Torres Del Paine - Day 2 - French Valley

Last night we were given a decision to make: trek the 20 km regular route to the French Valley or continue farther and do 27km. For me, it was a no brainer - the shorter one of course! Not because I'm not enjoying the hiking, we have seen some fantastic views of epic beauty, but more because I know I'm slower, I have short legs and we have a ferry to catch this evening. In the end 3 of us (the quickest) headed further, and the rest of us did the regular route.

Though it seemed to have rained a bit the night before, we awoke to a nice morning to some clear skies. Crawling out of the tent, we were greeted by the gentle light on the mountains opposite. After packing, breakfast, and stashing our bags, we headed off.

The first part of the hike was easygoing, we traversed Patagonian flat terrains, following trails laid along gentle hills. I almost felt like a hobbit, lost in the landscape around us. There's not too many people, the quiet was broken only by the sounds of our footsteps. It was a pretty good pace as well and I even managed to stick close to the group for a good duration. Did I mention flat ground and Patagonia flats are my favorite?

I did have one little mishap though, it was either a loose rock or maybe I tripped over my own feet, but almost did a face plant on a downward part. Luckily I got a hand down in time, so it was just a bit of an awkward landing and I needed to sort myself out before I could accept some help getting up. No harm done (except scrapes and bruises discovered later) and I was soon able to walk it off like I usually do.

Throughout the hike, we continued to cross rushing streams and rivers, over bridges and stopped at a few lookouts, like one over a lake. We paused there for some time, admiring how the power of the winds stirred the waters, created a nature show. We went through forests, then saw avalanches tumbling down close to a glacier. The latter part of the trail was steeper, but of course, it's only natural. All in all another great day of hiking.

The way back, we had free reign and free pace to get back to the refugio. It was nice to be rushed and we all had time to relax before hopping back on the ferry where our van awaited to transport us to a private camp for the night. The camp itself is situated just outside of the national park grounds, but had a gorgeous view of the Torres in the distance. Our tents were lined up neatly in a row and the shower facilities were greatly welcomed to refresh ourselves. Some of us even found energy to kick a soccer ball around.

The dinner building was interestingly shaped like a triangle as we arranged ourselves on the 3 sides of the table. There was a communal feeling in the air as we'd need to help each other and pass food and everything else around. It's too far to reach across the table, but it was alright, as it kind of felt like we were one big family.

Tomorrow we take on Las Torres themselves, here's hoping we saved energy for that (and yes, we did).Les mer