Torres Del Paine (Patagonia)-7th Day of O Circuit
The next day I was to hike up to a peak (Mirador de los Cuernos), and then hike back down to my next stay (Camp Frances). This would not be such an easy hike as there was quite a bit of elevation change, but still a piece of cake compared to what I had gone through hiking from Los Perros to Grey, even though the elevation change was greater for this leg of the trek (from 0 feet to over 3000 feet). Also, I would be able to drop off my full backpack at Camp Italiano at the base before hiking to the peak. I only needed my day pack, which included some snacks, a sweat shirt, and of course my computer (I did not want to leave it behind unattended).
. . . about a half mile into my hike, I noticed that I had forgotten my water bottle back at the lodge. But that does not present too big of a problem as you can drink directly from the streams here, and there are plenty of them . . .
As I was ascending the peak, the weather was not getting any clearer, and at this point, I was just hoping that the peak (where I was to see a panoramic view) was above the cloud cover.
. . . I was able to see the panoramic view from Mirador del Cuenos, which was more than I saw at Mirador de la Torres, but I could not help but think that it would have been much better with blue sky, and I felt jipped by Mother Nature yet again.
But, with water comes more adventure, and I was going to make the best of it. Mother Nature was going to have to throw me a bone.
On the way back down, I heard something that sounded like a jet engine about hundred yards from the trail. You are not supposed to go off the trail, but I had to see what the noise was all about, so I took a right off of the trail, down a small ravine, and then back up it again.
I came upon a pretty awesome display of force--basically a smooth lava formation through which a raging river had cut its away. I was very careful climbing on the lava, as one wrong step, and I would have gone for quite a ride.
You can definitely feel the power of the rapids in these videos, but they do not quite capture the feeling of physically being right there, and being 3 feet from sure death . . .
After my little rush of adrenaline, I joined the trail, grabbed my backpack at Camp Italiano, and hiked about an hour or so to Camp Frances, my next destination. Here, I would be at a camp site, but the only spot that was left when I initially made the reservation, was for an already set up tent. I have to admit, I was not disappointed. It was a really nice tent on a nice wood platform. It felt like a mansion compared to my tent, and had all of these nice features on which I could hang and put clothes into to dry them out.
One thing that I was grateful for up to this point was that I did not have to set up and break down a tent in inclement weather. It had just started raining hard when I got to Camp Frances, all that I had to do was throw my backpack, and myself, into the tent, and hunker down.
That night, it poured rivers of rain, and I was supposed to leave Torres Del Paine the next day. I had given into the thought that I was not going to see Torres Del Paine in its full glory, and just focused on completing the O-circuit, with the reward being a sense of achievement.
#torresdelpaine #patagonia #Chile
Even though there was some blue over Lake Pehoe . . .
. . . what I was going to hike into looked a bit ominous, similar to when I hiked up to Mirador del Torres
. . . about a half mile into my hike, I noticed that I had forgotten my water bottle back at the lodge. But that does not present too big of a problem as you can drink directly from the streams here, and there are plenty of them . . .
As I was ascending the peak, the weather was not getting any clearer, and at this point, I was just hoping that the peak (where I was to see a panoramic view) was above the cloud cover.
But, with water comes more adventure, and I was going to make the best of it. Mother Nature was going to have to throw me a bone.
On the way back down, I heard something that sounded like a jet engine about hundred yards from the trail. You are not supposed to go off the trail, but I had to see what the noise was all about, so I took a right off of the trail, down a small ravine, and then back up it again.
I came upon a pretty awesome display of force--basically a smooth lava formation through which a raging river had cut its away. I was very careful climbing on the lava, as one wrong step, and I would have gone for quite a ride.
You can definitely feel the power of the rapids in these videos, but they do not quite capture the feeling of physically being right there, and being 3 feet from sure death . . .
After my little rush of adrenaline, I joined the trail, grabbed my backpack at Camp Italiano, and hiked about an hour or so to Camp Frances, my next destination. Here, I would be at a camp site, but the only spot that was left when I initially made the reservation, was for an already set up tent. I have to admit, I was not disappointed. It was a really nice tent on a nice wood platform. It felt like a mansion compared to my tent, and had all of these nice features on which I could hang and put clothes into to dry them out.
One thing that I was grateful for up to this point was that I did not have to set up and break down a tent in inclement weather. It had just started raining hard when I got to Camp Frances, all that I had to do was throw my backpack, and myself, into the tent, and hunker down.
That night, it poured rivers of rain, and I was supposed to leave Torres Del Paine the next day. I had given into the thought that I was not going to see Torres Del Paine in its full glory, and just focused on completing the O-circuit, with the reward being a sense of achievement.
#torresdelpaine #patagonia #Chile
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