9 Perfect Days in Patagonia...Day 8

Starting our hike.

Here's how you make someone hike when they don't necessarily want to.

Give them no other choice.

Our next hotel was about a 4-5 hour hike into the park and not accessible by car. There's only one way, baby. Neither I nor Jorge were amped about our hike this morning. The weather was gray and drizzly, we were probably on day 6 of not eating real food (Chilean chocolate bars and bananas will only get you so far) and at this point, we had hiked 5 out of the past 7 days if you count Buenos Aires and Perito Moreno - which I DO, because we probably walked 15 - 20 hours over those two days.

So with some reluctance, we strapped on our packs with a days worth of clothes and toiletries and headed for Cabins los Cuernos.

For reference:

Again, like all hikes in TDP, this one is self explanatory and you don't need a blow by blow. But here are 4 observations:

1. It is less spectacular than the Mirador hike, but still amazing compared to well...nearly anything else.

This hike will feel like a walk in the park, especially compared to the Mirador. I think it took us a little over 4 hours and it was a relatively flat, easy walk. There are some tiny grades but at this point, you're a pro, so will hardly notice them. This hike was also a lot less crowded than the mirador - we passed very few hikers and enjoyed nearly total isolation which is not usually the case in TDP.

2. If you have the right gear, there is no bad weather. 

Most of this hike was gray and raining with only momentary periods of sunshine. It really did nothing but make the hike MORE interesting. We had our fill of sunshine the day before and the clouds added drama and mystery to the mountains. Because we had all our waterproof clothing we really didn't struggle at all with the weather.

3. Splurge on the private cabins. At Los Cuernos you have a couple different lodging options: Camping, the Refugio which is like dormitory style housing or one of 8 private cabins which share a separate shower facility. Because I booked my trip so early, we were able to snag one of these cabins and they are SO worth it.

This was our cabin, right next to a rushing waterfall which created the perfect soundtrack for a good night's sleep.

We did NOT partake, but this hot tub was available for anyone staying in the cabins.

Interior of the cabin and a pretty comfortable bed!

Perhaps staying in a "luxury" private cabin does not hold to the spirit of completing the W trek, but when you have hiked for the better part of a day, it's really nice to have a place that you look forward to relaxing in. The cabins were 100% worth the money, in my book, and I hope that more stops along the trek add in similar accommodations.

4. Toilet paper comes in handy for more than one thing. Jorge always keeps a roll of toilet paper in his hiking pack. Truthfully other than using it to blow my nose, I don't think we've ever needed it OTHER THAN this time. The cabins were equipped with a little wood burning stove. How CUTE, right? Well what wasn't so cute is that we had no idea how to keep it going, most of the wood was damp and there was no other heat source. So Jorge spent most of the evening feeding pieces of toilet paper and any receipts/brochures we didn't need anymore into the fireplace to keep it going.

Some time in the middle of the night when the fire was BLAZING.

After dinner at the Refugio (gnocchi, which seemed strange), we spent the rest of our evening relaxing and getting our gear ready for our last day in Patagonia. We had a 4 1/2 hr drive at the end of it, so planned on getting a full night's rest and starting early.

Need to catch up on Day 7? Move on to Day 9.