A windy night at Refugio Los Cuernos
I woke up around 7 AM on day 4 after a night thinking the place we were staying at was going to blow away at any moment. On top of that, something right outside our window kept hitting the window on and off throughout the night (we discovered in the morning that the window was perfectly shut and it was making the noise). I am told the gusts we experienced overnight were between 80-100 km/hr! I wanted to go outside to look at the lake as the wind was howling to perhaps take video or a photo – I did but ran back inside! A little later, the skies cleared a little and we were rewarded with a view of the cuernos (towers) of the Torres del Paine graced by a rainbow!
Rainbow over los cuernos
It was still very windy…
The wind along Lake Nordenskjold howled
But, it wasn’t just the refugio! We started our hike and it was windy for a good bit of the first half of the hike along Lake Nordenskjold! We could see white top waves on the surface of the lake.
The white tops of the lake’s waves
The wind created some beautiful sights
And with a rainbow to boot!
Until we turned a corner around a small peninsula. Then that part of the lake was flat as it could be!
On the top and right of the lake in this photo, you see the wind’s effect. The rest is flat!
From then on, nice and flat!
The winds and gusts along the way were so strong that they would throw you off balance. We learned to crouch quickly at the first hint of a gust (or after it hit others first!). I believe one of our guys was lifted up an inch even with his backpack! It was surreal.
Not even the wind can stop my friend Bridgit!
Maybe a tiny bit scary but, actually, more thrilling than scary (except when it threw me sideways once…). Don’t believe me?
Check out this one minute video I took at the refugio and along the way! (turn down the volume as it is noisy but don’t mute your speakers!)
Despite the winds (constant at around 40-50 km/hr with gusts exceeding that), hiking along the lake was quite a neat experience. It was just beautiful! Lunch was shredded chicken sandwich on bread that was actually “stamped” with the name of the refugio we had left, “Los Cuernos“!
An authentic “Los Cuernos” sandwich!
Past the wind and on to the Campamento Chileno!
The hike (about 15km / 9mi) took us about six hours counting our stops and towards the end got away from the lake and went through some private lands.
Two of my fellow Morocco/Camino trekkers: Always good to see friends!
I guess we have to be careful, Mick Jagger may be around!
The massif
Plenty of photo opps along the way!
Cool bridge – right before our lunch stop!
The final stretch of the trail heading to the Campamento Chileno was gorgeous, along what I would call a sort of canyon or gorge (but maybe not as narrow as a gorge?) but it had some very steep hills toward the end! I will end this post with photos after we left the shores of the lake and heading inland to our refugio for the night!
Leaving the lake behind
Neat landscape
The canyon or gorge looking towards the Campamento
The canyon or gorge looking towards the lake
The canyon or gorge looking towards the lake
—————— More about this trek! ——————
Back to day 3.
And on to the last day: day 5!
——————- Check out other treks —————–
wonderful place, really appreciable beauty of nature, you indeed visited beautiful place. I loves this place. want to visit there.
Yes, thanks, I am very fortunate to have made it there. I hope you do too someday! Thanks for the comment.
Punta Arenas is a tax-free zone so prices here are cheaper than you will find in Puerto Natales, although Calle Manuel Bulnes in the latter has plenty of gear shops.
Great tip, Addy!