Day 7: The Patagonia Adventure - So People Actually Like This?

Day 7 - Rainy days and Wednesdays - Wednesday, 3/1/23

Blue skies and bigger tents! Jeffery, Tom, and Kristi approve.

The first day of March brought us groggily out of our tents, except for Jeffrey who showed up chipper and on time. Youth is wonderful for a hangover. He was also likely the only one who slept (passed out) through the night.

As our party of four convened in the lodge, one of us commented “Well that was awful.”

Garrett shared my comment from the night before as we lay awake through the torrential downpour.

“So people actually like this?”

Living in Durango, there is a huge contingent who love back-country hikes and camping out in tents that fit in their backpacks. I have never participated in this activity. It sure wasn’t a fun time for me. I will have to inquire when I get back home.

The lodge had a continental breakfast ready for us. It was well under the high bar of the EcoCamp but still wonderful not having a meal out of a bag or wrapper. The extra treat was Daniel brewing coffee just for us. He would keep our mugs full of hot goodness while he and Mariana enjoyed their shared Chilean matcha tea. Finding out from Mariana that the last two of our hike group had chosen to stay back at EcoCamp and not join us as anticipated, left even more coffee and guide time for us. If they had anticipated our party to be just nine, we wouldn’t have met the cutoff to have the #2 guide, Daniel. Serendipity.

Fully equipped in our rain gear, we set out for what was billed as one of the longest and hardest of our hike days. The leg we were hiking covered the middle of the W with the climb being in the adjoining W curves (see map below). Mariana warned that conditions may prohibit us from doing this part of the climb. We started our eight-hour journey open to what nature had in store for us.

Walking past other campsites we noticed bigger and nicer tents on stilts, that were just a mile from where we stayed. Later we found out that the other EcoCamp group secured these for their accommodations. Hmmmmm….

It was a scenic hike, even in the rain. We followed the rocky beach and saw beautiful vegetation. Colors were starting to change going into Patagonia’s fall. It was a cloudy day with the rain picking up as we reached the base of our climb at Camp Italiano. This campsite had bathrooms and some shelter, except that bathrooms were marked ‘closed’ and the inside space marked ‘staff only’. Mariana instructed us to layer up, eat something, and use the bathroom (as she pointed to the trees behind the structure).

Kristi and I made our way to the appointed restroom area with a warning from a woman leaving.

“Don’t step in the poop.”

With rain coming down, we pulled down our rainpants and layers to relieve our bladders. Squatting I noticed we should have gone a bit further. Daniel was filling up a water bottle in a community faucet within eye range. This gave Kristi and me a laugh as we compared it to childbirth when we just got to the point of not caring who saw us exposed.

The rain started coming down harder. Mariana asked if we were ready. No one flinched or questioned whether to make the hard trek up the mountain. It would have been very easy to just keep heading on flat ground to the next Refugio. But like good scouts, we followed Mariana with Daniel trailing the end.

There was mud, boulders, and streaming water as we made the ascent. As we got close to the first lookout, the blizzarding snow began. Everyone kept pace with no hesitation, staying close in line. Reaching the lookout, we were in an open area with the wind blasting. Mariana informed us this was as far as we could go today. In a hurry to start back down and get out of the cold wind, we got our phones out for a photo to memorialize our accomplishment.

Suddenly, Joey cried out “Look! An avalanche!”

We all turned to watch a huge avalanche coming down the mountain across the river from us. We quickly forgot about the wind and quietly took in this marvel as nature roared to our attention. We were ecstatic. The group shot taken by Daniel (below) may not have the Patagonian mountain backdrop that most desire when they reach this point in the hike. But for us, it captured something even better; our unfiltered joy.

Coming down the mountain, the trail had turned into a stream as the rain and snow continued. I was starting to feel very wet. My legs and feet were good, but my upper body definitely felt wet. Convincing myself that it was just sweat and would dry soon, but the opposite happened. I kept getting wetter and colder as I descended the mountain. After complaining to Garrett for most of the way down, he inspected my waterproof jacket with a quizzical look.

Reaching the shelter at the bottom, I stripped off my top layers to find all were soaking wet. Upon further inspection of my jacket (which was the only piece of my hiking clothing I purchased on my own), Garrett advised me that although a very nice Patagonia jacket, it was water-repellent, not waterproof. There was a big difference.

Who knew? Not me. I thought a raincoat was, well, a raincoat. Why on earth would someone sell a raincoat that was just water-repellent? Maybe the better question is why would someone buy it without asking? Lesson learned. The good news was that I had packed a backup rain jacket (technically for golf) that did the trick for the rest of the hike. Next time I will get Garrett’s advice before buying gear.

Finishing our 13-mile day in just under 8 hours, we were ready for some shelter at our new Refugio. The sun came out and the rain stopped shortly before we reached the corner that led to our new digs. This campground was much larger. To our pleasant surprise, the tents were larger too. Mariana informed us that the other EcoCamp group chose not to ascend the mountain as we did, so they were already at camp. We just needed to look for an empty tent in the area and claim it. Giddy with excitement, we loved our new spacious digs and a small reprieve from the rain.

Later we found out that the two EcoCamp groups for this week were formed based on age. We were the older group. Other than Jeffrey, who was stuck with the old people being grouped with his parents, we were all 50-60ish. It was an added feeling of accomplishment that we older hikers took on the snowy wet challenge. The avalanche was our prize at the top.

Once we got settled into our tents and visited the restrooms, we went to check out the lodge. Again, similar to a ski lodge but bigger like the ones typically at a mountain base, this one also had dorm-style indoor sleeping. Our party of four was perfectly fine with our tents. They felt like palaces compared to the previous night.

The bar area in the lodge was packed with the cafeteria not yet ready for dinner. Walking around the lodge, we ran into Mariana. She showed us a drying room. With a wood-burning stove and areas to lay out our wet clothes, it was a peaceful place where people were relaxing. The next hidden gem Mariana shared was the hot showers. She had instructed us to pack towels in our dry bags (which I did not and she wasn’t too happy about), but Garrett was able to rent a towel from the front desk. The showers were very hot. It was an amazing treat to shower and change clothes.

Post-showers, we hung out in the drying room where Mariana and Daniel were as well. Daniel was studying his English book and had changed out into sporty sneakers and a bright soccer jersey. Mariana was checking her phone in her leggings and flip-flops.

We started conversing with Mariana and Daniel on their English journey. I had recently gotten an education from Tom on the importance of learning English for young foreigners, especially those in third-world countries, who wanted more life opportunities. Tom and Kristi have done a lot of international travel and Tom is passionate about this initiative. Daniel showed us his book and indicated he was learning now. Hikes with English-speaking people were a good language lesson for him. We then asked Mariana how she became fluent.

Kristi “How did you learn English, Mariana?”

Mariana “Watching Friends.”

Her favorite character is Phoebe.

Lounging in the dry room, we continued holding our wettest pieces of clothing by the fire when there was an open spot. Taking his turn, Tom was trying to dry out his wet socks.

Kristi “Tom, don’t put them too close to the fire. They’re polyester.”

Later when Tom took them out of his bag, they literally disintegrated. We found out that this wasn’t the first piece of clothing ruined that night in the dry room. We heard from the Victorias a coat burned later and management shut down the room with a ‘Closed for Maintenance’ sign. Polyester coat? Perhaps.

We enjoyed a simple cafeteria-style dinner with a glass of wine. After dinner with the sun still shining, our accommodations still looked dreamy. I took my showered body in clean clothes with unburned socks and nestled into my sleeping bag. I was fast asleep before sunset.