Saturday, January 31, 2015
Aconcagua Bound
We have "enjoyed" several stressful days in Mendoza, Argentina prepping for our climb (it wouldn't be a big summit if we didn't have some bureaucratic tape to dance through first, right?), and we are finally departing tomorrow! We will be out on the mountain for the next 16 days with the stuff pictured below, and without access to the world beyond (i.e. the internet). Fingers crossed for good weather, a healthy team, and a successful summit!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Glacier Perito Moreno and Fitz Roy
The alarm went off at 6:45 am on Saturday morning marking the start of a busy trio of days. The first day began with an 8 am departure from our hostel in El Calafate to a tour of Glacier Perito Moreno. Our tour consisted of four stops, the first of which was the side of the road where we got to see a lone calafate plant and some views of the glacially colored Lago Argentina.
Our second stop was at an estancia (ranch) where we got to hang out with the various animals, such as sheep,
goats,
chickens,
horses,
and Kate was able to feed a baby guanaco!
Bus stop number three finally put us inside Los Glacieres National Park for a short nature walk. We meandered along the shore of Lago Rico for about a kilometer enjoying some initial views of the massive sheet of ice that is Glacier Moreno.
After the hike we were shuttled to our final stop, the balconies overlooking the magnificent Glacier Moreno. From the balconies we were face to face with the 60 meter high and 5 kilometer wide wall of ice, and it was easy to enjoy a relaxing few hours exploring all of the viewpoints.
We were even fortunate enough to see the glacier calve which is when a large chunk of ice breaks off and falls into the water below.
On the way back to El Calafate the bus pulled over at a seemingly random spot on the road for a bonus stop. Four guys from the Chez Republic ran off the bus saying, "This will only take a minute!". Curious I followed them out as they tromped up the hillside, and within seconds one of them yelled "Here it is!" This was their first day in Argentina and they already found their first geocache!
We returned to El Calafate at 5 pm, which gave us exactly an hour and a half to get some cash from the bank, buy some fuel for the stove, pick up some dinner, and get to the bus station to catch our 6:30 bus to El Chaltan. From the bus we received our first views of the mighty Fitzroy.
While not dark yet, with the 9:30 pm arrival of our bus it was getting close. We picked up the most useful town map yet and were on our way to find a place to stake the tent. Fortunately, we were able to snag the last site at a local campground (which was more like someone's yard) and despite the talking, guitar playing, and singing, fell quickly asleep.
Day two of our busy stretch began only slightly later than the first with a 7:30 am wakeup. By 9 am we were fed, packed, and on the trail to adventure. We had a moderately ambitious plan to combine two days of trekking (as recommended by the guide book) into one. Along the way we were lucky enough to spot a magellanic woodpecker, one of the exciting sights of the Patagonian forest. We contemplated how its tongue wrapped around its brain before moving on.
Our first stop of the day was a lovely trail intersection (complete with its own privy) where we stashed our heavy backpacks in the woods and proceeded with just a day pack to Campamento De Agostini. Campamento De Agostini is situated on the shore of Laguna Torre which is at the base of the infamous Cerro Torre, and was the perfect place to have lunch.
Reenergized, we returned to our backpacks to begin the next segment of our journey to Campamento Poincenot. We took another break at Laguna Hija, before continuing past Laguna Madre. It was here that a terrible bit of luck transpired and I (Jeff) was transformed into a tree!
It's ok though, I got better.
Once at Campamento Poincenot we found a great spot to pitch our tent amongst the trees and below the watchful eye of Cerro Fitz Roy. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and had a slightly early dinner in order to get to sleep for yet another early morning.
Beep! Beep! Beep! 4:30 am rolled around and it was time to get moving. The stars provided a little help lighting our way as we hiked the steep 2 km to the Cerro Fitz Roy lookout above Laguna de Los Tres. At the top we didn't have to wait long for the light show to begin.
With the sun climbing higher in the sky we climbed lower to our campsite to recoup some of our lost sleep. It's amazing what another couple hours of comfy sleeping will do for you, and we emerged rested and hungry from our tent. Fortunately, it was lunch time and we still had breakfast to make, so egg and cheese sandwiches were on the menu!
The afternoon was bright and sunny and so we followed the advice of our guide book and took off in search of Laguna Sucia. This search took us along the seldom navigated rocky streambed of Rio Blanco up to a majestic turquoise lake nestled below Cerro Poincenot and the Glacier Rio Blanco. We relaxed in the sun admiring the views of Laguna Sucia, Cerro Poincenot, Cerro Fitz Roy, and the Glacier Rio Blanco with its waterfall and occasional ice fall.
