Day 6 Torres del Paine: Valle del Frances, Cuernos
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
1
14
Trip End
Feb 20, 2005
Torres del Paine,
Chile
Sunday, February 13, 2005
We slept in again, poking our heads out of the tent at 9am to a glorious sunny day, in sharp contrast to the stormy sky the night before. The view of Glacier Frances was stunning even from Campamento Italiano. The plan was that Nadine would day hike up the Valle del Frances to the lookout (about 4.5hr roundtrip at a slow pace) while Theo napped and attended to his feet a bit. There were so many blister bandaids and moleskin and even corn pads on his feet that Nadine really wanted him to soak everything off, dry his feet out in the sun, and then put some second skin on his feet. Second skin is a product that is basically a gel layer in a matrix - when applied to skin it virtually eliminates friction to the skin - the caveat is that you have to tape it down well and we were having trouble taping anything down to Theo's feet as he would just sweat the tape off. So we gathered our food and our stove and headed to the little island on the river to eat our maple nut bran porridge in the sun!
Nadine packed up the top of her knapsack (removable and becomes a fanny pack) with some snacks, sunscreen, gortex jacket and a little waterbottle.
01) Breakfast at Campamento Italiano...
And Stanwee too! This would be the first time during this hike or even any other hike in South America that Nadine would be hiking by herself, so it was nice to know that Stanwee would be keeping her company. Theo had done this day trip years ago with Andy, but had actually not made it out to the lookout because of time constraints. Andy and Theo that year were short of time because they squeezed in their Torres del Paine trip into the few remaining days before their flights home. They tried to see as much as possible along the Valle del Frances but needed to turn around and hike back to Lago Pehoe to catch the catamaran out to the park entrance. But because of Theo's feet this year he decided that resting his feet was a priority, but knew how much Nadine wanted to do the day trip.And off Nadine went! The trail was marked well and the first kilometer was over large rocks and boulders along the river. There were actually many groups heading to the lookout, many of these groups were day trippers who were staying at the Refugio Pehoe in the "hotel", and they had their guides with them to take them to see the Glacier Frances and the lookout. But thankfully all these groups would make way for Nadine as she screamed down the trail (no 45lb pack to haul today!) clicking her poles on the rocks very noisily as if saying "let me pass!". Patience is not one of her virtues!
Beautiful sights along the Valle de Frances of the river and Glacier Frances. A great little spot to sit right in front of Glacier Frances about 30min along the hike, you can actually see (and hear even better!) the avalanches occurring off the glacier now and then.
02) The view of Glacier Frances from camp
The trail would twist in and out through the trees after here, and whenever there was a big crashing sound Nadine would run to the edge of the trees at the river edge to witness another big avalanche! After about 75 min Campemento Britainica came into view, no outhouse or anything other than 2 tents. A great place to camp to avoid the hoards at Campamento Italiano, and not much of an ascent either (good to know for next time we hike these areas). Nadine kept running down the trail, passing other day trippers heading to the lookout. The trail was well marked but once in while she would lose the trail momentarily and have to circle back. Soon the trail began to climb, with large boulders requiring some hand climbing, and all at once the mirador was ahead. It was a lookout on top of a pile of rocks, with outstanding views of the peaks surround the head of the valley, but it was a bit of a disappointment because of the 10 or so people who were crowded on it sunning themselves. Nadine, the essential loner, knew from the map that there was another lookout a kilometer or so up, and continued climbing in search of some solitude. The rough tracks led up a gully to an even more spectacular lookout, but Nadine could see the trail continuing up northwest towards some peaks. After a quick lunch of a Cliff bar and some dried fruit, Nadine continued hiking up. After about 45min of hiking past the original lookout, and after taking many shots of Stanwee lying with different flowers and moss, Nadine met a couple coming down.
03) More Glacier Frances heading up the valley
They had hiked up to two small tarns, and mentioned that the view was stunning. A decision had to be made; Nadine had hiked for almost 3 hours by now, and had told Theo she would be back in 4:30 - 5 hours. To hike up to the tarns would easily take another 30-45 min or so. Not wanting to freak out the boy back at camp, Nadine turned around and headed back to Campimento Italiano. She promised herself that she would hike to the tarns the next time they came that way. The trek back was fun, running quickly mostly downhill along the river with the sounds of avalanches from Glacier Frances.Back at Campimento Italiano, Nadine was sweaty and smiling, but Theo was no where to be found at the tent. But sure enough, Nadine found him eating breakfast/lunch on the little island in the middle of the river. Turns out he had napped for about 4 hrs after Nadine had left, a nap which very much improved his mood and the heels of his feet. The day was beautiful and sunny, and on the spot Nadine and Theo once again decided to move camp. There was still many hours of daylight left. Theo felt his feet took make it through the remaining 5.5km to the next camp, and then hopefully stay together for the 11 km tomorrow along mostly flat trail out to Hosteria Las Torres. And he wanted Nadine to be able to hike and see the entire Torres del Paine circuit. Once again the campsite was quickly torn down and packed up, including the litre of Gato Negra wine that was not touched the night before!
The hiking took us downstream and then under the imposing Cuernos del Paine.
04) The trail up the valley through the trees...
Behind us we could see wonderful views back up the Valle del Frances. Soon Lago Nordenskjold came into view, and we hiked along this magnificent lake, crossing streams now and then. The trail actually comes out onto the banks of this lake, and we walked through the fine rocks wishing that the temperature of the lake was more conducive for skinny dipping! The Albergue Los Cuernos was in view! At the campsite we realized that protected camping spots were rare, but we found a grand one under a large tree facing the lake. We soon realized that the fence near us was for tying up the horses in the morning, but they wouldn't be showing up til 8:30am. With a lot of our remaining money we paid for our campsite, had hot showers (free with paid campsite), and bought tuna and tomato paste to add to our last pack of noodles. Of course a bit of chocolate had to be bought too! Our dinner was prepared and eaten in view of the setting sun, and our tetra pak of wine was consumed quickly as we enjoyed our view and reflected on our days of hiking so far. We had had an amazing Torres hike so far, despite our blister problems, and Theo was happy to be hiking sections he had never hiked before (despite trying to get Nadine to take the catamaran out from Lago Pehoe). Another litre of wine was bought, and the two very drunk hikers giggled as a couple set up their tent beside them. This couple had hiked in (very late) from Hosteria Las Torres, and this was their first night of camping. They struggled with their tent, and didn't even try to use their stove, but instead went inside the Refuggio to buy hot water. Maybe we were entitled to giggle a bit, as we had already had our shares of misfortunes, and were close to completing over 125km of hiking.
We drifted off to sleep, our second litre of wine still over half-full, to "tap tap tap" sounds. Close to 10pm a group of Chileans (5-6) had come into camp, and had set up their tent next to our neighbours, directly along the horse fence. Their small tent required many stakes, and with a flashlight and a hammer they methodically began to "tap tap tap" the stakes into the ground. This went on forever, but Nadine and Theo soon fell asleep to the almost rhythmic beat!
