Woodpecker Experience

March 31. From our itinerary: Valle electrico -rated moderate - We walk from the lodge to enter a forest of lenga and nirre trees, with the company of native birds in their habitat. The splashing of the Electrico River will follow along faithfully during the entire exploration, as we enjoy the contrasting views offered by the valley's glaciers and hills.

Laguna Azul - rated easy - 708 feet elevation gain, 3.4 miles. We hike from the lodge crossing a lenga and nirre forest, watching different types of birds and huemul deer tracks. We hike up to the Azul Lagoon, a water reserve that will reveal what has happened there. Different water birds will follow along.

Weather - sunny and breezy.

Breakfast was amazing - so many things to try and many of them sweet. Highlights - cheesebread, little 'mille feuille' type of pasteries,

Just after sitting down we had to go outside and see the sunrise which was beautiful

We met at 8:30 and our guide was Matheus for both hikes. First lesson, don't hike on a breakfast of rich food - felt like a lump in my stomach for the first hour or so. The forests are a nice change from Torres - old lenga trees and their leaves are beautiful with the season change.

The big sighting for the day was a family of woodpeckers that we could hear communicating (volume up). We stopped for about 10 minutes to watch and film them.

Towards the end of the walk we came out of the forest, crossing several rivers and up a small hill where we could see the Electrico Glacier. This is where we stopped for tea and a cookie before returning for lunch.

Total mileage for this hike from my watch (which kept insisting I was paused when I wasn't) is 7 miles with 559 feet elevation gain. Towards the end I was almost in a trance as I hiked along following the guide's footsteps, listening to the rushing river alongside us, finding myself falling asleep while I was walking.

Lunchtime and I think we were the only people who ate lunch in the hotel this day. There were so many interesting things for lunch. The home made sourdough bread was amazing. They had local trout in a green salad, fried potatoes, black bean salad, chicken, quiche with spinach and chard, and Girgola de los antigos fried mushrooms and vegetable soup served with cheese and an egg. For desert was peaches in their own sauce and whipped cream. I had some of the whipped cream in my coffee and a glass of local desert wine which was amazing (and I don't drink wine)

Hike 2 - Lake Azul. Lesson number 2 - don't hike after a big lunch. We saw several tree runner birds. The weather again cooperated and it was a fairly easy hike, up about 3 miles with about 700 feet of elevation gain.

The lake was very pretty and blue. The changing leaves that fell into the lake added a nice accent. We hiked a bit further to green lake - it looked just as the name.

The blue lake water left via a very picturesque waterfall which fell down the steep descent which we were glad we didn't have to walk up. A lot of switchbacks down to the place where the van picked us up for the 15 minute drive back to the hotel. Coming in we saw this moth and a lovely view.

We had a free voucher for a massage which both Chris and I took after the day of hiking - it was a really good one. My neck was so tight - almost frozen - she couldn't unlock all of it, but at least it was a bit better at the end.

We prepared for our expedition for tomorrow and had a drink. The drink of the day was fruit, gingerale, vodka - pretty tasty, but too sweet for me. Dinner was too good - we tried everything on the menu - chicken, roasted cabbage, cheese ravioli, shepherd's pie. Chris had rasberry sorbet for desert and I had desert wine again. (no photos:)

Slept really well!