An early start today for a long hike, and an attempt to miss some of the “traffic” caused by the many people making the same trek; breakfast at 6:30 and ready to roll at 7AM. We drove 30 minutes to the trail head, and had some breathtaking views of the mountain range that we would see closer up as our hike continued. We drove along the Rio Vueltas to the Hosteria El Pilar, and began our walk on private land through a lovely forest with a fairly easy-on-the-feet terrain. We were walking alongside the Rio Blanca.
The path climbed slowly, but with good terrain and several spots for photos and beautiful vistas. The first was Mirador Piedras Blancas overlooking the Glacier Peidras Blancas. As we snapped our photos, a huge chunk of snow/ice rumbled down the side — sounding like thunder. Demonstrating the power of nature. The quiet of the forest walk allowed us to hear birds, and we were lucky to find a family of Magellenic Woodpeckers — the female almost all black with a white stripe, a young male with a head just turning the deep red of an adult male, and then finally, dad — posing for us on a nearby tree. They are almost a foot in height — quite a bit larger than those that we are accustomed to in North America. We continued on, still climbing, reaching a campground called Poincenot next to the river. After several miles of no people and the quiet of the forest, it was surprising to see dozens of tents.
We crossed the river and then headed up the most strenuous section of the day’s hike. It was only about 1km, but the elevation gained was 1,200 feet — almost straight up. It was all rocks and boulders, and in some spots they were placed like steps which made it a bit easier. Nonetheless that’s an incredibly steep hill! It took about an hour at a slow pace for about half of us, and quicker for others. At the top was Laguna de los Tres, a beautiful glacier lake, and a view of mount Fitz Roy and three glaciers. Directly in front was the De los tres glacier, to the left the Dirty Glacier (soucio glaciar), and from the top and curving around the back of the nearest peak was the top/beginning of the Piedras Blanca Glacier that we’d seen from the earlier viewpoint. We took one final trip down that peak to one just to the left of the lake, and then climbed to the top to see yet another lagoon/lake wedged between the mountains. We could just make out some climbers on the trails and on the glacier across the lakes — brave souls undertaking big climbs. We had lunch on the top of that peak, and then began the tricky trip down the same trail that we’d climbed — now descending 1,200 feet in just about 1km. And by now there were many people making the trip up the hill, so it was slow going, as we had to give the right of way to those climbing up. And it was hard on the knees and toes. A tough section.
Once down, we took a different trail leading directly to town, which was about 6 miles. It was mostly downhill, and much of it through forest, and with a different view when we’d look back at the mountain range. We came to Laguna Capri, a lake with a beach and sat to rest. It took awhile to get down after all the elevation gain; we kept coming across glorious vistas and being surprised by how high we still were after more than 2 hours hiking. Eventually we made it into town, and walked straight to our hotel. Taking off the boots was such a pleasure! After a rest we walked into town for dinner and then back to rest our weary bones.
