We returned to the Fitzroy outlook near Laguna Capri several times, as it is about 3 hours round trip, and offers some of the better close-up views. Never boring, and also the site of all our woodpecker sightings.
Fitzroy and Poincenot from the Capri outlook
A second repeat was the trail to Laguna Torre, with the jagged Torre peak an almost constant companion once one reaches the first outlook point. Instead of heading for the end of that trail and its windy glacial lake, we veered north through a more seldom traveled trail, which leads to two smaller lakes(or lagoons as people here insist on calling them), cleverly called Madre y Hija (Mother and Daughter)—size being the determining factor for the names…. The trail heads through solid uphill terrain which is forested and scattered with flowers, and where we first glimpsed the odd fungal growths on trees called Pan de indio (Indian bread). The lakes were deserted, windswept and deep blue. The trailside there clearly can't support any sort of plants beyond scrubby brush and struggling contorted beech trees. The trail evens out and becomes flat, and eventually provides yet another view of Fitzroy and friends, having left Torre well behind the huge mountain of moraine that forms the far side of the lagoons. Eventually this trail—about 2 hours of walking—connects with the Poincenot/Capri trail, which we then took back into the valley. This one also afforded us the good fortune of hearing and then spotting the stunning Magellanic woodpecker.
A third hike leg that we were missing was taking the walk from a small hosteria in the valley called El Pilar, and heading south to once again meet up with the more central Poincenot campground. This involves taking the mini-bus from town to El Pilar, and there beginning the walk through the valley cut by the Rio Piedras Blancas—although I am not sure if that isn’t just Rio Blanco—. The river is a constant rushing presence on the right, lying ever deeper in the valley, ultimately a gray-blue ribbon occasionally visible through the thickening forest trail. Eventually a clearing yields a stunning view of the Piedras Blancas glacier, the murky turquoise lake below the glacier, and the many rivulets that join to form the rushing river. This particular glacier creaks and groans and cracks with almost frightening regularity, and we saw several chunks of ice fall off the bottom of the glacier and slip and slide down the moraine. Waterfalls erupt from under and in the glacier, all contributing to the thunderous river below. A small distance further up the valley, Fitzroy stands guard with all the stone spires and needles around it. Eventually the forest is replaced with the alpine scrub, a wide openness which leads directly to the Poincenot campground. After our usual victuals, back up the trail to Capri and home. A particularly gentle and rewarding trail.
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