Torres Del Paine (day two)

We awoke feeling pretty good after the first day of trekking. Much to our surprise our muscles felt fine, and I guess that the filling meal from the night before and hot shower all added to the general feeling of well-being. James was up early and had got the porridge oats going on our little stove. Despite it weighing a tonne in the backpack, the porridge was well worth the investment as this gave us plenty of energy to start off the second day onslaught.

As Daniel wanted to take things at his own pace he told the three of us to continue on our way. So Dean, James and I set out nice and early as intended.

We had to backtrack down the trail on which we'd come the day before, but managed to shave a bit of time off. We stopped at the Refugio Mountain Lodge Paine Grande for us to have a break and a fill up on dried fruit and nuts and for James to have a cheeky shower . Unbelievably we stopped there for about an hour, and so hit the trail pretty hard to try and gain some time back.

The bottom of the lefthand side of the "W" takes you past a beautiful lake with the backdrop of Cerro Este and Cerro Norte, two toned towers of rock. We clambered up some rocks to get a better point of view and take some pictures. Tiggy and Jess walked past at that moment and we called them up to enjoy the breathtaking view.

The rest of the trail to Campemento Italiano was pretty easy, it was only when we drew nearer to the camp that we had to cross an Indiana Jones-style rope bridge, on which only 2 people were allowed at once. I crossed with a girl behind me, who seemed not to care that she was shaking the bridge up and down, and I had visions of me falling over the edge with the heavy rucksack and being swept away by the forceful glacial water below!

The campground was pretty huge, but we had got there early to find a good pitch. It was one of the CONAF ran sites, which meant it was free, but without services. They did, however, have flushing toilets, which means we didn't have to go through another Fitz Roy moment.

The three of us plus Tiggy and Jess, decided to cook and eat our dinner down by the river. This was such a good move. Not only was it really soothing with the fast flowing water by our side, but we were also able to watch Cerro Principal. Every so often huge slices of the glacier on top would come tumbling down creating an avalanche of ice and snow, and the sound would rumble through the valley like a long clap of thunder. It really was fastinating to watch.
When we got back to camp we discovered that we had been totally invaded by a group of Chileans. They had virtually pitched their tents over the top of ours, with an obstacle course of guide ropes and rocks at the entrance of our tent. James and I escaped back to the waters edge for a bit of peace and to watch the gorgeous sunset. The mountains had been painted the same colour of the sky, licked with reds, pinks and oranges. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets we'd ever seen.

We thought we had better get to bed, as we'd heard that the hike through the valley was pretty heavy going, and that we'd need all the strength we could. Unfortunately the Chileans did not feel the same way, and were up until stupid o'clock talking and laughin loudly. Ah, the joys of camping continue....!