Paine Grande to Los Cuernos

Let’s begin with the end.

Karen and Michael and Chris try to set up the tent

Here we are tonight team setting up my tent. You might notice the grey splint on the tent pole closest and to the right. We’ve had some winds.

Last night was crazy. It was windy when we retired, but not that different than prior nights. Some music played loudly by nearby campers annoyed me for a bit but I fell asleep. The heavy winds started around midnight – the kind that shake the tent and make you wonder if all will be ok. My alarm went off at 2:45 - my mistake and I must have toggled that as I set my 6:30am alarm. Winds continued.

At 6am I felt the tent pivot and hit me in the side. At 6:15 I decided to get up and gave the music. As I was shuffling about doing the morning routine in the tent it collapsed on me, one of the poles snapping in the wind. I was still able to work through dressing and packing. Fortunately it wasn’t raining so I was able to pack the tent up. Made my way to the kitchen.

Windy morning at Paine Grande

The entire camp was in various states of distress. There were some tents blowing away, tent bags randomly strewn about. Michael’s tent pole also snapped; Karen’s were seriously bent. We had our breakfast and hit the road for our longest day so far.

Walking through the interior lakes on the way to Italiano

Winds sustained throughout the day. On the hike to the Italiano station where we would drop our packs to hike up the Valle del Frances, the winds were blowing so hard at our backs that Karen was knocked down and I had to brace in a low tripod position with the hiking pole to avoid the same. Still… everything around us was beautiful.

The amazing turquoise lake waters

Early on in the hike up the valley to the Mirador Británico the views back were amazing. Lago Nordensköld was turquoise and windswept, and it would remain in that state the rest of the day.

We witnessed and heard multiple avalanches along the way, likely spurred because of the heavy winds blowing over the crests. Hard to tell glacier from fragile snowpack at this point.

View to the south at Mirador Británico

At the viewpoint, we were surrounded by granite peaks. I can see why you hike up this valley – it opens into a vast circle of newish granite mountains.

Chris and Karen at the mirador

It can be hard to remember to look behind you, but the ussie above shows how amazing the view behind us was at the mirador.

We had a bit of a scare with one of our party members which is now resolved, so we are hoping for a more peaceful night of sleep. Tomorrow is a shorter day of hiking. Today was 26km with 1000m of climb.