A relatively late breakfast at 8:30, but our room was next to the kitchen, so we began hearing kitchen noises pretty early. Toast, a fried egg served in a bowl, a pastry resembling cinnamon rolls and some tea was the fuel for the day. We loaded up the van and left for the visitor center at 9:30 in a light drizzle. We were told that it would be an easy day (at least on a relative scale), of 7 miles, along side Lago Nordenskjold, a large glacier lake we’d seen on our descent from the Torres the previous day. I had envisioned a peaceful stroll along the lake with soft pine needles underfoot. Apparently there’s a thing called “Patagonia flat”, which is really rolling hills — with some height. We had been told there was a 300 meter climb, but it seemed like more in aggregate. The terrain was rocky, with lots of ups and downs, made more difficult by the large pack which is way too heavy for me. Along the trail we saw a pack of red foxes up on a hillside. There were incredible views of the lake and the mountains to our right, and while there was some rain in the morning, it tapered off as the day went on and the wind wasn’t bad. So other than getting used to the heavy pack, which slowed me down quite a bit, it was a lovely day.
We made it to the Refugio Los Cuernos at 4PM, so still a 6 hour day. At this place it’s 6 to a room, so we’ve added Chris and Jackie to our small room with 3 bunks and no real place to put anything. The shared bathroom was a couple of doors down, with showers that require a push on to get water for 45 seconds, then lather and press again. Basic, but got the job done. After the shower we sat on the lovely deck and had a beer and did some stretching. We were next to a lake and a fast moving stream, and the sun was out, and the view of the snow-capped mountains was ever changing as the the afternoon/evening wore on— a nice late afternoon. In the distance was Los Cuernos (The Horns), three fantastically sculpted grey and white sedimentary and granite peaks rising 800 feet. The electricity at the Refugio was out, so while there was wifi, it was out. We met a young man named B, who was from Malaysia but working as a doctor in Melbourne who was on his own, but doing the trek the same direction we were (from east to west), and he had been up at the Torres 2 hours after us the day before. And the skies had cleared and he had a great photo which he shared on airdrop — so we got the photo after all. We also chatted a bit with two young women from the Netherlands who were following our route too, and had the smallest packs — really doing it right. It felt a bit like the camino that evening — people chatting and likely to meet again on the trail. Liz talked with two guys, from NY and France for awhile.
Dinner was just okay — some meat (beef) which was quite tough, over smashed pumpkin. The roommates were heading to bed early so we got ready too, but I’m still finding it hard to get to sleep without drugs (Advil PM). Doesn’t help that it’s light until 10:15PM.
