Friday, March 6We awoke in the dark this morning to get an early start on our marathon day of hiking. 12 hours of trails, peaks and valleys lay ahead of us and we wanted to knock off as much as possible before lunch time. We said good-bye to Las Torres and made our way back down the valley we had hiked up the day before. The winds disappeared and we were able to enjoy the scenery a bit more as the sun came up over the hills at the mouth of the valley. This was the second consecutive day I saw the sunrise, and, to be honest, I hope it is the last in a long time. There is nothing about the sunrise that excites me or expands my capacity to appreciate nature. Sunsets are just fine for me.
We made the turn along the bottom part of the “W” towards the middle section of Valley Frances. The reasoning behind our ambitious hike today was the relatively flat terrain between the Torres Valley and Valley Frances. We were able to cover a lot of ground without dolling out too much punishment to our bodies. While hiking through the grassy planes between valleys we ran into a herd of wild horses. They were about 20 strong and 
were directly in the middle of our path. We had no choice but to bob and weave our way through the herd trying not to spook any into giving out a swift kick to the chops. One thing I have to mention was the monstrous fart one horse let out while we were passing through. I try to hold my blog to a higher standard, but that was far to impressive to leave out. This horse literally farted for 45 seconds straight. And it wasn’t a little squeaker, this was a serious whoopi cushion of a fart for a length never before heard by man. Kudos to that horse.
were directly in the middle of our path. We had no choice but to bob and weave our way through the herd trying not to spook any into giving out a swift kick to the chops. One thing I have to mention was the monstrous fart one horse let out while we were passing through. I try to hold my blog to a higher standard, but that was far to impressive to leave out. This horse literally farted for 45 seconds straight. And it wasn’t a little squeaker, this was a serious whoopi cushion of a fart for a length never before heard by man. Kudos to that horse.After about 6+ hours of hiking we made it to Campamento Italiano at the base of Valley Frances. Daniel and I felt right at home. Unfortunately, the camp was closed to prevent over crowding, but we heard rumors that if you arrive by nightfall you can still setup camp. So we dropped our packs at the campsite to reduce our weight and had another quick lunch of peanut butter and Nutella. The hike up Valley Frances was breathtaking. It was basically straight up for 3 hours. 
On the left, across the river cutting through the valley, was a massive rock face covered in snow with a miniature glacier parked at the base. We were hiking parallel to the mountain for no longer than 30 minutes when we heard a thunderous boom from above. An avalanche had started and was crashing down the rocky face. It was amazing. None of us had seen a live avalanche before, and that was no the only one. For the next two hours we were graced by the thunderous crack of 5 avalanches falling onto the glacier base below. We couldn’t have been more fortunate.
On the left, across the river cutting through the valley, was a massive rock face covered in snow with a miniature glacier parked at the base. We were hiking parallel to the mountain for no longer than 30 minutes when we heard a thunderous boom from above. An avalanche had started and was crashing down the rocky face. It was amazing. None of us had seen a live avalanche before, and that was no the only one. For the next two hours we were graced by the thunderous crack of 5 avalanches falling onto the glacier base below. We couldn’t have been more fortunate.Oddly enough Valley Frances had completely different climates on each side of the river. On the left side was the towering mountain cover in snow and ice with ice mushrooms at the summit. We later learned that this peak was Torres Principal and was so high that water vapor froze on contact with the rock creating ice mushrooms. On the right side was dense forest that rose up into the rocky outcrops of Los Cuernos and the rear side of Las Torres. There was no snow to be had on the entire right side despite the snow covered peaks no more than 500 meters away on the left. Absolutely amazing.
We finally made it to the top of Valley Frances as we climbed to the top of a rocky outcrop designated as the mirador. At the top of the rock we were surrounded by a 360 degree amphitheatre of granite towers, rocky peaks, and snow covered crags. The scenery was spectacular. We couldn’t believe our luck with the clear weather we received for the second straight day. We could see for miles. The stark contrast in climate, environment, and rock consistency around the amphitheatre was puzzling to all of us. We couldn’t understand how there could be artic conditions on one side and rainforest on the other. I have never been so close to the mysteries of nature and never been so captivated by her beauty. Planet Earth could have done an entire episode on this place it was so amazing.The sun was beginning to set as we made our way back down the valley. We made it back to Camp Italiano amid the crashes of more avalanches with barely enough light to see the outline of the camp. The rangers gave us permission to camp, so we propped the tent and made dinner. We had avocados stuffed with tuna and pasta soup. What a meal! Everyone was stuffed to the gills and immediately hit the sack as the 12-hour hike really took its toll on the body. Luckily tomorrow is a lighter day.
No comments:
Post a Comment