14th December 2024

No alarm woke us up this morning. We took our time waking and when emerging from our tent it was noticeable that people had already packed up and left, but we were in no hurry as today would be an easy 12km along the Patagonia flat.

We joined other sleepy eyes in the mess hall and enjoyed the usual porridge with fruit and nuts. Tent down and backpacks on we headed out into blue skies, the heat of the sun burning down.

We took our time enjoying the trail which looked like a coastal path with the deep blue of Lake Grey. It was an exposed section and at various points the wind would throw itself at you causing mayhem.

Before we knew it we reached the campground, Paine Grande. Just like our walk, this was an exposed area overlooking the lake with the famous Torres del Paine towers dominating the backdrop. The wind was coming thick and fast causing pegged tents to jump, pushing for their escape to take flight.

I saw a couple we knew who said they had pitched their tent three times before they were happy. They helped me find a spot which was sheltered by the mountain face, some bushes and surrounding tents. 

We managed to pitch our tent then joined the Aussies in the mess room where we ate lunch together while enjoyed hiker TV (watching other hikers struggling to pitch their tent in the more exposed part of camp).

It was a lazy but much needed relaxing afternoon. We shared snacks, played monopoly deal and whenever a large gust of wind roared we would instinctively turn in the direction of our home, like a mother to a crying baby. One of us would go and check that the tents were still standing. While ours was okay, many other tents had fallen, poles snapped by the wind, piecing through the materials resulting in a tent graveyard.

It was an unsettling night listening to the wind roar through the camp, wondering if it was going to break before it reached our tent.