Patagonia: December 2015

We met in Puerto Natales. The Patagonian flag.

We left El Calafate, and after a 5 hour bus ride, with a very windy border crossing, we finally arrived in Puerto Natales, which was equally, if not more windy. This was the coldest we’d been in quite a while. We decided to take care of some things before the rest of the crew showed up. One of the most important, check out a daily talk at one of the hostels. This hostel also rents equipment and gear, and has options for guided treks of Patagonia. The information we gained at this talk was invaluable. Most of the people there were doing the “W” so that’s what they started with. The “W” group left and the rest of us stayed for the complete “O” circuit. The girl giving the talk gave us a great route, information on the different sites, a map, and told us the distance (in hours) from each place. She also mentioned that we had the option of starting at an entirely different location altogether. So far, all of the starting points were on the circuit, but there was an extra 5 hour trek that started outside, and allowed us to basically hike into the circuit. We liked that idea. Our group had agreed to do the “O” circuit, but we decided to check with them, to see if they would be interested in an extra day.

Puerto Natales, Chile

From the get-go, Tim was in. Annette was okay with it, and needed to check with Jenni. In the end, we all decided to go for it, which turned our “O” circuit, into a backwards “Q.” We spent the rest of the day checking out grocery stores and pricing out equipment rentals. Annette was bringing our tent, so the only other thing Javier and I needed, was a stove and cooking stuff. Tim was in the same boat as us, so we agreed to share the cost. Tim arrived the day before the girls, so the three of us went grocery shopping together and bought the amount of food we thought we’d need for the week.

Puerto Natales, Chile. Hello Tim!

I should take a moment to reintroduce Tim. Tim was the guy we met in Istanbul. We had taken the same tour, started chatting, had dinner together, and exchanged information. Tim and his sister were going to trek Machu Picchu, so he and Javier briefly emailed back and forth during his planning. When we decided to trek Patagonia, we remembered Tim and threw it out there. Mind you…we don’t know this guy, and he doesn’t know us either, and he knows Annette and Jenni, not at all. In fact, Javier and I had only met Jenni once by chance. She was visiting Annette and they were at Downtown Disney at the same time as Javier and I. We stopped by their table to say hi and that was it. Maybe a 20 minute conversation. This hike could have truly gone badly.

Jenni!

So, it’s fair to say that Tim, Javier, and I spent the rest of the evening taking care of business, but also getting to know one another a little bit better. In the evening, we checked out the local microbrewery and went over our proposed route. Tim was game for anything as long as it gave us ample time to finish. If everything went well, we would be fine. Even if we had to hunker down for a day due to weather, we would be fine, but more than that, we might be in trouble. We agreed we wanted to try.

The girls arrived the following day. They had a heinous travel day, and were starving when they arrived. We introduced ourselves and walked to lunch. On the way there, Jenni was very quiet. Even during lunch, while the rest of us were very chatty, Jenni was quiet. She started to come alive after some food. We would learn later that Jenni is similar to Javier and I when we’re hungry. Don’t bother us until we’ve been fed. 😉 We discussed our plans with them, and they agreed. Jenni also offered to share her burner with us. We were nervous at first, but she assured us that she and Annette had all freeze-dried meals and therefore didn’t need to cook anything, only boil water, so it should work just fine. We decided to go with it. In the end, we bought a pot to cook, and cup, and borrowed some spoons from our guesthouse.

We all went our separate ways and planned to possibly meet later for dinner and drinks. Javier and I had to prepare our packs, and store our other stuff, as well as divvy up the food by three to be shared with Tim. Javier was carrying our tent, so I took on extra food. When all was said and done, my pack base wight was 5kg, add in food and water, 13kg. Let’s just say, I was light as a feather by the end 🙂

We met with Tim for dinner, but the girls weren’t going to make it. I don’t blame them. They had been up since before the sun, traveled all day, and we had to get an early start with a 5 hour hike-day ahead of us. It was early to bed for everyone. We were all so excited!

