The wind is raging away outside but the early morning light on Los Cuernos just outside our window is lovely: a glow of pink.
Had a restless night: woke at one stage - left hip very sore (took 2 Panadol) & opened door as room too hot. Drifted back off to sleep eventually.
We made it to the early sitting for breakfast & again enjoyed a young, chatty group. There are not many of us older trekkers here. I had the nicest hot porridge - not just the best in South America (which has not generally offered much in the way of cereal) but I think the nicest EVER!
The cook at this refugio has done an excellent job & the lads serving on the tables have been great too. Despite my reservations about Patrizia (who works for Fantastico Sur), certainly the Fantastico Sur lodge here has been great; & while the Vertice lodge at Grande Paine was very friendly, it is not a patch on this lodge.
We had a lovely morning walk - on & off with the wind (but generally it wasn't too bad today) - until the junction of the walk to the base of Las Torres where the weather started to set in.
Sometimes we shared the track with the horses (caballos).
We veered right here to Hotel Las Torres where we will have 2 nights & hopefully a spot of luxury.
It would not have been a good day to walk up to Las Torres (The Towers). They were shrouded in cloud & we could see the weather coming in. We stopped to eat our lunch out of the wind by a lake; we were protected somewhat by bushes, but nevertheless the lake had waves due to the wind.
We had been alternately passing & been overtaken by sets of walkers all morning, depending on when people stopped for breaks to take photos, drink water, look at the views, take off/put on jackets; and there was a pleasant camaraderie. People are here from all over the world: Brazil, Saudi Arabia (we have come across a couple of groups of people who have been working there & are quite upfront about the mega-bucks they are making - they are keen travellers!), France, the US, Germany, Italy; one lot of Australians (from Bendigo).
After the turnoff to the hotel, we met mainly large groups heading the other way: many of them day-trekkers, possibly from the bus station located at Hotel Las Torres.
The weather set in straight after our picnic lunch & we had cold, driving wind & some rain. The ONE constant you can rely on here regarding the weather is that it is CHANGEABLE! But it was a lovely walk, particularly the descent into the hotel. Despite it being a shorter walk today, we were pleased to get in - at about 1:40 p.m.
The hotel is lovely; the workers live & work here continuously for up to 2 weeks at a time & then return home for several days off, usually to Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas. This is the view from the hotel:
We have finally worked out why we seem to be so slow for the number of kms indicated on the signs. They indicate the distance as the crow flies! Can you believe it? So 1 km can be 4 in reality, depending if you climb a hill or take a meandering path!
It is now tipping down outside. Aren't we glad we left early this morning! We have had a shower & are now in the bar. It's only 3:00 p.m. But what the heck! What a great spot to be when you look at the weather outside! (I am very glamorous, NOT! as I am in my thermals, having absolutely nothing else to wear due to our minimalist packing...).
Had our first Carmenere wine (Errazuriz Max Reserva 2010). For the wine drinkers: The Carmenere is Chile’s own signature grape; it is a red varietal which disappeared from European vineyards in the mid-19th century and reappeared among Chile’s Merlot vines a hundred years later. The deepest, darkest, purplest of all red grapes needs a long growing season to reach its fullest potential. Rich in berry fruits and spice (think blackberries and black pepper), with smooth, well-round tannins.
Walked 16 kms.
POSTSCRIPT:
Today as we walked the last few kms into the hotel, we bumped into a couple of girls that we had met previously at El Chaltén; they told us they had planned to do the boat across to Grey Glacier today but it was cancelled due to rough conditions. I had not factored in that we might not get to do the 'W-Trek' due to the boat not making the crossing!
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