The Park, Day Two

We got a very late start - 11 am - mostly due to my previous sleepless night, but also the fact that Jorg is NOT a morning person.

After a breakfast of oatmeal and jam (yuck) we started the 8 hour day far too late, but were destined to make it to Campamento Torres, at the base of the infamous Towers. The hike was long but relatively flat until the last few miles - which were ALL UPHILL. Jorg was breathing heavily. I was panting. By the time we made it to camp we were so tired and cold the only thing we could think to do was drink rum. And so we did. Next we boiled water, realizing the reason it took so long the night before was because we had forgotten the lid! We drank coffee-hot chocolate-rum drinks until hunger lead us to night 2 of pasta - this time adequately cooked.

We hurried into bed, knowing we´d have to get up at 430 am to make it to the Mirador (viewpoint) to see the sunrise over the towers.

End of Day 2.

At 2 am the trees, which had been collecting the softly falling snow for the previous four hours, had reached their maximum holding capacity and a gust of wind every 15 minutes or so would dump a pile of powder on our tent, making it impossible to sleep. It´s like monkeys throwing coconuts! Jorg said, and we laughed hysterically on and off, this image in mind, until my alarm went off at 430. You go and take pictures, Jorg said, as we moaned in response to the beeping alarm.

I pushed us both to our feet and we scurried in the cold up the mountain. The towers were beautiful but ominous in the just-before-sunrise light, as we stood waiting. Several others showed up, immediatley firing up coffee. Unfortunatley, the best view was upon arrival, for 5 minutes later the clouds dropped and the snow came. At 545 we gave up, ran down the mountain and went back to sleep in our cold, wet tent.

At 9 we woke up, getting another late start, knowing it would be a very long day to Campamento Dickson, where we were looking forward to a hot meal and a shower.

Today was a bad day, despìte the first half being downhill. Going down hurts more than going up when your pack is mostly full - your thighs ache with every step. When we reached the Hosteleria, where we had planned to have lunch, we couldn´t even take our time it was so windy. We hiked on a dirt road for what seemed like 10 hours, thought it was only 5, before we arrive at Campamento Seron for a break. An hour before we arrived I noticed my first blister - on the ball of my left foot. Jorg and I sat at a picnic table at Camp Seron, with our socks off, when Young, another German, walked by saying The showers are hot. We decided to stop 4 miles early and camp at Seron.

The hot shower felt good. The meal tasted better. And falling asleep after a bar of chocolate made the pain in my feet nearly disappear.

End of day 3.