Oh boy what a night! It was raining heavily when we got to our tent and it continued for most of the night. It was so loud that it was really hard to sleep. There were some strong gusts of wind too, and the tiny tent was draughty and cold. The mattresses felt hard and my back was uncomfortable, and strangely my knees were sore too. It really was an ordeal and I was so relieved when morning came. We could see that the rain has fallen as snow on top of the mountains. We packed up and had a decent breakfast at the rifugio, then James set off up to the Grey Glacier via the Rifugio Grey. The weather was cloudy but dry. I decided to stay near the rifugio and I went for a walk to the lake shore; the sun came out and the lake looked a striking turquoise. I met some interesting people at the hut and the time flew by. James arrived back late afternoon and we got the 7 p.m. ferry from Paine Grande to Pudeto (about 25 minutes across Lake Pehoe with fantastic views of the mountains) then the bus back to Puerto Natales (about an hour and a half) then a taxi from the bus station to our wee hotel. We arrived at about half past nine, tired and not at all hungry. The hotel felt like a palace after last night’s tent, and we packed and repacked our cases before having lovely showers. Oh the joys of an en suite shower after the squalor of camp site showers! Soon we were in our comfy bed, it felt wonderful.
The challenging (for me) hiking, the dreadful communal showers and toilets, and the tiny tents all pale into insignificance beside the beauty and wonder of Torres del Paine National Park. I feel so privileged to have visited this wild and unique area with its jagged mountains cloaked in glaciers and its turquoise lakes. Walking among it is the only way to experience it properly. I feel very grateful that James brought me here.
James walked 21.6 km and ascended 670 metres.
No comments:
Post a Comment