Day: 174
I find rain on a tent one of the most soothing sounds in the world to sleep to. The only problem is that that in the morning everything is soaking wet well you pack your bag. I was up earlier than anyone else in the campground (I too found this amazing), was packed and on the trail by 7:30am.
By 9:30am I was at the next trailhead/campground, where you set up camp and do a 11 mile day hike up into Valle del Frances (French Valley) to see what is supposedly the most amazing view of the entire park. My wet tent was up in a matter of minutes and I was crouched over my backpack rummaging around for breakfast, when I glance up at someone walking by. I stare for a second and said.
“Jasper”
He blinked, paused, and said:
“Wow, last I checked up on you , you were in Costa Rica”
Neither of us seemed to take it as exceptionally weird the we set up camp within 20 ft of each other, with no plans to, after not seeing each other since the airport in Istanbul, 10,000 miles away last April.
A side note, For those of you new to “Mom Says…”: Jasper and I meant in the South of Turkey last March, Traveled for about a week together along with another fellow name Akbar, and he was present for the highly controversial “Crockery Heaving” incident of 06′.
I meandered over to his site with my breakfast, shared a camping pan full of tea and caught up on the last 10 months of each others travels.
I still wanted to get my hike in (even through the clouds), and he was taking an easy day. Sometime after 11am I set off, promising to come sit under his tarp and share dinner around his camp stove (bonus for me! Hot food!).
I hike for a few hours and near the top I meant a couple other friends from a few days ago, Alejandro (The Socialist-Italian) and Amanda (German), they were headed down and seeing as we would all be back in Puerto Natales tomorrow night we made plans to meet up then. It wasn’t quite the same surprise bumping into them, I knew they were somewhere on the trail and figured I would find them somewhere. I am surely becoming popular, dinner invites two nights in a row!
I made it to the summit (sweating) for the “best” views of Torres del Paine, saw nothing. I decided to give it an hour to see if the weather would clear, I wrote this entry out, ate some chocolate, aired out my smelly feet, then finally gave it up and set off, disgruntled, down the mountain again. The clouds were moving in and by the time I made it back to camp the deluge had started. Dinner was spent with three of us huddled under a small tarp around a camp stove trying to decide the best use of our ingredients: crackers, salami, powdered split pea soup mix, powdered milk, dried tortellini, a can of tuna, some raisins, and a few tea bags. At least there would be plenty of water.
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LOL, I can’t believe you actually took a picture of your old smelly foot. Classic and Hot!
After all these great shots of the wilderness, did we really need to see that nasty, moist, rotting, smelly foot????
It really is a small world after all, ain’t it Rob?
As much as you were probably hating those clouds, I have to say I liked the pictures with them. Bits of peaks sneaking out of the clouds are some of my favorite nature shots.
BTW, that shot of your backpack sitting on the rock half open with your snack and journal out really took me back to my hiking days. I miss the trail badly. Got time for a quick trip up to San Gorgonio before your John Muir trail trip?
Take it easy man, and don’t be too disappointed with the weather. We have to take what nature gives us, and that’s what makes it so amazing.
Rob
Is it late summer? Those rivers look pretty full. Is all the water just from the rain? I am wondering how they looked in the spring.