Torres del Paine NP, Chile
Grey to Paine Grande. About 11 km + 6 km.
It wasn't to be a long hike today so we weren't in a rush to get away. But - none of us are really late risers so we were away between 8 and 8:30. Pleasant weather again today. It started out with some high cloud but turned sunny before too long. It was nice to be in the shade for quite a while because once we were in full sun it got pretty hot.
The trail was a bit up and down but generally pretty easy. We stopped at a few viewpoints along the way and weren't in a rush to get going again. We had some great views out to Grey Lake and back towards the glacier. Eventually we turned a bit of a corner and lost our views of the glacier.
There was a nice substantial tarn along the way - Los Patos lagoon. At some point the two-way traffic started in earnest with W-trekkers making their way up to Grey Lodge. It was just a hint of things to come. The refugio at Paine Grande is huge as is the campground. I miss our smaller circuit groups already!
We were in to Paine Grande by about 12:30. Our tents were ready so we settled in, had lunch, and set out on a little afternoon hike to Pehoe Lake lookout. What a beautiful lake! The turquoise-blue colour improved the higher we got above it. Jill, Barb, and I walked about 3 km to a viewpoint, lazed about there for a while and stopped to soak our feet in the lake on the way back. What a nice afternoon!
Dinner was a nice change - buffet style. Lots of choices. Hard to believe how many people they process through there. And that doesn't include all the campers who are cooking their own meals.
The forecast has some rain in it for tomorrow. If it's a good day we'll do a long hike up the French Valley. If the weather isn't great tomorrow we can do the French Valley on Wednesday. We have a snorer beside us tonight; hopefully the earplugs block out the noise............
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