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We decided to meet at the bus station for our 7:30am ride to Torres del Paine. The ride seemed to last forever. At the first stop, Laguna Amarga, we all had to disembark, register, pay our park fees, and watch a video on fire safety. Some people started their trek from here, while others, like us, piled back onto the bus and kept going. The next stop, Pudeto, was where most of the remaining passengers got off- we stayed on. It took another hour or so to arrive at our stop. During our ride we experienced: sun, rain, hail and snow. I had heard people say that you can experience all seasons in one day in Patagonia, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant until that bus ride. We were all just praying that the rain would stop- the rest, we could handle. We disembarked at the final stop, Administración. After a quick lunch/snack, and preparing for our trek, we were finally ready.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We started off in high spirits. Everyone was so excited to trek and the weather was perfect. We walked along the road for a while before heading off on the trail. There were no other trekkers in sight, only a few trucks and buses that waved as they sped by. After walking along the trail for a bit, we hit wind. LOTS OF WIND. Like, you had to brace yourself or else you’d be blown over type of wind. I have never experienced winds as strong as those in Patagonia. Much of the hike was flat with wide open spaces. Up ahead, you could see mountains, and to our right, Torres del Paine- our destination. As we walked we saw many trees, bushes, flowers of all colors, and birds. It was truly beautiful.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We were all getting pretty tired of the wind, when we came upon a beautiful blue-green lake. We were appreciating our gorgeous view, when it started to rain. The rain turned to hail and then snow for a bit. The hail was okay, as was the snow, but soon, they both disappeared leaving only rain. It was raining HARD. That, plus the wind made for a truly miserable hike. By the time we arrived to Paine Grande, my eyes were swollen and red from the wind, and we were all soaked. Thank God for quick drying clothes. We had originally talked about hiking further on our first day, to Italiano, but we were all pretty beat after our first 5-hour day in the wind and rain, no one pushed to move ahead. 

Set up the tent in the rain.

We relaxed inside the big dining room. Paine Grande is like a hotel, with all the amenities. We were out with the other campers, but decided to dry off and warm up a bit inside. After we had snacked and could feel our fingers and toes, we paid our campsite fee and used the break in rain to set up our tents. Javier and I committed the cardinal sin of not setting up our tent beforehand and here we were trying to beat the weather and get our tent up as quickly as possible. Tim was nice enough to help us for our first time, and thankfully our tent is AWESOME and so easy to set-up, even we could do it. After we were done, we helped Tim set up his tent and all met in the small camper’s eating area to make our dinner. Our first of many dinners consisted of pasta with meat sauce, cheese, and avocados. Annette and Jenni brought freeze-dried meals from home.

goofy Jackie … Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

After dinner, we all sat around and shared some mint tea. We chatted and shared some snacks with a German couple who had made room for us at their table. We hung out for a while before heading back to our tents. I checked the showers out of curiosity, and found out that they were all cold. I was really hoping this wasn’t a precursor to the rest of our trek.

It was a windy, rainy night. I didn’t sleep well. I was afraid our tent would leak or collapse in the wind. But again, our tent is AWESOME and withstood the elements. I never doubted it again after that. We all had a quick breakfast of granola bars and trail mix and we were on our way. We had a 7-hour day ahead of us, so we left early. The walk to Italiano was very pleasant and beautiful. However, we all commented on how we were really glad that we didn’t attempt this the day before.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

The weather was great and the views stunning. At one point, we had snow flurries, which added with the sunshine, made for a really magical moment. When the rain started, we all prematurely put on our waterproof pants. We didn’t want another day like the one before. It didn’t last, and before we knew it, the sun was back, the rain gone, and we were hot. Off came the pants! 

It was a truly gorgeous hike. On one side was a beautiful lake, on the other, incredible mountains with massive snow-covered peaks. After a couple hours, we arrived at Italiano. Once there, I was really happy that we chose to sleep at Paine Grande. Italiano was bare-bones. It is one of the few free sites left, and leaves much to be desired. We crammed into the little shelter to have lunch.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

Afterward, we left our packs behind and hiked up Valle Frances towards the mirador. On the way up, it started to snow. We slowly separated with Javier and Tim continuing, Jenni deciding she’d had enough, and Annette, and I walked a bit more before deciding that the weather wasn’t going to be getting better any time soon and finally turned back. We met Jenni back at Italiano and the three of us started off toward Cuernos- the boys would catch up. 

It was a long way down to Cuernos, and since I take the downhill very slowly, Javier and Tim caught up to us. We all walked together to Cuernos. On the way, we passed by a stream. We had read and been told by everyone that the water is safe to drink directly from the stream, but we were still a little apprehensive. The thought of not sterilizing water sounds crazy to us, but we really wanted to give it a try, and this was our first. 

