January 3, 2017
The entrance to the French Valley. (Chris Meder)
It rains in Patagonia. It’s windy in Patagonia. Sometimes it hails in Patagonia. Sometimes it does all three at the same time. Chris called in this afternoon from Refugio Paine Grande reporting that they had a pretty good day on the trail. The French Valley was predominantly socked in with clouds but they were able to get the occasional peak at the hanging glaciers. Instead of heading up to the viewpoint they opted for Plan B and went down to the river at the toe of the glacier.
After lunch they were ‘motivated’ to get to the hut by a little wind, rain and hail. Refugio Paine Grande is a hut in name only, it sits lakeside and has more of a hotel feel. If I know this team they’ve already found the bar. The weather has since cleared up a bit allowing for some great views…from the bar.
Tye Chapman