TDP - Day 2

Day 2 is a tough one. We wake after a freezing night in the tent to find frost everywhere... I suppose the fact that we are right next to a glacier should have been a hint that it was going to be cold!

Today we have to backtrack all the way back to where we started at Paine Grande yesterday and then a further 7km (3.5hrs) to Camp Italiano. The torrential rain from the previous days has washed away a lot of the tracks and left a lot of mud and wet marshland behind. Its taking much longer than expected. Our backs are aching and Trav loses it a bit when he loses his footing crossing a stream and ends up with 2 very wet boots. The lowlight of the day was when we read the sign wrong and thought we only had 2.5km of downhill to go which turns out to be 5km of uphill! The second lowlight of the day is when we are faced with more mud and another washed away crossing, Trav turns around, looks at me with conviction and says, "this is your fault, it was your idea to come here!" At this point no one cares that's its beautiful anymore!

8 hours of hiking later we make it just before dark, set up camp and nurse our aches.. day 2 complete.. just!Read more