Torres del Paine/Valle Frances Day 216 22/04/2015

After not too bad a sleep considering the noise outside, we awoke and had breakfast at 0730. The wind had dropped slightly, and whilst the rain still fell it was more 'showery' in nature. Despite the low clouds we ventured out back along Lago Nordenskjold in order to go up into Valle Frances and see if we could climb the 650m up to the mirador just above Camp Britanico. Heading east we crossed a river c15 minutes after leaving the refugio which was much higher and wider than the day before (we hadn't even noticed it when we crossed then) and Simon did think that it might be tricky to recross later if the rain continued to fall and noting the temperature was warm at 11C, with increased snow melt from the glacier it originated from way above us. However undeterred we cracked on, reaching Camp Italiano after only 100 minutes (lighter packs and fresher legs meant we were much quicker than the day before). After checking with the guardian at the camp that the valley was still accessible ("yes but with strong winds" was has reply in Spanish) we started to climb quite quickly. The path wove over the moraine, boulders and fast streams in and out of the trees so we kept seeing glimpses of the emerging Glaciar Frances on our left. On one of these glimpses we heard and then saw a huge avalanche emanating from the hanging glacier just below Cumbre Principal, which raced down it's face and onto a huge snow pile. It was an incredible sight to see and quite scary to witness the force of nature just a few hundred metres across from us. Not long after resuming our walk we came across another of natures forces, that being the ferocious Rio Frances, hurtling across from us. We were glad to see that the path went right of it and we climbed steeply up the moraine to leave it well behind (we couldn't see it now but we certainly could still hear its roar). At 450m spot height we emerged from the trees to be almost blown over by the horizontal cross winds. We struggled on through the wind and the incessant rain to a mirador and after seeing that the path continued across the valley floor into the distance, giving no respite from the wind, decided to retreat from the wind and descended back to Camp Italiano. From there we retraced our steps back along the path beside the Lago, seeking shelter under the trees which criss-cross the path. Then we reached the river near the refugio again; it had grown enormously and what was tricky before, now seemed to be a barrier of thunderous, angry water. As we saw another couple of people downstream from us near the lake not being able to get across it, we headed upstream. Just as we thought we would need to plunge across and get wet boots and legs, we saw a couple of tips of rocks peaking out across the water and decided the try these. We were glad we had poles as we got across with a mix of balance and speed especially as the couple behind had decided to try to go the same way but were hesitating as they couldn't stretch across without assistance. Diane gave her poles to Simon who managed to pass them across to the other couple thereby assisting them to reach the far bank safely too. We were relieved to be back across and as it was only around 1pm wondered how much the river would continue to grow by as other walkers would surely be coming that way during the rest of the day. We didn't hang around as the light rain suddenly turned into heavy with stair rods lashing down on us and we quickly walked the last 1km back to the hut. Wet and relieved to be back we got out of our gear and had our pack lunch and 3 cups of hot tea. We stayed in the common area of the refugio watching other bedraggled, wet walkers arrive, some seeking shelter and warmth in the refugio, others who were camping being set out to another building which served as their cooking area. Many of the people arriving recounted their stories of getting across the river including an Australian lady who we chatted with over dinner, who said was too scared to cross the river and so swam out into the lake to get around. Now to us that was scary! We also listened to people who had come the other way from either Refugio Torre or Refugio Chileano with similar stories of very challenging river crossings. As the latter refugio was tomorrow's destination we fell asleep with trepidation, thinking about what would greet us the following day, with the rain continuing to lash down outside.

Walking back towards Camp Italiano 

Vallee Frances and the view from the lower mirador 

Looking north into the valley 

Refugio Cuernos - a welcome sight!