Plan B

Tuesday, Mar 18 – Day 92

It was raining when we got up this morning, so we mapped out Plan B. We can take a bus back to the catamaran, take the boat across Lago Pehoe again, and stay at Refugio Paine Grande. The next morning, we’ll hike up to Glacier Grey, and the day after that, we’ll hike up to Campamento Guardas and back to Grey. This will put us back on track without having to do the long hike around the back of the park.

It looks like a good plan, but by the time we get it all figured it out we’ve missed the 9:00 am bus to the catamaran. The next one isn’t until 4:00 in the afternoon, so we’re stuck here at the refugio for most of the day. Oh well, it’s better than being out in the rain.

We catch the 4:00 bus and the boat, and get to Refugio Paine Grande at 7:00 pm. Somehow, it turns out that we really don’t have a reservation - the two refugios are operated by different companies, and they don’t play well together. This refugio is full, but there is room at Refugio Grey. So, we have to decide whether to pitch our tent and sleep all night in the rain, or hike 3 hours to Refugio Grey. It stays light until about 9:00, so we decide to go for Refugio Grey. We know the first part of the trail since we did it on day 1, and hope to make us some time, but we know that we’ll finish in the dark.

We got to the mid-point of the trail about ½ hour ahead of schedule, and were feeling pretty good. An hour later though, it is absolutely pitch-black. We have one small flashlight, no trail markers, and are now on an unfamiliar part of the trail. The flashlight ran low, so we switched batteries with John’s camera. I began to think of the Pumas which are known to inhabit the area, and wonder if they hunt for prey in the day or at night. Ultimately, however, we prevailed and we reached the refugio at about 10:30 pm. Again, not the way we wanted to do things, but we don’t have to pitch a tent and sleep in the rain. We can stay here for the next two nights, which means were done with tents.