After admiring the view—Kenneth said we were the first hikers all season to actually see the peaks—we rushed into the shelter of a forest for lunch. When Kenneth said it was all downhill from here, we all rolled our eyes. And in fact, it wasn’t. From the bottom of the moraine, the trail wandered along a lonely landscape reminiscent of the Scottish moors before ascending one long, last hill and back down to Refugio Pehoe. From a distance, the refugio looked like a swank lakefront hotel, but up close it proved to be a mirage. While larger and more modern than the last night’s digs, it offered the same vintage sleeping bags.
Our trusty guides ensured we were safe every step of the way. That said, the W is not a trail to be taken lightly—and certainly not an adventure to do on your own, given the extremes of terrain and clime. Your best bet is to hike the W with a qualified adventure tour operator like Adventure Life. That way, you can enjoy the hiking and scenery safe in the knowledge that your guides will take care of everything else.
Escapes from the W
Kenneth put his thumb high in the air—the ferry was running! As we crept down the slick mountain trail to the lake, Grey Glacier loomed in view—a 10-mile-long sweep of snow and ice that began at the far end of the lake and stretched to the horizon. In a few hours, a red and white ferry scooted across the lake, dodging icebergs twice its size. We squeezed onto a dinghy for a chilly, rocky ride to the ferry. After giving us close-up views of the glacier, the ferry turned around for the two hour journey to the far end of the lake, where a bus carried us two more hours back to EcoCamp. After two nights in the refugios, my dome tent felt like the Ritz-Carlton. I fell into bed and nearly slept through dinner.
The next morning dawned rainy, so we elected to wait a day and rest our muscles before doing the last, final hike to the Cuernos. We were awakened by a Biblical sunset that painted the towers rose, purple and orange—a good omen, we agreed. We hiked up along a rough, windswept trail that edged a ragged, drop-dead chasm before climbing toward the Cuernos on a mile-long boulder field that had us on all fours at points to keep our balance.
