Homage to Patagonia

December 12th-14th.

Day 2 a bit uninspiring - murky and what we should be seeing is behind cloud. Still it doesn´t rain that much and at the end of the day we seem to meet a stream of people walking the other way who have been lashed by cold and wet for hours on end and not seen anything.

Next day is suddenly and without warning clear and bright - maybe not all the postcards have needed Photoshop after all. We walk up the French Valley, which the previous day people had abandoned as pointless. This is the middle bit of the "W", and a bit of a set piece on days like this. Paine Grande, the highest mountain, though still a bit pathetic by Himalayan standards at 3,000m, is in good avalanche form - every 10 mins or so there´s a thunderous crack and another huge pile of powder comes crashing down the slopes.

At the look out we reach for lunch we get one of the most stunning 360 degree views I´ve seen, as the last of the few clouds disappear leaving a perfect deep blue sky - mountains of various sorts on 3 sides and a view down onto the huge lake at the bottom. Patagonia is far more tarty with its charms than discreet Bhutan - the mountains and lakes are unsubtle, brash, drop-dead gorgeous and constantly changing their look around every corner to hold your attention and demand your approval (and it works).

We spend the evening slumped in the comfy chairs in the bar at Paine Grande refugio, sipping probably a couple too many (but is there such a thing?) Pisco Sours. Helpfully the bar has been situated with big picture windows out onto a postcard-perfect view, and being this far south at midsummer, the sunset goes on all evening.

Next day we walk up the side of Lake Grey (left hand side of the W), which has a huge glacier at the other end. Not as huge as it was though - it´s retreated 2km in 10 years - you can see the bare rock at the sides where the vegetation hasn´t got going yet. Down to earth with a bump tonight - camping, and not the best of sites, grotty showers and guys building a new office for glacier trekking until midnight. Also a distinct lack of Pisco Sours, with which we might have forgiven (or forgotten) the other stuff.