torres del paine - W day three

i slept the best i had the entire trip at campamento los cuernos, most likely due to the clos wine and muscle relaxer pills. no, i don't have a problem.

during the middle of the night was the beginning of a series of odd tent experiences

everyone is so delirious during the night and talking in their sleep. everything is just so wack.

incident 1: trying to get out of the tent to go to the bathroom

-couldn't find any of the tent zippers for the life of me

-accidently touched keelin's head in the process of trying to get out of the tent

-keelin starts talking in her sleep freaking out, thinking there was an animal outside

-i'm pretty sure some sleep-packing also occurred

after a morning of oats + honey + hot water for breakfast (not quite oatmeal, but still edible) we got a late start - due to some distractions joking around with the guys who worked at the campground

plan:
hike to Campamento Italiano
leave our packs and hike the Valle del Francés (French Valley)
get back to camp before dark and set up for the night

the trek to italiano was semi-difficult due to the once again rocky terrain which made it hard to keep my knee stable. we passed this awesome beach with perfectly flat stones everywhere and saw a family skipping rocks. if i wasn't already behind everyone i would have stayed and practiced my rock-skipping skills as well. the reflections of the scenery in the lake were incredibly beautiful

beach with flat stones everywhere

so pretty!

rapha

 

rachael and i made it to camp about 30 minutes after keelin, julian, and natalie. we met up with them at the rocks by the river had a quick lunch before we began our trek through the Valle del Francés

we had heard mixed impressions about staying at Campamento Italiano - at the hostel and from talking to people on the trails it was either a hit or miss. we had heard the camp didn't have any bathrooms and is usually subject to harsh weather conditions - rain, wind, snow

all the negative thoughts about the camp site were not a problem for us at all, considering the weather was perfectly sunny and minimal wind. and everyone except rapha *haha* discovered that there were indeed restrooms! 

at camp before our hike to the Britanico lookout we once again ran into some friends from our EAP program - Shermila, other Natalie, and Marie!

i always was really excited to see the signs meaning we had finally reached camp:

the camp sites always have wonderful views...

haha..

¡Viva Chile!

lunch by the river - aka trail mix, bread, and nutella

bridge to cross the river

our next task for the day was to hike the valle del francés to the next lookout - mirador campamento britanico

 our views along the way:

another view of los cuernos!

standing on this cool rock

 

pretending to be a gorilla under los cuernos in honor of the gorilla pods at campamento los cuernos 

you really had to be there to understand.

 

 

los cuernos again 

 it took us about an hour to get to the first lookout where we found ourselves directly under this huge snowy mountain. we could hear huge booms from the ice breaking off. it was really awesome

we'd seen this mountain formation from far away for many hours while hiking and it was awesome to be standing right under it

it took 2 more hours to reach the very top of the french valley. it was mostly uphill but not too difficult. the last part was the hardest (once again), with loose tierra and rocks but an incredible view at the top

las chicas!

gorilla nest?

 in the valley almost to the lookout

to reach the top of the lookout we had to climb up boulders to the top of this rock formation. we were in the very center of the valley with crazy views all around us

from the pictures you can't really tell, but we were wayy the f*** up there

at the lookout i ran into the nice lady from Boston who gave me her ace bandage for my knee! i was really glad to see her because i had a chance to let her know how much the bandage helped. she told me a nurse practioner had been on the lookout for me

the descent from the valley back to campamento italiano was brutal. it was downhill the entire way and i still wasn't able to bend my left knee. hiking down rocks without being able to bend one leg was very challenging. even though i left the the lookout before everyone to give myself more time to get down, the setting sun definitely added to the pressure of having to hurry down the mountain before dark

you can see that the light was getting darker on our side of the mountain

i left the lookout at 6:00 pm and it took me 3 hours to get back to camp. on the way down, the trail guide at the lookout who is supposed to make sure everyone gets down the mountain caught up and passed us so julian and i were the last ones on the trail

we luckily made it back to camp with still a little light outside, 9:00 pm

at camp natalie, keelin, and rachael told me they saw the trail guide who had given them intense anti-inflammatory pills for me to take. the guide also told them i shouldn't keep going tomorrow because it was the hardest day - she said i should take the ferry back to the entrance of the park that was only a 2 hour easy trek away

but of course, the next day was the trail to the last lookout and i wasn't going to quit before i completed the whole W circuit

at camp i was exhausted and only ate an orange before going to sleep