Day 2: Camp Paine to Camp Frances and the Frances Valley

I didn’t wake up to the sound of Stephanie’s alarm, but instead to a movement under my pillow. It darted back and forth and I wondered if it was inside or outside until it stopped and I saw the silhouette of a mouse scurry along the side of the tent. I couldn’t blame him for using me as refuge from the wind while he could. Our 6:30am alarm went off soon after and we packed our bags so Steph could take down the tent while I cooked rice for both breakfast and lunch (we had intended on preparing the rice the night before, but that didn’t quite work out). The aim was to be out of camp and walking by 7:30am.

I set myself up in the kitchen area but, despite having used the stove (once) a week ago, I couldn’t quite make sense of it (I’ll blame it on a lack of coffee).  I could hear the gas, and feel heat coming from it after holding the lighter close, but I couldn’t see a flame. After numerous attempts a fellow hiker approached me and politely pointed out that I had the stove upside down and would soon be burning a hole through the counter.  Not my finest moment.  Naturally, I would see this man in every town and on every bus I would visit in Patagonia for the next two weeks just to rub salt into the wound. Steph came in shortly after I had at least gotten the water on and hid her disappointment that our breakfast was nowhere near ready well until later that evening when we could both laugh about it (sort of).

prepping breakfast

We prepared our Paella flavoured rice and we regretted the purchase immediately after our first few bites when we realized that dehydrated mussels had been included in the flavouring. We forced ourselves to eat half, putting the other half in a ziplock bag to eat for lunch when we would not have access to cooking facilities. We sometimes deliberated that day whether or not starvation would be a better option than eating what we had prepared.

We strapped on our gear and began the 7.5km hike (2.5 hours) at 8:30am (an hour later then we had aimed for) to camp Italiano, one of the free camping sites along the W which we could not get a reservation for, where we would leave our packs to complete the 5 hour there and back hike to the Frances Valley Lookout.

leaving camp Paine

Glacier water from the mountains

We appreciated our new-found speed as we walked for the first time in hours without the weight of 5 days of food, a tent and cooking gear, but still found ourselves stopping often to take in views of the stunning blue lake or to watch for falling chunks of glaciers from the cliffs in front of us every time we hear a loud crack echo through the valley.

When we reached the lookout our physical exertion was rewarded with a stunning view of the valley to one side and a crown of grey and white peaks to the other. We looked at our lunch of fishy rice with disgust.  We had really paired one of the worst meals ever with one of the best views ever, but after the first bite (which was as disappointing as we expected it to be) we realized how hungry we actually were and ate through most of the bag before taking a few moments to compete with the other hikers for a photo.

Eating the fishy rice with a view of the valley

Despite our aching feet when we returned to camp Italiano, we had no other choice but to strap on all our gear and continue walking east along the “W” until we could find a paid camp. Just that week the free campsites had introduced a reservation system, which no one had informed us of, so settling in at Italiano for the night was not an options for us.  Within an hour we came to camp Frances, the newest campsite along the trail. We set up our tent on a platform jutting from a hill.

While having to pay for camping when we thought we could stay at a free campground sucked, the camp’s high end bathrooms with multiple hot showers and waterfall faucet heads made the site worth every penny (more specifically 7500 pesos /$15 Canadian per person).  Not thinking that I would have an opportunity to take a hot shower along the trail I hadn’t bothered to pack a towel, but made do anyways.

The luxury bathrooms at Camp Frances

After managing to dry off I found myself having a second shower when back at the platfor,m I cracked open a bottle of water and it sprayed all over me.  Just as I yelled out “crap it’s sparkling!”,Steph exclaimed with excitement “it’s sparkling!!”.  Those who know Steph are well aware of her love of sparkling water.  After I got over my initial shock we enjoyed the unexpected luxury which was far better than buying a can of crappy beer for $8 Canadian from the reception.  We headed to bed early that night knowing we would need all the energy we could get for the next days 8 hour hike with our gear.

Some Extra Pics!