Taking it slightly easier today....
So, after yesterday's exertions and stressful hike, we decided to take it slightly easier today with a gentle stroll along the bottom bit of the W. Had a disturbed night's sleep last night as the man in the bunk bed across the room from mine snored unbelievably loudly!! I thought Sam could snore for England, but this bloke was an Olympic champion snorer!! Obviously Sam was completely oblivious to the whole thing and slept right through it, so - what with my leg and limited sleep - i was a bit low on energy, so very glad we weren't attempting anything too strenuous! Also, the weather was really crappy - and we had all sorts of weather too!! During our hike, we had a bit of sun, snow, rain, hail, snow, wind - all in the space of a few minutes. So, we set off fairly early, around 9am, and unfortunately the mountain was shrouded in thick cloud, so Sam was very pissed off cos he wasnt going to be able to take any decent pics. Mood didnt improve much as we didnt see a huge amount of interesting wildlife either - a few little birds, which were very cute flitting from tree to tree, but no sign of the condor from yesterday that we didnt have time to stop and photograph.
Had lunch of steaming hot chicken soup and bread rolls sitting under a tree, which helped shield us from the rain. As it seemed to work yesterday, we made an offering of chocolate to the God of Rain - soon after, it brightened up and stopped raining! Spooky...... The brightening weather lifted our spirits somewhat, so we continued walking along the bottom of the W til about half 12, before deciding to turn around and head back to the refugio. Got back at about 3pm and then spent a fun hour or so stalking this enormous white male goose or cauquen. Managed to get really close, so got some great pictures - at least something to make up for the disappointment of not seeing the condor again. Whilst trying to get a decent pic of a hawk, we ran into some Brit army guys and got chatting to them about their experiences in Torres del Paine. They were doing the whole El Circuito trek - some parts sounded very hairy indeed, especially the bits around Campamento Paso where you had to use rope pulleys and all sorts as the path was so steep and narrow!
After we'd exhausted ourselves chasing wildlife, we then repaired to the bar for a drink whilst we waited for the catamaran. Drinking in the afternoon after strenuous exercise - a winning combination for instant somnolence! Managed to stay awake long enough to stagger to the jetty to catch the catamaran back across Lago Pehoe to Refugio Pudeto, then a minibus transfer to Refugio Las Torres, for our second night's stay. This place was a lot more basic (and a lot more what i originally expected!) but it was still fine. The lights didnt seem to work very well (or at all, really!), so i was very glad i had my headtorch! Came in very handy when going to have a shower later on!
For some bizarre reason, we werent allowed to cook at the refugio, so we had dinner at the posher Hosteria Las Torres, of which our Refugio was a separate annex. Although ridiculously expensive at $17 each (!), dinner was good - lentil soup, followed by turkey & mash, then a creme caramelly type pud (accompanied, of course, by the ever present bottle of Malbec). After dinner, just headed back to the Refugio for a long, hot shower (fortunately there was plenty of water), before collapsing into bed, ready for our early start tomorrow.