The trail begins heading towards the opening of French Valley, wandering through a lush landscape along Lake Nordenskjold. This area is relatively flat allowing you to make good time to Campamiento Italiano. Italiano is located at the mouth of the French Valley next to a river, and is where you have the option of leaving your pack or push onward to Campamiento Britanico. Beyond this point the terrain of the glacial moraine becomes mountainous, and is quite demanding. This section lasts about an hour and a half and leaves you in the valleys interior where you are surrounded by granite peaks and massive walls. You also have a view of the hanging French Glacier which produces massive blocks of falling ice that roar through the valley. Depending if you want to stay at Britanico or not the choice is yours to continue on and spend a night in the valley, or head back to Italiano to grab your pack and make way towards Paine Grande. From Italiano to Paine Grande you’ll maintain a steady elevation with only a few climbs that are all fairly easy. You’ll encounter the portion of park which was hit by wildfire and the landscape becomes unrecognizable with scorched earth and trees everywhere you look. This section of trail really makes it apparent how destructive careless actions can become when in the backcountry and is a tangible reminder of how delicate life in such a pristine environment can be. From this point it’s about two hours to Paine Grande and the trail remains flat more or less the entire way. Paine Grande campsite is fairly exposed being near the shore of Lago Pehoe and has no natural barriers from the elements and will essentially be camping on a barren grassy field. Here you can choose to stay at the refugio, stay in a tent that’s already set up, or make your own camp. There is a cooking area and restrooms available, as well as a cafeteria inside the refugio if you don’t feel like cooking. This spot is crowded however the majority of the campsites are equal in quality and a little bit more spread out than Cuernos, but not by much. Paine Grande is a good place to grab a post trail beer and catch up on your favorite book but again is one of those campsites you’ll want to be in and out of. Torres del Paine W, trekking in Patagonia
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