Submitted by Pat

Coffee call was scheduled for 7:30 am but I woke up early so I helped Juan build the fire and watched the coffee and breakfast preparations until folks started to trickle out of their tents for another day of fun and adventure. After breakfast of rice and chocolate porridge, those of us who were interested got ready for the "big" hike. Roberto described it as a long hike, maybe 9 hours, and 4,100 feet of elevation. I had no idea if I could do it without pushing myself past my comfort zone, but I wanted to try, and like Don said, 'what am I going to do sitting around camp all day?' Don really didn't want to go - he was pooped - but was even more anxious about not having anything to do in camp. Unfortunately, he had left his iPod back at the farm house. So Juan, Kate, Frank, Don, Eduardo, Nancy, me, and Greg set out - first by ferrying over to the trailhead by kayak then a short bushwhack to the "trail".

The first part was a bushwhack, not easy walking for anyone. Then we hit a path which was pretty primitive and unforgiving. As we walked into the forest, Eduardo pointed out the Canelo tree, which is a sacred tree of the indigenous Mapuche people. Another tree he pointed out was a sturdy beech called Lenga. I loved the flora, trees and moss and delicate flowers still in bloom. No fauna though - only the horseflies that tormented us.

Don struggled since the first mile of the hike was really the steepest and hardest and he had no legs. Neither Don nor Nancy had eaten much at breakfast so they were running on empty. We stopped to rest often. Eventually Greg and Eduardo exchanged food because it was clear Don wasn't going to make it to the top and Nancy and I didn't know how much we had left either. When Don decided to turn back I could see how hard it was for him and for Nancy - she offered to go back with him but he urged her on. Turned out to be the right decision for both of them.

Greg and Don headed back and Nancy, Eduardo and I pressed onward. When we reached the tree line we entered an incredible alpine meadow. I kept expecting Julie Andrews to come spinning over a hill in her apron and singing about the hills that are alive. Alpine grass and clumps of short trees, lots of space and no prickers. Plenty of horseflies though and even some mosquitoes or gnats. We met up with Juan, Frank and Kate and ate some snacks before heading out of the meadows and onto bare rock. The three jackrabbits climbed ahead and Nancy and I diligently brought up the rear, one step at a time. As we reached each false summit, Eduardo would tell us, "the top is just over the next one", and we kept going. It was hard going but no more hard than many of our White Mountain hikes, the difference being in the Whites there is a well marked trail and up here there was nothing.

We finally reached the summit, well as far as we were going to go anyway, and both Nancy and I rejoiced in having made it to the top because the views were incredible. Sitting on the edge of a sheer hundred foot cliff we looked down onto a glacier. Behind us were views of all three lakes we had been exploring - Leon, Fiero and Cachorro. We ate lunch and hung around for a little over an hour before we reluctantly packed up and headed back down.

It was a long walk down, and by the time we reached camp, I was finished, kaput, DUN. We met the rest of the group, listened to them tell the tales of their kayaking adventures and ate dinner. Roberto gave us the low down on what tomorrow was going to bring - up at 5, pack camp, kayak to the trailhead across the lake, an hour hike with full gear, repack our gear and lash it to our kayaks, lower them down the cliff, kayak back to the first camp, deflate the kayaks, hike 5 miles back out to the trailhead, take a one hour drive standing up in the back of a truck to the farm house, repack, eat lunch, gather all our stuff, cram it into the bus, load up and drive 5-6 hours to Coyhaique where we were staying in a hotel and having our celebration dinner. Needless to say, after we chatted about that, everyone hit the hay early.