March 27 from the itinerary: Glaciar Grey - full day 12.4 km/7.7 miles. Elevation gain 1765. We cross the Pehoe Lake by catamaran to the Paine Grande refuge to cross one of the stretches of the renowned W circuit. Around the midpoint of the hike, we can see the Grey Glacier and the Southern Ice Fields. We continue walking to the beach of Grey Lake where we board a boat that brings us to the glacier and then leaves us on the other side of the lake. We walk along the beach and through a forest to the van.
I guess I should be concerned that my spot device (left photo) wasn't able to track me in the rain. Thank goodness I didn't need to use the SOS button. The hiking route is on the right. Then we took a boat to see the glacier and back to the vans - this is the hashed line in the photo on the left.
The day started really early and it was very dark when we had to pull ourselves from bed. Breakfast started at 6:30 and we had to be ready to go by 7:05. There were two other ladies on our tour who, it turned out, had just married a few years ago and were on their honeymoon. Rain was scheduled for the day and it was cold. Both ladies showed up in light hiking boots, no rain gear, no hat or gloves. More on that later. We were on the dock in front of the hotel for our 7:15am catamaran boat trip to the other side of the lake and refuge bathroom stop before starting the hike.
The trip across the lake was uneventful and the rain had abated somewhat by the time we started out. Cata was our guide and the walk began through a valley with large stones on the path. The pace felt a bit like a fast march and I asked we slow it down so we could actually look around. I was told we had to move along because we had to be at the boat dock by 1:30 or walk back. You can imagine what my response was which wasn't appreciated by the others on the hike (I'll walk back because I'm not running to catch the boat).
Anyway, the pace slowed as we walked over the saddle to the first view of one of the lakes. The clouds limited the view and it was still raining meaning most of the trail was getting wetter by the minute.
The trail was 'rolling', so lots of ups and downs, but nothing too dramatic. There were several nice views of the lakes and waterfalls.
About half way through we were able to see Gray's Lake with smallish ice bergs floating along. They were very blue in color. You could also see the glaciers in the distance.
The rain continued and got stronger. The wind started to come up during the last third of the hike and I was sure that soon we would have snow, or at least sleet. There were lots of puddles along the trail. Remember those two ladies? They were soaked. The guide didn't have a hat on and she was soaked. The guide didn't have proper shoes on either. One of the ladies was so cold she started to walk through the puddles. She even gave her poles to her friend so she could put her hands in her pockets - bad idea since there was some minor rock scrambling along the way. A disaster waiting to happen.
No pictures here....
Chris offered her his gloves (which I was against) and finally the guide offered her gloves. Luckily the other lady was given a pair of rain pants, but the first lady was so drenched you could see through everything she had on. The race was on to get to the refuge before hyperthermia set in. Needless to say, we did get to the boat in plenty of time.
Still no pictures here....
Cata was able to negotiate lunch inside the refuge and out of the rain. Stupidly I put my dry clothes on top of my wet clothes and soon I was asking Chris for his extra coat which he already gave to the other lady. Luckily Chris had another dry fleece which I did put on after taking off my wet tops - much better.
Amazingly just as we got to inside the refuge the rain stopped....figures.
Lunch was a vegetarian sandwich with cold meats (procuitto). The soup really hit the spot. Then a Bailey's coffee to take the chill off.
We waddled down to the beach and picked up the boat. It was a rather large catamaran which motored up to the beach and let down a ladder which we had to climb up. Imagine about 30 soaked people fighting to get on the boat and into the dry.
Anyway, we finally got on the boat and found a seat (together) for our 90 minute journey around Grey Lake to see the three glaciers. This was actually really interesting and there was a big chunk of ice on the aft. These glaciers were much bluer than others I've seen. Unfortunately, the same scenario of shrinking glaciers always make the experiences of seeing them bitter sweet. The second highlight was free pisco sours and califante sours.
Purely by chance I got a photo of the glacier calving
We finally got warm and made it to the beach. The same disembarkation scenario and a mile walk along a windy, freezing, stony beach. There was really no guidance to where we were to go at the end of the beach and I was in no mood to retrace my steps. Luckily we ended up in the right place for another uphill to the van parking.
It was FABULOUS to get out of our wet clothes and into a hot shower. Several alcoholic drinks were consumed. Later on we saw the two ladies who seemed no worse for wear. At least they thanked Chris for the clothing loan.
Dinner was beet soup and beef carpaccio for starters, followed by fish (Chris) and a salad (me) and chocolate mouse (Chris) and a crepe filled with Dulce de leche (me)
The sun sets....
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