Torres del Paine Circuit

1. Campamento Torres which is a free campsite and the nearest to the Torres del Paine for which you're there to see.  Note that this campsite (and I assume is true for all free campsites) has a 1 night limit.  However, we asked because it was half empty and we were allowed to stay a 2nd night.
2. Campamento Torres again.  This works out well if you have time because it gives you a 2nd morning to get up early (leave camp by 4:30 am) to see the sunrise on the Towers.  I recommend taking a day trip to Campamento Japones and beyond if you have this 2nd day to explore.  Be aware that "technically" Japones is for "guided trips only" and there's even a sign telling you to turn around.  It's up to you how much of a rule follower you are...
3. Refugio Cuernos.  We stayed in the refugio in common bunk bed rooms this night because the winds were high (70mph+)
4. Refugio Cuernos again, but this night we stayed in a private cabin.  We were originally supposed to stay in the cabin on night 3, but I screwed up the reservations and didn't want to waste the money we spent reserving a cabin.  In hindsight, don't waste your money on a cabin.  It's no better than the bunk bed rooms and the showers are actually worse.
5. Campamento Italiano.  Before getting to TdP I had read that Italiano was closed and we had planned to spend nights 4 and 5 at Campamento Britanico.  Both sites are free.  However, note that Britanico sits at the head of the French valley and would be a royal pain in the butt to get to with a big pack.  Unless you plan to spend an extra day exploring "off trail" above Britanico save yourself the trouble and camp at Italiano.
6. Refugio Grey.  This is by far the nicest of the refugios and is well worth the small premium to sleep inside in a bunk bed instead of in a tent.  The bathrooms are nice, and the food is great.  It's HIGHLY suggested, and if you're doing the whole Circuit this is a good mid-point to recuperate a little.
7. Campamento Paso (note that Campamento Los Guardas is closed permanently but still appears on some maps).  This is a tiny free camp site and is usually a stop over for people right before they attempt/finish the pass (John Gardner pass) from either side.  Although, some people (and remember most people go in the other counter clockwise direction) camp at Los Perros and then cross the pass and continue all the way to Refugio Grey.  Campamento Paso does not have rental tents I don't think so this is a camp meant for self sustained hikers.
8. Refugio Dickson.  We crossed the pass and continued beyond Campamento Los Perros to stop at Dickson.  This is a tiny refugio and you can stay inside, but we camped outside in our tent.  This was also our longest trail day.
9. Campamento Seron.  This was our last stop before completing the Circuit.  No inside beds are available here, just tent camping.

My wife and I starting the Circuit on a blue bird day.

The Towers at sunrise in b&w.

1. My wife and I both agreed that we liked doing the Circuit clockwise instead of counter clockwise with all the other folks.  Why?
   
1. You're not stuck with the same bunch of people hopping from one camp to the next.  We were often the only people going the direction we were going and saw very few people except in camp.
2. The wind comes off of the icefield and blows from west to east most of the time.  When going up the pass this puts the wind at your back.
3. In bad weather (snow) the pass is much more easily crossed from west to east instead of east to west.  Plus, the trail from Campamento Los Perros up and over the pass is looooong and would make for a long day of constant uphills.  The trail from Campamento Paso is steeper for sure, but then it's a nice loooooong downhill on the other side.
4. If you spend 9 days hiking like we did, by the time you get to the end you're tired and ready for a soft bed, lots of food, and no pack hauling.  If you go counter clockwise and don't start by seeing the Towers you'll end up waiting to see them at the very end of your trip.  By then you'll be used to the amazing scenery and the Towers just won't be as dramatic.  Plus you'll be thinking about that soft bed and cold beer at the hotel more so that getting up at 4:30 to see the sunrise.
5. The front side (the W) is just amazingly dramatic scenery all day long.  The backside is much more mellow.  I enjoyed seeing the dramatic scenery up front when I was energetic and wide-eyed, and then seeing the more mellow areas when I was tired and winding down my trip.
2. Plan for all types of weather and BELIEVE IN THE WIND!!!  We had warm days, drizzly days, cloudy days, snow days, and windy days.  Sometimes all in the same day.  You need to wear layers, but sometimes the weather changes so fast it's just not practical to stop, take off your pack, put on/take off a layer, and then get strapped back up.  Just decide if you'd rather be a little cold or a little hot and dress that way.  I preferred to dress so I would be cool, and then put on a wool hat or gloves when needed.  I could then also take them off and stash them in my pockets when I got warm.  I'll talk more later on clothing recommendations.  The weather also tends to be better & less windy in the mornings than in the late afternoons.
3. If you plan to tent camp you can take your own tent (we did) or rent gear (tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, etc) there.  The rental gear (available at a LOT of places in Puerto Natales or from the refugios) seems to be good quality, but I prefer to know the tent & sleeping bag I will depend on.  It's also helpful when packing up at home to not have to remember, "oh yeah, I'll also be carrying a tent and sleeping bag which I won't have until I get there so I need to leave space..."
4. Puerto Natales is the main jumping off point for TdP.  On Sundays most stores are closed until late afternoon, and then only a few are open.  You can buy canister gas at Erratic Rock and they also have partially used containers you can take for free.  If you plan to buy a lot of stuff in Puerto Natales before starting it's worth making sure you have a day other than Sunday to procure your gear.  The only exception is food.  There's a nice grocery store that's open all the time.
5. Also in Puerto Natales at the Erratic Rock hostel they have an information session every day at 3:00.  It's a good talk for about an hour and a half.  However, I didn't really learn anything I hadn't already read online.  Don't fret if you miss it, but it also doesn't hurt to go by there.
6. Give yourself an extra day on the front end and on the back end if possible in case you miss a flight, or bus, etc.  If you don't, then you'll have an extra day to relax or site see.
7. The sun didn't set until around 11:00 or 11:30 so you can hike late.  Just note that "technically" the trails do have closing times, but nobody patrols them.  If you get into a camp late you may get questioned by a ranger but oh well.
8. The refugios all take credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex) and if you want to run a tab you can so you don't have to run your card 6 times a night.
9. Food and drink at the refugios is expensive (they bring most of it in on horseback).  For example, dinner will cost about $20 each, a beer is $5 each, a bottle of wine is about $25, and chips/snack is about $5-$7 each.
10. You can pay the park entrance fee in American dollars, credit card, or Chilean pesos.
11. You can drink the water from the streams/rivers without filtering.  I normally use a UV "purifier" whenever camping and I took mine.  However, we read and were told you can drink without filtering.  We did so and had zero issues.  Just use some common sense on where you get your water.
12. They are SERIOUS about no fires or cooking in "unapproved areas".  I read on line about a guy who got caught earlier in 2013 using a camp stove beside the trail between two camps and he was fined $50,000.  In case you didn't know, TdP had a really bad forest fire about 3-4 years ago and you'll be told a hundred times "no camp fires, no smoking/cooking outside of cook shelters".  Some people still used their stove to heat up water in their tent vestibules, but be cautious and sneaky if you have to.
13. Pack it in, pack it out.  There are no trash cans on the trail.  The refugios do have recycle bins if your waste is recyclable.
14. The refugios and camp sites all have toilets.  Refugios have showers.  Most but not all toilets have toilet paper.  Bring your own, but you can pack on the lighter side.  Beware the "toilet" at Campamento Paso is all I'm gonna say.
15. Bring sunglasses.  You'll need them even if it's not sunny because the wind will blow sand/gravel into your eyes.  It literally hardly ever stops blowing.
16. Bring trekking poles to brace yourself when the wind gets really bad.  I think they help speed up the hike, too.  I'll talk more about our gear later.
17. If you plan to do the entire Circuit I recommend a rest day somewhere.  Especially if you're not used to hiking with a big pack.