The afternoon sun was still shinning on our return to the tent and I still had an itch for adventure, of which Kate did not share, and so we split up. I continued to follow the Rio Blanco north to the turn off to Laguna Piedras Blancas while Kate spent the afternoon happily reading at camp. The outlet stream from the lake to the Rio Blanco was an amazing boulder field with the turquoise glacial current swirling around and under massive blocks of rock.
The lake was pretty spectacular too, providing an ice berg -scattered foreground for the impressive Glacier Piedras Blancas.
I returned back at the tent early for dinner and once again we had a relaxing and short evening in preparation for one last early start.
We awoke at 3:45 am in the morning, if that can even be considered morning, and packed up our gear. We still had 8km to hike to the bus station and tickets for an 8 am bus back to El Calafate. The stars were amazing and we caught a few more glimpses of Fitz Roy in the pre-dawn light. The sun crested the horizon and we were shortly back in El Chaltan with plenty of time to grab some victory pastries and board our bus.
 |
| Look we found a calafate plant! |
Our second stop was at an estancia (ranch) where we got to hang out with the various animals, such as sheep,
goats,
chickens,
horses,
and Kate was able to feed a baby guanaco!
Bus stop number three finally put us inside Los Glacieres National Park for a short nature walk. We meandered along the shore of Lago Rico for about a kilometer enjoying some initial views of the massive sheet of ice that is Glacier Moreno.
 |
| From 6 km away it still looks big! |
After the hike we were shuttled to our final stop, the balconies overlooking the magnificent Glacier Moreno. From the balconies we were face to face with the 60 meter high and 5 kilometer wide wall of ice, and it was easy to enjoy a relaxing few hours exploring all of the viewpoints.
We were even fortunate enough to see the glacier calve which is when a large chunk of ice breaks off and falls into the water below.
On the way back to El Calafate the bus pulled over at a seemingly random spot on the road for a bonus stop. Four guys from the Chez Republic ran off the bus saying, "This will only take a minute!". Curious I followed them out as they tromped up the hillside, and within seconds one of them yelled "Here it is!" This was their first day in Argentina and they already found their first geocache!
We returned to El Calafate at 5 pm, which gave us exactly an hour and a half to get some cash from the bank, buy some fuel for the stove, pick up some dinner, and get to the bus station to catch our 6:30 bus to El Chaltan. From the bus we received our first views of the mighty Fitzroy.
While not dark yet, with the 9:30 pm arrival of our bus it was getting close. We picked up the most useful town map yet and were on our way to find a place to stake the tent. Fortunately, we were able to snag the last site at a local campground (which was more like someone's yard) and despite the talking, guitar playing, and singing, fell quickly asleep.
Day two of our busy stretch began only slightly later than the first with a 7:30 am wakeup. By 9 am we were fed, packed, and on the trail to adventure. We had a moderately ambitious plan to combine two days of trekking (as recommended by the guide book) into one. Along the way we were lucky enough to spot a magellanic woodpecker, one of the exciting sights of the Patagonian forest. We contemplated how its tongue wrapped around its brain before moving on.
Our first stop of the day was a lovely trail intersection (complete with its own privy) where we stashed our heavy backpacks in the woods and proceeded with just a day pack to Campamento De Agostini. Campamento De Agostini is situated on the shore of Laguna Torre which is at the base of the infamous Cerro Torre, and was the perfect place to have lunch.
Reenergized, we returned to our backpacks to begin the next segment of our journey to Campamento Poincenot. We took another break at Laguna Hija, before continuing past Laguna Madre. It was here that a terrible bit of luck transpired and I (Jeff) was transformed into a tree!
It's ok though, I got better.
Once at Campamento Poincenot we found a great spot to pitch our tent amongst the trees and below the watchful eye of Cerro Fitz Roy. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and had a slightly early dinner in order to get to sleep for yet another early morning.
Beep! Beep! Beep! 4:30 am rolled around and it was time to get moving. The stars provided a little help lighting our way as we hiked the steep 2 km to the Cerro Fitz Roy lookout above Laguna de Los Tres. At the top we didn't have to wait long for the light show to begin.
With the sun climbing higher in the sky we climbed lower to our campsite to recoup some of our lost sleep. It's amazing what another couple hours of comfy sleeping will do for you, and we emerged rested and hungry from our tent. Fortunately, it was lunch time and we still had breakfast to make, so egg and cheese sandwiches were on the menu!
