Refugio Central to Los Cuernos
Distance: 11 km
Time: 4.5 hours
So, part of the beauty of our trip booked with Chile Nativo is that they covered all of our meals. This meant, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was afraid that we would be limited to granola bars and such but I mean….is breakfast without eggs even breakfast? No! So, we were very lucky that each and every breakfast we ate included a dose of lovely huevos, fresh made bread (Chileans don’t mess around with their bread) and aji (a delicious salsa).
After getting through Day I we felt pretty good about starting Day II. The hike was more of a walk we were told so post breakfast we headed out bright and “early” at 9:25 am
Along the route you’ll see a lot of markers like the one above. This makes it helpful to stay on track and know you’re moving towards the right direction.
Part of what made our trip amazing was the people we hiked with. Our guide, Maurizio, as you’ll keep hearing through these posts, was incredible! After we dropped our things off at our room he busted out a bottle of wine he had been carrying along the whole time!!! I mean…I could barely hold my pack I’m not sure how he had that and a few other goodies the whole time.
After we had a few glasses of wine and settled in at the refugio we decided to explore a little while there was still light out. We walked around the grounds of the refugio.
As you trek around you’ll see some bushes with the amazing Calafate berries on them. They were SO good and of course totally safe to eat.
We went down to take a closer took of Lago Nordenskjöld – the color of the water is unreal. The reason the lake is so bright is because of the mineral content and lack of aquatic life! Incredibly, there are no fish in the lake.
Immediately after this we headed back in for dinner…the most amazing stew you will ever have. Again, some fresh made bread, butter and peaches with chocolate syrup.
xoxop