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

I’m happy to announce that we drank from every clean water source we could find and none of us became sick! It was really cool to just stick your cup in the stream and drink. 

After we hiked all the way down, we reached the rocky shore of a lake. It seemed like a good place for a break, so we stopped, snacked, drank, and admired the beautiful lake. After a little while we were on the move again, stopping at most streams for a cup of water just because we could. 🙂

We walked through a green wonderland full of trees and colorful flowers. It was truly gorgeous- one of the more beautiful walks on our trip. After about 7 hours or so, we arrived to Cuernos. Cuernos was crowded. We ended up having to split up. The ground was so soft, the tent stakes wouldn’t stay on their own and we had to anchor everything down with rocks. If we had another night like the one before, we would be in trouble. Luckily for us, we were in a relatively protected area, with makeshift walls and fencing on three of our sides.

Cuernos

While we were setting up, I saw a medical helicopter land right by the water. I looked out to see what was going on, but there were no patients, only deliveries. Several boxes, and large white propane tanks. Once Javier and I set up our tent (we were already getting pretty good by this point) we decided to take a shower. On the way to the shower, a girl was walking towards me and told me that there was no hot water until 6. We still had a little bit of time. As we were chatting and I was about to turn back, we saw the men walking towards us carrying the propane tank. We asked if it was for the girl’s showers and they were. The girl and I walked to the showers, where I met up with Annette and Jenni, and waited. It ended up taking over an hour to install the new tank and heat the water. In the mean time, Jenni, Annette and I stood around and chatted. At some point, Javier came by looking for the soap and shampoo. He and Tim were standing outside, Tim already having taken a cold shower. Burr! 

Cuernos refugio. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We made our way into the camper cooking area where it was packed…too packed. At first it was just Tim and I and we slowly took over more and more space until we had enough for everyone. Slowly, they all trickled in and we had dinner. the girls ate another freeze-dried meal, and the rest of us had raviolis, which Tim later blamed for his stomach issues! Once we were just about done eating, we saw this little Japanese girl enter. Annette and Jenni had met her earlier on the bus to Puerto Natales, and we had all seen her on the bus to Paine Grande. She was alone, and looking for a place to cook her meal. Javier invited her to join us, and entertained her with his Japanese words (which she thought was absolutely hilarious). We spent the evening chatting with her, and once it was all said and done, we hiked back to our tents and had a much better night sleep than the previous night. 

Bye Cuernos. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We were at it again bright and early. We had another 7 hour day ahead of us, with the last part being a steep incline. We wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible. As we left Cuernos, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. At one point, we were actually hot. My favorite weather in Patagonia is warm and sunny with snow flurries. 🙂 There were more lakes, trees, flowers, birds, and many more hikers. Since yesterday was mostly downhill, today was spent climbing back up. What goes down, must come up. We arrived in Chileno after about 5 hours. 

After a brief break and water refill, we were off to Torres.

On our way to Torres. Before Chileno. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

The first 5 hours went by really quickly, and the last 1.5 hours to Torres were very pleasant. We walked through the trees, which gave us great shade. We crossed a couple of rickety bridges, and on one heard a woman waiting on the other side, tell her husband, “They go one at a time. Smart.” We had to laugh, some of these bridges were so questionable, we scurried across quickly and wouldn’t even think of more than one person crossing at a time. We were very relaxed by the time we reached Torres. Unlike the other sites we had stayed, Torres was a free site and was therefore bare-bones. After checking in with the ranger and finding suitable spots to set up camp, we regrouped for our final climb of the day. We had another 45min-1 hour hike up to the towers- a rock formation that look like three massive towers rising into the air. 

Too windy. had to crouch down.

It was up, up, and more up to the towers. After hiking all day, it felt like forever before we arrived. We were all so tired. We hiked through trail, trees, and finally rocks and boulders. When we arrived, it was cold. The wind was blowing very hard. At one point, we all had to crouch down in order to avoid being blown over. While standing on a high rock for a picture, another gust came through and would have knocked me off if it weren’t for Jenni grabbing onto Annette and crouching low, while I groped Annette, trying to grab hold of anything. 

