A Little Rain in Torres del Paine

Knowing we had logged 22km up to French Valley yesterday, we decided to take it a little easy today, and scheduled an 8km to Sarmiento Lake.......sorry......Lago Sarmiento, and when we woke up to our first daytime rain of the trip, it seemed like a good choice.  So with our new friends James and Julie from Toronto whom we hiked with yesterday, we were on our way.  Sarmiento is not a glacial lake like so many here, so it relies solely on rainfall and runoff to exist, and over the years it has supported microbial activity, which in turn produces a calcium carbonate deposit, or fossilized remains of the microbes around its shore as the level of the lake drops over time.  Way to scientific for me, but it sure looks pretty.......the entire lake is ringed with this whitish calcium deposit giving it a very distinctive look.


James, Julie, J&H


Water levels dating back thousands of years



A sentinel guanaco.......lots to come on guanaco's




Pretty much socked in, but still a great and beautiful hike

Following a great hotel lunch, we were off to the stables where head gaucho Silvio was prepared for our group.......beautiful trail ride before heading home for the evening.......

Silvio making sure I don't do anything stupid and fall of the cliff

Big views from up top

Always the horse lover



A little waterfall we pass almost daily.......a connector between two lakes







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Day, Out to Play, on Chiloe

Image
Our hotel is a very different place, and although it offers all the services you would expect, there are many other things going on here.........we overlook a large shallow bay which empties and fills with the tides each day......it is a popular wetland for many bird species, but we are most interested in the black necked swans........beautiful.  We also discovered there is a boat owned by the hotel......the "Williche"...... which we hope to take a cruise on in the next couple of days......sea kayaks are available for cruising the bay, but most of all this place has a very cool, zen like, vibe........a lot like me.  All the common/dining areas, and all the guest rooms have full view filled windows overlooking the bay. Jutta on the dock of the bay The Williche Mussel and clam farms in the distance Our excursion today was to one of the neighbouring islands and the first step was to catch the ferry in Dalcahue........the ferries run all day long and is...
Read more

The Falkland Islands

Image
Needless to say, Jutta and I have been back for a couple of weeks now, but felt I should finish the blog, for the sake of my own memory, as much as for the many of you who are just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for these last few pages covering the Antarctic cruise portion of the trip, so here we go. Our route The embarkation process was very well organized except for one late bus.....ours......taking us from the hotel in Ushuaia down to the the port.  We were only a few minutes late however, and as a result, I had the honour of being the last person to board the ship before the gangway was lifted and we were underway.  Saved the best for last.  Our cabin was good sized on one of the two upper decks, had a nice little balcony which came in very handy as the trip progressed, and we were right next door to the bridge, just in case the captain needed to call on me for advice.  The washroom was as small as I thought it would be, and with one look at the ...
Read more

Santiago You Gotta Go

Image
We were sorry to leave the desert we enjoyed so much, but this morning we jumped in the van, and were dropped at Calama airport for our flight to Santiago.  This will be our fifth time passing through the city, but we intend to stay a couple of days this time and do some exploring.  Our flight was a piece of cake, and we now have the bag packing down to a fine art, keeping the main suitcase below 23kg and stuffing the carry-on with all the heavy shit........this of course has resulted in an oversized backpack which I hide until boarding starts.......what a fiasco, but we are making it work.  We are also losing Sam in Santiago......she heads back to Toronto later this evening.......we have had a great trip. Our hotel is centrally located, and we are having a blast in the surrounding neighbourhood.  Vendors/artisans/artists line the street around the corner from the hotel......there are street performers and musicians every afternoon that are quite entertaining...
Read more