Today was another big walk and we were all worried about the weather, but when we woke up, there was a bright blue sky.

We have really been blessed with the weather so far, the major trips have always been in favourable conditions. We went to the start of the trail in a bus, and Freddy was our guide, as you are not allowed to walk by yourself in such a big group in the park.

Freddy kept a leisurely pace going, which suited some and frustrated the Goretex-crowd (who incidentally have dubbed themselves the 'mountain goats'). We did a photoshoot, Freddy having about 20 cameras hanging around his neck and us trying to keep smiling.

After about two hours of strolling along, we got to Rio Blanco, where the easy bit ended and the climb began. I'm not very good with constant uphill struggling, but somehow I kept going. Looking down, the view was stunning but also quite scary as we were gaining altitude rapidly, scarmbling over the rocks.

And just when I was about to throw in the towel, I saw the peaks of Fitzroy teasing me, peeping over the hilltop. So I kept going, and when I rounded the next corner, there they were, gloriously bathing in sunlight, the snow glittering, with a dark blue and a turquoise lake at their feet... Nothing quite prepares you for such a view and all you can do is stare with open mouth (except of course if you are the French group right behind us, in which case you can chat loudly and break the peaceful silence to ruin everybody's moment).

It was not a bad place as picknick spots go, but a bit later we needed to head back down, as it was still a long way to go. We scrambled down the hill and lounged in the sun for a bit, then set off for the last 3 hours towards El Chaltén.

There were beautiful views of the valley, but after a while we just wanted to get home and plodded on. At 18.30, we had walked 12 miles, up to a height of 1100 metres (more or less) and seen what so far is the highlight of this trip.

A hot shower later, we were ready to celebrate another birthday, Phil, in the only slightly more upmarket restaurant El Chaltén has. I had lomo de cuervo (deer) and for desert apple pie and icecream. Just what the doctor ordered! We celebrated the last half hour of Phils birthday in the hotel, but then everyone retreated to bed, because it was another early start.