Cerro Torre, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

Wake up to clear blue skies and although I slept well, my cold is still lingering. One of the other main walks is to Cerro Torre, a cluster of small, sharp, variously-sized peaks resembling a toadstool of sorts.

The initial 40 minutes is a much steeper climb than yesterday but I reach the first viewpoint, which overlooks a dramatic valley, in an hour and a quarter. I decide I might as well walk the whole way (another two hours) and get a better look so I start the descent across the open valley which is sadly covered in burnt trees and reach a hill of volcanic rocks. I can see Cerro Torre towering above the rocks but know I need to climb the hill to get a proper view.

From the top the view is stunning. Cerro Torre is a perfect cluster of sharp peaks overlooking a turquoise glacial lake (Laguna Torre) complete with mini icebergs. I could stay here all day but I know it´s a three hour walk back.

This is where it starts to go a bit wrong. Instead of taking the same route back, I decide to take an alternative track called ´Madre e Hija´(Mother & Daughter) which is apparently only half an hour longer according to the sign and passes by a lake.

Half an hour into the walk, I find myself in a dark forest forever climbing. The path is so steep I have to keep stopping every ten minutes to catch my breath. The forest seems endless. After an hour I am out of the woods (sorry) and am expecting to see a beautiful lake but it´s not so. I start to wonder if I have deviated from the trail as the path is so narrow and not well defined. I also haven´t seen any signs (or more worryingly people!) since starting the walk. But it´s too late to go back so I keep on.

Two hours into the walk I see water in the distance. Thank god. It´s a lake but by the time I reach it I´m knackered and just want to get back to town. The lake stretches on without end and I´m expecting or desperately hoping at any moment to see a sign showing the direction of the town. I really start to worry when the peaks of Fitzroy come into clear view - at very close range!

When I see the sign I can´t believe it. I have walked in a complete circle and am half an hour from Fitzroy base camp. It´s another two and a half hours back into town. I feel like sitting on the ground and having a tantrum but there´s not much point as there´s no one around, and I´ve got about three hours until it gets dark. There´s no margin for error. I start wondering if it would worse to try finding my way back in the dark or to have mountain rescue (embarrassingly) come out and get me. I quickly realise that the latter is not an option anyway as no one knows I'm here. I need to hotfoot it back and hope I don't get lost.

It´s a very long walk back. I´m exhausted and my legs are like jelly. The path eventually joins the same path I took home yesterday which is a bit annoying. About an hour from town I lose my footing on the mountain and go flying, sliding down the dust track and landing on my arm, my ipod and camera sent flying. I´m covered in dust (like one of those scooby-doo monsters) and bleeding. My first thought is my camera. I couldn´t care less about taking the skin off my hands but I´m really upset to see that my camera has had some chunks taken out of it. At this point I start to cry, which again is pointless as I´m alone and still have only an hour to get back.

After 10 hours of walking I´m back at the hostel and in severe need of a shower. I´m sore and achy and feel like I need both sets of hips and knees replaced. It´s time to hang up the hiking boots for a while methinks.