4th November: Day 2 of Torres del Paine

Day 2: Campamento Los Guardas to Campamento Italiano

We woke at around 8, cold and not particularly well-rested (partly because the tent was too short for me) but in good spirits nevertheless.  While I packed up the tent, Clem prepared breakfast: pasta & vegetable soup from a packet, with oatmeal and more pasta added for extra energy.  Not the summit of French cuisine, but it kept us going for the next few hours of trekking.

Tasty

We headed back the way we had come, reaching Lago Pehoe around four and a half hours after we had started.  We'd been hoping for a helpful push from the wind that had been in our faces the previous day, but the weather was much calmer so provided no assistance.  Again condors swept down to check whether we were down to our last breath, but left disappointed.  The path was fairly tough; it hadn't seemed quite so steep the previous day, when we were going down.

Lago Grey

After a brief break near Refugio Paine Grande to bask in the sunshine and nibble at the dried fruit and nuts we'd picked up in Puerto Natales, we set off eastwards along the northern shore of the lake.  This was probably the most beautiful stretch of the whole trek.  Under a clear blue sky we walked towards Los Cuernos ("the Horns", for obvious reasons), headed for the campsite nestled beneath them.  Sometimes staring at the same scenery for three hours can make one a little blasé; not so with this vista.  I'll leave it to the photos.

Lago Pehoe

First sight of Los Cuernos (to the right)

Finally found someone competent to photograph us: a large rock

We reached Campamento Italiano at around 5pm, crossing the fast-flowing Rio del Frances on a fun, bouncy bridge, heeding the warning that it could bear "two persons only at a time".  We set up our tent (rather more efficiently than the previous night) and started to prepare dinner.  That night's menu featured potato purée from a packet, lamb stock, garlic powder, ketchup, and a special treat: a tin of tuna.

Filling up with water from the Rio

Fun bridge

We then settled down on the river's rocky bank to take in the scenery and await sunset.  It turned out that we were being overly optimistic, as the famous austral sunset never quite made it into our valley.  We were at least able to enjoy the evening light on Los Cuernos while the Rio growled over the rocks by our feet.

Evening sun lighting up los Cuernos

Writing our journal on the riverbank