After two incredibly hot days the weather broke over night and from about 3am it was absolutely teaming down with rain and that was to be the shape of the day- rain and lots of it.
We set off at 8:30 with the best waterproofs we could manage which for me was my fluorescent pink 'mac in a sac', a pair of shorts and a black bin liner tied round my rucksack - it's the same as not wearing Lycra when you ride a bike - it keeps people's expectations low if you don't look like a pro.....
Today was to be our longest walk through the Valle del Frances which on a sunny day would have offered up the most incredible views and whilst we've been lucky on pretty much every other day of our trip today was not our day.
After a night of torrential rain our first challenge was to cross a river that was flowing down hill, fast. There was a group trying to cross at the bottom close to the path but we decided we would have a better chance further up stream and, with the help of a lovely Belgian couple we'd met, successfully navigated the crossing with only wet toes to show for it - being that much further up stream meant we went 'off piste' for about 20 minutes but it did mean that we didn't fall into the river, unlike the group further down who all fell in waist deep......
With the weather as it was we knew that we wouldn't get to see any of the Valle del Frances but with so much time on our hands we continued with the walk, for the exercise if nothing else.
We got to the Refugio Paine Grande much earlier than expected and were able to shower and dry off in front of a wood burning stove with a glass of red wine.....
Dinner was a variation on the same theme, soup followed by turkey followed by a very sweet pudding followed by bed!
Raine x
No comments:
Post a Comment