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One day after trekking around the Torre Glacier, we planned to reach Laguna de los Tres. As we were somewhat tired, we resolved to do the simplest tour: instead of going up through Capri Lagoon, we took the less demanding and shorter road, which starts at El Pilar Inn.
Raúl, from Transporte Las Lengas, offered to take us down to El Pilar. Thus, we were ready to start the trek at 9 in the morning. Though we were going on our own, we came across many people on the well signposted trail, where it is very difficult to get lost. The trail borders the Blanco River and gets deep into a magnificent lenga forest which invites trekkers to make a stop every now and then in order to behold the scenery. |
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After having covered quite a stretch of the tour, we spotted the Piedras Blancas Glacier, a beautiful snowdrift standing between the mountains over the lagoon bearing the same name. But as soon as we were close to the vantage point, the sky had clouded over and it was beginning to drizzle. All the peaks were hidden behind a thick curtain of water. We continued walking aware that the weather would get worse and that we still had a long distance to go before we reached the lagoon.
On the Path
As we left the Pointcenot base camp and the sheltering lenga forest behind, at over 1,000 m.a.s.l., the shrub vegetation would no longer stop the wind or the sleet. After crossing the harsh loneliness of the landscape for a while, we were glad to see the wooden bridge over the Blanco River, because we knew that the climbers' camp was close. |
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There were several people at the small wooden refuge waiting for the weather conditions to change. We shared some mate, cereal bars, fruit and cookies with some Spanish mountaineers who had been waiting for the weather to change for several days in order to climb the Fitz Roy. “Who knows, maybe we can climb tomorrow”, they said hopefully as we bid our goodbye in order to keep on hiking. We were willing to see the lagoon, even if it would turn out to be impossible to watch the massif.
And we went up the never-ending steep slope with that tenacity. The gusts of wind and sleet became stronger at each step. We were very careful to watch the ground below us, with its loose rocks and mud. We finally reached our goal: Laguna de los Tres, which shows off its turquoise shades on sunny days. Today, it was featuring an ashy blue and everything around it was wrapped in a thick cloud. Though we could not appreciate the impressive view of the mountains around it, we were overwhelmed to be standing between the cold and the rain in a place where nature rules in such a way that it makes us reflect, halt and look beyond. |
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It was under this impression that we started to return slowly. In the distance, the Madre (Mother) and Hija (Daughter) Lagoons could be watched. We continued our way downhill towards the Capri Lagoon in order to return to town through a different path.
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Contact:
Transporte Las Lengas
Viedma 95
(9301) El Chaltén - Santa Cruz
Tel/Fax: +54 (2962) 49-3023 / 3227
E-mail
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Karina Jozami 
