Day 3 was spent hiking up the valley to a Mirador. For some reason, this day felt really long. I think it's because we split our hikes into to parts. In the morning we were sans backpack (light as a feather!) and chugged up the mountain. We got our first glimpse at the glacier. You know how in the Alaska cruise line ads, the glaciers are always bright blue and sparkling? Well, I thought this was just crafty advertising and touching up. While I'm sure that's partly true, glaciers really are icy blue and sparkly! It's hard to capture on camera but they stand out like icy gems on the mountain.
The terrain was varied throughout the hike. We climbed rocks for awhile, crossed rushing rivers, tromped through woods and finally made it to a clearing of dead trees. It was starkly different from the rest of the landscape. Wonder what happened here...
One of our only group shots. These are my fellow Conce pals. Amy, Jen and Sara.
We made it to the top!
Throughout the week, I took a bunch of pictures through my sunglasses lens. I think it look cool. I was a bit off on this one..
The camera doesn't do it justice--if you look closely, you can see the icy blue glacier ice.
After a brief lunch of PB & J on tortillas, we started hike # 2. This time with all of our stuff. My turn to carry the tent. Definitely felt the difference. On this bridge, only one is allowed to pass at a time. Interestingly, the sign is in English. Guess they had to make sure the gringos understood..
After a couple hours frolicking through the meadow and singing Sound of Music, we arrived at Lago Pehoe, the site of the Paine Grande Lodge and people with lots of dinero. Luckily, they also have an inexpensive paid camping site. Hot water and beers available! We definitely weren't suffering too much on the trip!
I didn't love this campsite as much as the others, mostly due to the amount of people and it felt too exposed (to people and wind). But the view was spectacular.
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