The afternoon was bright and sunny and so we followed the advice of our guide book and took off in search of Laguna Sucia. This search took us along the seldom navigated rocky streambed of Rio Blanco up to a majestic turquoise lake nestled below Cerro Poincenot and the Glacier Rio Blanco. We relaxed in the sun admiring the views of Laguna Sucia, Cerro Poincenot, Cerro Fitz Roy, and the Glacier Rio Blanco with its waterfall and occasional ice fall.
The afternoon sun was still shinning on our return to the tent and I still had an itch for adventure, of which Kate did not share, and so we split up. I continued to follow the Rio Blanco north to the turn off to Laguna Piedras Blancas while Kate spent the afternoon happily reading at camp. The outlet stream from the lake to the Rio Blanco was an amazing boulder field with the turquoise glacial current swirling around and under massive blocks of rock.
The lake was pretty spectacular too, providing an ice berg -scattered foreground for the impressive Glacier Piedras Blancas.
I returned back at the tent early for dinner and once again we had a relaxing and short evening in preparation for one last early start.
We awoke at 3:45 am in the morning, if that can even be considered morning, and packed up our gear. We still had 8km to hike to the bus station and tickets for an 8 am bus back to El Calafate. The stars were amazing and we caught a few more glimpses of Fitz Roy in the pre-dawn light. The sun crested the horizon and we were shortly back in El Chaltan with plenty of time to grab some victory pastries and board our bus.
Ciudades del Fin del Mundo
We've done a lot of trekking in the past few weeks, and I figured it was time to allot some attention to those few precious days in town we've had as well (precious because they generally included showers, Doritos, and interaction with other human beings).
To begin, Puerto Williams, Chile was our base-camp town for the Dientes trek. It is located at 54 56' S 67 37'W. and with it's windswept streets, corrguated roofs, and gang of wild horses that hang out on the firehouse's front lawn, Puerto Williams really feels like the final frontier, the rock bottom of the earth. It really is the southernmost permanently inhabited town in the world, so remote that we had to go to the elementary school library to find the Internets.
Before embarking on the five-day Dientes trek, we spent a couple hours milling about the PW's 5 or 6 unpaved roads, trying to find white gas for the Whisperlight, notifying the police of our intentions to hike the Dientes, and eating a quick lunch acquired from one of the island's two supermercados: orange soda, pan (plain white bread rolls), and queso (some quickie mart variety of packaged sliced white). Not-so-exciting food, but then again, all provisions are either flown- or boated-in to Port Williams and the produce section of the market was a fair reminder of this grim reality: limp greens, a quartered squash, naranjas verdes, and potatoes. Lots of potatoes.
Food is often a strong motivator in our choice of hostel - if you have a breakfast buffet, we're yours! Thus, throughout our pasta- and oatmeal-fueled trek in Los Dientes, we looked forward to a home-cooked meal with our host in Puerto Williams, a cheerful and locally reknown culinary artist named Patty. To the incongruous sounds of back-to-back dubbed episodes of The Simpsons, we gorged ourselves on Patty's roasted beef (Jeff), potatoes, green salad, and 750ml of wine that no one would share with us (?). We slept hard that night!
The following morning we stumbled upon the local panaderia and some freshly baked empanadas manzanas con sucre. Despite its remoteness, Puerto Williams left me with memories of a finally full belly and a rested, almost homey happiness.
We, however, left Puerto Williams to cross the Beagle Channel in an uncomfortably cramped zodiac boat that hadn't run for a few days due to strong wind and rain. To get to the boat from P. Williams, we first piled into a minivan with two other Americans, a driver and her young daughter. On our 60 minute drive to Puerto Navarino (another town/couple of buildings on Isla Navarino), we dropped the little girl off at her abuela's house, pulled over in the middle of the road and switched drivers with a van coming from the opposite direction (the only traffic we saw along the dirt road), delivered groceries to a remote house (?), and fought to keep our breakfasts on the increasingly very windy road.
After forty minutes of getting to know our fellow border-crossers (and getting personal with their luggage), the zodiac pulled into the wake of a police boat and "docked" in Ushuaia, Argentina. We proceeded to fireman-pass the luggage and climb over four more boats to reach Argentina. Boat. Boat. Boat. Boat. Dock!
