The O-Circuit: Day Two + Three

HIKING

4/9/20245 min read

Day Two - Central to Seron

Day one for most people, day two for us!

The morning started with packing up our tent - something we really underestimated how much time it would take us! An about two hours after waking up, we were fed and packed, and ready for our first hike with our large backpacks on to the next campground.

Unfortunately this is when we started to realise we had packed WAY too much heavy food. My pack was about 22kg, and had far too many canned foods in it! It took another 30 minutes or so of walking and constant readjusting of my backpack straps to discover that my backpack was actually just too big for me. I bought it about 8 years prior, and did have it fitted in the shop, so I have either shrunk or it wasn't fitted correctly!

What should have been an easy 13 km mostly flat hike was not that easy for me, with 22kg hanging off my shoulders instead of sitting on my hips!

The highlight of this day for me was the little Patagonian Pygmy Owl we saw - it let us get so close and it was managing to keep a firm grip on it's tree branch despite the heavy wind thrashing the tree around! All in all, the scenery was picturesque, but compared to what was to come over the next week it wasn't a stand-out journey.

The sun finally started to come out around early afternoon, and we stopped at the checkpoint between Seron and Dickson to show the ranger our Dickson campsite booking and passports. We used this stop to empty our shoes of the puddles of water that had formed in the soles. We continued along the mostly flat and beautiful path along to Dickson, where we were greeted with a spectacular view of our campsite nestled at the bottom of snowcapped mountains and large crystal blue lakes. Even with clouds still lingering in the sky, it was a sight that made the trek in the rain, wind and hail all worth it.

When we arrived at Seron about 7 hours after leaving Central (we were rather slow thanks to my backpack and a few essential Frisbee stops) we checked in and set up tent just as dusk was falling, around 6:30pm. We had hot showers, and whilst waiting for the shower I discovered a free Starlink network which felt like striking gold! I jumped online for 10 minutes and then felt slightly guilty doing so seeing as I had presumed I would be offline for a full 8 days. Surely I didn’t need to be online within 48 hours!

We celebrated a long day with a bottle of wine at the Refugio, which was actually meant to be a glass of wine but the girl mustn't have understood my Spanish! We found a couple of friends to polish off the bottle with, and called it a night at about 9:30pm. It would have been a great sleep if my sleeping mat hadn’t punctured in the night, and I had to wake up multiple times to reinflate it!

DAY TWO FAST FACTS:

Time it was meant to take: 4.5 hours
Time it actually took us: 7 hours

Distance: 13km
Campsite cost: USD$35 per person
Bottle of wine cost: CLP27,000/USD$28 (ouch!)

Day Three - Seron to Dickson

Our third day started with a drizzle, with rumours of a heavier downpour later in the morning. We packed up camp and cooked our breakfast in the crowded and cozy cooking tent. Yet again, our start to the day took longer than anticipated, so we didn’t get on the trail until about 45 minutes after most people.

The rumours turned out to be true – and they surpassed our expectations. Before long, we were hiking up a steep incline, and torrential side-ways rain that lasted about 90 minutes. Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more drenched, the rain turned into hail for 10 minutes or so. Luckily the hail stones were small, but enough to hurt my face with short sharp stings!

We stayed up at the viewpoint for quite a while, taking in the surrounds and appreciating the beauty. We finally made it down to the campsite at dusk, set up our tent, realised that my waterproof backpack cover wasn’t as waterproof as I’d hoped, and tried to find dry spots to hang my soaked clothes. In an attempt to dry out and warm our insides, we went to the onsite bar to have a red wine (they served glasses this time!) and met some new friends to sit and debrief on our days with.

Dinner that night was a Mexican creation of rice, black beans, corn, mayo, seasoning and wraps. By this stage our bags SHOULD have been starting to feel lighter however with now damp clothes to lug around, this was not the case at all!

The sleep that night was COLD! My puncture repair for my sleeping mat did not work, so once again I woke up through the night with aching sides on the hard ground. I was starting to realise why most people carried closed-cell foam mats opposed to inflatable ones…

DAY THREE FAST FACTS:

Time it was meant to take: 5.5/6 hours
Time it actually took us: 8 hours

Trail conditions: Muddy
Distance: 18km

Campsite cost: USD$11 per person
Glass of wine cost: CLP6,000/USD$6.20