Valle Frances.

We had to cross this bridge with a 40mph cross wind and try not to get blown off the other side.  Have fun!

  

Gear for Paine

1. Packs:  88L for him; 60L for her; we also carried rain covers and a secondary strap to secure them to the packs due to the high winds; we used our detachable top lids for our day trips (you'll want something if your's doesn't detach).
2. Tent:  Marmot Limelight 2P; held up just fine in rain, snow, and 50mph wind gusts but make sure to use your extra guy out points.
3. Sleeping:  Big Agnes inflating pads and Marmot down bags + inflatable pillows; some people say don't take down bags to Patagonia because they stay damp/cold but we kept ours protected and had no problems.
4. Hydration:  water bladders and a couple of Nalgenes for getting water from the creeks and making hot tea.
5. Misc:  basic first aid kit, small survival kit, head lamps, trekking poles, book, ipod, tissue (nose and butt), bandanas (great for multi-purpose), pack towel for when you use the refugio showers, toiletry kit, plastic spade for trail side uh-ohs, and trekking poles.
6. Clothing:  Pretty much the same for him and her - Waterproof boots, soft shell pants, 4 pair undies & socks, 4 base layer t-shirts, 2 pair trekking pants (1 pair was convertable), high quality zip long sleeve, light fleece pullover for him/light down coat for her, wind proof fleece vest, long underwear bottoms, liner gloves (like running gloves), light gloves (like driving gloves), wool hat or ear warmer, and camp shoes/sandles.  I would not recommend rain pants as you'll most likely not be in a heavy enough rain to use them, and if you are you'll be miserable anyway so just go with a good quality soft shell pant that will do double duty for you.  I would not take a down vest/coat unless it's light and will pack easily, and if it gets damp/wet it's useless unlike a fleece, but my wife had not problems with hers.
7. Food:  we carried granola bars and Cliff bars for breakfast/lunch.  We carried freeze dried meals for dinner.  We carried in some hard candy and small chocolate bars as mid-day treats and desert.  We didn't claim any of it at customs coming into the country and weren't searched, but I don't think they would have objected even if they found it since it was all pre-packaged and cooked.  Freeze dried meals & Cliff bars are not available down there.  It's worth it to carry that type of thing from here if that's your style.
8. Cooking:  MSR multi-fuel stove thinking I would use white gas.  However, since we arrived on a Sunday the hardware stores were closed and that's the only place you can buy it.  My MSR Pocket Rocket would have been better since the canister fuels are super easy to find and 1 of the double sized canisters lasted us all week with plenty to spare.  We heated water at night for the freeze dried meals and heated water in the morning for hot tea.
9. Trash bags:  You'll need 1 to pack your trash in, and it's good to have 2 extras (1 to put your sleeping bag/compression sack in; and 1 to cover the top of your pack before you sinch it up) to help keep rain out of your gear.
10. Stuff sacks:  I use the Sea to Summit silnylon stuff sacks to put my clothes and camera gear in.  I used a small roll top dry bag to keep our cell phones/passports/papers in.