Argentina Day 5

Day 5

We arose early and met the guides to hike to three lakes in the top of the mountains fed directly from a glacier.  It was such a steep hike.  My feet were sore from the day before and the first hour was brutal.  But the scenery is amazing.  We would go from scrub oak and rocks, to forest, back to rocky hills, snow, a little of everything.  We hiked all morning and had lunch in front of a little lake next to a glacier.  It felt good to put my feet in the water and get the swelling down.  My boots did pretty good, at least until that point, but more on that later.  We then hiked back down, which was very difficult.  It was like putting a puzzle together, looking for each footstep and avoiding the big rocks.  We hiked down the mountain, around another, down another, and finally ended in our camping spot for the night.

It was a small clearing with a couple of permanent buildings and a dozen tents.  We each doubled up in tents and go ready for dinner.  After hiking all day, it was all I could do to stay awake.  It felt so good to brush my teeth.  The other funny thing, is that you can drink right from the streams and lakes, pure glacier water, and it was so refreshing.  The guides put our some cookies and chocolate milk, which disappeared pretty quickly.  We than had a milk type soup with the hardest toast I´ve ever taste.  I was so hungry, I ate two bowls and then went to bed!  They served more food, but I was beat.  Sleeping on the ground was crappy, and they had little pads, but they had seen better days.  Anyway, the whole goal was to be close to the glacier, because that was our trip for the next day.  A good, uneventful night.