Patagonia Torres del Paine – Gearlist

[Nathan F]

Ryan, Im sure you will be really impressed with the Nallo 2. Set up is fast and straight forward. I was also impressed with how warm the tent was when I woke up to snow and temps in the 20s, it really provides a micro climate for comfortable sleeping. You will have to be careful about sight selection to avoid condensation, also keep the foot end of the tent unzipped and the inner tent partially open whenever you can. Aftermarket carbon fiber poles are available for the Nallo. Ive been tempted to get a set, but Hilleberg doesn't recomend it, saying that these poles have failed in their tests.

[Nick Garcia]

Here are some good links i have found while researching my trip to Patagonia:

http://www.campingpehoe.com./index.html

http://www.wcircuit.com/FS-FAQ2008.pdf

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294276-i5357-k583035-Patagonia_4_weeks_in_March_2006_trip_report-Patagonia.html

http://tezaur.net/photo/chile/torres/index.html#ci-cb

[Nick Garcia]

Ryan, i read that you agree with a synthetic camp jacket is probably best. I was thinking down camp jacket and down sleeping bag, worse case you have the refugios to bail out. Or would a synthetic Jacket / down bag be a better option? I currently have a patagonia micropuff pullover, but was thinking of getting a lighter down option. I am going durning November, the avg low is 40 and avg high is 52 as per the weather search i did.

I was thinking the following layers for upper body:
Light Merino Wool Base Layer long sleeve
Patgonia R1
Patagonia Houndini Wind Shirt
Light Down Jacket (need to buy)
OR Zealot Jacket (GoreTex Paclite)

I notice some gear list included a Vest?

Thanks any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

[Ryan Teale]

Hey Nick. I think the down versus synthetic comes down to hiking style. You can definitely keep a down jacket dry if you just plan to roll into camp each day, cook in the tent, and then crash To do this make sure your rain jacket is roomy enough to fit over it. I would also carry a dry shirt to change into at camp and sleep in every night rather than putting your down jacket on over damp layers. This is important if you have to sleep in your down jacket on a cold damp night. You can definitely take breaks at the refugios most days, depending on your route, and hang up the down jacket to dry.

The other consideration is if you plan to do day hikes away from camp such as to the Torres overlook, Valle del Silencio, or Valle Frances. Without a heavy, sweaty pack on I often wore my Micro Puff in damp chilly conditions on day hikes. I also had a tripod and SLR and spent a lot of time stopping to take pictures or venturing out at the beginning or end of the day and favor the synthetic jacket for this. A light stuff sack style summit pack is nice for side trips if you have the time. I used the "Montbell pocket day pack" for this and as my carry on and around town pack. The Marmot Kompressor, Integral Designs Silcoat Backpack, Golite Ion, or Outdoor Research Dry Peak Bagger are other options.

I used a Smartwool Lightweight SS Tee, Smartwool Lightweight Zip T, and Patagonia R2 vest as my hiking layers. I rarely needed to layer the two shirts over eachother while moving and used the vest even less. Temps could have been colder than I experienced so I think I would still take the R2 vest. I like the vest because it is easier to take on and off without fussing with sleeves and binding in the arms. I wore my Houdini a lot over the Zip T and put my beanie and gloves on if I needed more warmth. There were a couple warm days where I was happy to have the Short Sleeve shirt. I wished for more venting with the OR Zealot jacket and got a Montbell Peak Shell after the trip.

Feel free to ask any questions or pm me.

Ryan

[Ryan Teale]

So did any of you guys make the trip? Reply here or post a trip report. Would love to hear about it and see some pics. Tell us what gear you took and how it worked.

Ryan

[Steven Evans]

Mr. Teale,
sigh…Sadly I did not. It is still very much on the agenda, just postponed for now. The help was greatly appreciated, and WILL come in handy, I promise…

Nathan? Maybe he is still there? He did say it was going to be in January…

[Ryan Teale]

Hey Steve,
Sorry to hear you didn't make it down south. I was checking out prices on flights in a fit of day-dreaming the other day and wanted to see if anyone on the thread had made the trip. I think this site could do with more trip reports and photos so I guess I need to put a couple together myself!!

