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Published: January 7th 2012
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Refugio Camp Peho
Follow the rules...... The (Bates) hotel continues to not impress; both Michele and I had beds with a top mattress that slid off towards the floor causing a 45 degree angle of sleeping. We both woke up half on the floor half on the bed. Positive? Water pressure was good.
Left the hotel at 07:30 to commute on local bus (but not chicken by any standard) with one pit stop (read banos!) thankfully. Arrived at Torres del Paine National Park entrance, and scrambled for a marathon walk to see the waterfall and some lovely views. Unfortunately it literally was a marathon pace and I was struggling to keep up with my bad knee. It was too much too fast I fear and my leg has been going downhill since then.
The boat ride across Lago Pehoe took half hour across and of course the scenery was absolutely mind blowing, and we had great weather which just added to the picture perfect views.
Once we arrived we had our packed lunches (they had a tuna sandwich for me - Chile's version of vegetarian) and then found out that Christian2 would set up our camp (pleasant surprise) so off we went on our
Torres Del Paine National Park
Waterfall hike prior to the boat ride first hike. 12 km round trip with very little elevation gain but still some up and down. Pace was again too fast for me, even if I wasn't sporting a bum knee as there was barely anytime to take photos or catch my breath. We hiked to the Grey Glacier lookout and it started off at 22 degrees but went down to 9 with vicious winds at the actual lookout.
The Grey Glacier is 270 sq.km and quite impressive. After our 90kph wind gusts at the views (I was praying Jill wouldn't disappear when I put her down for a photo op) we began our trek back. My knee was causing me even more grief, but Dange (guide #3) always stayed with me, which was reassuring. He continually chatted away to me in Spanish (he spoke about 15 words in English) knowing I had no clue what he was saying! He really is sweet and despite our language differences we still managed a laugh or two and quickly bonded. I came to Patagonia to trek the "W" trail, and there was no way a bum knee was going to prevent that from happening; but I was realizing it was
Torres Del Paine National Park
Breathtaking scenery, even for a girl from the Rocky Mountains! going to be a challenge. But then again, I'm stubborn:-)
After our return, we had a relaxing evening in this amazing private room in the refuge for drinks and snacks and dinner. Christian 2 had set us up with appetizers, a warm fire and dinner was provided by the refuge itself, nothing to write home about but it was warm and the views were spectacular. Beautiful end to our first day in Torres Del Paine, we all went to sleep snug as a bug in a rug with eternal daylight and a face mask, eager to see what tomorrow would bring in our adventures in the French Valley.
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