Valle de Frances (French Valley)

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We were up early this morning to begin our first trek, during which we will complete most of the W Circuit. We took the coach to a port on Lake Pehoe (pay-ho-ay) and took an hour long ferry across.  The lake is a beautiful milky blue glacier lake.  Its like nothing I have ever seen before and, I'm sure, quite cold.  We were served hot chocolate and cookies, an unexpected but welcome treat.

We dropped our dry bags (with toiletries and clothes for the next day) off at the Refugio (hostel) on the other side of the lake and started hiking the Valle Frances (French Valley); it is our guide's favorite trek - it was HARD.    We hiked 19 kilometers - much of which was steep - in the Patagonian mountainside.  It was amazing.  Because of all the rainfall, the trail was very muddy and wet. In the beginning of the trail there were small wooden bridges and pathways that were so cute (I thought) and very much appreciated so you didn't have to get your boots muddy.  Ha.  Little did I know I would be ankle deep in mud one minute and a creek the next.

The valley was actually closed, but apparently the closures have no effect because our guide took us up anyway!  To us, it meant seeing major rapids and having to cross quite a few creeks and waterfalls (some with the help of our expert).  At one point, when I was tired and lagging behind, I literally said to myself "omg, WHY am I walking in a river?! There has got to be a drier way.  There wasn't.

As the day progressed, the rain finally stopped and we got blue skies!  Each view was better than the last.  We saw Lake Pehoe from a much different vantage point (above and away); I just can't describe how beautiful it is...   I guess that's what pictures are for.  We saw the beautiful rivers and waterfalls and trekked at some points through dense forests.  It was interesting to see the terrain change so quickly.

The highlight of the hike was definitely the top lookout.  When you stand up top looking down the way you came, you can see the entire valley with sparkling blue lake Pehoe in the distance.  To the left were various famous Patagonia peaks - the main horn, north horn, the 'knife' and some others.  To the right is Paine Grande - which is massive.  The Rockies just don't compare to this stretch of the Andes.  The top portions of many of these peaks are still covered with glaciers (and snow).  The glaciers are receding relatively quickly though, due in part to a hole in the ozone just above this area.  The whole Valley was actually carved by glaciers, which we learned is evident by looking at the patterns in the rocks we were climbing - they had glacial stripes. 

We climbed back down the way we came and witnessed something I wish we could've captured on camera.  We were walking past the lake (above) and noticed a squall blow water across the top of the lake.  Because of the sunlight, it looked like a rainbow.  It was picturesque.

Overall, the hike was difficult.  We were ecstatic to see the Refugio off in the distance, but it was one of those "so close yet so far away" moments.  We did finally arrive and checked in.  The Refugio sleeps 6 to a room and we (Eric, me, Jessica, and Chris) were happy not to have 5th and 6th roommates!  We used the community showers, which were kind of gross but welcomed anyway and had a few well deserved drinks.  Dinner was not half as good as at Cascada's Eco Domes, but we were hungry so we ate most of it (and then bought Twix from the little store there).  We stayed up chatting with our roommates for a bit and then snuggled into our bunks for the night.   Un buen dia overall....

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