Ryan

[Steven Evans]

Ryan, funny enough, I was checking out prices and saw that I can get a round trip from Toronto for $620 taxes inc….I couldn't believe it! I have time off from mid April to first week of May, but I have to look into weather and stuff – not sure if that is a good time to go…

[Fred eric]

I hope you dont mind me unearthing this thread, but i found lots of valuable information on it.
We are just back from Greenland , so i need to start planning our next year hike :)

My wife and I are very tempted to go to Patagonia, we found yet around a score of blogs about hiking there.

We would like to do about the same schedule as in Iceland or Greenland :

About 2 weeks hiking , in one or two places, 2 weeks of food is about the most i dont mind carrying.
And one week , relaxing , doing day /half day hikes, visiting.

The longest hike i found yet is Torrest del Paine circle ( about 10 days ? )
We are a bit afraid from what we read it might be crowded, but the photos seems georgous.

I am wondering about a few things

– what other hikes should i look at ?
– time of the year to go, some says november – february, some november- april, is the difference that big in march – april ? ( we dont mind wind or cold and even rain, as long as you can see the landscape )
– is it really necessary to hang food because of mices ?
– what would you bring for tent stakes ? silly question but in Iceland Laugavegur , titane skewer were great, in Iceland Hornstrandir they were not that good, and completly inadequate on Scotland CWT .
– is bug protection needed ? and how bad.
– is there fishing opportunity, in small pieces of water or river or in lakes ? ( i am hesitating between my 500g spinning set up or bringing a tenkara one )
– are the campsite full with peoples ? my kifaru paratipi weights only 900g but takes a huge area.
– is it permitted to camp outside of campsites ( the answer seems to be no, but is it a strong no , or not like in Iceland Laugavegur )

thank you if you took the time to read all of that
now i need to find the spanish lessons i had in school 30 years ago :)

frederic

[Ryan Teale]

Hey Fred.

I did the circuit end of February into March and had great weather. It did rain 1 full day and snowed at 3,000 feet the following day. We had plenty of sun as well and pretty mild temps. Ten days is plenty of time to do the circuit and some side trips. Supplementing your carried food is easily done by buying food along the way and eating some meals at the refugios.

Mosquitoes were only a problem on the back side from Dickson to Coiron. I didn't bring a headnet or deet and my houdini was enough to keep them at bay with the hood on. A rodent did go into a pack and tore up the foil windscreen and ate through a jacket pocket to get at some snacks left in there at Coiron. I wouldn't say either are a concern.

[Ryan Teale]

I'll try to answer your other questions.

Camping is more crowded on the part called the W. I never felt there was too many people except for a couple crowded refugios on rainy days. The backside of the circuit sees much less traffic at least in March.

You should have now problem using your kifaru. I just used normal aluminum stakes and had no problem although my tent was free-standing. I used MSR ground hog stakes on my recent JMT hike with my Duomid and highly recommend them. Great to just be able to whack them into the ground and not worry about them pulling out.

I know the Pingo area is good for fishing and is more remote. There is a river crossing that can be difficult but there may be a new bridge. I didn't do any fishing and many of the rivers around the circuit are glacier fed and full of silt so not sure about fishing those.

[Ian White]

Hey, I am trying to unearth this thread again as I have some questions about renting gear at Torres del Paine for use on the Circuit. I am going to be traveling in South America for a number of months and the Circuit is on my itinerary for early March.

Because I will be gone for awhile, I have not been planning on bringing a shelter, sleeping pad, or stove. Can I rent these in the park? or nearby?

If anybody has any insight that would be much appreciated.

Also, are reservations necessary for the campsites?

[Hector Galdames]

Hi to rent gear in Chile Puerto natales

http://www.senderoaventura.cl
http://www.apatagonia.com name the contact Pablo Ascenjo

saludos

De Chile

[Fred eric]

Unearthing again that thread :)

We booked our flight tickets so we will arrive at Punta Arenas the 16 of April and leave the 7 of may.

We plan to hike 10 days in the Torres area ( we will adjust depending on the snow if we do circuit or W and side trips).

