the numbing process begins

day 2

we woke up and had an early start. we had about 15 km to hike until we got back down to lago pehoe. from there we had to hike 7.6 more km to campamento italiano.

we hiked pretty fast and made good time. but the weather turned crappy and the views were not great. it started to get cold, wet, and windy.

things i learned:

1. make sure your camera battery is COMPLETELY charged and it doesn´t just fool you into thinking it is charged. because the beautiful refugios that make you pay an incredible amount to stay there do not allow throughhikers to even pay to charge their poor batteries. and they make you pay for 3 hours worth of internet...knowing that backpackers would always need less than that. what a scam.

2. trekking poles are a wonderful invention.

no matter how dorky you look with them...they really are AWESOME. it helps that every uses them, makes you feel less stupid. but they are so helpful especially going uphill, bracing you with the wind, and river crossing.

3. put more M&Ms in your trail mix. xavier and i both regret putting those packages back that we thought were excessive.

4. raman that is still a little chewy tastes way better.

5. misery loves company. our backs and shoulders really hurt by the end of the day. my hips were starting to bruise. at least when that happens you start to feel the pain less.