Outside, looking from the comfort of our room, the little grey tent (amongst a sea of many, blustering in the winds) which looked particularly wind-swept last night, had moved during the night & was now re-erected in a less blustery place & looking less likely to be blown away.
We were away by just after 7:30 a.m. after a reasonable breakfast & our packs weighed down by a not insignificant lunch box!
I was not sure it had been worth the effort when we reached the mirador where the headwind was so blustery you could barely use a camera. We sat on a log & had a fruit juice & an orange looking at the turquoise lake in the distance & the Glacier del Frances - & then headed straight out of there!
As it turned out, the descent was wonderful. With the wind behind us & a bit of sun coming through, we enjoyed the views much more going down & stopped by a river cascading over rocks to eat our lunch.
At Campamento Italiano we continued east with the wind behind us (aren't we glad we chose to walk in this direction!). It was a pretty walk: mostly open scrubland. We had another ascent before negotiating another difficult descent like we did at the end of yesterday. Rocky, boggy at times, very tough on the knees & feet. I even got the gift of a helping hand from a young walker who was ascending - how delightful! Sometimes it's nice to be older when one receives a gesture like that.
And we got those predicted wind gusts - every km/hr of the expected 50 km/hr! It was astonishing: knocking you off your feet & sometimes you'd find yourself stumbling into the side of the path! You basically had to stand 'stock still' when the gust came through, wait for it to pass around you, & then it was possible to resume walking.
We arrived down at the edge of Lake Nordenskhöld which is huge & very blue but with water spray sweeping off it to great heights when the wind gusts caught it. As we negotiated the rocky beach for the final kms to the lodge, it was very difficult to remain upright & the water spray from the lake swept over us as we went.
Still, it was exciting & the views were wonderful. I'm just loving the Chilean Firebush (Embothrium coccineum) which is so gorgeous I can't stop taking photos of it. It looks great & the orange-scarlet flowers brighten up the landscape.
We are pleased to see our lodge Los Cuernos & thankfully we are processed quickly & given our vouchers for dinner, breakfast, lunch box - & a pisco sour each. Yay! And super good: occupants of the cabins (us!) get use of the hot tub. Which we do immediately on arrival at our cabin - which is cute & set up away from the main lodge in a lovely setting amongst the trees & close to a pretty waterfall. We get our own shower block too. Good!
Los Cuernos apparently means 'The Horns' but I am a bit confused because, if those 3 rock structures towering above us are 'horns', then why are there three of them?? Che? Anyway, the stripes created by the grey granite & black sedimentary rock are very distinctive.
We descend down the track to the lodge for dinner, picking up our free pisco sours on arrival & we sit outside admiring Los Cuernos in the evening light. Wonderful!
Then dinner: which tonight, in this lodge, is served to us (hot!) rather than us gathering bits and pieces on a tray. It means too that we share tables & it is cosy & friendly. We really enjoy it & finish off later in a corner having a hot chocolate while they serve a 2nd sitting.
By now, unbelievably(!), the weather has changed & it is raining cats & dogs & the wind (if possible) is blasting away sending spray from the lake at least half a kilometre inland. We cannot believe how, only an hour before, we had been sitting outside enjoying the views which are now completely obliterated by the rain & cloud.
We return quickly to our cabin to avoid getting too wet &, shortly after, a young man arrives to start the wood fire heater.
Walked 18 kms.
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