10. Wind

27th Nov 2013

     Morning arrived with a light rain that let up just long enough for the tent to dry and for us to pack it up, knowing that we had a short day ( only 16.5km ) meant that we could wait it out an we didn't get going till 10am. The 1st half of the day was damp, windy and cold, we took a long break at Los Cuernos where we made sure we indulged in the 4 main food groups required for and adventure, enjoying instant coffee, Pringles, Coke and chocolate biscuits.

Italiano to Chileno marked in yellow - 16.5km

The wind whipping up water on Lago Nordernskjold

Hiking through the wind stunted trees on the shore of Lago Nordernskjold

Lots of beautiful woodwork at Los Cuernos - one of the privately run Refugios 

Got the 4 main adventure food groups covered here, chips, sugar, coffee and chocolate

This is the aftermath of a particularly strong gust of wind that had myself and a group of fellow hikers sitting down so we weren't blown into the cold creek below

Taking macros, and for that matter pictures, was a challenge as the wind was blowing hard enough to make keeping the camera still very difficult

We found a nice rest spot out of the wind and the sun had begun to come out making for a very pleasant stop

Starting to head away from the lake and up towards Chileno

Las Torres in the Back ground on the left

     As we made our way up the Valle Ascencio people going the other way kept telling us the take care as the wind was getting worse and to watch out for the corner. In my research into this trip I found numerous mentions of the wind in Patagonia and yes it is very strong, what they fail to mention is that it is not consistent, it gusts and buffets, comes at you from the left, then the front, then the back, the left again, the right, it blows up at you and then hammers you to the ground all with in seconds. The narrow track up to Chileno winds its way along the edge of the valley way above the Rio Ascencio ( river ) and there is a corner half way up that turned us into the face of the wind which was in full force by the time we got there. Making our way along this section of track was the most scared I've been in a long time. I got down low and scuttled along like a crab moving from rock to scrub, hoping that my backpack wouldn't catch too much wind all the while screaming in fright knowing that it was way to windy for Andrew to hear me so to this day he still thinks I'm incredibly brave not the chicken I truly am! The next day we met up with a number of people who had gotten to this point and turned around deciding it was too dangerous and opting to camp at Las Torres and hike up in the morning.

Making a dive for the next likely anchor

Looking over the edge of the track down to the Ascencio River

Just the occasional gust of wind now

Almost there

Andrew getting blown about - crossing the Ascencio river at Chileno

Setting up camp at Chileno 

Tent platforms at Chileno on a very steep hill

     Chileno has a decent cooking shelter, although I must confess to being a little disappointed as Andrew came racing up to the tent to say I should come down we would have dinner in the AWESOME  shelter, I maintain that he talked it up a bit and it was a reasonable but not awesome shelter, yes it had 4 walls but no doors and the toilets and showers opened directly into it but at least is was out of the wind. By now it was very cold and a light snow was falling so it was time for a treat, Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. Never thought I would enjoy a roast dinner all mushed up in a cup, Back Country Cuisine you are on a winner with this one, Yum!  Over dinner we discussed with other hikers the likelihood of me getting up an hour before dawn to hike up to the Towers to see the sun rise and our chances of actually getting a clear day  (of which there had been very few of at the towers over the last week we were told ) the general consensus was a negative for both.

Does this make us Foodies after all we are eating Cuisine 

  

Click Older Posts below and to the right to get to the next page