Day three was the longest of the trip, and also the wettest. The first stop was Campamento Italiano to drop off our multi-day packs at the ranger station so we could make the out-and-back trek through the French Valley with our lighter day pack. After about an hour we reached the first lookout, Mirador Frances, where you can see the hanging Glacier Frances. From there it was another 2.5 hours along Rio Frances, in and out of forests, and a rocky climb up to the Britanico lookout. The weather was pretty rough, with high winds, rain, and some snow. Quite a few people were heading back, telling us the weather was too harsh to continue. However, we decided to see how bad it was for ourselves. We didn’t think it was too dangerous so we continued on until we made it to the top. After waiting 20 minutes for the clouds to clear, we had some very nice views. We then began our 3.5 hour hike back down to Italiano to pick up our packs and head to Paine Grande. From there it was a 2.5 hour, meandering hike to Paine Grande.
- Domos Frances – Campamento Italiano – Mirador Britanico – Campamento Italiano – Paine Grande
- 24 km (15 mi) – 9.5 hours
- Highest Elevation: 760 m (2495 ft)
- Lowest Elevation: 454 m (148 ft)
Elevation
