Patagonia, Torres Del Paine, W-Trek (Part 4)

Introduction

Day 4 involved a walk from Paine Grande to Gray Glacier. While the day started slow, as we ascended through windy valleys, our adrenaline certainly got pumping when we finally caught sight of the crystal blue glaciers. To me, enjoying the glaciers from the hanging bridges was my favourite time on this trip.

Sunset over the Glacier

Day 4

After having a proper bed to rest and recover, we started day 4 with a spring in our step. First up was a highly windy valley, that is known to pose a danger of actually blowing people over. Afterwhich we had a short section of forest which I guess is mother nature’s way of making you work for what is to come next. Eventually we would reach gray lake, which has small pieces of the glacier that had broken off. Here was the preview, before the show.

View Point 1

Slowly but surely, we made our way to our first viewpoint of Gray Glacier. When I first caught glimpse of the glacier from a distance, I literally ran towards the viewpoint. Being born and raised in Singapore, seeing such a huge glacier was just a WOW moment for me. Add to the fact that this glacier was not high up on some unreachable mountain, but literally floating a KM or two in front of me.

Reaching Gray Lodge

From the first viewpoint, another 2-3 hour hike is needed to reach Gray Lodge. During which time, the glacier appeared agonizingly closed, yet we had to continue to zig-zag around the forest. Thanks mother nature for continuing to train my patience - ‘How to train a Fabian episode 50’.

The Hanging Bridges

From Gray Lodge, you have two choices, either go kayak around gray lake (not available in the off-season) or go to three hanging bridges that hang over the glacier. We headed to the bridges in the afternoon, and got several viewpoints above Gray Glacier. This was without a doubt, my favourite time during the entire trip. Peaceful and powerful, the glacier totally struck me in awe.

Gray Lodge

One more bit of luxury on our trip as we stayed in a lodge for the second time. Hot chocolate and a a fireplace? YES PLEASE!

Up Next

Day 5 is up next, which was kind of a marathon day for us. We practically walked from dawn to dusk in order to get out of the park, but caught a couple of pretty sights along the way.

Stay tuned!