Then maybe we will go back to Punta Arenas to do the Cabo Froward hike.

For the gear we will go with down sleeping bags, they were fine in Scotland so it should be ok there :)
We will also bring our nunatak epic skaha +, but only as a camp layer.
My wife will have a 270g/m2 merinos shirt + capilene 2 + minima vest for hiking.
I will bring the same 270g/m2 merinos shirt + capilene 2.

For the stove it will be either our superfly, or if i can get my hands on one before the primus express spider.

We arrive late in Punta Arenas ( 16h10 plane ) so i was wondering if either i could buy a gas canister in Puerto Natales, or if i have to hurry to find one in Punta Arenas if i want to leave the day after.

[Ryan Teale]

You can get a gas canister in Puerto Natales or at the park entrance! Puerto Natales caters very well to trekkers so don't worry about searching for things in Punta Arenas. I caught a bus straight to Puerto Natales from the airport in Punta Arenas on my trip.

Feel free to ask questions or pm me. After the JMT, Alaska, and New Zealand doing the circuit still stands out as my favorite trekking experience. Try to make it to Los Glaciares in Argentina if you have the time!

Ryan

[Fred eric]

Just finished the circuit

1 the site is beautiful

2 i met max about 12 people a day due to season on the "W" , down to no one else at camp britannico ( due to heavy snow )
and no one from camp paso to start of circuit due to circuit being close ( snow was knee hight to waist high a few time at max for the Gardner pass hiking day)

3 what i didnt like is feeling like someone is holding your hand all the time
everything is so fixed , the path the camp etc… even with some of the refugios closed its way too tamed for what i like, i prefer the cape wrath trail in Scotland or our last hike in Greenland a thousand time more for the liberty they provide
even if i understand that with so many people visting the site those strict guidance are necessary

perhaps i should have done the "dientes " instead, i was afraid of the snow southward in late april but seems the sea influence is stronger ( snow level is about 900m here for 500m in Torres )

overall i dont regret it the sightseeing was wonderful
but i wont get back while i will probably in Scotland :)

Frederic

[suelyn kim]

reading about everyone's gear list on this thread was really helpful and wanted to say thank you so much for sharing what you brought and also what you could do without.

when i was planning for my trip, i was concerned about the weight of my pack and having some knee problems, i was looking for a simple yet thought-out list. i'm a solo female (5'2) hiker, which shouldn't matter much, but i am a cold sleeper, and usually worried about safety.

i just came back from patagonia a couple weeks ago and had an amazing trip! i ended up with the right amount of gear and never felt i was lugging around my bag, even when i got into different towns.

one of the things i was planning for was the torres del paine circuit, but the vertical step ladder near Dickson had broke. they didn't let solo hikers complete the circuit so i did the W instead.

here's my gear list and hope this helps other ladies or your girlfriend prepare…

rei flash 50 backpack (size sm)
rei flash 18 day pack (fold up)
big agnes seedhouse 1p tent
big agnes footprint
mountain hardware 0 degree synthetic sleeping bag
exped SynMat UL 7 (reg.)

1 under armor rain jacket (shell with pit zippers. a must, in my opinion)
1 north face fleece sweater (i wore)
2 pairs of underwear (one i wore)
3 pairs of thick wool socks (one i wore)
1 rei 4 way stretch pants (i wore, it was water resistant & light)

1 compression bag (stuffed my clothes in)
1 north face waterproof jacket (optional. this was warmer than all my layers, but let me stay out at the sites longer than most people could stand. packed in a 1 gallon ziplock bag)
1 under armor cold gear compression shirt
1 long sleeve polyester/cotton shirt
1 short sleeve t-shirt

1 patagonia thermal leggings (had forever, it was almost windproof.)
1 rei base layer thermal leggings
1 fleece hat
fleece gloves (it works when wet)
1 marmont precip pants

waterproof shoes

1 titanium solo mug with lid
1 titanium spork
1 lighter
made simple first aid kit
3 plastic bags
1 roll of toilet paper
1 head lamp
1 platypus water bladder (2 liters)
snow peak stove

this does not include fuel or food.

i wore the same pair of shoes, pants and jacket almost everyday. i would change out my leggings and wash every other day. without fuel and food, my bag weighted about 17lbs. the north face waterproof jacket added a pound or so, but i felt safer incase it was colder than i thought. i didn't wear it much. it turned out it was more useful at the miradors (lookout spots). i'd pull it out from my day pack and was able to stay there longer than most people (who got cold from standing or sitting still).

