Training Log Archive: Sandy

To Sandy's house.

Meadow loop with Sandy. Good to catch up.

It will be a while before I catch up with everything else.

Last full day of vacation (sitting in airports doesn't count as vacation). Hiked up the French Valley - the middle part of the "W". This is one way; I stopped the watch when we stopped for lunch but we still had to get back to the boat to get back to the hotel so a total of ~12 miles. We stopped a lot to take pictures on the way up but we were actually hustling quite a bit on the way back - Dennis and Jack went on almost the same hike but theirs went further up the valley in the same time. We wanted to get back before them to spare ourselves the ignominy of being "lapped" so we asked Jose, our guide for the hike, if we could not stop and book it a bit on the way back. Since they had added this hike especially for the other 4 of us in our group (me, Judy, Donna and Mike) and so it was only us, he was happy to oblige.

After we all got back, me, Judy, Jack and Dennis all went down to the spa and jumped off a small dock and into the lake which was barely above freezing what with glaciers and all. Spent all of 10 seconds in the water - the time it took me to surface after jumping in and swimming to the ladder and climbing out. Talk about an ice bath!

We had a beautiful day once again and only a little wind towards the end of the day. Great finish to a wonderful vacation.

A leisurely stroll between two lakes where a good bit of wildlife supposedly hangs out. We only saw guanacos though and several birds; nothing too exotic. The area was much more desert like than most of the other hikes though so different kinds of plants and scenery.

We followed up the morning hike with a barbecue at a "quincho", a place where the gauchos cook and serve food. Delicious food and tons of it. Followed by another horseback ride, this time to the east of park with good views of the towers. By hanging back at the end of the line and making my horse wait for a bit and then catch up I was able to do a little more than just walk along, so that was fun. One of the guides and one of the gauchos - each at different times - even commented that I looked comfortable on a horse and like I sort of knew what I was doing. It's been 50 years but I guess those riding lessons I took as a kid stuck with me a bit.

C • Nice 1

First part of ~8 mile hike. I forgot to start my watch until part way through. We stopped for lunch about half way. This was just to the SE of the hotel so rolling hills (steppe?) with great views of lagoons and the mountains in the distance.

The hike after lunch to the end. There was a crazy windy hill top that we stopped at near the end - fantastic views, but you couldn't stand still long enough to get a good picture. I mean that literally - if I just stood still the wind would blow me around. To stay still you had to work really hard at pushing yourself into the wind. Crazy.

The hike ended with a really steep long downhill. At least it wasn't boulders - just fine gravel so a side-step motion that you can use to get down a snowy ski slope worked well. It felt like a dance: slide, together, slide, together,... Hard work though.