March 26, 2023, from the Itinerary:
Hike 1:Aonikenk - half day. We travel by van to the eastern sector of the park, where we hike, exploring the wildlife. During the walk, we visit a cave with paintings that are over 4,000 years old. We can observe geese, ducks and swans in the lagoons that are on the way. The terrain has various ascents and descents without steep slopes. Return by van. 4.7 miles and 994 elevation gain.
Hike 2 - Nordenskjold - half day. We travel by van to Salto Grande and begin our hike with views of the Salto Grande and its hanging glaciers. Then, we reach the turquoise waters of Lake Nordenskjold, at the foot of the massif where the sound of breaking ice can occasionally be heard. We return to the lodge by van. 3.9 miles and 436 feet elevation gain.
Up at 6am for breakfast at 6:30 and meeting at 7:15. We hiked with Hans and Gloria who were from St. Louis and seemingly oblivious to being late. It was a very slow hike, but the pace was ok as it gave us time to spend more time looking at the scenery. Our guide was Nacho who was about 40 and one of the senior guides. Our driver was Jorge who is married to a Brazilian and he spoke Portuguese with me.
We saw a rainbow as we started out and up a gradual uphill to "the couch"
which is where the Indians wintered and we found some level 1 (black and white) and level 2 (color) petroglyphs made by the Aonikenk Indians. Unfortunately, the glyphs are quite degraded, but still visible in some form.
We stopped there for a Bailey's and coffee!
After the cave we came down the hill and saw a herd of guanaco thinking we might see a puma, but no luck. Only the leftovers....
Back to the hotel for lunch - soup and salad - and a choux and a rest before Nordenskjold.
We thought the weather would deteriorate, but were lucky that there was only high wind and some drizzle. Our guide this afternoon was Raul and driver was Jorge, as this morning. The path went over to a very pretty waterfall.
On to the Nordenskjold Lake and pretty views of the Massif.
Just before leaving we were visited by a Chimango Caracara who was looking for handouts.
Back to the Explora and time for a shower and rest before dinner. We had a drink and planned tomorrow's hike. Dinner was guanaco cerviche and gnocchi with fruit for desert followed by another Bailey's coffee.
Back to drop into bed. The wind dropped and gnats were annoying so we had to shut the window.
Commentaires