12.35 miDistance
2,621 ftElevation gain
2,201 ftElevation loss
6 h 0 mTime
What a windy night it was. Nobody got any sleep, except maybe for those who had paid for a bunkbed inside of the refuge. Several tents had pieces bent, including my own: one of the trekking poles bent in a strong suddent burst that sounded like a gun going off in the distance. I had to tie some extra guywire string around the center pole in order to secure it against any future bursts, which worked and I was able to get another hour or two of sleep.
Such a beautiful morning though, as we came out of our tents the sun was casting a bright pink light upon the clouds that hung out near the top of our nearby mountain peak.
Today we would be hiking through ghost forests, and along a large lake that may or may not be connected to the ocean currents in the distance. Los Cuernos (the horns) were a pair of mountain peaks that dominated the area and were within constant sight. While the mileage might be higher than yesterday, the trail is so flat and easy to walk that we made great time. So great in fact that we were able to do another side-trek on our way to Refugio Frances.
Valley Frances was the side trek, and it took us up behind Los Torres into a wide circular valley that was chocked full of green forests, and interesting rock formations on the perimeter. The trail to get there was easy to walk and navigate. It went along a quickly flowing river, up and down over sandy and muddy terrain, in and out of the trees. After about an hour of hiking we came to the valley center, and did a bunch of 360's, taking it all in.
About two hours after leaving the valley, and retrieving our packs that we had left at the entrance to the trail, we arrived at Frances. It was a campsite perched upon a tree-covered steep sloping hill, which meant everyone got a platform to pitch their tent on. My tent barely fit (it's got a wide base), but I felt good about being within the trees: they would keep the winds away and we could all sleep peacefully. The place to shower and cook was at the bottom of a trail that went down towards the waters edge. I wasn't in the mood to go up and down this trail very often while staying here, so I only went down there to shower, and then later to make dinner. I'm sure there was lots to see down there, I just wasn't in the mood.
I read for a while in my tent after dinner, but the forest gets darker faster and before long it was time to go to sleep. Tomorrow we would be going to Chileno, our last Refuge, and then the day after that the Towers themselves!
