...in the morning the tent is quite moist from condensation and the dogs - it seems - have abandoned us.
...we set off and on the beginning the trail is quite easy to follow but soon becomes convoluted and difficult;
...we venture into very steep slopes with extremely muddy surface where we have to grapple onto tree branches to even think of continuing and we redefine the term "trail";
...I lose my hat and struggle back to find it;
...I fall too many times too count and become acquainted with the concept of "buying a piece of mountain" - this apparently is what you say when you fall; so now it seems I own quite a lot of real estate in Chile;
...we face snow on and off several times, with weather changing so often it seems like Belgium;
...we climb the Virginia Pass, the highest point of the trail at 870m and I feel like on the ice planet in Empire Strikes Back - violent wind, snow everywhere, piercing cold; then we embark on a breakneck descent on a very steep slope with fierce wind pushing us off the ledge;
...we arrive at Laguna del Guanaco and enjoy beautiful views marred only by the strongest wind yet and snow again;
...so we descend through the forest to look for more protected spaces; this means more mud, more bog and more slipping and falling;
...we find a space and even though in the morning I was resolved to continue all the way to Santiago, I'm dead tired, my feet are super wet, everything is moist from the snow; I sleep 10 hours that night;