We were lucky. We knew there would be clouds and were told that the towers were often hidden within. There were indeed clouds, but just enough wind to blow them away for moments so we could catch glimpses. Below the towers was a nice surprise. A beautiful green lake! We stayed and took pictures. We probably would have stayed longer just to enjoy the sights and rest a bit, but it was cold, getting late, and we still needed to hike back down, eat dinner, and go to bed for our sunrise hike the following morning. 

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

The plan was to wake up at 3:30am, meet at Jenni and Annette’s tent and go from there. Since we had already seen the Towers, there was talk of some people sleeping in, and we were definitely in that camp. However, when our alarm went off, we both felt awake and energized and decided to go. We whispered for Tim, to see if he wanted to come, and he said he was opting to sleep. We walked to the girl’s tent, and Annette said she was going to sleep, and that Jenni went to the restroom. We waited for a bit chatting with Annette through her tent. After a few minutes, she told us that Jenni may have just gone ahead. She looked for her poles, and when she saw they weren’t there, she told us Jenni probably was already on her way. Javier and I set off.

We walked up in the dark, with our headlamps and stopped to drink water from the streams along the way. The climb in morning was much easier than the day before. When we arrived, it was light enough to see around us. There were many people already waiting, and we looked for Jenni. I saw a figure standing on a rock, and the light shining off a Platypus water bag. I thought…that must be Jenni. We called out to her, but because of the wind, she didn’t hear us. We hiked up to her, and found her sitting near some boulders trying to shield herself from the wind. We said hi, and squished next to her. While we waited for the sun to come up, we snacked and tried to keep warm. We did everything from running in circles, to push-ups, jumping-jacks, and anything else to generate heat. There was a group of people, I won’t say where they were from, but we weren’t very fond of them. For the past couple days they were at the same refugios as us, they were loud, obnoxious, and flat out rude at times. They whole group was there, we could hear them, and were annoyed that in this serene, picturesque spot, we had to listen to these people holler at each other. As we were running in circles, one of the guys starts to talk to us. We already didn’t care for him because of our previous experiences with the group, but we politely made conversation. Let’s just say that while we still didn’t care for his group, he turned out to be a really nice guy. We chatted for quite a while until the sun started coming up. We were all huddled together, and Jenni says, “Has that rock always looked like that?” Javier and I looked over and see this bright red rock. We all started laughing. The sun was reflecting off the rockface next to the Towers. It was pretty amazing, and we were anxiously waiting for the sun to get a little higher and highlight the Towers. Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in just as the sun was getting to that point, and there would be no bright Towers today. We waited longer than we needed to, hoping the clouds would break, before hunger got the best of us, and we headed back.

Back at camp, we had breakfast and packed up. Turned out Annette wasn’t feeling too good, and Tim was fighting stomach issues. We were aware that Tim was having stomach problems, because he mentioned it in passing and wasn’t eating very much, but he never complained, and on the contrary, acted like nothing was wrong. It was easy to forget that he was struggling. What a trooper.

We started hiking down to Chileno, which is a very nice refugio. Where we stayed in Torres was bare bones, just a toilet and space to pitch your tent. At Chileno, we stopped refilled our water, rested, and snacked some more before heading down to Torres Hotel. Torres Hotel is a major hub. It’s the first bus stop on the way in to the park. Many people start and end their trek here, and many come to stay in the hotel, and take day trips from here. It is very nice, and has a great restaurant. We decided to stop and have a proper meal. At this point, we had been walking for about 4 hours, and we had another 6 to go. We left our packs outside of the hotel and sat in the restaurant.

Burgers!

Post Burger nap. We were out.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

Stuck. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We all ordered the burger, except for Tim. The burger was huge, by far the best thing we had eaten in a while, and everyone, including me, polished theirs off. There was still room afterwards, so we ordered a couple of desserts and shared. We were so happy and content. We moved our party to the sofas, where we promptly fell asleep and took a 20 minute siesta. We woke up a little groggy, but forced ourselves to get up and get moving. We still had a long day ahead of us, and it wasn’t getting any earlier.

I’m sure the workers were happy to get rid of us. We looked like a bunch of bums sprawled out all over their sofas. There were no other trekkers in the restaurant, every one else looked like actual patrons of the hotel. We were the grubby ones, and with full bellies, we were off!

