We woke very early today after had a windy night with gusts up to 90 kph. Often the tent felt as if it was going lift off the ground. An early breakfast was followed by the gang splitting up into two groups – one that would hike and one that would relax and enjoy a quiet morning in the lodge. We had a very nice mountain breakfast and then stepped off in the windy valley – a VERY windy valley. The hikers this morning were Tom, Bobbie, John, Amelia, Hans, Rita, Carol and Verena. Five went with Maurie and three with Nicholas. The winds were amazing and it was raining so hard that the raindrops were driving horizontally. After an hour of hiking Tom and Rita had fallen behind and after a rest in a shelter of lenga trees decided to turn back. The winds and rain were so hard. Carol and Verena made it to the top of the ridge and then turned around and headed back to the lodge. The rest went on to the Grey Glacier overlook where the winds were so strong they were nearly blown into the lake far below.
Back at the lodge we surrounded to wood stove and watched the rain fall. After drying off getting a bit of respite, we had our box lunches and waited for the afternoon catamaran to take us back across Lake Pehoe. It was cold and wet waiting in line for the boat. Once on board we enjoyed hot cocoa and rocked and rolled with the waves as we once again crossed the lake and back to our waiting bus. Arnold met us on the other side where we began our four hour drive to the small ocean port town of Puerto Natales, Mauricio’s’ hometown. The countryside was mostly steppe with sharp canyons cut into the mesas as we descended a 1000 feet to the seacoast. The four hour drive was greeted with most everyone napping. We reached Puerto Natales in late afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Francis Drake. The hotel is a very old one with about 12 rooms and a dining area. The rooms were small but there were comfortable beds and clean and hot showers. We each dove into the showers for the first bath we’d had in FOUR DAYS. You can only imagine how that bus ride must have smelled….fifteen wet dogs huddled in one small bus…smile! The hotel was so old that Mr. Drake had not been knighted yet! The staff were very, very pleasant and accommodating.
We gathered our laundry from the last four days and with maps in hand set off to find the local tourist laundry and enjoy some free time. The town was small and clean, but with an imporverished look as many small South American towns. We wandered the streets listened to Christmas Carols coming from the bell tower of the local church. The laundry was a drop off service and all of us deposited our loads for a late night delivery. We then took off in many directions to so a bit of shopping and exchange money before dinner. On the main street some of us discovered a small neatly signed shop advertising handmade local artisan craft. The name of the artist is Merriam Parra and the shop we both exquisite and reasonably priced. The first shopping foray ended in adding roughly $1000 to her familiies’ income…smile. There would be later visit to add more to the local economy. Tom and Bobbie headed off the local mountain outfitter to purchase a special gift for later that night.
We met Mauricio and Nicholas at a quaint local restaurant named El Rincon del Tata (Grandpa’s Hangout). Surrounded by rustic décor and many local antiques and old photographs of the region, we enjoyed a terrific dinner of king crab, lovely fresh salads, fish and steak. Several bottles of local Chilean wine complimented the meal and we were well satisfied after many days in the mountains.
During dinner we gave Maurice a very generous tip that brought tears to the young man’s eyes. We would later learn that he is seldom tipped by his mountain groups and had never received one as large as ours. He promised to put the money to good use repairing a home he had just purchased on the outskirts of town. Nicholas was then surprised with a new pair of hiking boots. The surprise on his face was picture worthy.
After dinner we all wandered back to the hotel, some for yet another hot shower, some internet time and a bit of CNN.
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