Well, the morning of day 4 wasn't quite the good omen that we had previous days. It was freezing cold, and the mountains around us were covered in a light dusting of snow under some low hanging cloud.

Our walk would be a fairly long one. We were staying that night at another refuge called Domos Frances, which was constructed with large dome tents that slept 8 each, with a common kitchen/dining area. It was only a short walk from the Refugio Los Cuernos so we headed there first and dumped most of our stuff before continuing on.

We walked along the black and white pebbled shore of the lake and along the peat valley, then hit Campamento Italiano, which marks the junction point at the bottom of the middle of the W. From here we would trek along Valle Francés (the middle of the W) and back again, then return to Domos Francés.

Most others we had met along the way were going to carry on a little further to another Refugio that night, so they had planned to go part way up the middle section, to the lookout of Glaciar Francés.

It was quite a rocky and steep path to this point. At this lower altitude it was quite drizzly with melting snow streaming down the pathways. At one point the path had turned more into a river which we had to skip over from rock to rock until we hit the lookout.

When we got there it was miserable. It was cold and super windy. We took in the face of the glacier hanging precariously onto the steep rock face through squinted eyes. People we saw that had planned to go to the top of the valley had changed their minds and turned around at that point, but we decided to struggle on.

Fortunately before too long we were back in some forest which provided some shelter from the wind. We had hit the snow line here, and a light covering of snow on the trees and ground around us looked really pretty. As snow falls came and went, the snow was falling softly around us, it was like a beautiful winter wonderland.

Pressing on and on, we wondered if we were far from our destination, the Mirador Británico at the top of the valley. The path was lost at times in the snow and across rocky stretches but fortunately bright orange marks on the trees and posts showed the way.

There were fewer and fewer footprints in the snow and we weren't seeing many people, suggesting we were among a small group of crazies continuing by this point. In the open areas the wind continued to thrash and anyone we did pass said they had given up on reaching the top.

Either we have a different idea of "too windy" or the wind had eased just a little for us, as we found we were able to continue and made it to the lookout. As we arrived the weather even started to ease a little and we managed a few glimpses of the Torres del Paine, now from the other side to where we had been 2 days prior.

We found a little respite from the wind behind a big rock and ate our sandwiches before shivering through a few photos. The clouds were moving through so quickly showing the towers then covering them up again. We waited optimistically for a clearer shot but eventually gave up and headed back down the hill.

As we made our way down we turned around and were able to see a few slightly clearer vistas. We considered ourselves lucky to have seen much at all from the top, given on our way up we hadn't been able to see the towers, but were also disappointed that the skies cleared up so much after we had left! Our timing just hadn't been quite right.

The snow had started to melt as we returned back down the hill but there were still scatterings around. The snow could have made the walk horrible but it was just enough to make it even more enjoyable and pretty walking through the forest, as long as we were out of the wind at least!

We stopped off for another snack on the way down, alongside the river with a view of part of the glacier. We saw a massive amount of snow and ice fall from it, making its way down like a waterfall until it finally stopped, seemingly 10 minutes after it has started. What a sight to see.

We arrived back and Domos Francés a little weary from a long day in the cold and wind. Unfortunately all the people we had met in previous nights weren't staying in the same place tonight, but we made some new friends before snuggling into our nice warm sleeping bags inside the freezing cold giant dome.

LAPFWT