The W trek is a 4-5 day trek in the Torres Del Paine National Park in Southern Chile. Courtney and I did the trek in January as part of our 5 month trip across South America.
HOW does one pack two 10kg/22 lb carry on bags for five months in South America AND be prepared for a 5 day difficult trek?
Here's our minimalistic packing list, what wished we had brought, and tips we would have liked to know before going to Patagonia!
Context: We did 5 days and 4 nights staying in Refugios and had all of our meals provided. For our complete itinerary, check out our Complete Guide to the W Trek.
Most Minimal Packing List We Came Up With:
2 long sleeve hiking/athletic shirts
1 short sleeve hiking/athletic shirt
1 pair of shorts*
1 leggings*
1/2 pair of Merino wool socks
2 pairs of light/normal socks
Underwear
Fleece jacket
Super light down jacket or an extra sweatshirt
An outfit to chill at the refugios - I brought joggers and a t-shirt
PJs
Beanie*
Sandals for refugios that double as shower shoes - I brought plastic Birkenstocks and attached them to the outside of my bag with a carribeaner
Hiking boots*
Rain poncho to cover you and your bag if it pours
Quick dry towel*
Sleep sack for inside the sleeping bags in the refugios*
Water bottle*
Hiking poles*
Day pack to carry it all in - with waist strap!
Toiletries - sunscreen, toothbrush/toothpaste, advil, stomach medicine*, conditioner, aloe lotion
Sunglasses
Kindle/book/playing cards*
First Aid kid - make sure it has moleskin for blisters, bandaids, and little scissors
Cash for Catamaran if not booked ahead of time - $25,000 CHP. Can use credit card for everything else
**
Shorts - we almost didn't bring them based on other packing blogs and we are so glad we did. Hikes were hot, especially the Chileno-Cuernos sector and Valles Frances sector.
Leggings - opted for leggings instead of hiking pants since we wouldn't wear hiking pants often enough throughout our 5 month trip. Leggings worked great
Beanie - not totally necessary but we loved having them at the lookout points, especially since we didn't bring down jackets
Quick-dry towel, sleep sack, water bottle - if you book through one of the companies, these are all provided.
Hiking poles - we each bought one in Puerto Natales before the trip. Good for your knees, glad I had it but I would have been fine if I went without. Note, you can't carry these on a plane generally.
Stomach Medicine - always good to have. The water in Patagonia is free from microbes and you can drink straight from streams and lakes. However, its high mineral content can sometimes upset foreigners stomaches.
Kindle, book playing cards - def recommend bringing something to do once you're done with hiking for the day!
Didn't Need...
Shampoo, soap, and toilet paper. All of the refugios had it
Gloves. Not cold enough
Rain pants and jacket. Check the weather, but any rain we encountered was brief, light, and didn't bother us. Bring a rain poncho so worst case you can cover you and your pack, but it doesn't rain much in the summer.
Warm/heavier jacket. The most we hiked in was a fleece. I brought an extra sweatshirt and Courtney brought a light LL bean down jacket as well as beanies for the Frances and Mirador Torres Base sectors. We wore these at the lookouts so we could hang out there for a longer period and eat lunch without getting cold.
Wished we brought ...
Hiking boots. I wore the Allbirds trail runners and Courtney wore waterproof running shoes. I'd recommend completely waterproof shoes - there was lots of walking through streams. Honestly, it was fine, I'd probably do it again to not have to carry hiking boots. But the blisters were terrible and the bottoms of our feet hurt from the rocks. I wouldn't have been able to hike another day after the 5 we did.
Aloe. The sunburns were real (especially with us coming directly from a New England winter)!
Hat to keep the sun off our faces.
Extra tips:
We wore long sleeves just because the sun was so strong. So glad we had shorts
All the refugios have showers with soap/shampoo, outlets to charge devices, big meals, snacks and drinks for purchase
Hope this was helpful!!! Enjoy the W trek! Feel free to DM us on instagram @wheretocuz with any questions or comments!
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