Hiking to Glacier Grey in the dark?
Hi all! So this might seem totally unreasonable but I need someone to tell me so. I booked my W trek before fully understanding things, and now I feel really disappointed to be missing Glacier Grey. I’m hiking East to West in 3 nights/4 days, with my 4th morning being at Paine Grande.
What I should have done is hike my last morning up to Glacier Grey, but instead I’ve booked 930 catamaran, a bus to Puerto Natales, and a bus to El Calafate — the fact that the schedule of all these worked seemed perfect, because I’ll need to be in El Calafate for my Petito Moreno excursion the following day. So basically I’ve booked and paid for things so can’t just easily change my 4th morning as it’ll impact everything else on my trip.
My question: I’ve read it takes 3-4 hours to get to Glacier Grey. Is it crazy to wake up at 2am at Paine Grande, hike in the dark, assuming I get there for 530am, and then hike back in the light to reach my catamaran? I’m very physically fit so I’m not worried about this aspect — but hiking in the dark? Am I just trying too hard to squeeze something in? It just feels awful to be right there, 3 hours away, and miss something so big on what may be my one trip to TDP in my life.
Thanks!
Posted Mar 8, 2025, 12:34 PM UTC