South America Trip - Day 6

Torres del Paine National Park Day 2!  I slept alright but Shaowen did, as expected, wake everyone up with his sunrise photo quest.  As a result, I was wide awake by 0530.  As I got myself ready along with everyone else (most are early risers anyway), I listened to myriad opinions about the “best” hiking gear.  I mostly kept my thoughts to myself but I chuckled a bit to recall that the Ozark Trail boots I’d brought had seen a full Summer of AT hiking and were still comfortable.  The rented trekking poles and 60L backpack went along well with my own equipment and I managed to balance the load nicely.  Of course, not having to carry a lot of water makes a huge difference… Today, we were informed that we’d be bringing our full pack weight for the 12 km (~7 miles) hike (no places to leave gear) across the bottom of the W.  I hoped I’d have the stamina and energy to carry the load...  With this in mind, I met the rest of the group (0800) and ate the biggest breakfast (cereal, eggs, toast) I could.  There were some comments about snoring in our bunkroom but it seemed like everyone was recharged and ready for another hike.  After a good “preflight” briefing from Chris, we ended up leaving Las Torres Central Refugio at 1015.  This was much later than I would have liked and the sun was already pretty high as we headed west.  I wore a long sleeved shirt again, despite the heat (70s), and tried to stay hydrated.  I spent the morning at the back of the group and learned a lot about Alvaro’s life and philosophies.  One early highlight was watching the Refugio’s horses trying to catch up to us for a snack - if I’d had an apple, they probably would have convinced me to share… About a mile into the walk, we started hearing and seeing avalanches on Monte Almirante Nieto (located to the north of our route).  The awesome (and deadly) power of these slides was amazing to witness.  A little later, we passed through an area of low bushes where Chris told us we should be looking around to see if we could spot pumas, which had often been photographed in the area.  No luck on that front, unfortunately… A little later, we left the valley and ascended to a higher ridge that overlooked Nordenskjold Lake.  By this time, I made my way back to the front of the group and was walking with Chris when we encountered a spectacled duck (flying) and a steamer duck (diving underwater for fish).  Shortly afterwards, we began to see Fire Bushes, which had brilliant red colored flowers and covered the hillsides.  Chris stopped us for several short breaks to fill up on more glacier water - it’s nice not to have to filter!  We continued to encounter hikers going in the opposite direction but a larger problem developed in places were we approached (or were passed by) larger travel groups using the same route as us.  Eventually, many of the faces seemed familiar and we developed some backstories (“social media influencer”, “rock star”, etc.).  There were a surprising number of English speakers and (when I asked him) Alvaro said that most Chilenos can’t afford the expenses of visiting the National Park.  That seemed quite sad to me and I told our guides that they were quite fortunate to be able to work in such a spectacular setting.  By 1300, we’d reached a viewpoint (flat rock overhang) above the lake below and were allowed to eat our lunch (sandwich, nuts, energy bar, orange, chocolate) there.  About 30 minutes later, we continued on our way.  The rest of the hike included several river crossings with no bridges.  Several people got wet but I didn’t… I spent the rest of the afternoon walking with different folks in our group - every one of them had interesting stories to tell.  I also learned a bit of Chileno slang from Alvaro and Chris along the way.  Soon, we started seeing the prominent features of the Los Cuernos formation above us.  Like the Torres, the towering rocks seemed like paintings on canvas… We arrived at Los Cuernos Refugio at about 1615 and were able to check into our bunkroom very quickly.  This Refugio was much smaller than the Torre Central and only allowed for 40 beds. Like the previous evening, there were sleeping bags on the beds.  Unlike the night before, however, the room contained eight bunk beds, including two that were very tall (three levels).  For the second night in a row, I got a bottom bunk.  Bonus tonight:  Alvaro was able to stay with us (Chris spent another night in a tent). Since we were all feeling less tired than the previous day of hiking and had more free time, we hung out in the bar area and took turns buying pitchers of Astral Calefate beer for the group (1700).  Eventually (1900), we moved into the dining area to eat dinner.  The meal (zucchini soup, salmon and potatoes, rice pudding) was good and the conversion interesting.  No one was ready for bed yet, so we later returned to the bar to hang out some more.  I also spent a little more time practicing my Spanish and was able to use it to buy beer for me and Kirk (2100).  Our discussions about travel and US/Canada differences (and similarities) lasted until almost 2300.  After that, we went into bed for a well deserved night of sleep.  Another amazing day full of spectacular views and trail camaraderie!