We breezed through the Argentina port's customs and Ushuaia greeted us with sunshine, a 20 degree jump in temperature, and paved streets of traffic and bustling tourists, many from one of the cruise boats docked nearby. The contrast from Puerto Williams was striking. Signs, museums, and restaurants everywhere reinforced the city's claim to its "El fin del mundo" location, but at 54 48 S 68 18' W, Ushuaia doesn't reeally deserve this self-proclaimed title.
We tried not to judge the city too harshly for its blatant marketing scheme during our one full day there, and we had lots of fun exploring its outskirts on a 10km run that took us nearly to the airport (whoops), and a 10km grind up to the Martial Glacier, which serves as the city's beautiful backdrop.
On the way back down from the glacier, I coerced Jeff to pay for two things on which he religiously resists spending money: a taxi and some ice! Turns out I had a strained knee from Paso Virginia, and our running about the hills above Ushuaia wasn't helping.. nothing a night of R.I.C.E and some Pisco couldn't fix. Short of an informative trip to a miniatures museum on the Yamana people of Tierra del Fuego (who: a. always carried fire with them in their canoes, b. belayed each other down cliffs to club cormorants, and c. were immortalized as tiny figurines in these dioramas created by a Belgian miniatures artist who also worked on the movie Dune?!), we rested the rest of our time in the false end of the world.
Cheap food and accommodation were challenging to find in Ushuaia, and we ended up ordering two large pizzas our first night in town. I wished I knew how to say "bottomless stomach" or "high metabolism" in response to the server's bemusement at our order. I think the staff at our hotel may have been equally bemused at our ability to empty the bread basket at breakfast every morning! We finally found a restaurant known for its large portions (El Turco) and promptly ran into someone we had met at Campamento Italiano in Torres Del Paine, that fateful rainy morning that campers collectively shared disappointment at the Valle Del Frances being closed. She works for Backroads Travel and had nearly three weeks off between leading a mountain biking trip in Bariloche and treks in El Calafate and El Chalten. Que vida! We swapped tales of our respective treks in Los Dientes (turns out we may have followed some of her footprints on the first snowy pass), and ran into her again at our hostel in El Calafate, but Jeff will tell you more about that final chapter for our adventures in Patagonia!
To begin, Puerto Williams, Chile was our base-camp town for the Dientes trek. It is located at 54 56' S 67 37'W. and with it's windswept streets, corrguated roofs, and gang of wild horses that hang out on the firehouse's front lawn, Puerto Williams really feels like the final frontier, the rock bottom of the earth. It really is the southernmost permanently inhabited town in the world, so remote that we had to go to the elementary school library to find the Internets.
 |
| Downtown Port Williams as seen from the airport |
 |
| The one-room Port Williams airport |
 |
| Port Williams marina with Los Dientes in the background |
Before embarking on the five-day Dientes trek, we spent a couple hours milling about the PW's 5 or 6 unpaved roads, trying to find white gas for the Whisperlight, notifying the police of our intentions to hike the Dientes, and eating a quick lunch acquired from one of the island's two supermercados: orange soda, pan (plain white bread rolls), and queso (some quickie mart variety of packaged sliced white). Not-so-exciting food, but then again, all provisions are either flown- or boated-in to Port Williams and the produce section of the market was a fair reminder of this grim reality: limp greens, a quartered squash, naranjas verdes, and potatoes. Lots of potatoes.
Food is often a strong motivator in our choice of hostel - if you have a breakfast buffet, we're yours! Thus, throughout our pasta- and oatmeal-fueled trek in Los Dientes, we looked forward to a home-cooked meal with our host in Puerto Williams, a cheerful and locally reknown culinary artist named Patty. To the incongruous sounds of back-to-back dubbed episodes of The Simpsons, we gorged ourselves on Patty's roasted beef (Jeff), potatoes, green salad, and 750ml of wine that no one would share with us (?). We slept hard that night!
The following morning we stumbled upon the local panaderia and some freshly baked empanadas manzanas con sucre. Despite its remoteness, Puerto Williams left me with memories of a finally full belly and a rested, almost homey happiness.
