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Published: January 30th 2006
Day 5 - Laguna Capri
On the walk out the weather was nice enough for a refreshing dip of the toes in the freezing cold waters of Laguna CapriJames and I are back safe and sound from our second major attempt at trekking in Patagonia. Again it was very succesful and we got to enjoy some top views along the way.
The terrain was easier than last time with much less climbing to be done, but the notoriously fickle Patagonian weather made sure that the trek was never easy, with lashings of wind and rain to keep us on our toes!!
A quick summary and some piccies follows:
Day 1 - I hadn´t been feeling all that well in the run up to this trek so I found the quite gentle first day´s walk to Laguna Torre quite tough and was glad to reach camp.
One thing I hadn´t mentioned about the previous trek - possibly because I had attempted to blank the painful memory from my mind - was the absolutely shocking quality of the camping stove that we had invested in, and ironically dubbed "the inferno". On the Circuito Chico, "the inferno" took over an hour to boil a litre of water, and was able to prepare a meal for four in a slightly glacial time of 2 and a half hours. This
Day 1 - Cerro Torre and Glaciar Torre
Evening views of Laguna Torre and the 3102m Cerro Torre stove was promptly binned and we invested in something better. We brought the "inferno, mark two" out for its first run and within 15 minutes we had a litre of scalding water - what joy!!! That evening I think we mainly just boiled water for fun - simply because we could.
In between the over zealous water boiling we somehow found time to visit Laguna Torre (the reason we had trekked to this point!!!), a glacial lake fed by Glaciar Torre, and having the almost vertical granite towers of Cerro Torre in the background. These are apparently one of the most sought after prizes in mountaineering, the tallest is over 3000 metres and they are pretty spectacluar to see.
Day 2 - In the morning we took a side trip which sidled around Laguna Torre to a viewpoint which gave spectacular close up views of Glacier Torre and Cerro Torre. It definately did the job with the views of the glacier, but unfortunately Cerro Torre was swathed in cloud and we were unable to see anything.
The afternoon was spent trekking to Campamento Poincenot, where we would spend the night. The weather was warm with beautiful blue
Day 2 - Glaciar Torre
Close up view of Glaciar Torre from the viewpoint I visited in the morning. skies, if a mite on the blustery side. Along the way we were able to stop at a viewpoint to get great views of the other major peak we had come to see Monte Fitz Roy (3405m).
That night will be held in mine and James´memory as the Great "Bitty" Storm of 2006. The wind had been very strong all day but in the evening it picked up to gale force preportions, slinging dust, tiny bits of debris and the old small child around the campsite quicte viciously. Coupled with the fact that I decided to brew up a hot drink with the tent door open and our tent had soon been invaded.
I had worried about whether our tent would survive as this was its first major test, but the biggest threat came not from the wind but from a blundering German tourist who mission it seemed to be to go stomping round the campsite tripping over people´s guy-ropes. Unfortunately, he was pitched up next to us and so most of his fine work was directed at us, and lo and behold on about the third time he tripped over one of our guy´s he ripped it
Day 2 - Monte Fitz Roy
Our first, blustery glimpse of Monte Fitz Roy off the tent - grrrrr!!!
Day 3 - This morning we had planned a pre-dawn walk to the Laguna de Los Tres to watch the sunrise, but when we woke up at 5 a.m. it was hammering down with rain - so we replaced that plan with a much better one - to sleep!!!
In the afternoon we walked to the next campsite, enjoying a scenic lunch stop on a side trip in front of the Glacier Piedtras Blancas.
Luckily this campsite had a small hut with a wood stove which we were able to warm both ourselves and our clothes on - resulto!!
Day 4 - On paper this seemed an easy day, simply retrace our steps to Campamento Poincenot, so that the next morning we would be ready to have a go at the Laguna de Los Tres side trip come rain or shine. Well, the weather had other ideas!!! The driving rain and howling rain made the walk a lot more exciting, and it had rained so much in the past 24 hours that the rock-hopping river crossing we had employed to ford a river next to Glaciar Piedtras Blancas was now a
Day 3 - Glaciar Pietras Blancas
Took our lunch in front of this glaciar on day 3. We also got to see it in the pouring rain the next day when we were trying desparately to cross the river that this lake feeds!!! foot underwater and the river was a much angrier flow of ice cold river!! Eventually we found the most suitable crossing point we could - but even this involved a lot of pretty hairy rock-hopping and shimmying up a giant boulder which I had to do on my belly after losing my footing!!! Overall, it was an incredibly exciting and exhillirating day and we made camp exhausted!!!
Day 5 - We had finally got lucky with the weather, and our 5.30 am alarm call was greated with clear skis for the tough hour or so´s stomp up the the Laguna de Los Tres, an outstanding viewpoint for Monte Fitz Roy. On the trek up we were witness to a stunning blood red sunrise which was spectacular to watch and a real bonus.
The view of Monte Fitz Roy itself was stunning, I´ll try and let the picture do the talking. Suffice to say the top of Fitz Roy is over 2000 metres above the Lake which the photo is taken from!
The weather stayed sunny for the rest of the day, which made the walk back to El Chalten a very pleasant one. Our final lunch stop
Day 5 - Laguna De Los Tres
The pre-dawn start was worth it when we arrived at the viewpoint. was taken on a beach at Laguna Capri, where we got our final views back towards Fitz Roy.
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sara - your amazing sister
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want u to look like u have friends
Hey bro - thought it was a bit sad no one had made a comment on ur amazing 'blog' so thought i'd be the first and hopefully start a trend so u dont get too lonely out there! Sounds like you're having an absolutely fantastic time - keep up the good work with the pictures - its great to see what u look like every so often - its been a while and i wouldn't want to forget! hehe! as if i would. Anyways - take care, have fun and stay safe!