- After breakfast (at around 10 am), Edith walked with me to the trailhead of the lagoon. The instructions I understood was keep to the left of the trail (at intersections) and I should reach the lagoon in approximately 2 hours. She was also nice enough to have Ralph, one of the two family dogs, accompany me on my hike and off we went.
- Ralph was a great companion. It was fun just to observe him. He would pee frequently along our hike to leave marks on the trail and I wondered if he would ever run out of pee on long journeys. When crossing high streams/rivers, he would ran over to the opposite bank and waited patiently for me while I took off my shoes/socks and rolled up my pants.
- The thing about hiking at Los Gaviotas was that there wasn´t really a ´trail´, even though it was clearly marked on the map. The trails were paths created by horses, cows and on various occasions, there would be intersections with multiple trails leading to different directions. There were certainly no signs/indicators of the lagoon, and there wasn´t really anyone you can stop to ask for direction. (According to Edith, there are 32 families staying in Los Gaviotas and that´s it. You are imagine the population). A lot had to do with instincts, and apparently I didn´t have the best instinct. After walking for about 3 hours, I saw no sign of the lagoon and after ascertaining I was heading nowhere, I made my return trip. I did not see the lagoon, but it was still a nice hike, with a great companion.
- Back at the cabin, I saw Tolomis, Juan and Rudy gathering around something and I squeezed into the little circle - there they were ´dissecting´ a century-old jigsaw which was not working. It was refreshing to see how people work with the limited resources they have at the farm. In San Francisco, anyone would have thrown away that jigsaw in a split second and go Home Depot for a new one. Here, the group literally pulled out parts and pieces (by trial and error) for 2 hours to figure out what went wrong and what parts to purchase on their next trip to the city (Osorno). It was definitely not the most cost-effective thing to do, but it was nice to see old tools/equipment being valued for a change. After the discussion session, the group headed to the river and came back with a big fat trout. Guess that would be (part of) our dinner tomorrow. Sweet!
- Edith called up a friend/local guide who was available to take me on a hike to a nearby mountain. We would meet at the cabin at 8 in the morning. Perfecto!