We, however, left Puerto Williams to cross the Beagle Channel in an uncomfortably cramped zodiac boat that hadn't run for a few days due to strong wind and rain. To get to the boat from P. Williams, we first piled into a minivan with two other Americans, a driver and her young daughter. On our 60 minute drive to Puerto Navarino (another town/couple of buildings on Isla Navarino), we dropped the little girl off at her abuela's house, pulled over in the middle of the road and switched drivers with a van coming from the opposite direction (the only traffic we saw along the dirt road), delivered groceries to a remote house (?), and fought to keep our breakfasts on the increasingly very windy road.
 |
| Argentina across the Beagle Channel as seen from Puerto Navarino, Chile |
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| Zodiac boat from Puerto Navarino on Island Navarino, Chile |
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| On the Beagle Channel crossing |
 |
| Our arrival in the Port of Ushuaia |
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| Ushuaia building with Chilean peaks in the background |
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| Black market money exchange = the way to go! |
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| Some of the giant lupine that thrives down here |
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| Rainbow bridge over the river |
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| Appropriate. |
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| Jeff on one of our walks around Ushuaia |
We tried not to judge the city too harshly for its blatant marketing scheme during our one full day there, and we had lots of fun exploring its outskirts on a 10km run that took us nearly to the airport (whoops), and a 10km grind up to the Martial Glacier, which serves as the city's beautiful backdrop.
 |
| On the walk up to the Martial Glacier |
 |
| Jeff took the trail up to the ice |
 |
| I opted for the more level path to some miradors of Ushuaia |
 |
| Glacier Martial |
Cheap food and accommodation were challenging to find in Ushuaia, and we ended up ordering two large pizzas our first night in town. I wished I knew how to say "bottomless stomach" or "high metabolism" in response to the server's bemusement at our order. I think the staff at our hotel may have been equally bemused at our ability to empty the bread basket at breakfast every morning! We finally found a restaurant known for its large portions (El Turco) and promptly ran into someone we had met at Campamento Italiano in Torres Del Paine, that fateful rainy morning that campers collectively shared disappointment at the Valle Del Frances being closed. She works for Backroads Travel and had nearly three weeks off between leading a mountain biking trip in Bariloche and treks in El Calafate and El Chalten. Que vida! We swapped tales of our respective treks in Los Dientes (turns out we may have followed some of her footprints on the first snowy pass), and ran into her again at our hostel in El Calafate, but Jeff will tell you more about that final chapter for our adventures in Patagonia!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Los Dientes de Navarino - Part 1
Day #1
In order to do the southernmost trek in the world you first need to get to the southernmost town in the world, and Port Williams, Chile is that town. Fortunately, it is only an hour flight from the Patagonian hub of Punta Arenas. Immediately upon arriving we could not only see our goal, Los Dientes De Navarino, but were informed that a storm had just passed through and dumped some snow.
This would certainly make things a bit more interesting on this only semi-established route. In fact we weren't even sure if we would see anyone else out there. The trek had been gaining notoriety, but as a difficult trail which required navigational skills and self reliance. (The trail guide was just a series of waypoints with a description of how to get from one to the next.) We refused to be daunted and started walking the several kilometers to town when we were lucky enough to be offered a ride. In town we dropped off and picked up the remaining supplies for our adventure, and we were off. The first section was a simple walk along a gravel road to a dam and the official trailhead; check, piece of cake. Next was the climb up to Cerro Bandera, a hike that reminded me of a couple hikes in Washington state. It began with the steep "Let's do this!" attitude of Mailbox Peak (the old trail) and ended aptly with a direct alpine meadow ascent similar to the co-branded Bandera Mountain.
At the top we saw a group of four take off just ahead of us and a group of three come up behind us; maybe we wouldn't be out there alone after all.
With Cerro Bandera summited, the majority of our altitude gain was over and it was simply a traverse over and then down to our campsite along Lago Salto. At least, that is what we thought. First of all, the weather wasn't exactly good, and we had to deal with intermittent wind, rain and snow. Secondly, there wasn't a well defined trail anymore, which made the muddy/snowy/rocky slopes even more difficult to navigate.
Travel was slow and cautious at times, but we made it down to Lago Salto.
It was still raining and windy as we tried to find a sheltered dry place to set up the tent; of which there was none. Valuing dryness over wind protection we picked a flat dryish patch of dirt and used every tent stake we had to anchor our home for the evening. We cooked dinner in the vestibule and curled up in our sleeping bags soon after.
Day #2
After a windy and rainy night, we lacked the drive to jump from our cozy sleeping bags, and so we dozed until later in the morning. Still rather unmotivated to continue in the current weather conditions we debated turning back, but decided against it. There was also concern over the route description for the day, which mentioned a tricky traverse above Laguna del Paso. If it was any more difficult than what we had already done it could prove to be a very problematic section. In the end we paid heed to the immortal words of Robert Frost, and took the road less traveled. To begin with we had to walk around to the other side of the lake and climb a cascading stream. From the far side of the lake this seemed like a difficult climb, but once we got there it was just a wet steep trail.