This next stretch was the longest of them all. We were firmly out of the “W” and could immediately notice the difference. First of all, we were alone. In the “W” there were always people coming and going, it wasn’t too crowded, but definitely a huge difference than where we were at now. We had to walk through these gates. Some were so small that we actually became stuck. It took us a while to figure out how to get through. We basically had to walk backwards. I don’t know why it worked, but it did. As we walked, our group started to split. I hadn’t had a chance to talk with Annette since she arrived, and we took this opportunity to catch up. We climbed over fences, streams, and through open fields. We were talking so much, and were going great stretches without seeing our orange markers, that we started to think we took a wrong turn or something. I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but when you’re gabbing away and not paying attention, strange things happen. We would stop periodically to wait for the others to catch up. They were nowhere in sight. We stopped to pee, and waited…still, no one in sight. It was getting later, so we decided to go on ahead, pay for our campsites and wait for them at Seron. It felt like forever before we arrived. We paid for the sites, and this was the first place where we saw guides. They were looking at us like pieces of meat. Since neither of us had tents, we sat and waited for everyone else to arrive. Tim and Javier arrived next, so we started setting up.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

There wasn’t much to Seron. Just a small covered area with three tables to cook food, two toilets and two make-shift showers. After setting up tent, we showered, made dinner, and met a Canadian couple. It was the longest hike yet, and we were all very tired and ready for bed. We slept like rocks.

I had been carrying oatmeal for the past four days, and decided it was time to start consuming to shed some weight. Jenni and Annette took off around 9am, while Tim, Javier and I stayed back and enjoyed our first hot breakfast. Tim regaled us with stories from the night before where apparently a weird-sounding bird was close by, but the Chileans started yelling, “El Puma!”- waking everyone up. Javier and I set up camp on the outskirts of the campground, meaning we slept comfortably and didn’t hear a thing. 

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Post Oatmeal trek. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

 We flew up the mountain. Oatmeal does a body good. We passed by several people who had stopped to let us pass. We could both feel the difference in energy. Next thing we knew, we were being blasted by strong winds as we walked over the pass. We tried to find a spot with some shelter to wait for Tim, but at that point, I was down to a base layer, and wasn’t about to put on more clothes. When we could see Tim, we turned around and kept moving. The wind was so strong. Thankfully, it was blowing us into the side of the mountain rather than off. I had to stick one of my trekking poles out to the side to keep me from blowing into the mountain. At one point, the wind abated, and I started to run. I wanted to get to the other hill where I would once again be protected from the wind. I played this game of trekking slowly in the wind and trotting when it was calm. Javier had dropped back to walk with Tim, since they were wearing more layers and didn’t need to worry about freezing. When we were finally out of the windy area, we were all able to walk together and enjoy the scenery.

Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We could see Annette and Jenni’s bright orange backpacks in the distance. The three of us walked and appreciated the bright colors of all the flowers around us. Before long we had reached Annette and Jenni. We decided to stop for lunch in a lovely shaded area. As we waited several groups passed us including a large group of British guys. They looked like a rugby team. By the time we arrived to the check point, we had to stand in line and wait our turn to check in. Most of the groups that passed us decided to stop at the check point for lunch, so we were able to get a head start. We walked together for a bit before eventually separating. As we approached Dickson, we could see the glacier above and the lake below with floating icebergs. It was so picturesque.

DICKSON REFUGIO. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We took a minute to just appreciate the views. We could hear the British invasion behind us, and decided to keep moving so that we would arrive before them. As Javier and I set up our tent the rest of our party arrived and set up near us. The plan all along had been to order and eat dinner together in Dickson. The only problem was that we weren’t guaranteed dinner. They have a set meal, and you need to arrive early enough to place your order. They will only make enough food based on the number of people who place orders. Javier inquired for us, and we were all set to have dinner together.

