Trekking to Laguna Negra... In the Pouring Rain
I woke up yesterday morning to a steady drizzle. Over breakfast, I found out that two French travellers in my hostel had also planned on hiking to a refugio for a night, but had changed their minds because of the weather. It wasn´t pouring though, so I decided to stick with my plans for the 14km hike to Laguna Negra. In Patagonia, the weather often changes quickly.
Oh, it changed all right. It started raining harder. And it didn´t stop all day. At around hour two, I was starting to regret my decision to hike. I was soaked to the bone, all of my gore-tex having failed me (except my shoes thankfully!) and the hike was a lot harder than expected. It was rated as "easy-medium¨ with an estimated hiking time of 5-7 hours. Easy? In the States that means wheelchair-accessible! This might be easy for a mountain goat perhaps.
As I pressed on into the third hour, I hit my low. I felt like my pace was really slow. Thinking that I was only halfway after 3 hours was pretty deflating. The trail was steep and muddy and was turning into a stream from the rain. There were a number of precarious river crossings over logs and boulders. The rain never let up, so I couldn´t even stop for a rest, and the wind had picked up after I passed the snow line. I could have been sitting in my hostel drinking a hot chocolate. Why was I out here?!
I´ve never done such a long hike by myself and definitely missed having a hiking partner for encouragement. I tried my best to encourage myself. "Come on, Linda. There are 9 more hours of daylight. Keep going. You´ll get there."
Finally, I saw a few hikers coming down.
"How many hours until the refugio?¨ I asked.
"Oh you´re just about there. It´s only about 20 more minutes."
YES!!! Thank God!!! I dripped my way to the refugio, beyond relieved. It was only around 12:30. I had mentally prepared to be hiking for 6 hours, but it had thankfully taken me only 3 1/2.
I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the refugio by a heater, listening to the howling wind and rain, drying my shoes and clothes, journaling, chatting with the staff and a nice Canadian girl who taught me to play backgammon. It´s peaceful to have so much time with nothing that that needs to be done because nothing can be done other than just being.
The next day it had stopped raining, and there was a rainbow.
Oh, it changed all right. It started raining harder. And it didn´t stop all day. At around hour two, I was starting to regret my decision to hike. I was soaked to the bone, all of my gore-tex having failed me (except my shoes thankfully!) and the hike was a lot harder than expected. It was rated as "easy-medium¨ with an estimated hiking time of 5-7 hours. Easy? In the States that means wheelchair-accessible! This might be easy for a mountain goat perhaps.
As I pressed on into the third hour, I hit my low. I felt like my pace was really slow. Thinking that I was only halfway after 3 hours was pretty deflating. The trail was steep and muddy and was turning into a stream from the rain. There were a number of precarious river crossings over logs and boulders. The rain never let up, so I couldn´t even stop for a rest, and the wind had picked up after I passed the snow line. I could have been sitting in my hostel drinking a hot chocolate. Why was I out here?!
I´ve never done such a long hike by myself and definitely missed having a hiking partner for encouragement. I tried my best to encourage myself. "Come on, Linda. There are 9 more hours of daylight. Keep going. You´ll get there."
Finally, I saw a few hikers coming down.
"How many hours until the refugio?¨ I asked.
"Oh you´re just about there. It´s only about 20 more minutes."
YES!!! Thank God!!! I dripped my way to the refugio, beyond relieved. It was only around 12:30. I had mentally prepared to be hiking for 6 hours, but it had thankfully taken me only 3 1/2.
I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the refugio by a heater, listening to the howling wind and rain, drying my shoes and clothes, journaling, chatting with the staff and a nice Canadian girl who taught me to play backgammon. It´s peaceful to have so much time with nothing that that needs to be done because nothing can be done other than just being.
Linda
ReplyDeleteSheila forwarded me your blog thinking I might enjoy it...and I do. I especially like this post. In fact, I forwarded it to my two college-aged kids hoping to inspire their wanderlust. It sounds like you are having a great time.
Tim