Torres cont.

Following the bends of the milky teal glacial river, we wound through the valley, climbed over the ridge line and headed toward Lake Dickson where we would camp for the night. The hike was relaxed once out of the mosquito zone, so long as a stiff breeze kept the blood thirsty certifies at bay. No one ever talks about the mosquitoes in Patagonia--just the wind. This makes sense, because it is rare for the wind to cease, and being in the warm river valley at the one moment it stopped proved to be the only bad weather related timing we have had since we came to Patagonia. We have had weather so perfect that it is nearly impossible. I guess Bolivian llama fetus voodoo really works.



Using a zoom lens....

The gradually sloping trail from Dickson takes you to Perros where you spend a chilly night next to a smaller glacier. Crossing the river and traversing up the valley, Perros is the last campsite before crossing the mountain pass and connecting with the upper left corner of the "W" circuit. We did the "O" circuit, or rather, the full circuit of the park. This section, between Perros and over the mountain pass, is where mediocre hiking becomes fabulous. As you ascend the mountain from the valley floor, you cross in and out of the receding tree line. The trail turns to blockish sheet rock and scree which can be sketchy but is generally easy and pleasant to walk upon. Up and up you go for an hour or so and voila! You stumble across the mountain pass with a classic cairn shrine to boot. As we rounded over the peak of the mountain pass we were confronted with a vista of Glacier Gray, a mile wide and 30 miles long. The surrounding snowy mountain peaks each house several smaller glaciers which spill into Glacier Gray. The weather was perfect and clear and allowed for a rare panorama of the entire glacier from end to end. This spot is special. The clean air of this lightly tread mountain pass is, in my opinion, the best part of the entire trek. The towers were great of course, but this was so much bigger than that and the feeling of awe and disbelief for that sight is still with me.



And a slightly different shot with the wide angle....

Our last day was quite cold and the perfect weather we had all week seemed to finally take a turn. Layered in wool sweaters and down jackets, we scooted out of the camp--we were most likely the first to wake as we were up by 7 and gone by 8. Clouds obscured the towers from view, but created perfect conditions for walking and admiring the views, as the bright sun was not pounding so harshly upon the landscape. We had to cover 11 miles by lunchtime if we wanted to make the afternoon bus, so it behooved us to set out before the large clusters of tour groups clogged the trail as we were no longer in the back country.



Camping at Dickson on the peninsula on the left.

Notably, as long as you are out and about by 8 or so, you will have at least two hours of peaceful time to yourself on the trail. Tour groups leave around 9:30, and by then you will have likely left them far behind. While in the back country, we tended to sleep late and leave late as we wanted to take our time in the more peaceful sections of the park. Twelve hours of sleep each night and leaving camp by 10 or even 11 is pretty average for hikers out here, and even then, we were often the first to break camp!



Almost 1/4 of Glacier Gray from the mountain pass.