Before leaving we stopped to rent some pads to put our sleeping bags on, and a pair of walking/trekking poles. We are amazed by the amount of stuff you can rent here if you choose to go camping. Retraced our steps from a few days ago when we went up to Laguna Capri, this time avoiding the loop the trail makes and continuing on for a couple of hours til we reached the Poincenot Campground, which lies below Cerro Fitzroy. We had our usual picnic lunch, set up camp—and as we were a bit cold, decided to start the trek –and it’s quite a hike—up to the glacial lake that lies at the foot of Cerro Fitzroy, named Laguna de los Tres (Lagoon of the Three, for the 3 peaks that rise immediately behind it). Weren’t sure whether we were going to go all the way up, but once we got going, it seemed silly not to keep going. This is a steady and steeply rising trail which eventually zig-zags its way to the glacial lake. Despite its vertiginous ascent in places, the park people have done an exceptional job of making it as serviceable as possible, helping out walkers with strategically placed rocks to make the climbing up—as well as down—more accessible, although frankly, no less arduous.
The views of the area are stunning, and really give you a good visual on how the map of trails looks in actuality. You can see various distant lagoons—notably Madre and Hija(mother and daughter), which we have yet to visit.
Once one finally reaches the end of the trail, the proximity of Fitzroy is astounding. The lake is various shades of blue and absolutely crystalline. Andres went down to the lake—as one’s arrival spot is above the lake, as if perched on the rim of a volcano. He passed the sunbathers—yes, it was HOT up there--, and then made his way behind a mound to the glacial lake next door, which is fed by yet another glacier.
After a successful descent, knees intact, we arrived at the campground by about 6:30, having spent virtually the entire day walking. Tired, but recognizing it was too early to eat our meagre food when it’s light until almost 11pm, we crept into the tent for a while, coming out at about 7:30, for a short walk to warm us up before we stood and ate. After dinner we again took a walk, up one of the dry river beds in the area. Lots of southern beeches in all stages of growth, lichens and other mossy plants covering huge boulders sitting in the sandy bed, along with beautiful notro bushes that were abloom with blazing firework-like red flowers. Many of the stones also had interesting plant impressions on them. Unsure whether or not these are some sort of fossil impressions.
Although one of the reasons we’d decided to camp was to make the trek up to the lake at sunrise, we set that madness aside, reasoning that we could see the sunrise over the peaks sufficiently well from the camping area.
We were fortunate to have a not-too-cold night, although neither of us slept terribly well. Puzzling, after all that walking, but nothing to be done about that.
We were up at five, by which time it was already light, although the sun had not quite made it over the horizon. Made our way back down one of the riverbeds to observe the quality of light on the peaks as the sun rises.
After 90 minutes of marvelling at the constantly changing light and clouds swirling around the mountain peaks, we headed back, grabbed our breakfast fare and parked ourselves in a sunny spot at the river. Since we had time on our hands, decided to take part of the walk from the campground north towards a point called Pilar, from which we were able to see incredible views of Piedras Blancas, another large glacier and glacial lake that protrude into the larger valley. From that viewpoint, returned, and tired but exhilirated, headed back to decamp and walk back. This one is on the agenda for an encore.
Views in the area of Piedras Blancas
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