Well, I am back from the W and Refugio hell.  I was banished there, as were various others from around the world (also doing the W trek- so called because it is shaped like a W oddly enough, which puts it at odds with the Paine (blue)-this, Paine- that descriptions where nothing is actually as described).  Some people banished to the Refugios presumably for sundry offenses included 2 guys (roughly 40ish) from France who tooks leaves of absence to travel the world for a year (12 countries, gender preference unknown), a 20- something couple from Austria- similar LOA but ONLY 3 months and just doing S. America, some Aussies again spending 3 months in S. America, an Israeli couple (academics) perhaps a little younger than me, but spending 3 weeks in Patagonia and Argentina (maritl status unknown), a 20 something Canadian couple just here to hike Torre del Paine and a young Chilean couple from Santiango just here for a week to do the trek. All very nice and interesting, but I was slightly unnerved the last night in the Refugio when I noticed the Chilean couple were, at least for a bit, sharing the same bunk below me, even though there seemed to be a bunk available.  Maybe they were saving a little money.

Weather was varied, but not bad- 1 cloudy/rainy day, one partly cloudy day, one mostly sunny day and one spectacular day with not a cloud in the sky.  The frist 2 days of the trek were relatively easy and the last 2 hard and long.  What I found somewhat different about the hikes than other places I have been is that there is a lot of the (dreaded) up and down on the trail, which can be a bit demoralizing.  You want to go...up... and then ....down, with none of this mixture to confuse oneself.  It makes the actual vertical very deceiving.

The Torre del Paine massif (which what you hike around and between- hence the W) is truly very impressive.  In fact, I would rank the scene where go the Base of the Torres as perhaps the most breathtaking alpine scene I have ever witnessed.  Just so striking, though the pics do not do it justice (and it was not a clear day) when I was there.