Another trekking day.
I first went to the panoramic viewpoint (Loma del Pilegue Tumbado).
There was no one on the trail. I was the only person there.
Eventually, I saw a couple but that’s all. It was a very quiet place. The view wasn’t spectacular – only some trees and short grass. I started to get bored.
I decided to go back and start the Laguna Torre trek. I saw a traveller on my way back. Finally! One traveller! I talked to him and he suggested that I go to Torre too. He thought that was the second best after the Fitz Roy trek which I did yesterday. I was glad I did the best yesterday.
It was 2:45pm. So I quickly went to Laguna Torre. I started the trek at 3:20pm. Not long after that, it started to drizzle. I saw the rain clouds. The glacier was covered by the clouds so I couldn’t see the glacier.
A couple of travellers told me I was going towards the rain and the clouds and they said I needed a jacket as it was very windy. I said to them ‘when I reached there, there wouldn’t be any rain or clouds’. So optimistic. 😉
I only saw people coming back from the lake. Two girls (teenagers) told me they decided to go back because of the weather. They said I had one more hour to go.
I quickly ran to the lake. As I was running, a little girl stopped and asked me why I did that (in Spanish). Her father translated it to English. I told them because I wanted to go to the lake quickly. The father said I could make it and he wished that I could reach there at 6pm. I was afraid that it would get dark when I went back but the kids said it’d get dark at 10pm. That was so cute.
I made it! That was before 6pm. The lake was behind some mounds. As I was wandering around the place trying to look for the right path, I saw a lady. She told me I was only 1 metre away from the lake. She said, ‘turn right and then left, then you will see it.’ I probably still looked a bit confused so she said, ‘I can go with you if you want’. ‘Yes, please!’ I said yes. She was Argentinian. She came here by herself. She camped here.
When I saw the lake, I nearly screamed. It was spectacular. Because of the strong wind, there were waves in the lake. It was true. It was very very windy and the cloudy. The clouds covered mount Torre. But I didn’t put my jacket on. I wanted to feel the wind and let it blow away my sweat. The lady helped me to take a few photos for me. After that, I turned around and saw the sun coming out. I shouted with joy! I hugged the lady. She asked me if I wanted to sit down for a while. At first I said no as I wanted to come back to town before it got dark. But I changed my mind after seeing the sun.
The lady said it would take around 10 mins to clear. So I waited and sat there with her for ten minutes.
Just as she said, at 6:10pm, exactly 10 mins, the clouds went away. We saw everything. The mountain top and the glacier. The glacier was so blue when it was in the sun! Ah!! I thanked her so many times. She said because the clouds weren’t really big and because of the wind, she predicted that they would go away in ten minutes. She was right! (When I read my journal now, she sounds like an angel.)
We sat and talked and looked at the view – how it changed from a cloudy sky to a clear sky.
I looked at my watch. It was time for me to go. She said ‘you should be fine. Don’t worry.’ She also reminded me to look back on my way to town as the sunset would be great.
I walked and I turned back a few times to take photos. Yes. The sunset was good. There was no one on the path but I felt great.
I came back to town and interestingly I saw Marie and Travis again. They were dining in a restaurant. I was walking past that restaurant thinking I might eat there instead of cooking because I was really tired. That’s why I saw Marie waving to me. Otherwise, I would have missed her. I joined them for dinner. They looked at the photos on my camera and then played with my camera and took some photos. It was so funny. They loved my camera.
It was really a tiring day for me.
Tomorrow would be another day. Otra dia!
El Calafate! 🙂
22 January 2013
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