight stay: Paine Grande, Torres del Paine<\/p>\n

Walk<\/h4>\n

I am up at 6:15 to get breakfast at 6:30 and have an early start. It froze last night.<\/p>\n

\"\"I follow a rocky path. Early in the day I don’t meet a lot of people. That changes when it gets later.<\/p>\n

It is sunny, blue skies all around. I realize that I forgot my sun glasses. They are still in my other backpack that I left with Ada. I am so focused on the stuff I normally don’t need, that I forget half of the stuff I normally have. I also forgot my hat, but that is still at home in Baarlo. The sun glasses are no problem today, I have the sun in my back when I walk up to Grey as well as when I return. And after Refugio Grey I walk under the trees.<\/p>\n

\"\"It is warm in the sun, but chilly or even cold in the shade. That also changes during the day. In the afternoon it is f*cking hot in the sun and there is almost no shade.<\/p>\n

All the dead trees make the scenery a little spooky. Today I walk a few times through the woods, especially the last part after Refugio Grey. Probably the fire did not get here. If it wasn’t for the fire, I would have walked a lot more through the woods. As bad as I feel about the fire, I do like the different scenery it created.<\/p>\n

At Laguna los Patos I take off my vest, it’s getting too warm.<\/p>\n

\"\"I made GPX tracks of all the planned routes but they are not really necessary. One cannot get lost here because there is only one path. However, I get other useful information like where I am and what altitudes to expect.<\/p>\n

The path continues down through a small stream, I walk in the water.
\nNow I enter a section that is very steep. I have to use my hands and I really have to watch out because it can be slippery when wet.<\/p>\n

\"\"I meet two Australian guys and talk a bit to one of them. He has a good tip, at the end of my route I have to continue for about 5 minutes after the 2nd suspension bridge to get good views on the glacier.<\/p>\n

After a little more than 3 hours I reach Refugio Grey, time for a coffee. At first they scare me, the bar is closed for cleaning. However they also have a minimarket where I can get a decent coffee that I drink outside at a picknick table.<\/p>\n

When I continue, I first make a detour to a mirador (viewpoint) to watch the glacier from afar. The I continue my route for 3 more miradors. At the first mirador I hear thunder, a piece of ice breaks of the glacier, I didn’t see it, but I heard it.<\/p>\n

I fill my water bottle from a stream. I read and they told me the water is drinkable and I believe them. Still I bought a bottle with a filter, just to be sure.<\/p>\n

\"\"I pass two suspension bridges. The first one crosses a small stream that probably can get bigger. The second one is longer and higher and has its own private glacier coming down from the mountain. Probably a temporary glacier.<\/p>\n

Finally I reach my target, which was also the tip from the Australian guy. Good tip by the way. From this mirador you have a fabulous view on the glacier. I stay a short while to take in the view and eat a protein bar.<\/p>\n

\"\"The way back to Refugio Grey goes way faster than the way up. I meet the couple from Utah again. They are on their way up but they don’t know if they have enough time. They also have to go back to Paine Grande. I tell them how far it is and that there are some steep sections. I am afraid they are not going to make it.<\/p>\n

At Refugio Grey I have a well-deserved beer, a Torres del Pain by Austral.<\/p>\n

I meet two girls with devil horns and I make the sign of the horns with my hand and they wish me happy Halloween! I totally forgot that it is Halloween. In Santiago and Valpara\u00edso you cannot forget, but here that is no problem.<\/p>\n

Everybody keeps shouting ice-cream at me today and I keep shouting back Ola. This joke probably doesn’t work for people outside of the Netherlands but I am not going to explain…<\/p>\n

\"\"The rest of the track back to Paine Grande is rather uneventful. I refill my water bottle once more and I don’t stop at all the viewpoints, I did that already the first time around.<\/p>\n

I notice in several parts that there are multiple parallel tracks to choose from. I have seen this in my other walks also. If there is room, people tend to make their own path if there is a reason. For instance water on the path, too hard or too close to the edge. It is sometimes hard to tell what the original path was. If there is a hard section, then that is probably the original path. Otherwise it is the longer path.<\/p>\n

\"\"The last part up is hard, I already walked 25 kilometers through harsh terrain and I feel it in the legs. Once I start going down, the last kilometers, it gets better. Even though I am tired and my pace slows down, I still overtake a lot of people. That means their normal pace is less than my tired pace…<\/p>\n

In total I walked 30.5 kilometers today. A bit more than the 28 I planned.<\/p>\n

Weather<\/h4>\n

The weather was very good today, sunny and dry, even a little too warm in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t

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