[Ayumi Obinata]

I came back from TDP whole circuit 2 weeks ago. It was a stunning experience and I wish I could go back there one more time in my life.

The vertical step ladder Suelyn mentioned above had been fixed and we could complete the circuit in late November. A long ladder between Paso and Grey was damaged and unusable, but there was a fixed rope instead.

There is no technically difficult part. The route is well marked and the official course time is pretty reasonable. It is very true that Gardner's Pass can be dangerous depends on the weather. When we reached the Gardner's Pass, wind was blowing unbelievably strong and the icy snow kept hitting our faces badly, so that we couldn't even stand up still literally. We had to shelter ourselves behind of the rock for a while until the sky became clearer.

We brought 4 days of food and that was more than enough, since most campsites carry foods, such as crackers, pasta, sausage, canned fluits, bread, etc. They are not too expensive. For example, cracker is about US$4. The gas cartridge could be bought at Gray, Torres and Paine Grade.

Expect a lot of mosquito at Dickson, Perros and Paso camp site. We didn't encounter any rodents, albeit we kept foods in our tent.

We brought Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 Tent with extra guy lines and MSR stakes. When the wind blew extremely hard, we reinforced the end of the open pole (a pole which ends are not grounded) with trekking poles and it worked great. This light weight 3 season tent was strong enough for TDP (at least for us). We were almost always wearing wind shirts. Our shoes were trail running mesh shoes, but there were a few part where the mud is deep, so we wore Goretex socks there. One thing no one mentioned before is that TDP can be very dusty, which actually surprised us since we were all expecting wet, wet, wet…

W part is great, but I would really recommend whole circuit as many people do. TDP or Fitz Roy? I can't say which is better, because when we were in Fitz Roy area, the weather was bad unfortunately. Puerto Natales has a hipster like atmosphere. We really liked this small town.

More pictures @ my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aobintas/sets/72157628211881269

Between Las Torres and Seron

At Seron Camp

Dickson camp overviewed from the hill

Between Dickson and Los Perros

Muddy trek just before the snow part of Gardners Pass

The highest point of the Gardners Pass ( The picture doesn't show how windy it was!)

[Jim Sweeney]

Thanks for the great photos on Flickr. Very beautiful.

[Ayumi Obinata]

Hi James, thank you for the words.

A very sad news.

Fire in Torres del Paine park in Chile is out of control

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16368185

More information here

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2145201

[matt brisbin]

I gave a quick read through the replies and most people seemed to be doing the trek in Sept and onwards. Has anyone done the hiking in Aug, or rather, winter?

Thanks,

[matt brisbin]

So I'm looking to do the full circuit this Sept and from the pics i'm wondering if it's possible to stake out a zpacks hexamid solo? From what I've seen everything is pretty rocky. Anyone have pics of the campsites?

[Jennifer Mitol]

It's not TOO rocky…..I took the fly creek UL in Jan 2012 and had no trouble staking it out anywhere. Cuernos has platforms, so you'd have to worry about setting up on one of those, but we skipped that.

As for campsites, here are the ones I have photos of:

Seron:

2nd camp on the circuit (yes, it really won't let me write it in ANY form):

Los Perros:

Grey:

Frances:

Chilenos:

And yes – it would not let me say the actual name of the 2nd campground on the circuit. Seriously.

[matt brisbin]

Thanks for the campsite images… my auto-watch for this thread must be buggy as I never got the update.

Yeah, those look pretty decent I must say. What time of year did you do it? I'm going in Sept and hoping the crowds won't be too crazy. From what I gather post people just supplement their UL setup with raingear and lighten the food load since it can be bought along the way. Any tips or things you'd do differently a 2nd time around?

Thanks,

[Author]

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