One may say grand finale, but honestly, every new day beats the past day on this trip when you truly enjoy your company and everyone is embracing every second of being together (because we know how rare this is). This, by the way, is proof that mindset is everything. We all wanted to be there, looked forward to it for 3 years, and weren’t going to allow anything to ruin it. After the walkaround the park, we made it to the long-awaited refugio. This is basically a wooden mountain hostel, or “chata” for the Czech readers, or a chalet for the foreigners. It was a bit more than we expected, given the prior prospects of tent bear survival (I don’t think there are any bears there, but still, our imagination had no boundaries).

We got assigned to room 4 with 3 bunk beds, window view and drawer for everyone. Beds had a blanket and a sleeping bag, and despite the very clumsy way to climb up (no handles), Iva and Pavla managed exceptionally well. The atmosphere was interesting—lots of “young, older, old, “every-age” couples, singles, or small groups hanging out in the lounge areas with pillows, benches, or at the very well-stacked bar—people playing board games or doing puzzles, as wifi only worked in one corner of the reception and cost a fortune. There were two shifts for food where you had to line up and you were seated in the order you showed up with other tourists and served real food on real dishes, both in communal or individual plates. This wasn’t just some hiker food, but real full-on meals. I was impressed. I have no clue how the food was supplied as there is nothing in the park. Communal bathroom, 1 per about 6 rooms. We got our roommates, a British Indian couple, who was doing the whole W hike (the most famous hike, like 4 pieces to it—each leg of the W is a hike so when you stare at it on the map, it appears as W—clearly we weren’t the serious hikers here since we weren’t doing it). It does take a few days and requires multiple reservations in refugios, so no, thank you.

The big day was to come – and that was the hike to the Torres del Paine mirador (viewpoint for the non Spanish experts, look at me). I have made the decision earlier that day not to do that hike as I heard the stories about the super strong wind, rocks, crawling over boulders, narrow passages with heights – and decided that I would enjoy something a little less life-testing. So, we parted our ways at the refugio, with bag lunches – me doing the blue arrow trail and the girls doing the red one. My distance made up for their difficulty, which worked out as we got back to refugio almost at the same time. BTW, you can see the W in the orange??

We got home after 8 hours, all of us barely walking. Shower never felt so good – the communal bathrooms amazingly clean and with private enclosures for showers. We would have taken water in any shape or format.

The refugio is right next to the Central, the sort of visitor center from where the shuttle takes you to the bus stop to get on the bus to Puerto Natales again. At this point, we are on hotel #6, all modes of vehicle you can think of and running out of clean clothes. But we are happy, full of experiences! And we are sure enjoying the pisco sours, if you know what I mean.

Stay tuned for the last adventure to put a golden nail on this trip!