The “W” trek – Refugio Paine Grande to Refugio Los Cuernos via the French Valley We knew this section was going to be a kicker – a bit over 28km (17.5 miles).   This was the middle leg of the “W” (the blue sections on the map) and it was going to be a long day.

Beginning at Ref. Paine Grande, tracing a path to Campamento Italiano (orange on the map), with a branch northward into the French Valley – a 7.5km stretch, that was reported to be all up-hill, but with exceptional views deep in the valley, a return, and an additional stretch eastward to Ref. Cuernos. We’d done a few of the massive days before – Paintbrush Divide in the Tetons, Owl’s Head and Mt Isolation in NH’s White Mountains, but we’d never done it with a 25lb pack!   We’d had two good days so far, good warm ups.  We’d also been talking to folks, had they done the full section?  including the French Valley?  And was there a way we could drop our packs for the out-and-back trip through the Valley? From our other massive day hikes, we figured this would be 9 to 10 hours on the trail, putting us at Ref. Cuernos after 5pm.  Refugios/huts being what they are, sometimes that meant last dibs on bunks, so eager to get moving and get some miles early, informed, and with an ok breakfast at Paine Grande, we set out around 8:30am.

The trails here in TDP were well-traveled, with generally good footing.  Much of the “W” traced valleys or skirted a lake, which generally meant only minimal elevation changes – certainly nothing like the 3000+ feet, or boulder hoping that was typical of the NH Whites.    With that, we were able to make good time to the Campamento Italiano, covering the roughly 7.5km (4.6mi) in just over 2hrs.

As we’d heard from some of our fellow trekkers, it was a common occurrence for people to leave packs at the camp site while they visited the French Valley.  Sure enough, when we arrived, there were already a number of packs stacked up…

Spending a few minutes to transfer our electronic gear (the ipads, etc.) to our foldable day-packs (thank you, Jeanne and LLBean), and covering our packs in the event of rain, we set off into the French Valley and the Mirador Britanico.

As we’d read, it was uphill – immediately!   For the next hour, it was steadily uphill, maybe not to surprisingly, without the full pack, it was almost as if we found a new pair of legs.  Once we passed the Mirador Frances, the terrain flattened a bit, as we made our way through the undulating ridges and valleys of the Cuernos summit to the east, but then became very steep, with nearly a scramble, up the last 700 feet to the lookout.

While a bit of work, this trek into the French Valley was worth the effort – some amazing views – of the hanging glacier Frances, Cerro Paine Grande, and then Cerro Cota (2000m) and Cerro Catedral (2200m) at the apex of the valley.

Some of the more beautiful views in the whole trip. And every so often, we’d hear thunder in the distance – will, not really thunder, but avalanches crashing from the summits in the distance. We’d stop to catch a view, but by the time we were hearing it, much of the excitement was over. Still, some of nature’s glory!

It was all downhill from there (hah!) – return to our Campamento Italiano and our packs – and then more rolling terrain as we again traced Lago Nordenskjold for the 5.5km (about 3 miles) to Refugio Los Cuernos, arriving at the refugio around 5:30 that evening.

Much smaller than Ref. Paine Grande, the Refugio Los Cuernos had a common room and an outside deck area with a nice overlook of the Lake. We got ourselves settled, and cleaned up after the very long day – and while the Refugio didn’t have our (now favorite) Pisco Sours, it did have bottled wine for purchase. With a nice bottle of Chilean Carmenere, we joined our fellow trekkers, also done with their day’s trip, for a bit of vino before a 7:00pm dinner.

One of the pleasant surprises during this trek, was that we periodically would see familiar faces. Both because of the nature of the “W” – with a common entry from Puerto Natales, but a choice to traverse from east to west or vice versa, it made for fast friends and plenty of dinner talk. Here at Cuernos, we met up with our Dutch friends, Mark and Caroline, whom we’d met back in Puerto Natales several days earlier. Dinner conversation passed quickly, along with new acquaintances from Ottowa, ok maybe fueled a bit by that Carmenere.

Into bed early after a long day, in preparation for a shorter day to Refugio El Chileno.

read more: Ref. Cuernos to Ref. El Chileno