Left camp after another huge bowl of porridge and cycled up the hilly, pot-holed track to the Lago Amarga and enjoyed some fantastic views in brighter weather. The track (ripio) was a lot hillier that we had expected and for the first time we struggled to get traction on the loose stone up the steeper hills. It was hard work but we were rewarded with some close up views ( 3m) of Guanaco, one of which stopped to pose for my camera (ears up, ears down, side profile and full fury face) and I missed a low flying condor which flew about 10m above my head apparently. I did notice the sky go dark for a moment though. The weather was on the change with some impressive cloud developing around Los Cuernos (another set of geological marvels) and just as we stopped for crackers (Mirador del Nordenskjold) the rain started to blow in on the wind from distant clouds. Despite the short distance the steep hills, loose stone and gusty conditions had left us feeling pretty tired so we pulled into Camping Pehoe where they charged a pricey ( for a campsite) £21.00 a night. We did get our very own tent shelter though! A timber structure which effectively faced the wind and diverted it at a greater strength down onto any cowering tent placed within. They had even provided a deep layer of grit for the floor which loosely held the tent pegs and filled your mouth and teeth every time you spoke. After a few parapont experiences with the fly sheet we managed to tether it down by burying the pegs and crawl inside. We placed a large plastic bottle in the closed porch space and watched incredulously as it was sucked out beneath the fly sheet ( only 5cm from the ground) never to be seen again! The rain increased with the wind and we lay inside listening to a sound like a roaring river passing next to the tent. This was the infamous ‘Paine Wind’ the German cyclist had been talking about….perhaps he wasn’t exagerating! We played cards to take our minds of the maelstrom developing outside. The night was quite scarey at times as the tent distorted with the stronger gusts and our timber shelter cracked, rattled and boomed between the constant (amplified) sound of rain drops.
Leaving the Torres
A typical Patagonian tree
Fantastic views along the road
Los Cuernos from the campsite
