Whew.

We just returned from one heck of a hike. The hike went up French Valley, the valley between the two mountains that we spend every day gazing at. We were hiking IN the scenery. We first took a less-traveled path, going around the lakes and lagoons, and then hooked up with the main trail around the Italian Camp. We were thrilled to have magnificent weather again, and a stunning view of the mountains. We had lunch at a lagoon at the foot of the French Glacier, where we waded in glacial water, and watched/heard avalanches coming down in front of us. We returned via the normal path, which is pretty much a Patagonian hiking highway, full of backpackers “doing the W”, a W-shaped hike that starts at one side of the mountain, goes into the French Valley, then out again, then goes to Grey Glacier (where we went for our first hike on Monday, as the more attentive of you blog-readers will note).

This hike took us ten hours of elapsed time, with about 6 ½ of it spent actually hiking. I must admit that we pretty much hit my limit on this one, and we seemed to hit Marina’s as well (although she powered through until the end). Even Lenny seemed a tad tired (as I looked at him sprawled out on the bed afterwards!)

But I have to tell you the most amazing part of this hike. Our version was the EASY version. Yes, dear readers, we opted for the shortest of the French Valley hikes offered at Explora today. The intermediate level went for another 2 hours, to a viewpoint above the glacier (David admirably opted for this one), and the “atomic” group went for English Camp, another 2 hours walk beyond the intermediate group (our ring-bearer, 11 year old Daniel, took this one, as did a 72-year-old San Franciscan). Indeed, although we’re now happily showered and looking back at the scenery we just were in, the atomic group has yet to return.

We are truly exhausted, but I have to say that it was a phenomenal day. We had everything: great weather, perfect views, clear glacier water to drink, avalanches to watch, good company. (Note to Larry: we did get sunburned today despite sunscreen, so that hole in the ozone layer seems to be having an impact! The locals, however, take no note of it.)

-- Donna