Dickson. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

We had made some friends along the way, and were chatting with them when we found out that the shower was working but was freezing cold. Not the biggest deal, but a hot shower is always welcomed especially after such a rigorous trekking day. Normally, the campers have to stay outside and the lodgers get to stay in the warm, cozy lodge. Since we were eating dinner inside, we decided to hang out there instead of out in the elements. As we were walking in, a girl comes walking out, and the first thing I noticed was that her hair was wet. Girls don’t typically wash their hair when the water is freezing. So, I asked. She confirmed that the water inside the lodge was hot and that she was told the men’s showers weren’t working so the women’s was currently coed. We had seen the camper’s showers outside, with the half-door so the air could blow right in and freeze you mid shower. The workers were trying to change the propane tank, but I watched them turn the water on and it was just a dribble. Even if it was hot water, you would freeze anyway. Tim and I looked at each other and went back to our people. We told the rest the rumor, grabbed our stuff and walked right into the showers. We didn’t talk to anyone or ask any questions in fear they would tell us we weren’t allowed to use the indoor facilities. The showers were glorious! The best we had on the entire trek. The water was hot and the pressure, great. There were two shower stalls, and Javier walked in right as Tim was finishing. Within a few minutes Jenni and Annette showed up, realizing that I hadn’t returned, which must mean I was basking in the glory that is a scalding hot shower. We all danced around each other trying to maintain some level of modesty in our coed shower.

Fun

Once we were all showered and fresh, we met back in the sitting area of the lodge where we waited for dinner. It was such a nice change to be inside rather than trying to scope out a spot big enough for all of us to cook our meals and sit together, all while trying to stay warm. At 7pm, our food was ready, and it was good. It was the first meal Javier and I had that wasn’t some sort of pasta. We had chicken and rice, with a soup starter, and dessert. Even the Tang tasted great. We stayed there as long as we could. Tim, Annette and I had a mini breakdown about feral chickens. I think it was the fact that we were warm, fed, clean, and feeling all around glorious, but we were so happy and laughing hysterically.

Fun.

With full bellies, we made our way back to to our tents, readied ourselves for bed, and snuggled into our bags for the night. 

We took our time waking up and moving out. The hike today would only be around 4 hours to Los Perros, and we were all in need of an easy day. Jenni and Annette set off a little earlier with Tim, Javier, and I leaving around 10am again. We walked through the trees most of the time until we spotted a glacier in the distance. After a small uphill, we were able to see the glacier up close. Annette and Jenni were sitting enjoying the view, and we all sat together for a while and enjoyed the scenery. Tim, Annette and Jenni had arrived before us, so they went on ahead while we lingered for a bit. It was just a few more short kilometers before we arrived to Los Perros. Los Perros is named after a pair of lost dogs. A family was hiking with their dogs and they went missing, thus the name- kinda sad.

HIKING TO LOS PERROS. Patagonia. Torres del Paine National Park.

Los Perros is a bare-bones kind of campsite, but they had an indoor cooking area with a fire-burning stove! It was so warm! After we set up camp, we decided to cook lunch for a change. Because of Tim’s stomach issues, he stopped eating most of the shared food, so it wasn’t getting consumed fast enough. The following day was our pass day, and I didn’t want to carry more food than we needed. Jenni and Annette agreed to eat our raviolis with us, so the four of us ate that for lunch while Tim had cup-o-noodles. After lunch, we stayed put. It started to rain. Hard.

Jenni enjoying the glacier lake.

The little hut was already full of people, since it was the only covered area, with more and more people arriving. Most of them were soaked. Because it was such a short day, most people took their time leaving Dickson, and boy did they pay for it. Soon, the whole place was packed with people both sitting and standing with wet clothes hanging from the rafters. We decided to just stay until dinner, and kept our seats. At one point Jenni went out to her tent. When she came back, she informed Javier and I that water was pooling on one side of our tent.

We moved the tent out of the puddle. rookie mistake.

She suggested we move and then offered to go out with Javier to help while Annette and I stayed in and held down the fort. They came back after a little while wet and dirty. Apparently, when they lifted our tent, there was a huge pool underneath. They moved it to higher ground and all of a sudden, we had lakeside property. Thank you, Jenni. 

After a few hours we cooked dinner. Jenni had a dessert she had been saving, and since we weren’t that hungry, we shared her dessert and cooked our final two bags of pasta. There was a family next to us. It was a father, two sons, and a daughter.

Dry your clothes. LOS PERROS REFUGIO.

The children looked to be around our age, and we started chatting. Turned out, they were from Santiago, Chile and all spoke excellent English thanks to a few years of living in Texas! They had made a bit too much food, so they shared with us. After everyone had eaten what they could, we put the leftovers in ziplock bags for lunch the next day. It was a little heavy, but still lighter than before. We had a long day ahead of us, and we took the break in rain as an opportunity to get ready for bed. We planned to leave the following morning by 7am.

 To see more pictures of Patagonia, click HERE.