The title applies to rock formations, glaciers, and Carl's shoulders. Last week we set off on one last adventure, south to Tranquilo to check out the marble caverns there, and on to an excursion to Glacier Leones. We were sitting at the bus stop in Cerro Castillo, hopefully sticking out our thumbs until the bus arrived, when our hitching actually garnered us a ride. The small van that pulled up was already packed full of 11 people and a trunk of bags, but somehow the perky little driver fit in both our backpacks and us. Carl's neighbor was decidedly unhappy about being stuck next to a wide-shouldered gringo, while I was sandwiched in the middle of the front seat.
We stopped several times to drop off people at random farms and intersections before reaching the small town of Tranquilo about three hours later. The little city sits on the edge of Lago General Carrera, and the main street hosts a series of restaurants for travelers and small trailers advertising trips to the Capillas Marmols, the Marble Caverns. After waiting around for our guide to collect enough folks to fill the boat (everything moves slower here in Patagonia), we traipsed down to the small dock and set off down the lake.
The wind was at our backs for the 30 minute ride to the caverns, turquoise water kicked into waves and high mountains all around. The caves were formed by a combination of wave action from below and water trickling down from above, leaving fanciful arches and delicate columns that look like an abstract painting. Some of the caves were large enough for the boat to travel back into; others stretched through entire rock formations. After snapping photos and cruising along we headed back to shore. Our campsite for the night was one kilometer out of town, right by the lake, and one of our favorites so far.
Next day we caught a bus down to Bahia Catalina for our glacial excursion. Luckily the driver knew where to drop us because it wasn't a town, just a sign at the side of the road and a dirt drive heading down the hill. We hiked down to the cluster of cabins, made camp by another finger of the lake, and set our alarms for early the next morning.
Our journey out to Glacier Leones required several modes of transportation: an hour and a half drive down a rough dirt track parallel to the Rio Leones, two hours of hiking over rivers and across fields littered with huge glacial erratics to the terminal moraine that forms the edge of Lago Leones, and finally a two hour boat ride with a questionable motor up to the face of the glacier itself. Glacier Leones is fed by the Northern Patagonian Ice Field and resembles a huge river of ice flowing down and around the jagged peaks to the edge of the lake. We trolled slowly along the its face, dodging floating chunks of ice, to our lunch spot on some rocks near the side of the glacier. It was the perfect vantage point to watch pieces fracture and tumble into the water, sending out waves and creating a sound like thunder.
At first it was just chunks the size of a soft ball or a grape fruit. Then we saw a piece the size of a Volkswagon Bug tumble off, and we were pretty excited. When we saw one the size of a bus, it created a splash about 4 stories high and we thought our day was complete. But just as we were about to head toward the boat, a whole promontory of ice the size of an apartment building crumbled into the water. I'm pretty sure I let out a whoop of pure joy that was drowned out by the noise. The resulting waves swamped the rocks where our life jackets had been sitting and forced the guides to push the boats out.
It was the highlight of an incredible day, and we were fully satisfied as we began the long trek back to our tent. We got back with just enough time to cook up some dinner and fall into our sleeping bags before dark. The next day we lucked out and caught a ride to Cerro Castillo with a very friendly surveyor who was working on the road to Guadal. We made it back in record time and even got dropped off right on Mary and Cristian's doorstep. Our last adventure in Chile was an official success.
We stopped several times to drop off people at random farms and intersections before reaching the small town of Tranquilo about three hours later. The little city sits on the edge of Lago General Carrera, and the main street hosts a series of restaurants for travelers and small trailers advertising trips to the Capillas Marmols, the Marble Caverns. After waiting around for our guide to collect enough folks to fill the boat (everything moves slower here in Patagonia), we traipsed down to the small dock and set off down the lake.
The wind was at our backs for the 30 minute ride to the caverns, turquoise water kicked into waves and high mountains all around. The caves were formed by a combination of wave action from below and water trickling down from above, leaving fanciful arches and delicate columns that look like an abstract painting. Some of the caves were large enough for the boat to travel back into; others stretched through entire rock formations. After snapping photos and cruising along we headed back to shore. Our campsite for the night was one kilometer out of town, right by the lake, and one of our favorites so far.
Next day we caught a bus down to Bahia Catalina for our glacial excursion. Luckily the driver knew where to drop us because it wasn't a town, just a sign at the side of the road and a dirt drive heading down the hill. We hiked down to the cluster of cabins, made camp by another finger of the lake, and set our alarms for early the next morning.
Our journey out to Glacier Leones required several modes of transportation: an hour and a half drive down a rough dirt track parallel to the Rio Leones, two hours of hiking over rivers and across fields littered with huge glacial erratics to the terminal moraine that forms the edge of Lago Leones, and finally a two hour boat ride with a questionable motor up to the face of the glacier itself. Glacier Leones is fed by the Northern Patagonian Ice Field and resembles a huge river of ice flowing down and around the jagged peaks to the edge of the lake. We trolled slowly along the its face, dodging floating chunks of ice, to our lunch spot on some rocks near the side of the glacier. It was the perfect vantage point to watch pieces fracture and tumble into the water, sending out waves and creating a sound like thunder.
At first it was just chunks the size of a soft ball or a grape fruit. Then we saw a piece the size of a Volkswagon Bug tumble off, and we were pretty excited. When we saw one the size of a bus, it created a splash about 4 stories high and we thought our day was complete. But just as we were about to head toward the boat, a whole promontory of ice the size of an apartment building crumbled into the water. I'm pretty sure I let out a whoop of pure joy that was drowned out by the noise. The resulting waves swamped the rocks where our life jackets had been sitting and forced the guides to push the boats out.
It was the highlight of an incredible day, and we were fully satisfied as we began the long trek back to our tent. We got back with just enough time to cook up some dinner and fall into our sleeping bags before dark. The next day we lucked out and caught a ride to Cerro Castillo with a very friendly surveyor who was working on the road to Guadal. We made it back in record time and even got dropped off right on Mary and Cristian's doorstep. Our last adventure in Chile was an official success.
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