An "easy" day to Cuernos

It was supposed to be an "easy" 4 hour hike from Hotel de Las Torres to Refugio Cuernos of "only" 11 kilometers. I must have been the pounding from the previous day's 20+ kilometer hike, but it felt anything but easy. Even the slight rises in the trail seemed insurmountable.

We soldiered on though and made it to the Refugio in decent time. 

As much as I like the idea of snow shoeing up to the Torres in winter, it could also be a fiasco.

Another cool retro poster that, unfortunately, they were sold out of.

Two cool dual sports seen on the way to breakfast.

See the 0 mm of rain "forecast" for the following day? Yeah, not gonna happen.

While waiting for the group to assemble, we saw this unique towing exercise, Chilean style.

After breakfast and a final sorting of the giant sandwiches in the packs, we set off down the road towards the hotel. We would follow the trail from yesterday but split off after the first suspension bridge. The trail would then be an "easy" up and down trail along Lago Nordenskjold before reaching the Refugio.

Yet another expedition camper, one that I fully support as a Christmas present for me!

This Defender 110 appeared to be direct from Germany.

Cool roof top tent.

Obligatory sand ladders.

Sure, not much elevation gain. Riiiight.

One of many river crossings.

Cresting a ridge before a small lake that also over looks Nordenskjold.

Lago Nordenskjold, named after Otto Nordenskjold who discovered this lake in the early 1900s.

Another, sturdier suspension bridge.

Okay, who put this "easy" uphill here?

Getting close, but these trail signs sure were hard to read when you were tired.

That's right.

Can you see it? That's Cuernos.

And that's the hot tub! This was suddenly the sight after trudging through ups and downs for 11 kilometers.

Yeeesss. The Refugio.

The view outside our cabin. The rain has just started.

A small visitor checks out our cabin.

Battle Systems, Inc signal panel marks the spot. The rain is getting a little heavier.

At least this Refugio spelled it right.

Pepper pork chop with mashed pumpkin. I'll try to upload the video of the kitchen staff.

The evening briefing.

This day's hike was good, but certainly not the easy hike it was billed to be. Probably working out the kinks after the hike to Las Torres, but the Refugio was a welcome sight at the end of the day. We took the early-ish arrival time as an opportunity to rest up before dinner. It had started to sprinkle just as we arrived at Cuernos, but it turned in to a steady rain shortly after.

The evening briefing focused on the next day and our options if it proved to be wetter than anticipated.

Next up: A rainy day hike, a la Kepler.