Today I trekked from Refugio Grey to Campamento Italiano, roughly 18.6 km, 400m of elevation gain, and 6 horas. As I write, I am entombed in my tent in heavy rain. I arrived in camp, thankfully, before the rain began. I am damp, but mostly dry. I cannot leave the tent without getting water inside owing to the design of the tent (single wall for winter use). Note to self: bring pee bottle next time.
I didn´t sleep well last night and awoke early. As it was raining, I cooked breakfast and made tea inside my tent. I quickly packed during a lull in the rain and hit the trail before 8:00. I appreciated the tranquil solitude for the first 2 hours of hiking. I reached Refugio Paine Grande at 11:30. I had lunch and said goodbye to friends that I met along the way who were exiting the park via the catamaran across Lago Pehoe.
Side note: no one can really leave the park today as the roads are blocked in protest of a proposed 20% gas price increase in southern Chile. I have no idea where my outbound friends ended up bc they needed to catch a bus for the 2 hour ride back to Puerto Natales and the buses are on strike too.
Before I departed Paine Grande I got the weather forecast and immediately felt dejected. ¡Màs lluvìa! I felt demoralized as I slogged my way up to Campamento Italiano on swollen and blistered feet. I was happier when Ron-from-Israel caught up with me and I had someone to cheer me up.
After getting camp set up (another tent city), I went to the 3-sided shelter to cook some food consisting of ramen noodles, salami and olive oil, cheese and cookies. Everyone there was Chileano, so I got to practice my Spanish again after 3 days hanging out with gringos. Soon it began to pour rain and more and more people crammed in under the little shelter. Many were ill prepared for rain (cotton kills! ¡algodon mata!).
Palabras del dia fueron "mojado" y "empopado" = wet
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