From there we worked our way up to the snowy Paso Australia, our second highest point on our circuit at 800 meters. We were now on the heart of Los Dientes and looking over the gloriously barren Laguna del Paso. We could see the sketchy traverse from the route description, and Paso de los Dientes on the other side. It didn't look any worse than what we did the day before so we went for it.
There ended up being one section where steps needed to be kicked in the snow, but other than that the sailing was smooth.
On a clear day you see Cape Horn from Paso de los Dientes, but this most certainly was not a clear day and we continued down. We were surprised to see another hiker coming up the opposite way and we learned that he was out for 7 days and was just returning from Lago Windhond, which also seemed like a really cool place.
The remainder of the hiking that day was much simpler and we reached our destination of Laguna Escondida later that afternoon.
The rain had started up again, but the wind had died down and so we opted for a dryer tent site with less wind protection. This evening was almost an exact repeat of the of the one before, with dinner in the tent and an early bed time, but now we were confident in the path we had chosen.
In order to do the southernmost trek in the world you first need to get to the southernmost town in the world, and Port Williams, Chile is that town. Fortunately, it is only an hour flight from the Patagonian hub of Punta Arenas. Immediately upon arriving we could not only see our goal, Los Dientes De Navarino, but were informed that a storm had just passed through and dumped some snow.
 |
| Our plane and Los Dientes |
This would certainly make things a bit more interesting on this only semi-established route. In fact we weren't even sure if we would see anyone else out there. The trek had been gaining notoriety, but as a difficult trail which required navigational skills and self reliance. (The trail guide was just a series of waypoints with a description of how to get from one to the next.) We refused to be daunted and started walking the several kilometers to town when we were lucky enough to be offered a ride. In town we dropped off and picked up the remaining supplies for our adventure, and we were off. The first section was a simple walk along a gravel road to a dam and the official trailhead; check, piece of cake. Next was the climb up to Cerro Bandera, a hike that reminded me of a couple hikes in Washington state. It began with the steep "Let's do this!" attitude of Mailbox Peak (the old trail) and ended aptly with a direct alpine meadow ascent similar to the co-branded Bandera Mountain.
At the top we saw a group of four take off just ahead of us and a group of three come up behind us; maybe we wouldn't be out there alone after all.
 |
| The bandera on top of Cerro Bandera |
Travel was slow and cautious at times, but we made it down to Lago Salto.
 |
| Lago Salto |
It was still raining and windy as we tried to find a sheltered dry place to set up the tent; of which there was none. Valuing dryness over wind protection we picked a flat dryish patch of dirt and used every tent stake we had to anchor our home for the evening. We cooked dinner in the vestibule and curled up in our sleeping bags soon after.
Day #2
After a windy and rainy night, we lacked the drive to jump from our cozy sleeping bags, and so we dozed until later in the morning. Still rather unmotivated to continue in the current weather conditions we debated turning back, but decided against it. There was also concern over the route description for the day, which mentioned a tricky traverse above Laguna del Paso. If it was any more difficult than what we had already done it could prove to be a very problematic section. In the end we paid heed to the immortal words of Robert Frost, and took the road less traveled. To begin with we had to walk around to the other side of the lake and climb a cascading stream. From the far side of the lake this seemed like a difficult climb, but once we got there it was just a wet steep trail.
 |
| That's the corner of Lago Salto down there |
From there we worked our way up to the snowy Paso Australia, our second highest point on our circuit at 800 meters. We were now on the heart of Los Dientes and looking over the gloriously barren Laguna del Paso. We could see the sketchy traverse from the route description, and Paso de los Dientes on the other side. It didn't look any worse than what we did the day before so we went for it.
 |
| Laguna del Paso from Paso Australia |
There ended up being one section where steps needed to be kicked in the snow, but other than that the sailing was smooth.
On a clear day you see Cape Horn from Paso de los Dientes, but this most certainly was not a clear day and we continued down. We were surprised to see another hiker coming up the opposite way and we learned that he was out for 7 days and was just returning from Lago Windhond, which also seemed like a really cool place.
The remainder of the hiking that day was much simpler and we reached our destination of Laguna Escondida later that afternoon.
 |
| Laguna Escondida |
The rain had started up again, but the wind had died down and so we opted for a dryer tent site with less wind protection. This evening was almost an exact repeat of the of the one before, with dinner in the tent and an early bed time, but now we were confident in the path we had chosen.
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