1 January 2010

Picture of the day: looking down into a glacial crevice.

Ice trekking

Because spending 3 days hauling around a 35-pound pack around the base of Fitz Roy didn't give us enough mountaineering cred, we decided to do an ice trek on our fourth day.

Obviously.

Our guide met us at the base camp at 10:00 am, and we spent the next 5 hours walking to a nearby glaciar, strapping on crampons, and walking around on the ice. It was (in Allison's opinion) totally terrifying, and also (in both of our opinions) very exhilarating.

Allison, climbing through a hole in the ice on the glaciar. Note the crampons on the feet.

We also got the chance to try our hand at ice climbing. Necessary equipment: crampons, 2 ice axes, and a good helmet. We're both actually pretty decent at it! Too bad there aren't more glaciars for us to climb in DC.

Jacob climbing the ice wall.

We then ended our day by going back to camp, packing up the tent, and hauling our gear 3 hours back to El Chaltén. After a quick shower, it was time for a fancy New Years Eve dinner, a bottle of wine, and too much champagne. I think we clearly earned it.

31 December 2009

Picture of the day: walking through the lenga forest.

29 December 2009

Picture of the day: Cerro Fitz Roy and Poincenot rising above the Lago de los Tres.

Long walk up a very big mountain, but totally worth it.

30 December 2009

Picture of the day: Lago Sucio--the bluest lake I've ever seen--with Fitz Roy in back.

The climb up to this lake was more of a rock scramble, but we were rewarded with a peaceful lake with no one else around. (We later found out that the trail to this lake has been closed for a year or two. No wonder we were all alone!)

28 December 2009

Picture of the day: the bridge over Río Electrico at the start of our trek.

ALIVE

Well, we survived our first trek in Patagonia, in the Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. (Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like: the national park of the glaciars. The park straddles the Hielo Sur, an enormous ice field that stretches for hundreds of kilometers north to south, and glaciars spill out of the ice field into lakes and streams.) It got pretty cold but we still have all our fingers and toes. We also were pretty lucky with the weather-- it was snowing (!!) when we left, which wasn't promising, but for two of the four days we had sun and clear views of the mountains. Many beautiful pictures to come over the next few days.

The trail leading to Piedra de Fraile, where we spent our first night.

Looking up the river towards Lago Electrico. If you go all the way up the valley, you can walk onto the glaciar and up onto the Hielo Sur. We saw a few people heading out with packs and sleds to spend a few days trekking on the ice--made us feel like amateurs!