Kyle Berg

I was undecided as to whether I’d climb up to Campamento Torres or just spend the whole day relaxing and recovering below. Today was nothing like yesterday and was warm and sunny. I exchanged email addresses with my 3 companions and they hiked up while I stayed behind. They were going to hike 4 hours up to the towers and another 3-4 back down. I definitely wanted no part of that. Instead I set my things out to dry in the sun and cooked up more spaghetti for lunch. Normally I save the pasta for supper, but getting rid of 200 grams of noodles and the same weight in sauce would only make things easier. “Better in me than on me” became my motto. I decided to make the 3 hour hike up to the Torres camp. Even though it wouldn’t be a rest day, 3 hours couldn’t be too bad after yesterday.

The first hour was hell. It was a completely uphill kick in the pants that left me soaked with sweat. After finishing this ascent, I took a snack break and then continued on, stopping for a couple minutes to chat with a middle aged couple from Boston after the man made reference to my hat by saying, “So you’re a Twinkies fan, huh?” The walk was beautiful as it brought me into the heart of the valley heading up to the towers. From here it swung left and the final hour was another climb through the woods. Compared to yesterday, I wasn’t that tired, but the pack was still weighing on me and it was nice to get to camp around 6:30 p.m.

A minute before reaching camp, I overheard 2 girls, who were obviously North Americans, behind me. We exchanged small talk while I helped for a couple minutes with their tent. Maggie was from Omaha and Rachelle from Milwaukee. While it was nice to talk with Midwesterners, my being 6 years their senior and their style of conversation (or perhaps mine) prevented us from hitting it off really well. The park ranger came to register us, something I never understood as I could have written down any name, country, and passport number I wanted. But, at least it gave him a few minutes to flirt with a foreign blonde and brunette and he invited us to the rangers’ house for hot chocolate.

I started to heat up water for supper and then we went to inquire about that hot chocolate. The tiny house was toasty warm thanks to the wood stove and they told me to come cook my supper inside. The ranger was immediately likable. A jokester, he loved being the center of attention. I went back outside to cook as their stove wasn’t cutting it. I then returned with my mac and cheese a few minutes later and the room was slightly more full. I asked for some pepper and just about died eating my supper as I had inadvertantly dumped a small mountain of pepper on the food. I couldn’t eat it all, and since I didn’t want to bring it with me as garbage, they burned it for me inside the stove. The ranger continued with his jokes, my favorite being his impression of most Americans trying to speak Spanish. By the end of our time, the room was crowded and I snapped a couple photos before dismissing myself and going to bed. I had to get up early tomorrow and was already very tired.